Aging Spirit

[crlclarke]

Hey Guys

So...Just done my first wash (SS Triple) and run it through my new air still twice, done my cuts and have ended up with 4L of spirit. I have today finished running it through a EZ inline Filter twice.

So my question is.....

Now that its all done, do you guys age it or just drink it??!!
I was planning on flavoring some of it and keeping some as plain vodka

I did open a bottle of absolute vodka i had to compare and mine did have a much more Chemical smell to it, is that normal??

[chill]

That smell may mean that you included too much of the heads in your cuts. Hard to tell long distance.

Chuck

[crlclarke]

Thanks!

I followed the Guide i found on here, 50ml discarded, 250ml heads then collected 1000ml hearts and included 200ml of the tails. And done 2 runs like this.

[Capt-Cudellez]

You can't really do it by numbers like that, you need to do it my taste smell. Each ferment can be slightly different, each still slightly different.
If the do the same wash several times, and run it the same then you get a rough idea where the cut should be, to look out for it.

It is quite difficult to do this cut by taste/smell when you start out, but you soon learn it and can't believe you could not tell the difference when you first tried doing it. This new found knowledge will probably ruin a lot of cheap to middle shelf commercial products for you, as you can taste the compromise they are making for profit.

[crlclarke]

So it sounds like the next time I run my Still I should make sure ive not got to drive anywhere

Thanks for the information!!
I guess i'll just have to hold my breath while drinking my first batch!!

[chill]

I discard 50ml collect 250ml as definitely heads then collect a further 3 x 100ml as "possibly heads". The first of these all but rarely ends up in the heads jar. The second one often ends up there. The third does sometimes. Diluting with quite warm water can help to make the bad tastes more prominent.

When in doubt, throw it out! Well, recycle it anyway.

Chuck

[crlclarke]

Thanks Chuck!

I have another wash finishing in a day or 2 so will give it a try!!

[chill]

I also collect less than 1000ml of hearts, usually 800ml depending on the strength of the low wines that I used. Then I collect into 100ml jars until the ABV our of the still is below 50%. Anything after that goes in the tails jar. Again, I taste each of these jars diluted with warm water and decide if I keep it or recycle it and decide solely on taste and smell.


Chuck

[Almanac]

++1 what Capt C said.

The Guide is just that...a guide and the actual cuts will depend on many things and must be made by taste and smell alone.

If it was too easy any fool could do this, but it's not that easy and that's why you and I are here doing what the fools out there can't.

You keep at it CrlClarke, you're doing just fine and you're nearly there.

AM