G'Day

[AxedBandit]

Hi, :greetings-waveyellow:

Just joined and am new to home distillation. I have made Wine and Beer in the past so thought I would try my hand at a bit of hard liquor.

Just purchased a 35L Alembic Pot Still and am currently fermenting my first TPW. I plan to try my hand at some gin (and have purchased some pre-packed botanicals as my first try before doing some experimenting).

I know that I need to do a stripping run before distilling through my botanical basket as part of my second run and am was wondering if when doing the stripping run I need to remove the foreshots and heads? The instructions I have read are unclear in this regard. I know I need to remove them during the spirit run but just am not sure during the stripping run.

Another question is how do you know when the runs change from Hearts to Tails - is it the smell of the spirit or just based on the temperature of the still?

Sorry if these are basic questions but it would be good to understand this before I start my runs.

Nice to be part of the forum - look forward to learning and sharing.

Thanks

Axel

[db1979]

Hi AxedBandit, welcome to the forum :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Sounds like you're trying to run before you can walk in some ways. You're asking some good questions but with more reading and experience, you'll have your answers.
Cuts its something that needs to be learnt by doing and isn't just something you can get by reading.
While your pot still is going to be good for your final gin run, you'll want a better quality spirit than it can produce for that run. You're going to need a reflux still too. I'd suggest in the meantime having a go at practising on some simple tried and proven washes, to make some vodka, such as weetbix allbran or teddies fast fermenting vodka. You could also try tomato paste wash, but in a pot still alone, you're going to get a lot of tomato flavour coming through. The other two washes are more forgiving at producing vodka through a pot still, but still not ideal.
Alternatively, if you're into bourbon, rum or whiskey, have a go at doing any of them as your still is very capable of making them.

[woodduck]

Hi there :greetings-waveyellow: welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately tpw through a pot still will give you tomato whiskey, not pleasant I'm sure. You'll need a reflex still to make the neutral spirit to run through your pot with botanicals to make gin.

To answer your question, no there is no need to do cuts on the stripping run. Just remove fores on both runs to be sure.

Sounds like your keen to learn so I would suggest some time reading the newbies corner to get a good understanding of what you want to achieve and how best to get there.

Good luck :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[AxedBandit]

Thanks for the advice. I will use the TPW as a tester and distill it to get a handle on the process and try and understand the cuts.

Might be a bit of a problem convincing the other half to fork out more for another still at this early stage... :romance-kisscheek:

I will get a Teddy's going once the fermenter is free and see if I can at least produce a vodka. I assume you could add essences to make up something from that base spirit.

I have spent some time going through the newbies section but missed the fact that TPW wasn't suitable for a pot still. Its always a problem when there is so much information trying to put it all together.

Thanks Again

Axel

[Professor Green]

Welcome Axel.

Some very good advice in the above posts. I would recommend reading the posts Newbies Corner a few times before you start your runs. With just a pot still you will struggle to make Gin as you generally need to have a neutral spirit as the gin base. It's definitely worth exploring the cereal based washes as previously mentioned as there will be some residual flavour after your spirit run and grain flavour is going to be far more palatable than tomato. You may even need to do a secondary spirit run with extra cuts to before you do your gin run to further remove some flavour. Even so, you will most likely end up with a slightly grainy flavoured gin (which may not be such a bad thing BTW).

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[woodduck]

sorry mate but you'll be pushing shit up hill to make a good vodka/neutral in a pot still whether it be a tpw or a teddies. You have a pot, spend your time making some delicious whiskey or rum.

[The Stig]

Mmmmmm alcoholic, weak tomato soup :laughing-rolling: