StillSmart

I've thrown the heads away
I was just taking measurements as I was going to check the performance of the still.wondering whether it's normal to a) be that quick and b) start so low in abv

Next step then is to mix the rest back together and make sure it's sub 30% and run it again
Presumably no need to take a head and discard on this next run since I've already done that?
Is it usual for the collected distillate at this stage to be cloudy /slightly milky ?

I think maybe you mean fores and not heads?

Probably ...I mean the first 100 ml to come off

You do not throw anything away from a strip run.
You do need to make cuts on the spirit run, only the hearts are for drinking.
All distillate, strip or spirit should be clear as water.
If your spirit comes out cloudy, I would suggest re-running it.
Maybe your cloudy strip is due to the speed of your strip run, or flux residue from the construction process

I do not throw anything away from a whisky spirit run,- eventually the fores,(fores and heads are not distinguished in whisky distillation) and feints (Tails) reach equilibrium in the feints receiver.
Any harmful higher alcohols are passed to the fairies, and propanol and other lower alcohols which make up the tails are eventually broken down and converted through many still passes.
Or so I am informed by a new good buddy, who happens to be Technical Engineer for a Malt distillery.

Robert.

I'm not at all sure that I am following this correctly but I am assuming that this is a continuation of another thread started in a different section of the forum?

Your product %abv seems, to me, very much on the low side..

I can think of three possible reasons:

1. A too rapid boiling which resulted on large quantities of water vapour being collected

2. An incomplete starch conversion in the mashing process, although even here I would have thought the % abv would initially have been higher if short lived.

3. A leak between your boiler and your collection point through which you are losing vapour.

My reasoning being that in the early stages of a strip run, whilst the temperature is still relatively low, little water vapour will be getting carried through compared to alcohol vapour.

Even on my pot still I would expect an initial output in the region of 80% abv, gradually diminishing whilst the temperature gradually rises.

My apologies if I have misunderstood your posting.

Just took the pot head off to clean and empty the boiler and can see why my strip is cloudy......all around the top Tim and the underside of the lid is covered with what was foam from the wash,, !

Running it through again :-)

When you did the sac run how did that look when it came out?

Totally clear .......but have reserved that for lighting the bbq

H12rpo wrote:Just took the pot head off to clean and empty the boiler and can see why my strip is cloudy......all around the top Tim and the underside of the lid is covered with what was foam from the wash,, !

I would try some copper in the bottom and or reducing the power. I am guessing you are running it a bit too hard.

I'm thinking the same
I've just a spirit run and it still came out pretty damn quick
I'll get some copper mesh type stuff........has anyone tried glass marbles for packing /reflux. I seem to recall my mate using them in his home made stil, in the 80's :-)

I believe that we have had this conversation.
It is a pot head still.
No reflux,no packing, implied.
No-one, to my knowledge has bucked the conventional wisdom and done so,and admitted it.
Knock your socks off and give it a go.
Let us know how it goes.
I am struggling to see the logic of making a pot head to replace a refluxing head and then filling it with refluxing material.

Robert.

As EasyD said, you dont use packing in a potstill configuration. I only use packing when making a neutral (95 or 96% ABV). For a neutral, my column is 3 x the length as that used for rum, shine, whiskey. Its a different process.

As for glass marbles, they dont give you sufficient surface area. I use high quality, restaurant grade SS pot scrubbers. You get a far greater surface area which will give a much cleaner product providing your still is set up correctly, you reach and maintain equilibrium, and your cuts are made at the right time. This is a simplified response.

This has nothing to do with the head.

The boiler needs some copper shrapnel copper coins and pipe offcuts. Someone else mentioned big-head copper tacks.
Ignore marbles not relevant to the boiler.

@Mash: He asked about packing. Both the question and the answer were relevant.