"Been refluxing a little over a year and I'm happy with my progress....consistently get high yields of 91-92 % neutral spirits. So, I've tried my hand at corn liquor/ pot-distilling twice....so far, I'm not impressed and not sure what to do with it. Recipe was UJSM, 5 gal of wash. Almost identical distillation results in terms of product output %EtOH, so I'm running the still in a consistent manner.

I collect exactly one quart cuts (#1-#7) after tossing the fist 150 ml. results are as follows: #1-66% #2-63% #3-59% #4-54% #5-49% #6-35% #7-22% (about 2/3 quart)

#3 had a very nice corn smell and tasted a bit corny and nutty, but that disappeared after a few hours
#s 6 & 7 are cloudy and faintly yellow and taste slightly a bit vinegary.

The rest are pleasant tasting, different from neutral spirits, there is flavor but not a lot.

Questions: Is the distillation run correct? Are yields in the ballpark? What about flavor, in terms of I dunno, big or in your face....just seems too subtle. So I'm not sure what the big deal is about corn.

Still is the BH 8 gal premium kettle PS2, on top of a propane turkey cooker.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks"

"Thanks guys.
Heeler, yeah it was almost 7 one quart cuts. Total time for each distillation run was a bit more than 2 hours' coming out as a thin steady stream; whereas my typical reflux run (spirit) is more than 6 hrs and it drips.
So, then that was a stripping run? I threw #5-7 from both runs into my feints jug(s). I also have jugs where I combined #1 from both runs, another for #2, and same for #3 and 4......for 4 jugs of the separate numbered fractions.

My alcohol yield might be a bit high because I only have one fermentation bucket, so when a run is done I decant wash into a 6 gallon Sparkletts bottle (water bottle) and add about a quart of 90 percent as a preservative until I have time to run thru the boiler. I do this cuz I had a 5 gal batch of wash turn to vinegar awhile back when I let it sit too long before distilling.

So, when I re-run, put back some copper mesh in column, do it slower, make smaller cuts (say pints?). Should I just throw every thing in the boiler(the separate numbered jugs) or run them separately?

Again thanks for the help guys"

"Outland, after re-reading post #4 --you said...
yeah it was almost 7 one quart cuts?????
I'm pretty sure thats not how you make cuts. You should only have 3 CUTS.
Foreshots you toss and thats 100-150 mls.The heads cut could be a pint or even two. Let your nose decide.
Nowthen your hearts cut could be 3-4 quarts depending on your still and the way you run it. With my setup 2-2.5 quarts is typical.
Then of course come the tails and that quantity could also be a quart or two if you continue the run and collect that much its totally up to you.
Keep reading and learning - good luck."

i used 6 half pints for my first bit to get all the heads and not waste just to be safe after throwing a half pint out for fores and a touch of heads then i get my 2 gal of pint jars then back to the half pints but i do 13 gal 18% washes

When you are doing all grains you run it through twice. First time collect for a 30-35% aggregate(low wines). Then throw everything you collect back in and run it again(spirit run). If you are trying to make "bourbon" you should adjust your reflux down so it comes off at 80% or lower. Canadian, Scotch and Irish Whiskey rules have no max %.

Yea. I usually shut it down around 195 / 200 degrees. Haven't had much luck using tails on the reflux. I think you got most of it by then.

All this makes much more sense if you sample some of your previous runs

plus my friend ferments 5 gal and has a 3 gal pot so redistills from the 1st part in the 2nd part

You know what though, It would be handy to have a little one that you could process small quantities of tails or if you wanted to clean up some without all the heat and time using a bigger one? I'd be interested in a two or three gallon one. Maybe I'll make one just for that.