New distiller from Melbourne

[Spirits]

Hey guys, just made my first pot still and I can see there's still quite a bit for me to learn.
Couple of Q's I have.
For my first run I used 10L of cask wine as it seemed rather econmical way of doing it, with the fist 500mls that came out
(besides the very first methanol bit) i noticed that there was a bit of a bluish tinge to it (obviously from the copper) so i
assume that my cleaning run wasn't as effective as i thought. My question here is, is it ok for this bluish cut to be drunk,
or does it need to be filtered, or re-stilled? (Or not drunk at all?). To me these first few cuts seem to smell the best with
a nice aroma and high alcoholic content.
When i first ran the still I tried to keep the still at around 80 degrees for hours and hours, and i realised that it was probably
much to slow as I had only got roughly 700ml after 6 hours. After this i cranked the heat up a bit, and slowly let it automaticaly
climb up to 87 though the course of 4 hours. This produced a much steadier stream of liquid at a somewhat decreased quality.
At this point i started to notice a slight oily slick on top of the product which had an awful pungent smell. As the stilling went
on and the temperature climbed, this got worse and worse. I beleive that the cause of this was my flower and water seal that
when i craked, had run down the insde of the pot into the wine. What do people do to prevent this happening?
Is it worth saving this tail end to do a spirit run with, or will the awful aroma taint the next product?
Lastly, If i wish to activated carbon filter my spirit, which is the best to get, and where should i get it from?

I know it's a ton of questions, but I really appreciate you taking your time to read it all and I really value your response!

[Brendan]

Hi Spirits,

First off, no you shouldn't drink any blue distillate. It should be re-run before you touch it. The blue distillate problem usually arises when there was too much nutrient or nitrogen in the wash being distilled, or if the still wash not cleaned well enough before use. If the colour is coming from a nitrogen rich wash, it means that ammonia has been created which is highly corrosive to the copper in your still. If the colour is from improperly cleaning, it could be copper oxidisation coming through on the first run.

Either way, I would say that you should give it a good vinegar cleaning run, followed by a sacrificial alcohol run (where you don't drink the product, but discard it).

Also definitely check out the reading in the Newbie's Corner on the forum, and in particular Controlling stills by temperature. You will see here that by increasing the power to your boiler, you are not the one causing the temperature to rise...it will boil at whatever temperature it needs to depending on which compounds are in the mix in the boiler...much like boiling water, and trying to raise the temp to 120 degrees...it won't happen. You will find a lot of useful information in the Newbie's Corner to help with some of these fundamental concepts too :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The oil slick with the pungent smell, is what is known as the tails of the run...this means that you were near the end of the run. Again read up on cuts and the different components that make up a run in the Newbie's Corner, then you will understand why the smell got worse and worse as the temperature went up and up ;-) ...all fundamental stuff :D

[Spirits]

Thanks for the speedy reply.
No, I'm sure that the slight blue tinge was from not cleaning it well enough on the first run. I think i might just run the whole batch again...
In regards to the smell at the end, i realise that this happens a bit as is, but would the dough contaminating the mixure caused it to be worse?
and how do people prevent this happening?
Thanks for the links, yes i will read up on those, I have a incomplete understanding of each of these concepts, so i sould really solidify them.

Thanks again!

[bt1]

Err...

drinking a spirit that may or may not have ammonia in it is a simple ticket to a shortened life span...

Don't know how I can put it in stronger terms...not worth the risk bud!

throw it.

bt1

[Spirits]

Hmmmm... considering that the batch was made of shop bought wine i don't think that it would have had an excess of anything...
Do you think i should only chuck the blue stuff or the whole batch!?!? If its just from improper cleaning (which I'm sure it is as i only ran
the cleaning run for 20 min (which I now suspect isn't enough)) would it be ok to distill it again before drinking, or is that just a chucka
too?

