All grain Scotch style Whisky

Pot still design and discussion

All grain Scotch style Whisky

Postby Demo » Wed Nov 20, 2019 4:57 am

So after many months of "preparation" I finally ran my first spirit run on my 50 lt alembics whisky still

2 wash runs of 12.5 kg distillers malt fermented with safspirit M1
38lts in the boiler @ 30%
collected 7 jars @ 250ml,20 jars @ 800ml- 78% down to 20%
collected & tossed first 250ml

initial take off 720ml/hr for first 1.7lts raised to 1.4lts/hr
slight tails evident @ 64%, jar 18 off the still

aired for 24 hours
kept jar 7 @ 78% to 17 @ 68%

observation
I had great difficulty determining heads / hearts cut , no nasty flavours or chemical/acetone in early jars
tails very distinct and in my view a large % of return
1.4lt heads
7.2 lt hearts
8lts tails

this still is difficult to run slow, with the worm & tub condenser I find it huffs in around 1 second pulses early in the run & settles under power & later in the run
have tried hot water in the tub & appears better than cold tap water @ 18 degrees

interested in your comments team ;-)
Last edited by Demo on Wed Nov 20, 2019 4:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Demo
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:56 am
equipment: Alembics copper pot still

Re: All grain Scotch style Whisky

Postby Georgio » Wed Nov 20, 2019 5:47 am

Hi Demo,

Did you let the jars air for a day or so before tasting your cuts?

Did you proof down with some water before taste testing cuts?

The reason i ask is keeping down to 62 seems a little low and with my experience in malt whiskey find that tails in pot still become detectable in the 70-75 abv range. But I imagine this is due to the power input being high.
Georgio
 
Posts: 258
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:43 pm
Location: Brissy
equipment: 50l keg boiler.
4" FSD Pot Still
4" FSD Bubbler
95L mash tun with 300 micron grain basket
250kg Winch for grain basket

Re: All grain Scotch style Whisky

Postby Demo » Wed Nov 20, 2019 6:12 am

Hi Georgio

yes aired & cut 50-50 with water

I thought the initial % was low & agree 68, not 62 as you say, probably is too low as there is a tailsy taint to the collection
good opportunity to see what the oak will do

thats the problem with too much reading/research, confused as to whats to be expected with this type of still

can see a lot of trial & error ahead
Demo
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:56 am
equipment: Alembics copper pot still

Re: All grain Scotch style Whisky

Postby Georgio » Wed Nov 20, 2019 8:44 am

Apologies Damo....68 indeed. This seems very low to include in the blend.

Malt whiskey takes practice mate and you are off to a fantastic start.

The first malt whiskey I ran I included a fair amount of tails. Left it on oak for 12 months and found it never improved.

What I did next was go back and work on making cuts. The next several runs I only reserved the "pure" hearts cut for aging. Once I nailed picking the hearts I looked at adding a small amount of tails to my product. It only takes a small amount of tails to change the taste profile after time on oak.

Hope it works for you mate. But sounds like you are off to a smashing start.
Georgio
 
Posts: 258
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:43 pm
Location: Brissy
equipment: 50l keg boiler.
4" FSD Pot Still
4" FSD Bubbler
95L mash tun with 300 micron grain basket
250kg Winch for grain basket

Re: All grain Scotch style Whisky

Postby Demo » Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:16 am

thanks for the encouraging words Georgio, looks like its back through the still & try again
Demo
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:56 am
equipment: Alembics copper pot still


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