Do I need to do stripping runs?

[doogie]

Hi Distilling Gurus

Now that I've finished my pot still (copper column and liebig condenser) to go on my T500 boiler I need some advice going forward. I did a gin run in the pot still using some neutral I had made with the T500 reflux column and TPW which turned out OK for a first go.

What I'd like to know is what's the best process going forward? Do I use the pot still to do stripping runs with TPW, then a spirit run or two in the reflux column to get a really clean neutral and then run the neutral back through the pot for my gin runs? Or just put the TPW through the reflux still a couple of times then a gin run through the pot, is there any benefit from doing stripping runs?

Thanks

Doogie

[Lesgold]

Yep. Stripping runs through the pot and then run low wines through the reflux (keep low wines below 40% abv) saves time in the long run. Strip as quickly as the condenser will allow and reflux slowly taking cuts to find your purest hearts. Then back to the pot for gin runs. Plenty of reading on the site to help you with the process.

[doogie]

Thanks for confirming Les, that's what I thought. My low wines from my first go were at 60%, started at 80% and I stopped at around 40% should I have kept going a bit longer?

Doogie

[The Stig]

The biggest improvement in quality I made when using the T500 was when I started stripping

[Lesgold]

I normally go down to about 20%. After that it becomes a bit inefficient. A lot of power and time for little result. If making a brown spirit, I would go a little lower to extract some of the flavours evident in the tails. Not so for a neutral.