Making cuts on first NGW

[Mormash]

So I did my first whiskey run yesterday with a 25l NGW using 4 bubblers and an unpacked 4"column and I'd really appreciate any advice on how I might go about blending it.
I've only ever done TPW's with a packed column up until now so my still ran completely different in regards to ABV. If you guys take a look at this run and let me know if there's anything out of the ordinary it would give me some peace of mind and confidence to blend this up and age on oak. Hopefully I can get a nice tasting whisky without any headaches.

250ml fores taken
Jar#1 250ml 92.5 % 78deg
Jar#2 250ml 92% 79deg
Jar#3 92-91% 79deg
Jar#4 91-90% 79deg
Jar#5 90-89% 79deg
Jar#6 89-87% 80deg
Jar#7 87-85% 80deg
Jar#8 85-84% 81-82
Jar#9 84-80% 85deg
Jar#10 80-72% 88-91%
Jar#11 72-60% 91-93deg

Does this look about right for 4 bubblers and no packing?
What would be a good starting point to making cuts on a run such as this. I'm finding it difficult to use taste and smell as I've had no experience at all.

Thanks for any feedback guys!

[bluc]

Strange your abv dropping like that. Flavoured wash should behave same as vodka. Did you leak test and what's your cooling water setup?

Cant say were cut points would be but would be looking at jar 3 to 8. Bubbler should hold abv steady and only drop when tails start..

[Johno86]

Strange your abv dropping like that. Flavoured wash should behave same as vodka. Did you leak test and what's your cooling water setup?

Cant say were cut points would be but would be looking at jar 3 to 8. Bubbler should hold abv steady and only drop when tails start..

:text-+1: on the abv dropping. Might need to tweak your heat input and takeoff rate. When did your bottom sightglass fog up during the run?

[Mormash]

Strange your abv dropping like that. Flavoured wash should behave same as vodka. Did you leak test and what's your cooling water setup?

Cant say were cut points would be but would be looking at jar 3 to 8. Bubbler should hold abv steady and only drop when tails start..

I thought the same and checked for leaks without finding any. Is there any other reason as to why the abv may drop like this? Would you still blend this or use it as feints? I've already drain the still so I cant re-run it.

[Mormash]

Strange your abv dropping like that. Flavoured wash should behave same as vodka. Did you leak test and what's your cooling water setup?

Cant say were cut points would be but would be looking at jar 3 to 8. Bubbler should hold abv steady and only drop when tails start..

:text-+1: on the abv dropping. Might need to tweak your heat input and takeoff rate. When did your bottom sightglass fog up during the run?

I ran the boiler in the same way as I did with the vodka runs and the take off was very slow as I'm still getting used to adjusting the water flow rate. My cooling setup is a 550w pump recirculating through a 10,000 litre tank. Bottom sight glass fogged up right at the end of tails.

[bluc]

A leak and temp fluctuation in cooling water are my first two guesses :think:

[woodduck]

Did you say you had an unpacked packed section on above the plates? If so there's no need to. Where was the rc, above or below the packed section? Not saying that's whats caused it but it may have??, maybe passive reflux causing problems? Abv should hold steady right through till a slight drop by 1% to tell you tails are coming.

[woodduck]

Oh and personally I would put that run into the next one but that's just me. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Stonemaker1]

Seems like a very low yield for a 25L boiler charge, I would expect at least double the amount of jars collected.
That's how it works for me but mine you that's from a pot still not a column :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Mormash]

Did you say you had an unpacked packed section on above the plates? If so there's no need to. Where was the rc, above or below the packed section? Not saying that's whats caused it but it may have??, maybe passive reflux causing problems? Abv should hold steady right through till a slight drop by 1% to tell you tails are coming.

Thats something I didn't even consider, woodduck. I took the packing out of the column and replaced the empty column with the RC above. Are you saying I should ditch the column altogether and put the RC directly above the 4th bubbler?

[woodduck]

That's it, no need for the extra pipe above as it will act like a cooler with the cooler air on the outside condencing the alc prematurely. Take the packed section off and put rc straight above the top plate :handgestures-thumbupleft: once again I'm not sure if that is causing the problem but it’s definitely not needed.

What was your take off rate like? How many lph and was it steady or did it fluctuate during the run?

Your yeld might be slightly low but not by much I don't think :think:

[Mormash]

That's it, no need for the extra pipe above as it will act like a cooler with the cooler air on the outside condencing the alc prematurely. Take the packed section off and put rc straight above the top plate :handgestures-thumbupleft: once again I'm not sure if that is causing the problem but it’s definitely not needed.

What was your take off rate like? How many lph and was it steady or did it fluctuate during the run?

Your yeld might be slightly low but not by much I don't think :think:

Ok I'll take the column out next run. I wish I didn't throw out the backset as I would have loved to have re-ran it today. My take off was overly slow but then my f/r did shoot up to 3 lph for about 5 mins until I backed it off to 2.5lph. I struggled getting a good seal above the highest bubbler and I'm thinking that there may have been a leak there that the mirror didn't pick up.

Thanks for your advise :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[woodduck]

Do you have another wash ready to go? If so run it with that. The spirit you got out this run may be ok, you'll have to judge that one, it won't hurt you but might just be a bit smeared with heads and tails. 2.5lph is about what you want on a 4" so you weren't far off the mark. Are you letting the still settle after adjustments to the rc? They could take a minute or so to come through, if your changing it constantly you will just be chacing your tail.

What do you mean by seal above the bubbler? Does that mean it wasn't loaded/bubbling?

[Mormash]

Cheers, woodduck. Everything you've stated I've found to be true. I was thinking it will be smeared so I put another 25l wash on last night and plan to re-run what I collected. I subbed 2kg of sugar with LME and the distill smelt amazing.
I've got an all grain scotch wash plus a MacWhiskey that's just about ready so fingers crossed I have a better run next time.