StillSmart

guys hopefully i should be distilling on sunday thats if the wash is going to plan,anyway im planning to do two runs a stripping run and spirit run
now im gonna stip it into 6 demi johns @ 1350ml a time so il have 8100ml of stripped wash,now this is where i cant get me head round

what can i use that will hold 8100ml + 5400ml(water) to mix up which will give me 13,500ml @ 30%,the biggest container is a racking bin (plastic)26ltr,big stainless steel stock pan which holds 6 ltrs,i cant think what else i can use

also roughly how many collection jars would i need,i think i got about 20 all various sizes,for collecting at 100ml til i find the tails

been trying to figure out the best way but without the hassle ie i did think reusing demi johns again putting 1350 X2 which give me 2700ml and topping up with water 2700ml and in total its 5400,but a demijohn holds only 4.5ltr

soz guys but this has fraggled my brain

I use a 1.5 (just over) litre jug to collect my strip run .. I then pour this into a 23 litre glass carboy .. repeat until the wash is all done

I then add non iodised salt and bicarbonate of soda to the carboy and leave for a week.

When I spirit run I strip into measuring cylinder for foreshots, 1/2 litre jug for heads, litre jug for hearts, measuring cylinders again for each 100ml after (tip into old coffee jars to reuse cylinder) ... foreshots tipped into jar for various uses mainly cleaning, others tipped into individual demijons.

I paid £25 for my carboy from local home brew shop

Iain

Don't panic - There is no need to have one container filled with everything at the same time; the dilution can easily be carried out in small batches.

You say that you care going to strip into 6 Demijohns with 1350ml at a time. Adding 900ml to each batch will give you 6 batches of 2250ml @ 30%. If you want to store these low wines then it will take three 4500ml Demijohns..

If you do not already have 6 Demijohns then you could put 2 strips (2 x 13500 =2700ml) into each of three Demijohns and add (2 x 900 =1800ml) water to each. This will also give you three full 4500ml demijohns @ 30%.

If you are going to have 1350ml of hearts and you are collecting at 100ml per cut 20 jars will be more than enough 200ml. After you have done this a couple of times, you will probably end up taking one large cut ( maybe 500 to 750ml and a smaller number of 100ml cuts).

+1 what YHB said plus, with the best will in the world, your stripping runs will be spread over a period of days, then your spirit runs will follow as time allows so you'll not need all the collection vessels collecting at the same time.

Also, while the posted Airstill Guide says collect 1350ml on the stripping run that volume is dependant on your wash quality and strength and the point at which the strip ABV drops just below 20% mark.

Your final volume of Low Wines from each stripping run may be higher or lower. The water to be added to dilute the average strength of the Low Wines down to 30% will be determined by the normal dilution calculation.

When I'm stripping from my Airstill I use two stainless steel 1lt jugs and just rotate them emptying everything into the DJs. With successive strips I fill each DJ up to 2.5lt before moving to the next and when the entire strip is done I dilute the contents of each DJ separately ending up with 6 DJs with a volume of 30% Low Wines ready for the Spirit Runs.

Don't panic, all will be well.

AM

thanks guys

@ yhb yeah i got 6 demijohns at the moment (i need to get a couple more for my
wine )

so I'm gonna do 2x 1350 of stripped wash into 3 demi johns and top up with
1800 ml of water for each demi to give me 3 demi john with 4500ml in each one
this sounds a bit more logical then mine

@aidan so you put 2.5 litres of stripped wash then top up with 2 litres of water
this correct


soz for soundin like a numpty but i just gettin confused with figures and
trying to work it out

thanks

With the air still I measure the ABV of the strip I have in a 5L demijohn and work out how much water I'd need to add to reduce to 30%. 4000 - (4000 / (Start ABV / 30)) I then add the water to the still first then top up to 4L with the strip and give it a stir before setting it off, easiest way I've found it as I currently don't have that many storage vessels .

When you collect the strip and the ABV drops just below 20% get the low wines you've collected and measure the ABV for the batch and the volume collected.

Using a normal calculator, divide the ABV of the batch by 30 (target ABV for spirit run). Next subtract 1 from the answer then multiply whatever's left by the volume of liquid.

Lets assume you've collected 1.2lt and the batch ABV is 50% then the dilution calculation goes like this.

Divide 50 by 30 = 1.666 then subtract 1 from this answer leaving .666 then multiply by 1.2 = 799 this means you would add 799ml of water to the original low wines make the batch down to 30%

Formula; ((Low Wines ABV/Target ABV) -1)*Volume

or you could go here http://homedistiller.org/calcs/dilute and input the required info and it will tell you how much water to add.

Last thing, don't apologise for asking questions - that's what the forum is for. Don't worry we'll get you there and you'll soon be helping others yourself

AM