Bad smell and taste

[tigersbeer]

First time using a alcoegine pot still. My attempt was to make mcwhisky recipie. I used a voltage regulator and everything went to plan but the smell and taste where off from start to finish. I do sanitise all my equipment when fermenting, so it can't be that. I did put a food grade plastic extension collection tube on. Any suggestions.

[The Stig]

Welcome to the forum Tiger , since this is your first post I’ve popped it into the welcome center .

[bluc]

You dont want plastic anywhere near spirit. Its ok to ferment in it though..
Did you do cuts?

[BigRig]

I will comment on the recipe as others have/will comment on setup and practices. The recipe is very rough straight off the still, i even contemplated throwing it. I decided to oak it and see. I have about 10L oaking now since 1/5/21 and it has only just started coming good, i plan on minimum 6 months before i sample again.

I have another 125L of the wash waiting for me to run when i get the chance, this will be given 12 months.

[tigersbeer]

Yes I did cuts very slowly. At no stage did I like the smell. It also taste just as bad. I can even smell it my still even after washing it. I have used the still once before I got the voltage regulator but that puked really bad. I have a reflux still also and have had no problems making neutral. Not sure to chuck it or oak it an see.

[bluc]

Did it scorch? Check your element for burnt on residue..
New make can be quite bad in flavour compared to what new distillers are used to buying drinking. I am with big rig. If you are happy with your process not burnt tight cuts oak it it will improve lots :handgestures-thumbupleft:
And get rid of the plastic . If you need flexable medical grade silicone will work but its not ideal copper/stainless is better by far..

[tigersbeer]

I have a digiboiler so element is concealed.
Thanks people for help and comments, really appreciated. Maybe I'll try it again in reflux without the packing and see if it's any different. On a different note, is stockfeed barley ok to use and what sort?

[tigersbeer]

I said plastic but it is a silicone hose i think.

[bluc]

Needs to be medical grade silicone, cheaper silicon has fillers in it and may or may not be distilling tolerant. There is a number of chemicals when making spirits ethanol is just one of them..

Unmalted feed barely can be used. Because its unmalted it does not contain enzymes nessacary to convert itself into sugar.
You can use a % of all barley as unmalted or use enzymes or a specialty yeast like angel yellow lablel to convert it. Or you can malt your own feed barley.

100% unmalted corn/burbon and scotch type spirits are different but I reakon are still ok. You could boost your volume with 10-20% unmalted spirit or drink it as is.
Really is personal taste if you like it its only a good thing..

[tigersbeer]

Was thinking of trying the bwko but am lost on what barley is used. I can get it from a hbs if need be but the stockfeed store has bags a lot cheaper. Just don't know if its cracked or what ever it should be. Gone off original subject, sorry.

[bluc]

You can use feedstore or malt.

If you use malt buy the cheapest base malt distillers malt/ pilsner/ale/ pale malt are all good choices :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[tigersbeer]

Cheers.

[tigersbeer]

Not convinced about my mac whisky though. I put on oak but even my paddle or anything that touched that spirit including my hands reek.

[The Stig]

I’ll go out on a limb here .
Did you cut really deep into the tails ?
That would answer why everything that the hooch has touched smells , the oils in the tails are sticking to everything .

[bluc]

+1 how did you determine cut point for tails...

[bluc]

What is abv of your ageing stock?

[tigersbeer]

Stopped tails at 40 percent as I had to go out.

[tigersbeer]

End up ageing at 55 percent without watering.

[BigRig]

Yeah mate you have gone wayyy in to the manky tails. You should see hearts around the 75-80% abv.

There is no way to save that, you will need to re- run it with your next batch.

My stuff is ageing at 65%

[tigersbeer]

I didn't add the 40 percent tails to oak. My spirit started at 75 percent which I thought was heads, going by column temp. As I said the smell was bad from start to finish. 375ml cuts. Maybe its my nose.