Tails and the T500

[shoutingsoup]

Hi folks,

Just about set to run my first VodkaStar wash through the T500 after taking 'i dont drink's advice and copying his hose/copper pipe tap connection.

I'm ready to throw away the first 100-150ml of heads from the distillate but I haven't read much about tails from the T500. The paperwork suggests that there simply aren't any to worry about. What's everyone else's experience with it? Is there still noticeable tails with the T500 or is it all good after the foreshots?

Happy distilling all!

shoutingsoup.

[Capt-Cudellez]

There are tails with any still, some designs are better than others – how you run the still is the biggest affect on how well you compress this section. Still spirits really wanted an easy to run still where the alcohol would all be filtered to remove off tastes and didn’t want the distillers to worry about cuts. Others on here, including myself, have found the benefit of making cuts even with a good column – others filter the lot, and are happy with the results.
Why not try both ways and see which you prefer.

Regarding tails, only your smell and taste can really guide you with this, you’ll very quickly get what you like and what will go in with the next run. Personally, I quit collecting long before all the alcohol has been collected from the still charge, I find heavy tails don’t really clean up all that well even with multiple runs, and they make condenser really stinky. However if your after flavoured drinks, some early tails can add to the profile and smooth out after aging on wood – so again it’s see what you like.

When I first got a T500 – I was obsessed with collecting every last drop, but now when you see how much money you are saving, it fairly pointless to me to try and squeeze everything out, when that last bit is quite unpleasant without being heavily processed. Now it just goes down the drain and I just make more beer.

Others do it differently; I can only talk for what I like.

[Andy]

The first 100ml is fore shots, a must to get rid of - use for cleaning windows.
Then comes the heads, keep and rerun.
Hearts then follows, drink away.
Last of all is the tails, most people will save to rerun.

[i dont drink]

as the capt says, the tails are all down to taste as youl find out...

yes bin the fore shots...again thats down to personal taste as some bin 100ml and i bin 200 as the taste is still too bad for me after just 100ml....

what i do is take 100 ml off anyway and keep it to one side. then take another 100ml and compare the two by smell only as i found that the first 100ml was foul and the second 100ml wasn't much better.

heads.. i keep heads cos i filter but some remove heads and re run it...

hearts.. the best obviously

tails.. now this to me is a matter of personal taste again and what you want to do with it... i do keep my tails as i filter mine to death, but if you want to separate the tails, then all you have to do is taste it!..

keep tasting the hearts until you find that the taste starts to alter to the point that its very different from the start of the heart run and if you do like i do, i taste until it tastes bad and then il stop... i could squeeze some more out of the still but as mentioned, its a waste and you get a poor quality spirit out of it..

you can extract it and re run the very end bit but i don't think its worth it as what comes out isn't exactly decent stuff so i don't bother..

so tails for me start when the heads run out and i find my tails by taste but what you do with it is up to you..

oh and i found out ( of someone off here that i can't remember lol) that the best way to taste the spirit is by putting it UNDER your tongue.. that way you get more flavour and less spirit burn on the top of your tounge...

you can taste all the way through after the fore shots like i did until i got used to the taste and what bits to keep/throw/re-run

hth.
al.

[shoutingsoup]

Wow, that's incredibly helpful all.

The general point I guess you're making (alongside your helpful tips re:heads/foreshots) is that it's all down to taste. I think for my first run I'm going to separate the distillate into 100ml batches for comparison and see how they differ by smell/taste.

Out of interest, as a general rule, how much hearts do people tend to get out of a run. I know this isn't an exact science but I'd be interested in people's experiences.

Thanks again for your help folks. I'm finding myself becoming obsessed with this stuff!

Shoutingsoup.