Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

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Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

Postby mike23000 » Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:30 am

Good morning all,

Today is my first stripping run on my new alcoengine, sitting on a digiboil boiler.

I have moved up from the Air Still which I've been using for about a year. By the time I was finished playing I was doing 25ltr TPW washes, (thanks Birdwatcher :handgestures-thumbupleft: ) doing 6 stripping runs, 4ltrs a go in that little toy after all. Diluting to 30% for spirit runs, then doing cuts.

Each strip took about 3hrs 20 mins from go to whoa, yielding 1.1lt, stopping at ABV of 20%
Ending up with 6.6 ltr of stripped anywhere between 38 to 42% ABV.
Mixed it all up, took 100ml, diluted to 30%, scaled that amount up and diluted the lot to 30%, normally ending up with around 8.9 to 9.3 litres of low wines @ 30%
ran two spirit runs, taking 50ml foreshots (this I used with paper towels to clean still between runs)
260ml of heads (this I saved until I had 1.6 ltr. Diluted to 4ltr, ran a 'triple distilled' run using the botanical basket to make Gin for the missus, mostly for her anyway ;-) )
1.1ltr of hearts/take
310ml of tails (this I saved and added 100ml to each stripping run to boost it a little, nothing wasted)

The left over low wines I stockpiled, waited until I had 4ltr and did another spirit run. About one every 4 to 5 washes. The heads took a bit longer to add up, normally a 'triple distilled' run every 8 washes.

Anyway, had a lot of fun with that little thing, learnt a lot about sniffing and tasting. By the end wasn't sniffing and tasting any more, had everything down to timers then watching the mls and changing out containers at the tried and tested levels. I used tap water in the still, then bottled water when watering down the stripped product before filtering **learn from my mistakes!! NEVER filter the gin! doh!

Moving on, I ran a vinegar and sac run yesterday, Am doing my first strip now, Water from the tap @ 6ltr, digiboil set to 95 deg, but running on both elements atm, am using the 1mm take off fitting for the strip, will change to the 0.6mm fitting for the spirit run. Everything is wide open from the start, no getting equilibrium for the strip. First drops at 45mins, column head is sitting at 79.6 deg. Just measured the time to collect 10ml, flow rate atm is about 1.5lt an hour. Will stop when ABV reaches 20%.


I loved my little toy, but none of this stepping up and feeling, fairly, confident would be possible without you guys ^:)^

Thanks, Mikey
mike23000
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 9:50 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia
equipment: 2" Alcoengine on digiboil boiler
Air Still

Re: Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

Postby Wellsy » Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:52 am

We all have to learn Mikey and now you are in a position to help out the new guys running air still. It is all about using the gear you have while you test the waters to see if you like the hobby. Great to see you investing further into the equipment you have.
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Location: Victoria
equipment: FSD 4” Modular Pot Still plus 4 FSD Bubble plates on FSD 50 ltr Milk Can Boiler + 2 x 2400W FSD Element and Guard Kits

Re: Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

Postby Pardot » Sun Jan 24, 2021 6:46 pm

Hey Mikey,
I'll be interested in hearing of your progress with the strip run. Like you, I'm on an alcoengine digiboil combo. Did my first spirit run last weekend. I was too impatient to strip it. Only have one fermenter at the moment and really wanted to get my first product so went straight to spirit.
Being new, I think I made complete hash of the cuts but I'm drinking it anyway. Missus just had her first try of it today but mixed with choc-milk to relive the days of the Mudslides from her youth.
I've decided to do a strip for the next run (wash went down yesterday) to see if I can improve.
When I was doing my sac run, I noticed how hot the product was coming off. That was using the 1mm hole and only the 1900W element. For my spirit run, I was able to maintain the boil on the 500W element but, I took the advice of RuddyCrazy and made a (sort of) product condenser. I had some 19mm poly-pipe, elbows and fittings and managed to get that fitted over the output pipe. Having the extra cooling helped. Looks ugly but does the job.
Cheers
Pardot
Pardot
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:31 pm
Location: Perth
equipment: Alcoengine reflux on a Digiboil 35l, Air Still clone, FSD Pot Still

Re: Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

Postby mike23000 » Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:05 am

Hi Pardot,

Pardot wrote:When I was doing my sac run, I noticed how hot the product was coming off. That was using the 1mm hole and only the 1900W element. For my spirit run, I was able to maintain the boil on the 500W element but, I took the advice of RuddyCrazy and made a (sort of) product condenser. I had some 19mm poly-pipe, elbows and fittings and managed to get that fitted over the output pipe. Having the extra cooling helped. Looks ugly but does the job.Pardot



Was getting a similar thing with my sac run and my stripping run, Condensate coming off at about 60 deg, cooling quickly but still quite hot. Reading through whats been said about this the main concern from the more experienced guys here seems to be safety. That is to say the temp of the condensate being too close to flashpoint and having it near a possible source of ignition.

All I'm doing at the moment to counter this is regularly checking the vented top of the column for vapour escaping, sniffing, small mirror. And operating the unit outside, under the patio, light winds etc.
I'm also using one of the calculators I found here to compensate the alcometer readings to check when to stop.

I should get around to knocking something up before winter so I can bring it inside and have the take off be cooler. The temp thing really seems to be a feature of the unit. They wanted to keep it as simple as possible to use and plumb in, and, they aren't worried about the high temp of the condensate.

I can totally empathise with being impatient for the first bit of product though, collecting everything till the output dropped to about 23% I got exactly 4lt at 80%. Most of the run sitting pretty at 97%, then dropping fairly quickly at the end. Anyway I crunched some numbers and that comes to about 10.4 lt at 30%. Going to need a min of 2 strips, and, still only getting to about 21 litres for the spirit run.

So haven't gotten any product yet, but sniffing and washing my mouth out with the test batch to get to 30% already seems so much cleaner than what I was getting from my Air Still.

If I can suggest one thing for getting comfy with cuts, At the start, and towards the end of your collecting, collect small amounts. At least enough to check in your alcometer. Taste using a teaspoon and dilute with warm water. Towards the middle of the run feel free to collect in larger amounts. Take loads of notes about where you are cutting! Using the same recipe and method every time eventually you should get to the point where you're just checking the edges of the cuts, instead of starting from scratch everytime.

Thanks heaps, Mikey
mike23000
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 9:50 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia
equipment: 2" Alcoengine on digiboil boiler
Air Still

Re: Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

Postby Doubleuj » Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:16 pm

Gday mike, welcome to the forum, looks like you’re well on your way into the infinite world of distilling, good luck :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Doubleuj
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Re: Mikey from Perth, first strip run today!

Postby mike23000 » Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:33 pm

Thanks Doubleuj,

seems I've stuck my head down the rabbit hole, shoulders are through, haven't fallen in yet.

When I get my soldering iron out and ask myself,'where's that flux?'

Then all is lost ;-)
mike23000
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 9:50 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia
equipment: 2" Alcoengine on digiboil boiler
Air Still


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