StillSmart

Hi everyone ran my first batch through the t500 and column Thursday into jars and glasses. Thought it's got the cuts sorted.....

Aired all the glasses for 24 hours and sniffed/tasted as I've done before with the air still. Picked my nuterals (can never smell or taste tails till the very last jar) and added them to a demijohn and watered them down to 40% and corked the demijohn.

Came back to it today and it all smells like heads so I've thrown it back in for a re run.

I'm running it at closer to 50c this time (was more like 60c first go) and can really help the heads on the first jars this time. Jar 1 stinks!

I'll air the lot again but the first 3 jars went direct to the heads container.

Is there anything else I'm missing apart from slowing down and doing a full taste?

Also, how many times would you run a batch before a botanical run? I was hoping strip with cuts then gin run but I don't see that happening

Well done upon deciding that you had crap and had to re-start by the way.
"slowing down and doing a full taste" may be your best option.
"Also, how many times would you run a batch before a botanical run? I was hoping strip with cuts then gin run but I don't see that happening " I do not see that working with your equipment.

Robert.

I didn't get it at first, my logic was 'there is finished alcohol coming from the still so why not add botanicals to this, surely it can't improve'.

It can and it does, think of it like this, imagine instead of the nasties that are still present at 7 percent (if you are hitting 93 percent), imagine these as a coloured dye, each time you water it down and distill it gets clearer, I'm not sure if you can completely get rid of congeners and fusel oils this way but the smell of the finished product is improved, my first run of gin was pretty spectacular and I know I will look back in a few months and think it was not great!

+1

You could also consider polishing it by airing it with pump and stone. It makes a difference.

This is where it gets hard to sort out what's going on.
First of all you say it's your first time running the T5. How was the column packed? did you reflux at all? How fast did you run...another thought comes to my mind
If this was a first run did you run as a stripping run?
or had you stripped in the AS?. The reason I ask is you don't usely do cuts if it was a strip run.

I've always said that this hobby is a steep learning curve, I also know that given time and a little help you'll get there.... post any info you have on the above and we may be able to come up with more answers.

One last thing cuts are not that easy when you start off...it took me a while to get anywhere near.

Cheers Ice.

Making cuts. What is it they say about practise
makes perfect.

So I filled every glass in the house with 200ml cuts.

Ran the full run at 50-52c

The cuts were far more obvious this time. The heads I picked 600ml straight away. Tails were harder, last glass for sure and possibly the next. Dropped it in the recycling jar with the heads anyway.

Ended up with a good 1400ml of 90+ % ( my hydrometer does 90%).

Ran the gin tonight with my new to me 2nd hand alembic and all tastes fantastic

Ice,

Column packed as it came new, ran it quicker than I think was needed. 60c all the way,
Strip run done.

Why dont you strip run with you Alembic its much quicker
Use a parrot and run down to 30 or so.
I normally do 2 or 3 washes at a time, then spirit run.
Sometimes get two descent spirit runs.

The_blue wrote:So I filled every glass in the house with 200ml cuts.

Ran the full run at 50-52c

The cuts were far more obvious this time. The heads I picked 600ml straight away. Tails were harder, last glass for sure and possibly the next. Dropped it in the recycling jar with the heads anyway.

Ended up with a good 1400ml of 90+ % ( my hydrometer does 90%).

Ran the gin tonight with my new to me 2nd hand alembic and all tastes fantastic

It looks to me that you did everything right and got a good result.
Enjoy the fruits of your labours.

Robert.

gaza the instructor wrote:Why dont you strip run with you Alembic its much quicker

I'll let this cut and paste from Hermes explain:-

09/04/2018 18:53 At the national sorting hub
06/04/2018 22:09 Routed to incorrect depot
06/04/2018 03:13 At the national sorting hub

Basically it didn't turn up in time and I was chomping at the bit

Easydrinker wrote:
It looks to me that you did everything right and got a good result.
Enjoy the fruits of your labours.

Robert.

Woke up this morning and it's gone cloudy. I'll give it 2 weeks and if it doesn't clear I'll add a spot of spirit to see if that helps

If it’s a cloudy gin, it’s probably just the oil from the juniper berry’s that can come out at the beginning of the run, although the last batch of AS gin I made was all proofed in one container and put in two separate bottles, one went cloudy, the other remained clear!!

The wife quite happily drank both so there’s probably nothing to worry about lol

Like you suggest maybe a drop of high proof alc might cause the oil to rejoin the mix, but it’ll be back when you add tonic, just drink it lol