First wash put through the still

[Gizo]

Ok just put my first wash through the still today. I have a pure distilling sprit maker on a 30l boiler.
The wash was a straight from instructions turbo wash ( will be doing a tpw for next wash to compare)
I kept first 180 Mls to use as cleaner, collected approx 4.5 litres at 94% ended with 10 litres at 40%.
Couple of questions if anyone can advise me
It does have a strong smell is this normal? I thought it was supposed to be odourless
Turned still off at 81c had been running at 79.6

I am going to soak some oak chips for rum and scotch how long do I leave on the chips ( was thinking two weeks)

[WalterWhite]

Mate without meaning to sound like a dick you need to have a really good read of the newbies corner.
Pay special attention to the sections regarding 'cuts'.
Get on to TPW or WBAB straight away and never do turbo again.
Don't drink the stuff you just made .... Chalk it up as part of the learning curve.

[Rowey]

Howdy Gizo,

The Turbo stuff is pretty ordinary! But that's where I started and thought it was alright (at the time). But since trying the TPW I gave away my 10 packs of Turbo that I had in the cupboard. I actually got given 2 litres of spirit made from turbo that was soaked in a port barrel for 6 months and I still cant drink it, just tastes too strong.

Keep your turbo to one side while you finish a TPW and compare the 2 at least that way you can taste the difference :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Rowey :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[stattonb]

drink the turbo while ya put some TPW on you will taste the difference straight up, i started with a reflux still and turbo and after being on this group for awhile got away from it and now making good booze instead of race car fuel, most ppl start with turbo from what ive seen so yea read up

[WTDist]

double distill or tripple distill the turbo. thats what i did with all of mine once i realized and the tripple distilled stuff was great, i took cuts too, harsh cuts :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Nino]

I think you will find that most of us have started the same way and then moved up from there. The only way you are going to get rid of the smell is to water it down to 50% and put carbon in it and leave it for a week or two.
I used to leave mine on carbon for up to a month and would be much better. Use some of the recipe that are in the tried and true and I think you will be much happier. You will definitely get a much better product for less money that turbo.
Enjoy your hobby it can be very interesting and fun.
Nino

[Grizzly]

I'm fairly amateur when compared to most of these blokes.
I still use a T500, but I run it at a much lower temp, and think I'm getting fairly good results - about 55C, the temps you said at high 70's (for me) sound way too high
I to started with turbo's and switched to TPW on my 3rd run, and never looked back
TPW produces less volume, at much greater quality
I actually take in 4 or 5 bottles to work every Friday for the blokes to try, a couple of the guys say I've ruined them for store bought booze!

I still have some Turbo stuff around I thought that was fairly good when I made it, wont touch it now, wanna tip it down the drain, but get a bit nostalgic, so it stays on the shelf,..

[Gizo]

I'm fairly amateur when compared to most of these blokes.
I still use a T500, but I run it at a much lower temp, and think I'm getting fairly good results - about 55C, the temps you said at high 70's (for me) sound way too high
I to started with turbo's and switched to TPW on my 3rd run, and never looked back
TPW produces less volume, at much greater quality
I actually take in 4 or 5 bottles to work every Friday for the blokes to try, a couple of the guys say I've ruined them for store bought booze!

I still have some Turbo stuff around I thought that was fairly good when I made it, wont touch it now, wanna tip it down the drain, but get a bit nostalgic, so it stays on the shelf,..

A mate has a t500 but apparently it works a bit different, no temp control on a pure distilling spirit maker.

I will put a tpw down this week then taste the difference.

[Hairy]

Gday.
Like others have said, you need to do cuts. Read, read, read.........
I've got the same still as you and usually end up discarding more like 3ooml of heads after doing cuts, so it may smell strong because you haven't cut harsh enough.
Although not text book method, I do cuts for the first 600ml, smelling and tasting as I go to make sure Im well and truly into the hearts.........collect a few litres( while still at the stabilized temp).......then start cuts again. I then go through my cuts the next day after they have aired a bit.
but until you really get to know your still you need to do proper cuts.
I think the book say's collect until you get a 1 degree temp change from memory but I start doing cuts again before that.
They may not be the best still on the market and you could make one cheaper once you know what you are doing but compared to the Still spirits reflux or T500 type stills I reckon they are by far the pick of the bunch........simple to use and set and forget.(but obviously you shouldn't leave them)
Just keep reading this site as its full of great info.......start doing cuts.....piss off the homebrew shop stuff and start doing TPW.
personally, Id run what you've made through again and do cuts this time
Cheers

[hoochlover]

Hi Gizo, I hope your first run was fun for you. You can get decent results if you double, or maybe even triple distil (depending upon your still) a turbo wash. The turbo wash has a lot of extra nutrients which aren't used by the yeast and end up in what you boil, adding extra flavours. It's also not the best nutrient mix for yeast in regards to anything but speed, which also adds extra flavours and lowers your drinkable ethanol. So you should double distil (at least) before aging on it in my opinion as it reduces the flavors/smells significantly. You may find you have to discard at least 50% of it for a later run with another (hopefully more neutral) wash, which is why it's very handy to distil into 500ml jars or something like this so you can easily tell what is the horrible (acetone / vegemite type smells) from the good (punch in the face but not much else).

