StillSmart

Your figures seem quite a way out, you need to air the product, taste and compare.
You are almost certainly drinking heads, to taste use a teaspoon of warm water mixed with a teaspoon of distillate as you taste think to yourself.. Do I want to swallow this?
Also what does POS mean?

I think POS is being used as an abbreviation for Piece of Shit here.
Anyone that has learnt to drive any still would probably not use the phrase.
Maybe some of the builders of some of the "fill your eye with my copper and/or Stainless" constructions to be seen on the interweb might?

I don't own one, but a T500 is not a POS.
Many happy users, once they learn its rhythms.

I do have to agree with Brewhunter, I guesstimate that you are taking around 30% more as drinkable product than I might from each brew/second distillation.

On the brightside, you seem to have noticed that tails are harder to get out of this still, so do leave the little feckers in there.
Measure the volume and ABV of your waste to reassure yourself of what has been left behind.

Robert.

I don't think you are far out. Anything from a bottle to a litre of 40% from each uk gallon (smidge under 5 litres) of good wash seems about right after double distilling.

Your head was fine, so you know you avoided heads and your tail was fine (no bad guts or runs), so you avoided tails too.

The POS comments on other forums are largely based on airstills being "toy" stills and T-500's being one step up in their dickwaving eyes. Imagine turning up to a motorbike or custom car show where they all do their own mechanics and you're on something like 50cc moped or a little electric Sinclair C5 if you remember those? It doesn't help that they are bored with newbies using turbo yeasts and only doing single runs and thinking they are geniuses. The facts are that our "toy" stills are perfectly good kit when used well (good clean wash, double distilled, maybe reduced power, good cuts, airing etc).

needmorstuff wrote:
also - why does everyone think our still is a POS? I already find myself looking for upgrades for no other reason than idle curiosity and a smattering of taking onboard what other people say.

Find your own way. The product is what counts. I believe my product and process is fine. I haven't yet bought a T500 and probably never will. AS all the way!

If you can measure, it can help you see what is happening.

Robert.

As long as you measure starting gravity and final gravity of the wash, and they are the same wash to wash, then you should indeed arrive at a predictable volume of each component, if the still is run in an identical manner each time.
Your volumes may be different to another persons, by some small amount, but should be valid for you.

Robert.

This is the part you need to figure out for yourself otherwise we may as well make it for you.

What you describe as acetone is what I would call heads. I can smell it like nail varnish remover and a finger dip into the stream and then onto tongue is burny. Sounds like you have none in your produce.

Tails I struggle with smelling, but with a bit of experience I can just about see a difference in that they are the teeniest bit cloudy and I know my volumes and temps now.

At the start I bottled into tails a bit without realising and my booze was the tiniest bit off taste and my tummy felt the smallest amount unhappy next morning, but it took a while to figure as it was already better than cheap supermarket morning afters.

It's entirely possible that your clean wash, double distill and cuts means you aren't encountering tails.

Not the scientific answer you were hoping for and I don't advise unlearning what we've suggested and you've worked out for yourself already just to discover what bad booze tastes like

Life is short, and the shits/squits won't normally kill unless contracted in some parts of the world with poor sanitation.
What we need are some alco-warriors, prepared to serve as guinea pigs.
But such a survey would still be flawed, as not all people react to alcohol in the same way.
It's a lose lose situation, with much testing of product needed.

Robert.

Hey, I know nothing of running a T500.
l have some experience.

I would expect two jars of heads, two or three of hearts,and then switch off and pour away the remainder.And be happy if that was the result from the washes what you posted.

You don't get owt for nowt in this life.
HTH.

Robert.

No I'll say it once more, your figures are out.
Cuts should be determined by taste and smell not numbers.
Collect everything in 100 - 150 jars and taste everything after airing.

IMHO you will be wasting some drinkable product with your proposed method.
We all do things differently.
Many do not collect tails, due to the low return.
The method that you propose appears to be perfectly safe, if a little wasteful, but a possible time saver.
People may offer advice if asked, it is the choice of the individual to act upon such advice as they see fit.
These days I mostly distill by numbers, on a wash that I have run many times, and started by tasting my cuts, these days I seldom feel the need to taste cuts.
There is no one way, but a little experience can be useful.
HTH.

Robert.

I agree Robert in time with experience and the same recipe cuts can be made this way, I will take the bulk of my heads and hearts in larger amounts but between I'll take several smaller jars for tasting then the same towards the end of the hearts.

To say 'I'm going to take 750ml heads' at this early stage probably is not the best way but like Robert says we are all different.

This will be my last comment here.

You seem to have an eye upon what to expect, and within operational parameters of a little bit more yeast,strip alcohol % or spirit alcohol %, you should be able to guage a regular wash, for yourself.
I wish you luck and safe and tasty/tasteless spirits.

Robert.

New to this site which I think is great... I also have a T500 which I have had and used for some 5 years now with great results. However I am somewhat confused with the references specifically in this trail regarding heads, mid's and tails. I was under the impression and correct me if I am wrong that the purpose of the T500 reflux column is to circumvent the laborious process involved with a pot still in that one only has to discard the first 50 ml of the distillation run, and the T500 will cease producing when there is nothing left (which it does) or that one ceases the run when the production rate becomes economically unviable. The T500 manual does not suggest that the output be broken into the 3 parts mentioned above. Comments appreciated