Re-distilling 40% spirit

[Casper]

+1 on the fermentation.
8% is spot on. I wrote more on the Distilling thread. Any higher sugars and yeast is inhibited do takes weeks rather than days to ferment.
Also keep your temperature steady. In Primary temp rises. Choose a °T and Keep her steady within +=_ 1° if you can

[Easydrinker]

Agreeing with the Captain here, work on the brewing.
And as Casper agrees, Less sugar is better, and faster.

Robert.

[tasleBHC]

i am no expert in this field being a noob too.. ive read a lot of posts on distilling, operating the airstill. the pdf files ive downloaded and read three times over and then some.. ive asked a few questions and finally got a good product..

i started with the turbo yeast classic8, turbo carbon and the A+B clearing.. 8kg of sugar and then set up ferment according to the instructions..(???hmmm??) (wont do that again!)
anyway half way through the ferment time i noticed a whiffy smell and I wasnt sure if it was how it should be...
when ready i did my first run thinking that would give me drinkable alcohol (WRONG) that run was my "strip" i later found out with research on here and other pages..
anyway i did a spirit run after losing most of my ferment strip due to bad "instruction" HB shop!!
i ran the spirit run again because all jars had a vile taste and smell.. and high %abv slowly weakening.. (UNDRINKABLE)
after finding an interesting article posted in one of the 2012 posts i found the perfect way to run a spirit run in step by step instructions
the 3rd Spirit run resulted in clean 100ml x 10 jars of hearts,, 250 ml heads and 250ml tails.. i stopped at around 20% abv and switched airstill off.. opened the lid and yep i could smell wet dog..
but the 100ml jars range from 78%-44% some are stronger than others and the last two are what i consider to be "vodkarish" if not vodka and probably due to the 3rd distill process ive got some real clean alcohol to play with..
all "smells" have now disappeared and the cheese clothe and two part screwlid jars allow for airing of any volatiles from a jar i used from the second run that is soaking on bourbon chips..
the 2 times before was run at 45-55% but i know why its advised to run at 30% now and the result still gains high %abv spirit to low at the end..
now i guess its all about blending the hearts to taste

because i cant find the orginal [post or evven credit the guy who wrote it i will share with you my findings THANKS TO THE MYSTERY MAN of knowledge.. who ever you are im sure you will recognise the next reply to this redistill 40% thread question

[tasleBHC]

HERES THE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS I FOUND, hopefully im making this easier for you
stick to this and invest in the kilner jars x10 500ml and 2x2ltr and youll not go wrong, that is of course unless you go turbo and carbon way again... see other ecipes for sugar washes and advice your next one should be better (thanks to the original PERSON WHO POSTED THIS GUIDE I COPIED BELOW)


Air still results
SG 1.090
FG 0.980
Wash - 14.19%

Stripping run

100ml 68%
200ml 65%
300ml 63%. 1hr 28mins
400ml 60%
500ml 56%
600ml 52%
700ml 46%. 2hrs 12 mins
800ml 41%. 2hrs 24 mins
900ml 33%. 2hrs 36 mins
1000ml ??
1100ml 15%. Overall 46%. 3hrs
1200ml 11%. 3hrs 13 mins
1300ml 7%. 3hrs 27mins
1350ml. Overall 40%. 3hrs 35mins

Spirit run

50ml foreshot discarded 1hr 7 mins

HEADS
250ml heads kept to one side. 1hr 26

HEARTS
100ml. 77%
200ml. 76%
300ml. 75%
400ml. 75%
500ml. 74%
600ml. 73%
700ml. 70%
800ml. 68ml
900ml. 66%
1000ml. 62%. 2hrs 47mins. Overall 70%

TAILS
250ml. 55%
100ml. 46%
100ml. 35%. 3hrs 34 mins


When you run 4l of wash in your Airstill this is called a Stripping Run.

What you collect from running each 4l Stripping Run is called 'Low Wines' There are no foreshots to collect. You simply collect everything that comes out of the still until the ABV gets down to 20%. To do this you should collect the first litre in a large enough container and then collect 100ml at a time to check the strength with your alcometer.

When all the wash has been stripped the strength of the Low Wines you have collected must measured and then diluted to 30%ABV.

The next stage is the Spirit Runs (this is the second distillation)

Put 4l of the diluted Low Wines in your Airstill. When this batch starts dripping you collect the first 50ml and this is your foreshots. The total amount of foreshots you will collect will be based only on the number of 4l Spirit Runs.

After you collect 50ml of heads from each 4l Spirit Run the next part to collect is 250ml of Heads, then the Hearts and Tails. There are no more Foreshots. When you've removed the Foreshots they're gone, they can't come back and your still can't make any more.

[Easydrinker]

Your numbers seem right.
Glad that you got there.

Robert.

[Curmudgeon]

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to give the angels their share. You can leave demijohns/jars open to air after stripping run or leave jars open after spirit run or both but I recommend both.

[Easydrinker]

Have to agree.
My angels love me.
No tight stoppering here.
They love the distillate that I don't.
They are my friends.

Robert.

[tasleBHC]

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to give the angels their share. You can leave demijohns/jars open to air after stripping run or leave jars open after spirit run or both but I recommend both.

yes curmudgeon.. i got the two part kilner jars and some cheese cloth and everything thats been airing tastes blardy lovvely and smells great too.. thanks for the tip on doing the same for the strip runs... my VS wash should be a blinder
if i follow the advice

[Easydrinker]

There was a time that I thought that I was the only person here to air strip, and that started by accident.
I was actually a little embarassed the first time that I mentioned it.
These days I don't give a fig what others think, and if it works for me, then I will share, and maybe it will work for others.
I have also been known to share mistakes, but lets try and stay positive.

Robert.

[Leatherman]

Hi everyone
Just a quick question. When do you do your angel share, is it after stripping run or after spirit run?
Thanks

[Easydrinker]

Most people would air (angel's share) after a spirit run.
Some of us after a strip run also.
I can only suggest that you try both, and decide for yourself.

Robert.

[Leatherman]

Thank you for an answer. I gave another quick one. Since I found this forum and read so much info, I realised that I made sone mistakes runs I did. So my question would be, can I redistill with t500 spirits witch are mixed with essencies?

[tasleBHC]

Thank you for an answer. I gave another quick one. Since I found this forum and read so much info, I realised that I made sone mistakes runs I did. So my question would be, can I redistill with t500 spirits witch are mixed with essences?

i believe this question has been answered somewhere before.. think you just water down to 30% and run again.. not sure what would happen if you mixed essences in the same run.. but the process would be the same for collecting heads tails hearts

i am no expert in this field i am only saying summat i read in another post

[Easydrinker]

Thank you for an answer. I gave another quick one. Since I found this forum and read so much info, I realised that I made sone mistakes runs I did. So my question would be, can I redistill with t500 spirits witch are mixed with essencies?

Yes, you are totally good to re-distill
ANY spirit.
For safety and quality, always ensure the charge (boiler contents) for a spirit run are less than 30%

Robert.

[Leatherman]

Thanks a lot for an answer. I was thinking same, also I read it somewhere in this forum that it is possible to redistill almost everything but just wanted to double check and be sure. Thanks again for answer, looks like I am going to have bussy weekend.