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Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:24 am
by BigBullies
Hey all,
Great site its been invaluble for me thus far
I was referred here by fellow tradesman and have a few questions about where i may have gone wrong on my first wash/stilling of wash
I used the TPW recipe from here and left it about 12 days til the airlock wasnt bubbling anymore
Im running a borrowed still which from looking online is a 25L reflux still. I was told to discard the first 250ml to be safe then keep the next 1.5 L then in a seperate vessel catch the next 1.5L as i may not like the taste
After doing that i put the alcoholmeter in it and the first 1.5 is reading 65% undiluted the second 1.5 is reading 52%
Did i miss a step ?. The fellow i know said it should come out about 90-92%
Cheers for any help BigB.

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 9:44 am
by Professor Green
kīa ora BigB. Welcome to AD.

Sounds like you possibly ran the still too fast (not having enough water flowing through the reflux condenser can cause this). Reflux stills rely on getting the right balance of take-off speed and reflux in order to function correctly. If you run the still too fast,the reflux action is not set up correctly and it can behave a bit like a pot still resulting in lower ABV and a not so neutral product.

How fast was the product coming out? Was it gushing out in a thick stream?

Have a read through this thread and the threads linked within it. They should help you understand bit more about the process and help you get the best from our still.

All is not lost though. You can take what you have already collected, dilute it down to under 40% and run it through again. You will loose some of the alcohol by doing this but what you've got now won't be drinkable anyway.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 4:42 pm
by BigBullies
thanks for the welcome Professor Green
i did read all those links in my search for answers
may i ask why the alcohol currently produced isnt drinkable ?
also if i dilute it to say 35% it would be approx 5L right ?
how much alcohol will come from doing it again ?

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:15 pm
by RC Al
Welcome mate :greetings-waveyellow:
Read this one again, possibly twice :handgestures-thumbupleft:
http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2859

This one has a dilution calc
http://www.aussiedistiller.com.au/xcalcs.html

You will loose 2 to 5 % every timeyou re run something depending on how far into tails you go

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:58 pm
by db1979
Welcome mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You won't want to drink that stuff cause it'll have heads smeared all the way through hearts, as well as a heaps of tails. Like the other guys have said, do cuts and run it slower. Lots of learning in this hobby, read lots and take it slow.

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 6:15 pm
by Professor Green
BigBullies wrote:thanks for the welcome Professor Green
i did read all those links in my search for answers
may i ask why the alcohol currently produced isnt drinkable ?
also if i dilute it to say 35% it would be approx 5L right ?
how much alcohol will come from doing it again ?


Hi BigB,

What you have made is essentially tomato whiskey and it probably won't taste very nice. +1 on what db said about heads and tails.

The reason you will lose some alcohol is that each time you re-run the product, some stays behind in the boiler due to inefficiencies in the process. It's just not possible to collect every last drop of ethanol from the charge. The cost of time and energy required to do so would far outweigh the benefits of collecting that last little bit anyway.

The calculator RC linked to should sort you with the volume and dilution. It wont hurt to dilute it a bit more than that BTW, it'll just take a little bit longer to boil.

You'll be able to work out an approximate yield once you get to know the still a bit better and it may vary with each run depending on the consistency of both your process and the boiler charge. Just remember you're making booze from tomato paste and sugar so it's not really costing you a lot. The focus should be on quality rather than quantity.

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:40 pm
by Doubleuj
Welcome to the forum mate, :text-+1: on everything the guys have said above.
Looks like you’re inquisitive and patient so you’re off on the right track :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:08 am
by woodduck
Welcome aboard :greetings-waveyellow:

These guys are giving great advice, I'd follow it and you'll get a nice drink :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Good luck

Re: Hey from Waikato NZ

PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:54 am
by BigBullies
Thanks everyone for the welcome and information
RC i read that as a visitor before i ran my first wash and it didnt make sense, however having read it again now i can understand that better thank you also that calculator is perfect thanks
Thanks Professor Green for clarifying that, its much easier to explain to the partner why she hasnt got bourbon yet (she hates whiskey and tomato whiskey really didnt appeal to her at all :D)