Sugar wash to try

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Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:06 pm

I have a new pot still.
I got a pot still so i can make for rum but want to experiment with some flavourings first.
I know I wont get a pure neutral alcohol from a pot still.
To use flavourings, does it have to be a pure neutral alcohol?
Can I use one of the T&T recipes in the pot still and flavour it?
If so which would be the best?
I was thinking all bran or Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash or something else?
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Wellsy » Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:37 pm

I used the WBAB for a vodka in my pot still mate. I redistilled the hearts a second time to get the spirit a little smoother and it works fine for flavouring and as a base for Gin
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:34 pm

so you do a stripping run then a spirit run, cut your hearts and do another run with hearts?
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Wellsy » Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:57 pm

Exactly mate. I needed a few strip runs, and then 2 spirit runs before I had enough to do the hearts spirit run
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Wellsy » Fri Sep 24, 2021 4:58 pm

You can always keep a litre or two of the first lots of hearts to do a comparison with. I love running my still so tend to want to be fussy, but I think it is just an excuse :laughing-rolling:
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby tacman1970 » Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:48 pm

Wellsy wrote:I used the WBAB for a vodka in my pot still mate. I redistilled the hearts a second time to get the spirit a little smoother and it works fine for flavouring and as a base for Gin


Wellsy does the first spirit run of the WBAB have much flavour through the pot still? I'm looking to initially make neutral for gin
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Wellsy » Thu Sep 30, 2021 1:18 pm

I can give you a taste mate. I still have a bottle that I can spare. It will also show you the labelling program that carol put me onto. She is a legend with her labels.

My later runs I added a tin of malt extract and oats to see what difference it made
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:44 am

So i did a WBAB. Put it through the pot still twice. Don't like the taste of it. Too strong an after taste, not sure if this is the recipe or what i did to the wash.
Now looking at a Shady's sugar shine.
I have been reading the home distillers forum as well as this one.
In the hd forum on Shady's sugar shine, they said that for bakers yeast the best og is 1.070. If i use the calculator, 4.5 kg sugar for 25l total volume gives me og 1.069 and 10.6% alcohol. I have read that ideally a sugar wash should be less than 10%. So should i go for 1.069 and 10.6% or less sugar and aim for under 10%?
Cheers
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby BigRig » Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:56 am

Just follow the recipe as it is you will be ok.

With the wbab you said it had too much flavour for your liking, Chuck it on oak for a few months.
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:06 am

Thanks BigRig, i have one lot on a rum soaked oak, one on a bourbon oak and one straight/ no oak, as you say the ones on oak are smelling and tasting better after one week.
It is hard as a new person to wait, I had to watch a sac run without tasting then this one that doesn't taste great and now i have to wait a few months? :angry-banghead:

I know I have to be patient, thanks BigRig
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:30 am

Will the non oak sample improve much with age? It doesn't seem to have yet but it has only been a week or less
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby RC Al » Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:56 am

When you say you put it through twice, the second one was a slow spirit run yes?
You did cuts?
Do you know how fast you ran or what abv you ended up with? Volume / Time taken ?

Just checking you have the basics covered before denouncing the wash :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:00 pm

RC Al wrote:When you say you put it through twice, the second one was a slow spirit run yes?
You did cuts?
Do you know how fast you ran or what abv you ended up with? Volume / Time taken ?

Just checking you have the basics covered before denouncing the wash :handgestures-thumbupleft:


Understand

I have been reading forums / videos for about 3 months, not a substitute for doing it in real.
My bought pot still seems different to what I read on here.
First run was with the wash. 25l. Took 5 hours 20 minutes. Only separated the foreshots, 100ml. The abv (got a parrot) went from about 63% down to 40%, before the temperature got too high (97 deg)
Second run, "spirit" run took about 3.5 hours. Again took off 100ml, then small cuts of 300ml per jar. ABV went from around 80% down to 40%.
I had 24 x 300ml approx of output in second run
I tried to make cuts, separated out heads and tails, probably not as conservative as it could have been. None of it tasted nice, just some better than the heads/tails.
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:07 pm

