crustyshane wrote: I just use the lot till I get required amount??
:scared-eek: No wonder it tastes like crap, Ive never owned or run a air still, but they are a very basic air cooled pot still,
My suggestions to improve what your getting are these,
As someones mentioned, get some small pieces of copper to put in the boiler, bits of copper tube cut into very short lengths is one option. Ive been told first hand that this helps by at least two air still owners. The Theory is the copper helps with some sulphide removal, as there are no copper parts in your still every little bit will help.
Check out the newbies corner and the thread on stripping runs, this is what I was getting at in my first post, If you fill your still with 4L of 40 % you have a lot more alcohol to work with to make some reasonable cuts, You are in a way double distilling, You will never make a good drink without using the cuts method.
You need to keep only the heart of the run, forshots,heads, and tails from TPW taste......well I dont need to tell you , you've tasted it :laughing-rolling:
Toss the foreshots out from each run, Keep the heads and tails, put them away for later use, you will use them again later in your next spirit run, they still have a lot of good alc in them.
You also need to check out the cuts post by Kiwi in the newbies section. Its hard going to begin with, but read it till you understand it, then follow the instructions.
You will need to take small cuts using such a small still.
You will then be on your way to making a much improved product.
There are plenty of people here who will be happy to answer your questions as long as you do the basic ground work and learn what you can yourself first.