StillSmart

Not sure if anyone remembers me, but I joined the forum a few months ago after I purchased an air still.

I did a complete strip of a 21L wash, and 2 spirit runs. Mixed the yield from the first spirit run with some flavorings and drank it. I was happy with the results more so because I just made my own spirits but I wasn't satisfied with the results.

I got busy with work and the second spirit run is still sitting fractioned out in its collection jars...waiting to be mixed.

I didn't filter the first spirit run and I know I needed to which is what I will do with the second spirit run collections before I flavour and drink.

a couple days ago, after getting back into the hobby and reading up for a couple weeks I purchased a new still.....the essentia express still.

I'm sure you guys know the one I'm talking about with the blue reflux column and condenser.

I was going to buy a t500 but after doing some reading found that the essentia is the better choice for me.

so now I have another wash in the still ready to strip tonight.

I'm hoping to be able to hang around here more and become more of the family.

I'll let you guys know how the run goes tonight....I'm thinking about throwing all the left over strip and even fractioned spirits from my air still into this still to redo in hopes of a better products...haven't decided yet.


Cheers!

Definitely recycle any left overs from your Airstill runs. You'll be glad you did

AM

Big Mac!

I will take your advice. about to start the strip in about an hour or so.

question for you and others...can I do my strip with the still running in reflux mode or should I pull out the packing and run in pot still mode?

I noticed that everything I read says to do a strip in pot still mode, but is it necessary?

my thoughts are that if I strip in reflux, and then do a spirits run in reflux it should give me a cleaner final product?


Cheers!

Drewzy

Drewzy wrote:Big Mac!

I will take your advice. about to start the strip in about an hour or so.

question for you and others...can I do my strip with the still running in reflux mode or should I pull out the packing and run in pot still mode?

I noticed that everything I read says to do a strip in pot still mode, but is it necessary?

my thoughts are that if I strip in reflux, and then do a spirits run in reflux it should give me a cleaner final product?


Cheers!

Drewzy

Either. Using a pot to strip isn't necessary.

I just fire up my T500, run a batch of wash, then let it back down to 40% or less then re-run the stuff.

It maybe that running it a second time is a waste, but I have it in my head that any shit flavours that make it through the first time will be diluted down and when I rerun the batch it'll leave even more of any residual shit that might be in the batch back in the still, so I just do it like that.

Any dilution is done with reverse osmosis water and all "finished" neutral is carbon filtered......

My neutrals are usually very clean, so the drinking flavour is solely derived from the flavouring essence.......

Which works for me.........

Thanks for your reply phantom.

I figured the same as you did.

I'm aiming for super clean neutrals right now so I would suspect the more distillations the better.

I'm sitting in front of my still as I type, I threw everything from my air still back into this wash...I actually had a shitty thing happen...the spigot on the still was leaking and leaked out half my wash without me knowing during dinner. after I realized and salvaged what I could I ended up diluting everything left over from air still and the wash I had to about 14% which I thought was perfect...unfortunate but perfect and brought me back up to over 20L

I'll let you guys know how she goes!


Cheers!

Drewzy

The reasoning behind using a pot head to strip wash is that it is very quick and your packing won't get contaminated with shit from the strip. Ever smelled a pot head or condenser after a stripping run? It's seriously bad and with some washes, I'm thinking of some Turbos here, the smell can make you barf!

However, it's not strictly necessary just recommended to avoid the possibility of contamination.

AM

can you rinse the column with regular water or do you have to do a citric acid bath to clean the copper properly and get rid of contamination?

I will post my results from last night on my first ever striping run with the essentia, but it basically took me over 5 hours.

it makes sense what you said big mac.

there's always a reason for doing things that have been done for decades past, even if it's not obvious immediately! lol

Cheers!


Drewzy

I've found a good rinse of all vapour affected parts, with plenty of cold running water, from a hose, after every stripping run and spirit run does the trick

AM

aidanmac wrote:I've found a good rinse of all vapour affected parts, with plenty of cold running water, from a hose, after every stripping run and spirit run does the trick

AM

Whereas, thus far, I haven't washed out my column at all. I haven't even bothered to dis-assemble it to check the insides, and had no problems at all, smell, contamination or othewise.......

S'pose it's a case of "you pays yer money, and takes yer choice"..........

If you want to clean/sterilise/whatever between runs, then fine, if it works for you that's great I'll still just take the lazy way out until I get problems

Me too, no problems as yet.

My Motto is: Always try the least effort option first, just in case it works.

John51 wrote:Me too, no problems as yet.

My Motto is: Always try the least effort option first, just in case it works.

I don't have any motto, I'm just a lazy twat who wants half decent booze for the least amount of effort and £'s

In my defence I always considered I was being a lazy git too by just rinsing with cold water as I dismantle the bits and pieces

I've a lot to learn

AM

I smelt the column and even though it didn't smell squeaky clean, it wasn't overbearing. I think I'll rinse with cold water though after a strip just to rinse out any residual dunder water caught up there. I'm planning on doing citric acid bath every few runs anyways. I would imagine it is good practice to keep the equipment clean.

went to the store today and got a 10gallon fermenter. I'm going to try my first non turbo wash today since it's snowing like mad outside.

thanks for all the help and discussion here guys, I appreciate the support.


Cheers!

Drewzy

The question relative to how to set up the still for a spirit run versus a spirit run is a no brainer. Although having said that - you can do it any way you want. But why would you. AM hit it on the head as he usually does.

A stripping run is spimly that. You start with your beer/wash and remove the solids and colour and most of the water and finish with a "low wine" that will be fairly clean, drinkable for some and ready for a spirit run. Run the still wide open with no packing. No point in having any kind of reflux during this run.

Always rinse the still out after any run. Every few stripping runs, break the still down and clean. I just use water and those green 3M scubber things. Off taste and smells will start coming over if not clean.

For the spirit run it is essential to have a clean still, not one that has had a strip or two run through. As for packing and reflux - it depends on what you are trying to arrive at. For rum and cachaca I use a short column (30 cm) with no packing. Also run wide open. For neutral (95%) I use a packing and extend the column to 90 mm.

To get 95% ABV of a clean product that does not need filtering, the equipmet must be clean and the still must have reached eqilibrium before you start taking off any spirit. I let things eqilibrate for an hour. And then I take the spirit off very slowly so as not to upset eqilibrium.

I like to let the high wine sit around and breath for a month at least.

rumjohn,

I'm going to imagine that to reach equilibrium you have to run the still in 100% reflux...but what exactly is reaching equilibrium? is that what they call compressing the heads?

I may be way off but I'm trying.


Cheers!

Drewzy