StillSmart

I just finished my first full production stripping run in my new 50lt Pot Still.

All previous runs were bedding-in and familiarisation - it's quite similar to running an Airstill in many ways.

Having said that I decided to post this comment on the huge difference in output from the two stills using the same type wash - in this case a VS.

The product from the Airstill is quite pungent, winey and as the run progresses the smell gets progressively stronger.

From the 50lt Pot it's a completely different story. I was amazed at how clean the output smelled and when it got to the end of the strip the output was almost odourless.

Vapour is vapour, no matter where it is. However, the mechanics of distance and space between the evaporating surface and the point of condensation clearly have a huge effect on the quality and purity of the final distillate.

I'm not technically qualified to comment on or explain the science involved but my nose and my tongue are experts in the area of taste and smell and they both agree - WOW! the difference is huge!

AM

Dammit Aiden, I am trying to be satisfied with my EasyStill!

How long did the stripping run take? How many litres did you load into the still?

ChuckAndJealous

Nice one Adian! I know what you mean, if I get a very clean ferment, sometimes the strip taste like nasty cheap vodka - fores, heads & tails all mixed in can be better than some things I've paid money for.
(not suggesting you drink that, but a little taste when it smells good, I was surprised)

By the time I get down to 20% on the parrot, its like slightly off tasting water that is coming off.

.

Well done that man!.

How much? How long? How Strong? we want the intimate details!

Thanks for the comments guys.

As this was a stripping run I decided that I would collect the distillate in DJs. The ones I have only hold 4.65lt so I decided I would collect the strip in 4lt batches with no cuts.

I had 47lt cleared product from a 50lt VS wash that was circa 12% (maybe a little under) to which I added 2lt tails from previous runs, 1lt recycled spirit experiment I didn't like and 2lt of stripped wash at 30% from a previous batch. All-in-all quite a mixture but all reasonably good quality.

OK, some details. I charged the still with 40lt of the above and turned on the power at 14.40hrs with the power controller set to 100% (2Kw).

After 100mins (at 16.20hrs) the lyne arm was starting to get warm at the top of the riser - just - and the wash in the still had reached 87oC so I started the coolant running.

At 16.25hrs the first drips came from the liebig and by the time there was enough distillate in the parrot for a reading the output read 82%ABV but this very quickly dropped and settled into the mid 70s.

By 17.35hrs, just 70 mins after first product appeared, the distillate in the first DJ had reached 4lt - that was quite a surprise as I hadn't anticipated that high an initial flow rate - 1lt every 17.5mins . At this point the ABV at the parrot was reading 60%.

The strength of the combined first 4lt batch measured 66%ABV.

The next 4lt was uneventful and ran almost identical to the first except that it took 71 mins to 18.46hrs and at the end of the second 4lt batch the ABV in the parrot had dropped to 52%.

The strength of the combined second 4lt batch measured 55%ABV.

The ABV continued to drop quite quickly and when it dropped to 30% I switched off the power. The total of the last batch was 3lt. This final batch had taken 56 mins to 19.42hrs.

The strength of the combined final 3lt batch measured 40%ABV.

With hindsight I should have let the still run on until the parrot showed 20% and I estimate this would have yielded a further liter and the final ABV of the last batch would have been in the region of 37%. I'll know the next time.

Boil time - 14.40-16.25hrs - total 105 minutes
11lt yield 16.25-19.42hrs - total 197 minutes
Total time from switch on to switch off - 302 mins (5hrs 2mins)
Net yield at 30%ABV for spirit run - 20lt
Average flow rate 3.35lt per hour.

Bottom line - I took 40lt of wash containing all sorts, extracted 11lt of the best components and disposed of more than 70% of the total volume as non-useable waste and all in one afternoon.

Very satisfying all round.

AM

Great report Aidan! Cheers! I am looking forward to your spirit run, I expect you are too.

Chuck

Sounds muckle kiff to me AM

Gonna try a triple distill next, second run on 30% with pothead slightly turned down power I think then final run with reflex column
What a grand hobby this is

Nicely done Aiden, as you would expect with the 3Kw the times are reduced a bit - I think I'm about 3.5hours total - makes it very doable to strip after work and have time to clean and tidy away. The end result ABV wise is about the same.

Also I tend to run down to about 15% doesn't take that much longer.

