Help please.

[gemini2544]

Hi all, Sitting in front of me is my first 1125ml bottle of 92% spirit pulled from 15 liters. Now I have a question, The instruction manual that came with the still says When the temperature rises 1 deg Celsius eg,78 to 79 then discontinue collecting and throw away the Tails as nothing of use is left. On another web site they say general rule is stop at 82 deg.

So which is it because there is till a lot of liquid in the boiler. Any answer today would be appreciated & i'm waiting to resume with batch 2.

I pulled 250ml of Heads
1125ml of main spirit
100ml of possible tails out of 15 liters of wash.

[woodduck]

Not sure about your temp and that still but reading the"cuts"thread in the newbies section will help more than the instruction book. From what I hear that books not even worthy of your arse after a crap. There was a thread not long ago, maybe 2 weeks ago about temps on these stills but can't find it at the moment, probably in beginers questions.

Good luck :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[HoochHound]

A quick calculation suggests that your wash would have been a touch under 10%ABV (assuming that you have wrung all you can out of it). That would leave 90% (or around 13.5L) in the boiler.

What sort of wash did you use? Did you take any measurements before and after fermentation?

[dogbreath vodka]

You're better off running by the alcometer than by temp.
That way you get all your jars lined up and when doing cuts you know where everything is.
The heads, hearts and tails become easier to pick as you do bigger runs and get use to the smells.

Have a read of this.
Novice guide to Cuts

All the best with your next run :handgestures-thumbupleft:

DBV

[Brendan]

You're better off running by the alcometer than by temp.
That way you get all your jars lined up and when doing cuts you know where everything is.
The heads, hearts and tails become easier to pick as you do bigger runs and get use to the smells.

Have a read of this.
Novice guide to Cuts

All the best with your next run :handgestures-thumbupleft:

DBV

:text-+1: Well said. Throw the book out, and learn to distill properly. It's a skill that will keep you producing well forever :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[gemini2544]

Thanks guy's I did work out my problem & my request didn't really explain what my problem was. I just didn't know when to stop collecting, I now know. Anyway my turbo wash was first made up as 21 liters with 8 kg of sugar. I was soon advised to increase the water to 45 liters to achieve 10% ABV, anyway the fermentation stopped & I got a SG of 990. Well I got my still set up & went to work. Out of that 45 liter wash I only used 30 liters out of the 45 liters due to carbon & finnings being in the way of the last 10 liters. Out of that 30 liters processed, I got 2350ml of 92% spirit. ( still can't get that airborne taste out of my mouth) Anyway my first batch is in the bottle ready for cutting & flavor. I don't really know how much wash I wasted, however I'm happy with my first run result, & yes I collected & removed 200ml of the heads (great window cleaner).. :))

Thanks to everyone that got me this far, Next TPW..

[Zak Griffin]

Hi all, Sitting in front of me is my first 1125ml bottle of 92% spirit pulled from 15 liters. Now I have a question, The instruction manual that came with the still says When the temperature rises 1 deg Celsius eg,78 to 79 then discontinue collecting and throw away the Tails as nothing of use is left. On another web site they say general rule is stop at 82 deg.

So which is it because there is till a lot of liquid in the boiler. Any answer today would be appreciated & i'm waiting to resume with batch 2.

I pulled 250ml of Heads
1125ml of main spirit
100ml of possible tails out of 15 liters of wash.

There is a list that explains the temperatures at which different substance may come from your still.
I think this type of information is a source of the confusion around temperatures, I would not rely on temperatures, rely on cuts instead. After a few runs you will soon learn when to stop collecting hearts and to start collecting your tails for a later run through.

[Urrazeb]

Thanks guy's I did work out my problem & my request didn't really explain what my problem was. I just didn't know when to stop collecting, I now know. Anyway my turbo wash was first made up as 21 liters with 8 kg of sugar. I was soon advised to increase the water to 45 liters to achieve 10% ABV, anyway the fermentation stopped & I got a SG of 990. Well I got my still set up & went to work. Out of that 45 liter wash I only used 30 liters out of the 45 liters due to carbon & finnings being in the way of the last 10 liters. Out of that 30 liters processed, I got 2350ml of 92% spirit. ( still can't get that airborne taste out of my mouth) Anyway my first batch is in the bottle ready for cutting & flavor. I don't really know how much wash I wasted, however I'm happy with my first run result, & yes I collected & removed 200ml of the heads (great window cleaner).. :))

Thanks to everyone that got me this far, Next TPW..

Dude you need to read the cuts and fractions guide. If I am understanding you right, you collected the "hearts" in the one bottle? You cant cut the rest of the shit out of this unless you run it again.

[Marbled]

A whole shedload of small jam jars is the best investment you'll make..(I bought mine by the dozen from the Reject Shop)... It worked for me. Cuts is where it's at.
I learned that on here.
thanks again folks

[gemini2544]

Thanks guy's will do! As the novelty of the new toy is done & I've got a good first result (Unlike my first beer brew :laughing-rolling: ) I will now knuckle down & read more. Having said that, a Noob needs to jump the gun a bit so what your reading makes sense once you've had the experience. I understand the process so much better now that I've done it, I can now only get better.

Again Thanks for all your help & advise. :D