Air Still and cuts

[Normski]

Yeah I agree with AT. I do seem to be able to spot the cuts better if the stripped is at 30%.

[chill]

Hi Knobby,

Hopefully should end up with a decent "vodka" that will fool my sister as she won't taste my normal "wine works" neutral spirit (no cuts in other words)

Are you carbon filtering it after distillation (after watering to 40-45% ABV)? If not, to my taste, the product has a noticeable sweet taste. I believe that this is the residual sweetness from fermenting sucrose. What you are producing is actually tafia (cheap rum) not vodka. I find that carbon filtering it removes the sweetness and leaves me with a quite decent sort of vodka.

I have has some washes come out much less sweet but I am unsure if that is due to the recipe or the addition of Amylo-glucosidase enzyme. There is much to learn with this hobby and no end of interesting experimentation to do!

Chuck

[Jimmy]

The flavour profile of a commercial vodka is basically down to a couple of factors - the initial wash ingredients and the cuts being the primary ones. Unless you want to start making potato vodka or bison grass and whatnot, the cuts are more important.

The commercial guys often include bits that personally I wouldn't put anywhere near my own spirit, they often run continous distillation apparatus as well rather than batches like we do. This is why you do get vodka essences which sounds a bit weird - the idea is to make a very neutral spirit, and then add back a flavour of vodka. Never tried them myself to be honest, happy enough with the neutral.

Anyway, on a more useful level - tomato paste makes a neutral that tastes less chemical than a turbo yeast, you might have better luck with that!

[knobby]

Cheers Folks

With all the reading I have done it does point to the cuts.

The air still is on as I type and will soon be running my spirit run, can't wait to taste the difference, I have my glass jars all marked up ready for collection. The kitchen table looks like something from a mad scientists lab

Post results later on

[knobby]

Update

1hr 56 mins in to the spirit run and I have drawn off the following

50 ml foreshot
250 ml heads
400 ml of hearts

The 400th ml read at 75% and by that I mean the 4 x 100ml sample not total, these are being placed in a glass killer jar and on close sniffing are bloody strong (tickling the hairs in my nose) is this a good sign or not

[Almanac]

Straight from the Airstill it will have a fairly strong 'nose'. That's the reason for airing overnight to let the small amount of volatiles responsible for the smell to evaporate.

Once it's carbon filtered it won't have any smell at all.

I use Kilner jars for airing my spirit because they have a removable lid insert. I get a packet of cotton swabs (about 1.50 for 100) from the chemist, they're about 4" X 4" and I put one over each jar and screw on the lid rim - keeps everything out and lets the spirit air nicely.

From the Airstill I collect spirit down to 60% in the Kilner Jars. Once below 65% everything is collected in 100ml jars and kept aside to be assessed for addition to the hearts the next day or sending to the Tails Jar.

Once it hits 60% I stop collecting spirit let the Still run on into a large jug until the output gets down below 30% and chuck the collected distillate into the tails jars. Waste Not, Want Not!

AM

[knobby]

Cheers AM

Don't know whether I rushed things but collected 1ltr of what I believe to be hearts and have diluted down to 40% placed in kilner jar with coffee filter paper over the top to air over night in the garage.

After that I have so far collected in one go a batch of tails 250ml @ 55% the next 100ml is reading 46% I intend to collect these down to 30% and class purely as tails.

I now have 250ml of heads that I will store for a heads run or may even use a small amount in my hearts to give a bit of bite to a bourbon or whiskey.....is there a rule of thumb to start with say 600ml of hearts and 150ml of heads??????

Also do i mix the tails collected above with my next spirit run i.e. throw it in to the stripped alcohol I did first or put it in the fermented wash and then strip it??????

I know again more questions but as always I value your individual feedback

Thanks

[Jimmy]

Whatever you end up doing, write it down and then you'll have your own personal reference - everyone has different ideas and methods. Depending on what you're trying to do, you might want to do it a few different ways. Personally, if I was trying to get the most neutral tasting spirit then the more times it is distilled the better, so I'd put the tails in with the next wash. Also, while you have the chance, as well as smelling the different parts of spirit (heads, hearts, tails, etc) take the opportunity to rub a little between your fingers and see the difference in how they feel. Also you can shake the bottles and the bubbles will look different, and finally you can carefully burn a little on a spoon (well away from the still!) and see the flame colours. All interesting ways to learn things and that's how the old timers did it before alcometers.

[Almanac]

Adding Heads to the Heart is a matter of personal taste. I've only ever done this with runs from my Airstill to date.

If I'm going to add any Heads to my finished spirit I collect the first 150ml of Heads in one jar and the the balance of the Heads in another which I put aside as a possible addition to the Heart. (I don't always blend, it depends on the quality of the wash in the first instance)

I only add the separated Heads if, the next day, it has qualities I want to add to my finished spirit - especially when I'm making Bourbon. I've found every batch is different so while I've not been able to come up with a 'routine' or 'standard' that applies in all cases I have found that it is important to divide the collection of Heads and use only the end portion of the Heads for blending.

Blending a Head fraction with the Hearts is a matter of taste - your tongue will know when the blend is right. Add a little, taste and spit out. Personally I found I could not do one taste test after the other. I usually leave a few hours between tests.

I use a 10ml syringe to mix a tiny amount of blended spirit with the right amount of water, to get close to finished spirit strength, then taste, spit it out and then rinse my mouth with clean water.

Collected Tails should only be added to a cleared wash that is ready to be stripped.

AM