When I'm doing rum, I only do a single 60ltr fermenter at a time (50+ odd lts wash)
So I strip the first 35lts, then take off 8-10 ltrs of dunder to melt the sugar/molasses for the next lot. Then add the remaining 15-20 ltrs of wash to the hot dunder left in the boiler, it gets it up to temp in no time, and I can strip the lot in a single evening. The second run is lower ABV wise due to the lower ABV in the still, but it's all going for re-distillation anyway.

Hey Chuck, you ain't wrong! Spirit run starting after a hearty breakfast this morning (Friday). I've cleared the boards of everything Even SWMBO is going out for the day "window shopping".

AT wrote "Sounds muckle kiff to me AM"
Watch it AT! just watch it!

CC: As I said, hindsight is a great thing and I definitely will be following your lead on the finishing ABV on the strip in future. It was a case of old habits with the Airstill where I feel it really is pointless to collect below 30%.

In terms of running times, being a retired old fart has its advantages in that I can run during the day on weekdays - are you jealous???

I've no idea how long the spirit run is going to take but I have 40lt @ 30% ready to go and I'll post details tomorrow of how it goes and I'll even organise a few pics for the Still Fetishists

AM

Nice one Aidan,

You are still a couple of weeks in front of me and doing all the pioneering for me, it's perfect.

Keep the reports coming, they make my progress a lot easier and they let me know what to expect. I am having an easy ride - Thank you.

Hey AM

'muckle kiff' is an old Northern badland saying meaning 'just the donkey's nob'
Or if you're from the soft south 'jolly good show old boy what what !'

Irish people are very proper when it comes to the use of language and we're not given to using bad language or colloquial terms. Therefore to indicate ones approval of something in particular we use the correct term "the dogs bollox "

AM

The Spirit Run

Boiler turned on at 12.10hrs - power at 100%
Boil time 1hr 40mins
Reduced power to 50% and started collecting Foreshots & Heads at 13.50hrs
Foreshots - collected 250ml
Collected further 50ml separately for later checking.

Heads 1 Jar 262ml (was supposed to be 250ml but took my eye off the jar)
Heads 2 Jar 500ml
Heads 3 Jar 500ml Heads ended during this jar and will assess useability tomorrow
Heads started at 14.00hrs and finished at 14.29hrs

Hearts: 10 X 750ml Jars collected with ABV from 78-70%
5 X 750ml Jars collected with ABV from 69-62%
1 X 400ml Jar collected with ABV from 62-60%

In planning the run I had decided to cut off collection at 60% even though when it got to that point there was still no smell or taste of Tails.

The Hearts collection started at 14.29hrs and finished at 17.52hrs - Total 3hrs 23mins

Total Spirit collected was 11.65lt which will dilute to 19.65lt @ 40% or 28 standard bottles of spirits.

I played around with the power setting at various points to see the effect on collection times but I'm not posting details as the data would be meaningless given that the power applied does not affect the quality of the distillate, in a Pot Still, just the speed at which it is distilled.

I continued collection of distillate down to 30%ABV and this yielded 5lt to go into the next stripping run.

The Tails collection started at 17.52hrs and I turned off the power at 19.35hrs

I recently bought packs of 3 X 1lt Kilner preserve jars for spirit collection and airing.

As you can see these ones have a removable centre which I found handy for the airing process and I got a pack of 100 Non-Woven, all Cotton, Medical Swabs 75mm X 75mm, from the Pharmacy (cost only 2 Euros)to use as covers to keep out bugs and debris.



I was kicking myself because I hadn't properly estimated the volume of spirit I'd be collecting and only had 12 jars on hand when I started the run. I decided to collect 750ml in each jar to allow airspace and to help me with the cuts but after using up 10 jars I had to select 6 from the middle of the Hearts and pour them all into a DJ to free up enough jars to finish the run. I'll be going out today to get 9 more just to-be-sure-to-be-sure!

All-in-all the run went well and without incident.

AM

Aidan,

I want to be the first to congratulate you, I do not know about you but I am wearing a big grin just thimking of what you have done - you must be chuffed pink.

28 bottles - the mind boggles. What next?

Next will be another 28 bottles - what dy'a think?

I have two more charges almost ready for the pot and will be running them next weekend. The two strips will go into my 50lt holding keg. I've got 25kg of sugar sitting on my hall floor crying out to me to be used up and then I have 10lt of Molasses that has to be made up and fermented. The Malted Barley arrived last week so the Corn will need to be getting mashed and ready to make some real Bourbon Whisky - Busy, Busy Busy

AM