first run

[Capt-Cudellez]

Yes, it's really difficult when you start out to pick out the fractions. But once you get it you won't believe you had trouble in the past, it becomes really obvious. This new skill will ruin your enjoyment of commercial spirits

For smelling and tasting you need to water it down, else it all just smells like alcohol. Take a tablespoon from the jar, add 2 of water. Then give it a smell, if it smells okay give it a taste.

You'll get it.

[googe]

Heads will have a bitey, sweet solvent smell and taste. It will sort of bite your toung and lips when you taste it. Heads will have a smoother smell, it doesn't tend to burn your nose hairs!. It won't have that chemical bite to it. Tails will be like a wet dog, wet cardboard, damp socks smell. It can tend to have an oily residue on the top of the distillate as we'll as milkiness if you've gone to far into.tails. If you do smaller cuts like 150 ~250ml when your.learning it will help you identify them better, that's just my opinion though. Like capt said you will.notice it in shop brought stuff, first time I noticed it I couldn't believe how bad they smelt!!.

[edwatters]

Thanks to all you guys. You have been a great deal of help. My hydrometer reading says I have 96 ounces of 90% at 180 proof. How do I calculate to dilute to 40%? Do I have the correct hydrometer?

[Magnu420]

i use this to water mine to 40%

http://homedistiller.org/calcs/dilute

[googe]

http://homedistiller.org/calcs/dilute

[googe]

Haha snap

[Magnu420]

snap lol

[chill]

Using hot water to dilute can help point out the heads. I have heard that cherry cola or cherry 7Up has an even stronger indicator. As the Captain said, "This new skill will ruin your enjoyment of commercial spirits". The burn that I thought I liked was ethyl acetate!

Chuck

[edwatters]

Well I made it through my first run without any major issues thanks to everyone's s help. I just not sure about the bitter taste and slight odor I ended up with. I went ahead and used some essences to make dark rum and butterscotch snapps . Hopefully the flavor will improve in time. Next batch this weekend. I did a Tpm without liquid carbon so I will see a difference for sure. Thanks again for everyone's help

[chill]

I have no experience with the T500 so no specific advice. Bitter seems like an odd taste to me, but our senses of taste are different. It could be heads or tails from running too fast or too late, or it could be from the Turbo yeast. The next run should narrow the possibilities. Carbon filtering may help, time won't in my experience. Time makes good alcohol better, but it does not make bad alcohol good.

Chuck

[Almanac]

Ed, PM sent.

[edwatters]

Well if figured it all out on the first run then it would no longer be fun

[Phantom]

Well while you're sort of doing first/stripping runs, you're also mixing up your technique/method a bit.

See its a T500 i.e. a reflux still, and what with making sugar wash to go in it, it is harder to make cuts etc, as there isn't really much of a taste guide with sugar based neutrals.

Now it may be worth running it into smaller jars, collecting something like 200 to 500mls of distillate in each one (numbered jars of course). That way you can easily assess each jar content to understand the part of the process where you get the "good stuff" and how much the total quantity is likely to be from a batch of wash.

Also, I see no mention of carbon filtering. If you either made a home version perhaps like the design in Gerts carbon filtering ebook or get an "off the shelf" one like my "Z" filter, then you'd follow how much of the relatively small amount of "off flavours" that can come through the still from a sugar wash, can be removed/scrubbed that way.

I routinely make my wash with utility tap water, then run it, then let it back down to less than 40% with RO water, running it through again before letting it down to as close to 40% as I can, then it gets at least 1 run through my Z filter, often 2. Equally I try not to push the carbon in the filter too far and any hint of acetone/pear drops in the filtered spirit and I change the carbon for fresh.

That way I manage to get as clean a neutral as I can manage without messing around too much and the taste once its got the essence to flavour it is just the essence and nothing from poor distilling......

Oh and generally I dump 50 mls of foreshots from each first run and the first 50mls from the spirit run. It makes sure I've got them all out and there's no possible flavour/taste carry over.

[edwatters]

Thanks phantom, good advice as always