Neutral tastes awful! What to do?

by **Nikos stavros** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 5:56 am

Hey guys. I'm a fairly new distiller I have only got 3 runs under my belt with a turbo 500 and artisan copper condenser. On the 3rd run something stuffed up with my water pressure causing it to drop and I lost my cooling water while it was running, next thing I know it's spurting out a bit of whAt looked like wash into my collecting jug making it go a hazy colour. I carbon filtered it and it came out clear but there is a bad taste to it. Kind of like a washy aftertaste. And I have already made a few bottles of bourbon and Irish whiskey with the stuff (what was I thinking! :roll: )
I need to know if I can just fill my boiler with water and throw all these bottles of plonk I don't like into the water(kind of like making an instant wash I guess) and re-distill it and turn it back to neutral. Can it be done?

by **Dominator** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:02 am

Yep, chuck it all back in the boiler, make sure it is watered down to 40%ABV or less and redistill it. Also if you have not already, check out the Tomato Paste Wash in the Tried and Proven section. It will make a better neutral than you will ever get from a turbo wash.

by **Nikos stavros** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:08 am

Ok, the stuff is already watered down to 40% but I plan on adding it to water in the boiler so will be much less.
I have also read about the TPW and I am going to try it next as I heard its better and no need to carbon filter it.

by **BackyardBrewer** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:09 am

Nikos stavros wrote:Ok, the stuff is already watered down to 40% but I plan on adding it to water in the boiler so will be much less.
I have also read about the TPW and I am going to try it next as I heard its better and no need to carbon filter it.

If its at 40% don't water it down any more.

And yes the TPW is about 100light years better and cheaper than any turbo on the market with no need for filtering.

Good luck with the rerun.

by **Dominator** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:16 am

If its at 40%, you dont need to water it down, but you can if you want to. However the higher the ABV you put in the boiler, the higher the ABV you will collect at. Higher ABV = less other stuff, ie. congeners, which will get you a cleaner neutral.

by **Nikos stavros** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:32 am

I have a 25L boiler and only about 3L of 40% I want to re-distill. Also the stuff is already mixed with bourbon essence. Are you saying just chuck this in the boiler with out any extra water?

by **Bushy** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:04 am

Personally i would leave all that shit in the cupboard till yr next wash is ready. Then put it all in and run it.

by **BackyardBrewer** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:13 am

Bushy wrote:Personally i would leave all that shit in the cupboard till yr next wash is ready. Then put it all in and run it.

+1 on this. Waste of time effort and power running 3L. If you add more water you're just boiling water not more spirit.

Learn patience grasshopper:-) it results in better product.

And the sooner you crack some TPW washes the sooner life gets easier.

So much cheaper and cleaner.

by **Aussiedownunder01** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:37 am

Also seeing its puked make shore you wash out your still

by **Nikos stavros** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:58 am

Ok, I agree, waste of water and power running 3L .
I'm going to just make a TPW and add this stuff to it when it's ready to run.
Thanks you guys.

by **Yummyrum** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:23 pm

When I was a beginner I would use any excuse to distill :D .Its all good practice . :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Ordinarily 40% doesn't need further dilution,its good to go again ....but......

If you are going to re-run it ,I would add more water just enough to almost cover the element .Since you only have 3liters ,just under halve of it will stay in the boiler and just over half will be distilled .( leave the boiler)

As most commercial 25liter boilers need at lest 1.5 liters of water to cover the element , you need to make sure it doesn't boil dry

by **The Stig** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:24 am

Nikos stavros wrote:I'm going to just make a TPW and add this stuff to it when it's ready to run.
Thanks you guys.

This is your best course of action :handgestures-thumbupleft:

by **Bushy** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:43 am

The Stig speaks ^:)^