I got me a bubbler

[MarkA]

Hi Guys,


I was lucky enough to purchase the FSD 4" Neutralizer that Hick1960 offered for sale some months ago, and she's a beauty :x

First runs were a few weeks ago, put through 2 strips of sugar wash, running with the 5 plates, to have a play with loading the
plates and learning how she works. After a play, and taking off the fores, cranked the power up and the RC down and finished
stripping the washes.

The next day was the spirit run. Added the packed section and got the plates loaded, after refluxing for a while, started to take the
fores again, just to be sure. Then onto the heads, hearts, and tails. Well, I missed the tails. The bottom glass started to fog, I put
it into reflux for a bit, then kept collecting. I had "planned" where the tails should come in, and had reduced the collection volumes to
suit. After airing overnight, the jars designated as tails were identical to the hearts, so into the hearts jar they went. Need more
practice there I think :-D

What's next? I have two 40ltr ferments of gen 4 CFW that have been waiting to go through the bubbler, they've been sitting undisturbed
for a couple of months now, The original plan was to strip them, and spirit run the low wines.

With the arrival of the bubbler I plan to move the wash to the 50ltr milk can, which will only be about 35 to 40 ltrs, and top up the boiler
with previously collected low wines. Setup will be over 4 plates I think, no packed section of course, we'll see how we go x_x

Wish me luck guys, let the fun begin :dance:


Regards
Mark

[harold01]

Good luck, nothing better than making your own and cancelling your Dan murphy membership

[The Stig]

Hey Mark , congrats .
You don’t really need to do stripping runs , bubblers are designed so a single run is all that’s needed :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MarkA]

Thanks Stig. I was running neutral, I understood neutrals benefited from a strip and spirit run :think:

Happy to be corrected though.

[The Stig]

You can run the still your way , there’s no problem doing stripping runs , just not necessary if running in full 5 plate and packed section

[MarkA]

Gotchya, thanks Stig :handgestures-thumbupleft: I'll give that a go next time I run a neutral. I've got a 200 ltr sugar wash fermenting away at the moment.

[MattSmith]

If you are going to run big batches then it will probably be faster to strip & spirit.

I run a similar setup but without the plates (I fill the packed section for neutrals though). It still achieves a high ABV / neutral flavour without stripping but takes a long time so 4 x spirits runs will take longer than 4 x strip + 1 x spirit.

[MarkA]

Thanks MattSmith.

I only stripped with the plates in as this was my first time running a plated still, and wanted to have
a bit of a play with the whole process.

Next time I strip it will be without plates, just a straight up pot still setup.

Cheers
Mark

[kingy]

I do 200-220 litre ferments , I usually pot still strip 2 x 50 litres to get low wines. Then set up with 4 plates, Then add half the low wines into boiler and top up with wash. After the run i toss the first 800mls of heads, keep the hearts and then put the remaining heads and tails go into feints keg, Then add the 2nd lot of low wines and top up with wash and do the same.
After both runs I run all the feints (watered down to 40%) with the last of the leftovers wash. I usually keep the hearts cut tight from this and store as white to sip on or blend into something else.
I find with the higher alcohol in the boiler during the plated run doing it this way my still runs a lot more stable and the cuts are more pronounced and my hearts cut is bigger. And I save time, also the stripping runs I can run of a weeknight.

[Wellsy]

Congrats Mark
You have lots of experimenting to do and lots of fun to be had.

You will find what works for you and stick with just remember to label everything. You will find as your volumes increase you will not simply be able to remember what was what.

[MarkA]

Thanks Wellsy, and I already label everything, as I can't remember it now :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Getting ready to run the first of two CFW and low wines tomorrow, should be interesting.