StillSmart

Probably not the right thing to do but ive slung the lot Ive decided to have a fresh start. The wife has ordered some Kale and sugar in this weeks shopping so Kale it is

Any tips would be helpful

It seems that you don't follow tips mate?
I thought a bunch of us were trying to advise you on recovering the alcohol from that brew?
Don't waste my time in future.
Don't know how others feel.
Wishing you well.
It is the season to be jolly.

Robert

What part of my "Keep it. 99% of things are recoverable or reusable." told you to chuck it ??

Its a shame you have missed the learning opportunity. When it all goes well you learn nothing.
....... and think of all the other uses for a gallon spirit.

Heres a link to the Kale thread.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3874&p=44247&hilit=kale#p44247

Easydrinker wrote:It seems that you don't follow tips mate?
I thought a bunch of us were trying to advise you on recovering the alcohol from that brew?
Don't waste my time in future.
Don't know how others feel.
Wishing you well.
It is the season to be jolly.

Robert

Firstly I'm sorry for wasting your time. but to be fair you did not have to reply to my post. I'm grateful that people like yourself took the time to respond and my impatience to get a clean spirit got the better of me.

I will have a look at the Kale recipe so thanks for the response on that one

Merry Christmas

Go easy on the lad, he's a newcomer and he will learn, as Mash said by his mistakes but if you jump down the throat of newbies like Stevieboy he'll soon get the impression that this forum is only for the selected precious few.

Stay cool This is after all "The friendly home distillation site!"

It's a surprise because there's a wide tolerance for things going wrong - I can't think of what can possibly have caused such a bad result. Yes the Turbo Yeasts and Carbon etc get a very bad wrap but they should produce at least a passable result - they did for me I'm sure the kale will give a much better wash but not the difference between vodka and lighter fluid.

I think you mentioned earlier that you are a vodka coinosseur (sorry, can't think of a better word) - maybe it's the case that you have a very tuned palette for vodka and need the very best results.

I still can't understand how it could be that bad though - you must have detected the bad flavour whilst you were tasting during the spirit run?

It is a tastebud/palette thing.

I have to admit to having some proper shite from my first goes. It lead me to natural washes. There is also some learning to be done all the way through fermentation, stripping, running and cutting.

But we all know it's worth it.

Can I make a stab at this, as I'm new to this and only done a single run please dont feel I'm running before I can walk.
Could it be the speed of the spirit run?
I used alcotec48 in my run and it had the stinky yeast smell like cheap cider and I was reluctant to taste the strip run but after a nice gentle spirit run it had lost the yeasty smell and just tasted like vodka on steroids (85%).
Is it possible the problem was the spirit run was done quickly so he pretty much just ran another strip run and ended up carrying over the smell?

It was certainly me that said I ended up dumping my first attempt and I don't at all regret it as losing a few quids worth of sugar is better than putting me off the hobby before getting started.

Maker makes an excellent point that most of us don't have power control at the start and a slower spirit run will do wonders.

edit : I just remembered someone here saying when I was new "You can't polish a turd". You can clean it up by re-distilling but it's still a turd, so when the ingredients are so inexpensive, why bother?

I may have to own up to you reading the turd line here.
I didn't author it, merely quote from elsewhere.
You make a very good point, with ingredients costing so little, why mess about?

Robert.

From a drinking perspective you may / may not get there.

For me its not all about drinking alcohol - there are many many other uses.

Plus the learning opportunity is not to be missed.

When you do get a few under your belt, your knowledge and your kit might very well change and you may find you can very easily correct it.