The wash.
The recipe was for 23l. I want to do 26 - 27l so that I could get 25l of clean wash.
I don't think I up scaled the recipe very well and i think i put in too much weetbix/bran.
I then tried to get the og to 1.080 and temp 30 degrees. Ended up putting in too much sugar and it was at 1.082
Worked it down to 0.990 and left it over a week before distilling
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby The Stig » Sun Oct 24, 2021 2:48 pm

Show us a pic of the still :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby RC Al » Sun Oct 24, 2021 3:05 pm

Yep, you got a massive yield out of that one, probably a bit much, the yeast has to work harder to get those last few % and they will add much in undesirable flavours in for a neutral when pushed that far.

If your spirit run time included boil up time then you were running way too quick for that sized boiler, and marginally quick if it didnt. Try to aim for about 1-1.5 litres per hour for a good clean result with that sized unit.

How many watts do you have to play with? do you have a power controller? pot stills run on power management, its the only thing you can adjust to change perfomance.

As your looking for neutral, dump either the whole lot back in or just the hearts, water it down below 20% and do another spirit run. The more water you add, the more flavour will filter out, but reduce your end abv a bit. Wellsy dose that 3rd run for a good reason.

My hearts keeps from a flavoured spirit potty run usually average 72-73% from running a 35-40% charge to give you a target

Where is the temp gauge located? if its not in the boiler charge (below the water line), remove it or put some tape over it, its of no use in the vapour path of a pot still and leading you astray.
Last edited by RC Al on Sun Oct 24, 2021 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:15 pm

The Stig wrote:Show us a pic of the still :handgestures-thumbupleft:


https://copperheadstill.co.nz/product/c ... pot-still/
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:26 pm

RC Al wrote:Yep, you got a massive yield out of that one, probably a bit much, the yeast has to work harder to get those last few % and they will add much in undesirable flavours in for a neutral when pushed that far.

If your spirit run time included boil up time then you were running way too quick for that sized boiler, and marginally quick if it didnt. Try to aim for about 1-1.5 litres per hour for a good clean result with that sized unit.

How many watts do you have to play with? do you have a power controller? pot stills run on power management, its the only thing you can adjust to change perfomance.

As your looking for neutral, dump either the whole lot back in or just the hearts, water it down below 20% and do another spirit run. The more water you add, the more flavour will filter out, but reduce your end abv a bit. Wellsy dose that 3rd run for a good reason.

My hearts keeps from a flavoured spirit potty run usually average 72-73% from running a 35-40% charge to give you a target

Where is the temp gauge located? if its not in the boiler charge (below the water line), remove it or put some tape over it, its of no use in the vapour path of a pot still and leading you astray.


Didn't follow everything you said here
The still has 2 1000 watt elements
there are two switches that has 1 or two or none on
So I can have 2000 watts or 1000 watts or nothing
instructions say use 2000 until 68 degrees then 1000 watts till 97 degrees then turn off - no other controls
temp gauge is in the column

The spirit time included boil up but quantity was about 9l as i watered it down quite a bit, not sure what abv was
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby Royalwulf » Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:39 pm

"Yep, you got a massive yield out of that one, probably a bit much, the yeast has to work harder to get those last few % and they will add much in undesirable flavours in for a neutral when pushed that far."
you are talking about the wash, so i want a lower og? I am thinking around 1.070 next time
Last edited by Royalwulf on Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sugar wash to try

Postby The Stig » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:51 pm

Royalwulf wrote:
The Stig wrote:Show us a pic of the still :handgestures-thumbupleft:


https://copperheadstill.co.nz/product/c ... pot-still/

WOW. Would have been cheaper buying a T500 boiler and FSD 2” pot
Maybe not , depending on the shipping from NZ
Last edited by The Stig on Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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