by R-sole » Sat Jul 02, 2011 3:54 am
Without knowing anything about your equipment, wash, fermentation conditions, procedures or methods...
I can still say, make a clean wash at 12-14% abv.
Strip it as fast as you like and collect the distillate, water it down to 40%. Add 1 tsp per litre of baking soda, and when you have enough for a boiler charge leave for a week.
Charge your boiler and bring it up to temperature, if it has the ability to boil slowly without taking anything off, then turn the heat down low and let it equalise for an hour, bleed foreshots and heads (should be tween 10-20% of your total content in the boiler) at a couple of drips a second. Collect in small bottles, when all traces of sweetness and taste of heads is gone, collect a little faster in bottles a little larger till you have collected all the hearts, once tails are reached be quick to monitor taste and temp and switch bottles out.
Keep only what tastes good from the small bottles when watered down 1 tsp of spirit ti 1 tsp of water. If there is a slight hint of tails discard it into the collection pot for your next run. Any heads taste should have it kept out too.
Water down to 40% using an online or paper calculation and using bottled spring water.