[MacStill]

the cleaning run is sacrificial, to remove toxins, oils, flux and a lot of other nasties, nobody in their right mind would consider drinking this shit..... ditch it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Zak Griffin]

Just chuck it mate... It cost you $20? Book it down to an educational experience and start again.

[Spirits]

Wow, okies, and just to confirm (because it is a bit sad tipping out 10l of wine processed over the period of 12 hours) Tip the WHOLE run out, or just the blue stuff?

If its the whole lot I'll chuck it in my outdoor bamboo candles :D

[1 2many]

Hi mate welcome aboard, the sacrificial run will be a distant memory once you start producing your own, And yes you can use your cleaning run for fuel or a cleaner just don't consume it. Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Sam.]

Hmmmm... considering that the batch was made of shop bought wine i don't think that it would have had an excess of anything...

Wine has the highest levels of methanol and other nasty shit by volume, when distilled it is the worst smelling foreshots and heads around :puke-huge:

Ever wonder why you get such a cranking hangover from wine?

[MacStill]

Wow, okies, and just to confirm (because it is a bit sad tipping out 10l of wine processed over the period of 12 hours) Tip the WHOLE run out, or just the blue stuff?

If its the whole lot I'll chuck it in my outdoor bamboo candles :D

the cleaning run is sacrificial, to remove toxins, oils, flux and a lot of other nasties, nobody in their right mind would consider drinking this shit..... ditch it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Spirits]

Great, good stuff to know guys. Ah darn, it seemed as though wine was an excellent way to go, oh well i have 2 fermenters at my disposal so I'll have to look up some recipes.

Alright last question, any ideas on not getting the sealant dough dripping down into the mix?

Chanks guys, been very educational.

[booma]

Hi spirits, you have lots of runs ahead of you so don't worry. The dough needs to be stiff and it will not run any where. Work on getting a better seal so that dough is a quick fix and not every time.

[crow]

First up welcome here and yeah it was a sacrificial run that is not for drinking. if you want to be frogs arsed about it you could water down to 40 % and re-run it but seriously I wouldn't. Next point of interest is the time your run took, normally a pot still run is many times faster than this. I use to strip 50 ltrs with a 2" pot in under an hr and a spirit run in slightly over that say 1 and a half so yeah maybe tell use what size the still is and the boiler and how you are heating it.
Pleaze do avail yourself to the information in the newbies corner and pay particular attention to this thread Cuts and fractions

[Spirits]

Well, the Ad that i bought my pot from said that it was a 29L pot, but when i put 10L in it, it came up over half way, so I'm presuming it's more like 20L.
Yeah i think i was trying to keep the temperature too perfectly around the 80 degrees area, but then realised that it was too slow, and remembered reading
that with potstills that you are meant to let the temperature run away (I will look into this further). My power source is a portable electric cooktop (one of
those little Breville units). It takes a while to heat up, but it can take 10L all the way to just under 90 degrees including its overheating thermo.
Is filling up the pot about halfway about right?

Oh yeah, as for the dough, the lid doesn't seal very well so i put dough the whole way round and a couple of bulldog clips... perhaps more bulldog clips would be better?

[crow]

I reckon I know what ya mean but a picture would tell a thousand words. I'd be looking to getting a beer keg myself, never like the Betty Crocker bake goods fix myself, just a messy ongoing problem. Only really good for getting ya out of trouble if you ask me and not something I would design a still require. There are simply better options

[Brendan]

Yeah i think i was trying to keep the temperature too perfectly around the 80 degrees area, but then realised that it was too slow, and remembered reading that with potstills that you are meant to let the temperature run away

You've still got to look into that link I posted for this basic fundamental...

You have no control over a still's temperature

What you control is how quick you get it to its boiling point, and once there, how much vapour is pushed up the column. The temperature only changes as the contents of the mix in the boiler changes and the associated boiling point...

[Spirits]

Yup, yup. This was weeks ago i was talking about.