T500 alembic head + power control - spirit run question

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T500 alembic head + power control - spirit run question

Postby brock200 » Sun Aug 09, 2020 9:19 pm

After searching the forums i havent managed to find an answer that is specific to my setup so if anyone can make comment it would be appreciated.

I have a T500 with the alembic head, having followed the molasses rum wash recipe from the forums and completed 3 stripping runs i found myself with 15L of low wines at roughly 50% ABV. After reading up quite a bit on the forums i had learnt enough to know that a power controller was going to help me when i did my first spirit run to run it much slower for a better quality product. So today i put 15L of my low wines in the still and topped it up with water to achieve roughly 30% ABV. I ran the still with the power controller flat out until the still started to produce distillate, then dialed it back to about 50% power level which brought back the temps nicely. I had the distillate coming out the end of the parrot at about 25 degrees and the temp probe at the top of the pot still around 85 degrees. At the very beginning my alcometer in the parrot was reading 80% ABV and after discarding the first 100ml i began taking my cuts by collecting into separate bottles.

4.5 hours later i have roughly 10 jars with a total of 6.5L of distillate. I was unsure when to terminate the run but once it reached about 60% ABV and the distillate smelt a bit average i called it quits. So my question is

1- Did i do the spirit run correct and terminate it at the right time?
2- Is there much merit in blending some heads and tails into my hearts?

Anything you read in relation to this still will tell you to run it flat out like you did with a stripping run so essentially i followed similar principles i saw on this forum for any old pot still and adapted them to what i thought was the best method for running a spirit run. I didnt think it was going to be a whole day affair like i have heard others mention who have much larger stills. I just question whether i have terminated it a bit early as the rum recipe states to wait until 20% ABV.

Any pointers would be much appreciated. I have the bottles airing overnight with a towel over them so hopefully tomorrow i can test my cuts and get some of that goodness ageing on the oak dominoes i just got from 5 star distilling.
brock200
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 8:45 pm
equipment: T500 reflux and alembic head with four 30L fermenters

Re: T500 alembic head + power control - spirit run question

Postby Tesla101 » Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:01 pm

Hey brocky,

I've never done a rum with my T500 but it sounds like you did everything just about right. However, I've done some gin on my T500 alembic head and power controller and I reckon 6.5L over 4.5 hours is about right. (about 1.5L/hour is what I shoot for on a spirit run with the alembic. The output should be a drip, drip, dribble)

As for blending, it really depends on what type of rum you're after. Most would say that if you want some of the more earthy, nutty notes coming through then you can blend some early tails in with your hearts. But if you want a more sweeter rum, you can blend some late heads in. Usually you'd go one way or the other, not both. But it's up to you according to your taste.
Tesla101
 
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Re: T500 alembic head + power control - spirit run question

Postby brock200 » Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:44 pm

Thanks for the feedback tesla. I was trying to get the same "drip drip dribble" as i do with my reflux collumn so i was on the right track. I have a few 1L glass jars that i intend on using as trials for flavour so i might do my blends in there with a single domino.

On another note the heads and tails that dont make the cut. Do people just store them as low wines for the next spirit run?
brock200
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 8:45 pm
equipment: T500 reflux and alembic head with four 30L fermenters

Re: T500 alembic head + power control - spirit run question

Postby Tesla101 » Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:06 pm

brock200 wrote:
On another note the heads and tails that dont make the cut. Do people just store them as low wines for the next spirit run?


That's what I do :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Tesla101
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 6:48 pm
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