new guy here needs help!!

[Capt-Cudellez]

A touch too much of heads is better than early tails. Leaving it to age for a few months with some head space in the vessle will usualy air out.
Tails need long time on wood to be corrected, think 10 year old scotch.

[chill]

And I usually leave too much tails on aqua vitae type fruit schnapps. Nothing to cure that but a re-distill.

[huntersdaddy0203]

How would I know what heads hearts and tails smell and taste like? Okay so I just redistill all of it I guess and try again I been taking 150 ml for heads is that okay lol

[chill]

No, that is not OK. You need to do some reading on here as to how to make cuts, what heads and tails smell and taste like etc.

Here is a good article on making the cuts:
https://www.stilldragon.org/discussion/ ... de-to-cuts

[Easydrinker]

https://www.stilldragon.org/discussion/ ... de-to-cuts

Nice link chuck,I've not seen that one before,I need to get out more!

Robert

[Almanac]

There is also our own guide which you'll find as a odf booklet in the first post here, viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1326

AM

[yellow belly]

I think alot of people puting methanol in alcohol is scare mongering by the papers if it does get in its by accident why kill people you make money off. It tends to be used for cleaning or Sterling and I guess carelessness and mix ups happen!

Also stories of nail polish remover in alcohol ie acetone surely from bad cuts by uneducated people.

Stay safe enjoy the hobby and don't believe the hype!

[Jonc26uk]

A basic breakdown of what I use to do when I had a airstill was.

Run 6 batches of 4litres of wash collect 1300ml from each run ( don't discard anything). Then mix these back together and add enough water approx 4.2lites back to it. This gives u 3 more batches to re run. When running these u make yr cuts. First 50ml of every run goes down the drain as this is where all the nasty stuff is ( should smell a bit like pear drops) then the next 250ml is collected (heads) then 1000ml is collected which is the good drinking stuff (hearts) then collect in 100ml batches which is the tails. its up to u which tails u use depending on smell and taste. Do this 3 times.

So if u only use the 3 litres of hearts and dilute down to 40 percent, this is safe to drink and no worries about nasty shite in them. The dangerous stuff is in the first 50ml. And if u drank the heads and tails u would probably get a worse hangover off it but that's all.

But do read the guides on here, u can learn a lot from them ,that guide I have just gave u is a basic answer to get u going and drinking .

If yr like me u will try the get the maximum alcohol out of yr wash at first, , but u will soon learn that this isn't the best way

[chill]

You can't make proper cuts by volume or ABV unless you have very repeatable wash results. I have never seen heads end after 250ml, that is the just part is absolutely, certainly contaminated by heads. They will reduce to an undetectable (e.g. drinkable) level over the next 300-500ml. You should collect that portion in small jars and decide based on taste.

Chuck

[Capt-Cudellez]

Completely agree with Chill's comment, you really can't cut by ABV, Scotch is done this way (or sometimes on a timed basis) - but that product is full of heads and tails, they just let it breathe for years and years to sort that out.
I can pull 95%+ ABV tails with my VM column, the vapour temp indicates the change way before there is any noticeable change on a hydrometer.

Smell and taste, and lots of practice is the only real way to get it right. Everybody has trouble getting this right when starting out, but one day your brain/tongue just gets it and you'll be able to spot it a mile away - this also ruins lots of middle shelf spirits for you as you can taste what's wrong with it

[chill]

Yes! There are a few bourbons, Wild Turkey is one, that I used to like and now can't drink as all I can taste are the heads.

Chuck

[Phantom]

I think alot of people puting methanol in alcohol is scare mongering by the papers if it does get in its by accident why kill people you make money off. It tends to be used for cleaning or Sterling and I guess carelessness and mix ups happen!

Also stories of nail polish remover in alcohol ie acetone surely from bad cuts by uneducated people.

Stay safe enjoy the hobby and don't believe the hype!

Nicely put YB.

People forget the salient points and only remember the bad/scarey stuff (in built "fight/flight" factor here ? dunno).

They remember all the scaremongering that was disseminated from the US Federal Government during their prohibition period along with the media glove puppets of the day.

The various national tax authorities will do nothing to quash the scaremongering as it's not in their interests - equally, having a tax authority as arrogant as HMRC, makes it harder to even consider pushing to get home distillation legalised (even for a limited quantity).

Whereas the truth, is that ALL fermentations produce some methanol, I understand that it's more prevalent from fruit fermentations, than grain or sugar. That's not rumour or conjecture, it's chemical fact (in the same way, that all fruit seeds/pips/stones contain cyanide and all poppy seeds contain opiates - just that the miniscule amounts are irrelevant - unless you're processing the types that have higher amounts because that's what you're trying to obtain).

But, the whole point of watching your runs and monitoring temps etc, is that you just remove the portion that exploits exactly the same physical property of distillation, that we do to remove the water from the ethanol/ethyl alcohol for the drinkies part.

The tiny bit of methanol boils off at a lower temperature, which is why for safety, that even though the total quantity per gallon would only be maybe a couple of millilitres, we routinely ditch 25mls per 4 litre charge of an airstill (if you read some of the FB pages on moonshine, they suggest a fluid ounce per gallon of mash/wash - which equates to about 28/29ml per 3.8 litres, so while slightly more, it's still in the same area).

Those foreshots can then be used for cleaning or in your vehicles screen wash bottle without issue.

Again, well put in your original post - this is just to repost the information to those who might not have read it in earlier posts or to have bothered to search for it.......

regards

P

{edit}Here is a nice, handy reference article/chart (from a reputable academic source) about it - making it easy for n00bs to understand why we just need to bin the first part of a run - and only once, unless you/they happen to add a flavouring source that could contain a further measure......{/edit}

[Jonc26uk]

Haha I knew when I posted ppl would mention heads tails cuts etc, but this is not what he's asking about. As long as u discard the first part approx 50ml he won't be drinking the dangerous stuff. Everyone's got to start somewhere, the hangovers get less as u learn.

[Almanac]

Haha I knew when I posted ppl would mention heads tails cuts etc, but this is not what he's asking about. As long as u discard the first part approx 50ml he won't be drinking the dangerous stuff. Everyone's got to start somewhere, the hangovers get less as u learn.

That's a dangerous road to start out on. Particularly when there's experienced advice available to help beginners avoid the pitfalls. The emphasis here is on enjoying learning how to make great quality spirits that are considerably better than commercial products.

Then again some people just want to get pissed out of their minds, go figure

AM

[Jonc26uk]

Tbh yes to begin with all I wanted was cheap booze,but after reading a lot of guides and posts on here I think (and lots of my friends think ) I make good quality booze now. But I was worried about poisoning myself to begin with, which is his original question. It's like shagging it gets better each time u try it