Another good tip for any wash is to age a stripping run on baking soda for a week before your second run through the still. This increases final amount of drinkable ethanol and reduces flavors/smells too. You have to dilute your stripping run to 40-50% with water and add 1 to 2 tsp per litre. 1tsp for the ones which don't smell so bad and 2tsp for the ones which do. The baking soda being present in the stripped wash also helps reduce oxidation on the second run, which means you end up with more alcohol.

Make sure you tell us how it ends up for you anyhow, always interesting to hear from people who first taste their own productions.

[stattonb]

im still new only been brewing for under a year but i know that if you do turbo and filter it and like it stick with it i did for abit but if ya wanna setup to the next level still do ya turbo but try doing a TPW each time ya throw a turbo down and compare them, either way its what you like in the end

[Gizo]

The smell in the finished product greatly reduced over night, took some to the lhbs was told it was fine and as it should be.
I have put down a TPW today.

I am have another read of the cuts post.
If I run this through again, is it right to put through at 40%
Would this run through quicker than my first run?

[Gizo]

I think you will find that most of us have started the same way and then moved up from there. The only way you are going to get rid of the smell is to water it down to 50% and put carbon in it and leave it for a week or two.
I used to leave mine on carbon for up to a month and would be much better. Use some of the recipe that are in the tried and true and I think you will be much happier. You will definitely get a much better product for less money that turbo.
Enjoy your hobby it can be very interesting and fun.
Nino

What do you mean put carbon in it?

[stattonb]

yes put thru at 40% minimum

[WalterWhite]

Put it through at 40% maximum. Not safe to run it through at more than 40%
Also run it as slowly as you can. This is your spirit run and should be run slowly.

[stattonb]

my bad ment max lol

[Gizo]

Thanks for the help everyone,
I will try putting it through again, I don't have any control with my still,
I assume I discard the first 150 most again?

[Atreu]

Thanks for the help everyone,
I will try putting it through again, I don't have any control with my still,
I assume I discard the first 150 most again?

Yeah mate,

except,

collect the lot in 250ml lots, (I used beer bottles, cleaned and marked).

Wait 24 hrs, and sample the bottles...

Smell them.

Then taste them.

Add a little water - that really makes it easy to differentiate between heads hearts and tails.

Start with the middle bottle, this is your hearts - anything that is different to that smell, (or lack thereof) is worth noting.

Heads smell like nail polish remover, and tails smell like wet cardboard.

AND READ THE CUTS GUIDE!!!
(Truly... Applying that shit'll make you a better distiller than anything else at this point...)

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Gizo]

One other quick question about airing, I completely missed doing it on this batch, when I distill my Tpw that is bubbling away nicely at the moment,
1. Collect in 250 ml lots in bottles ( I have heaps of swing top beer bottles)
2 . Leave for 24 hours opened but covered with something to allow airing - have read 24 and 48 hours is 48 hours better? Do you get much evaporation from this?
3.Test each bottle to collect hearts ( I then combine hearts together, use with appropriate essences.)
4 . Heads and tails dilute to below 40% run through still ( same process as before in 250 ml lots) collect hearts discard any heads and tails from this run? ( or better to collect heads and tails from a couple of batches then run together am I correct in calling this a faints run?)

I have read the cuts post think I understand it better.

Do I have this close to being right.

[WalterWhite]

One other quick question about airing, I completely missed doing it on this batch, when I distill my Tpw that is bubbling away nicely at the moment,
1. Collect in 250 ml lots in bottles ( I have heaps of swing top beer bottles)
yep bottles or jars is fine mate
2 . Leave for 24 hours opened but covered with something to allow airing - have read 24 and 48 hours is 48 hours better? Do you get much evaporation from this?
you won't notice any. I air in jars with kitchen roll over the top for 48hours and don't notice any.
3.Test each bottle to collect hearts ( I then combine hearts together, use with appropriate essences.)
yep start in the middle and work your way out. I dilute each tasting in a shot glass. This helps the off flavours come through.
4 . Heads and tails dilute to below 40% run through still ( same process as before in 250 ml lots) collect hearts discard any heads and tails from this run? ( or better to collect heads and tails from a couple of batches then run together am I correct in calling this a faints run?)
some people collect up all their feints for a feints run. Another option is to just add them to your next wash when you run it through the still. Personally if it's from turbo I would just forget these ones and use them for weeding

I have read the cuts post think I understand it better.

for me (I'm new to this as well), all the reading and learning and following others experiences is part of the fun. Sounds like you are on the right track mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Do I have this close to being right.