StillSmart

Hi All,

I'm a complete newbie and have just bought a Smart Still. In my attempt to have some of my own stuff for Christmas I may have rushed a little. My wash was only 8% when I put it through the still (and possibly still fermenting). I adjusted the calculations to take account of the lower alcohol content.

The spirit I have is extremely clear but has quite an odour. I added some essences to some of it but the taste is not quite as it should be. Rather than waste all the stuff I now have can I put it back through the still and if so do I treat it as a spirit run? Do I dilute it rather than putting 4 litres of 40% back through?

or

Should I just pour the lot down the sink?

Apologies if this question has been answered somewhere else.

I'm no expert and others will come along who are but I would never put 40% back through unless you thin down to around 20%.

Thanks for your comment. What about the stuff that's got essences in it. Do I just dilute them too and put them through as though it were a clear spirit?

Not sure on that but I would thin it down then add the same essence when distilled.
Try not to to to be greedy with the cuts, just a small amount of tails can spoil the lot if mixed in..
Go fo quality not quantity pal...

trancer179 , IMHO, dilute to sub 30% and treat it as a spirit run.
Maybe throw the first few (20?) ml as you did put essences in there.
Other than that there really shouldn't be heads and tails as such, you stripped and then spirit ran already,right?
Maybe a couple of small sacrifices at either end to tidy up?
You are not the first, and will not be the last to decide to re run a failed spirit.
You don't lose much, but gain a lot of experience/knowledge.
ATB.

Robert.

I'm with Robert unsurprisingly.

Dilute it to 30% or there abouts and re-distill (20 or 35% is fine, don't sweat it)

Leave it open to the air for a day or so to let evaporation help. After that, stuff that smells "chemical" such as nail varnish remover etc is heads. You can drink it, but it'll give you a hangover.

At the other end, tails are trickier to discern imo, but will give your spirit an off taste which most will describe as cardboard/glue/wet dog. The point is to just keep it apart from your hearts and gather it up and then re-distill it. Unless you live somewhere with insane electricity costs, don't be shy about triple or quadruple distilling.

Thanks everybody.

Robert, just to clarify. I didn't do a stripping run and then a spirit run. I just drew the first lot off and using some calculator or other stopped at 460ml (60%). This was then diluted to 40%. This is the stuff I added the essences to and have been drinking.

I didn't get any instructions with the Smart Still and I've only just found this forum - so was a bit blind really (and that's not the Methanol ;-))

Given that I haven't stripped and spirit ran, is the suggestion that I treat the failed spirit as a stripping run and put it back through as a spirit run?

Curmudgeon, you say 20 or 35% is fine. Does that mean dilute to anywhere between these points? If that's the case then is there a calculator that I should be using to determine when to stop collecting?

Sorry for all the questions. It's just a little confusing at the moment.

Yup - thats Roberts suggestion. When you ferment something for the first time it is a stripping run (stripping the bulk of the water and suspended solids) next comes the spirit run. Any subsequent runs are also spirit runs.

For me this isn't a 'calculator' type job it a 'feeling' you need to develop the nack, having said that calculators will help you on your journey. Every wash/run is different but within limits.


Within the Forum under Index, you can find, Resources/Distilling Booklets /“Airstill Brief”

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3436

I think you might enjoy.

P.S

The sink is NEVER acceptable. Do waste it ! It can always be rerun / reused. Apart form drinking there are a number of other uses too.

@trancer179: Don't chuck that lot out. Re-run it and see what you get. At least you will gain experience and familiarity with your equipment.

In future, do a stripping run prior to a spirit run. It will give you a cleaner product.

Any run I do, has first been run through the calculator. Although the end result is based on time, temp, taste, hydrometer, etc., running the numbers lets me know if the run is within the limits expected. e.g. If you have a wash of 25L at 10% potential alcohol and you finish the run with 50% ABV of low wine, you will have collected 5L. By knowing in advance what you should finish up with allows you to anticipate when your finished.

Have the necessary equipment for measuring. And be patient.

I will just add that a basic spirit hydrometer can be sourced cheaply.
Refractometers can also be used.
Either will let you see in real time just what your still is producing.

Robert.

Sorry for late response. I did mean to treat it as a stripping run and to dilute and then re-distill. I would not be shy about distilling a third or fourth time if your time, electric and water costs are acceptable. Each time you distill, let booze air (and/or carbon filter) you will purify and remove any funk aka off tastes and smells.

edit : by electric I mean power. In many instances this may be gas under a churn.

Thank you everybody for your responses. As an update I did the following.

I diluted all the failed stuff down to 30% and ran it through the still again - this time doing cuts to the best of my knowledge.

I bottled the tails that I wasn't using. I also bottled the heads. The hearts I left to air for 24 hours at full strength. After this I smelled, diluted to 40% then smelled and tasted but there was a peculiar smell and this came across in the taste.

Although I'd used activated carbon in the wash (triple still) I decided to run my distillate through an activated carbon filter. I did this 5x. The result is a clean, clear taste that I am extremely proud of.

Interestingly though, after running the 40% distillate through the activated carbon filter the ABV dropped to around 37%.

I have no idea why that happened but I'd rather have 37% of good, clear stuff than 40% of something I couldn't drink.

I suppose my next question has to be should I have aired at full strength or after dilution when the evaporation may not be as great?

Should I have put the spirit through the activated carbon filter at full strength or was I right to put it through at 40%?

(Just as an aside there have been a couple of mentions of calculators. Can you share a link to the ones you use please)

Once again, thanks everyone for your help.

Lets say the drop to 37% was either due to water soaked charcoal or airing.
Personally my product airs from coming off the still and sometimes to lower percentages after dilution, I believe in letting the angels take their share, they take what I don't really want.
Don't try and carbon filter above 45%, it doesn't work well.
I hope some of that helps.

Robert.

One thing to add, distilling can turn a lackluster wine into a fine brandy, but it cant really fix a poor ferment.
The off tastes might be from something that went wrong during the ferment, and might be able to be disguised by redistilling and multiple carbon filtering of the spirits.

Working on your brewing skills is one of the best things we can do to improve the spirits we produce. High ABV washes just don't produce good drinks in my experience.