"First off, as a novice to forums as well as distilling, I apologize ahead of time if there is another section where this post would be better suited; I spent some time looking, but didnt see a closely related topic.

Ill try to be as detailed as possible with every aspect of my process, so you guys can help me look for any errors. To start, I am using a 7 gallon Brewhaus stainless steel column still. Cooling is done with a mini sump pump dropped in a 4 gallon stock pot of ice water. There is a ball valve in the cooling hoses, which I keep fully open all of the time. Secondly, The only mashes I have experimented with so far have been very simple, even down to sugar water yeast.....I have had the same issue with every mash, which makes me think my problem lies in my still operation.

5 gals water, boiled and added 10 lbs of sugar. Let cool to around 75F, add a tablespoon of yeast. Its generally taken approx 5 days for fermentation to cease, and I gauge that off of when it stops bubbling. I fill and heat the still, takes about an hour or so to come to temp, but I back down the heat, turn on the water pump, and start regulating temp at around 175.

As distillate begins to flow, I try and separate out about 1.5 inches in each jar, for testing purposes. The majority of the product Ive gotten out is clear, burns blue with minimal bubbles, and runs around 155-160 proof. Problem is, it smells and tastes HORRIBLE, almost like spoiled food.

One of the major questions I have---my thermometer is all the way at the top of the column, with nothing on the kettle itself. Im wondering if, by running off of the temp reading in the top of the column, Im actually running overtemp in the kettle? But on the other hand, if that was the case, wouldnt it have been designed with a thermo in the kettle? Again, I BEG for any opinions, but I feel like the problem lies in my operation, not the mash recipe. I look forward to hearing from you guys!!!

Travis"

Hi Tracyman, Take a look at the thread called "Yesterdays Run" on the second page of the "GENERAL" section. It describes one of my runs.

ohyeayea--thanks for your description of the run process, sounds like theres definitely some worth trying there. A fella on another forum also told me theres no need for ice, what gives?? I cant see that being true, as a closed cooling sysytem will eve

"Hi Tracy,

Just a few quick questions: When you say it tastes ""horrible"" are you referring to each and every individual jar you collect? Or are you combining them and tasting the mix? Also, are you diluting before drinking?

Read that post bushy mentions, it has a LOT of excellent information all in one place ... especially about equalizing and power adjustments.

As far as temperatures go ... IMHO a thermometer gives you nothing more than ballpark numbers. And having one at the kettle offers you almost nothing when using your column. I still use one, but it's only because I need something to plug the little hole in the bung. The fact that I can look at it from time to time to get a feel for where I am in the run is handy ... but my adjustments are never based on temps.

Here's a Reader's Digest version of how I run my rig (PSII HC, 1500w) ...

Warm up at full power, no column cooling. I'm a ninny about uncontrolled vapor so I ALWAYS have cooling to the product condenser. Once the fores come across I start reducing power (still no column water). Once heads start I back off the power to a slow drip, then go full reflux for at least 40 minutes (full column water). Then I back off the column cooling and collect heads very slowly. Once into hearts I may have to bump up the power slightly. If I increase power, I always go full reflux again for at least 15 minutes. I collect hearts somewhere around 800 mL/hour ... plus or minus a few hundred mL ... depending on what's in the boiler or what I'm trying to acoomplish ... or sometimes just depending on my mood.

Nothing I do requires a thermometer. All of my adjustments are based on two simple things: (1) control your collection rate and (2) control how hard you drive your column ... that's all. Collection rate is pretty obvious ... it affects the reflux ratio. Trying to avoid driving your column too hard isn't always as obvious ... especially if you're chasing temps that you read from above the column condenser. But think of it this way: if you put too much energy in you won't get good separation -- you'll just end up pushing everything further up the column ... basically you'll end up with high abv smearing. You'll notice in bushy's description that he's only using enough power to support he collection rate he wants. He's not damning the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

--JB"

"Thar's probably from tails.

Well ... that depends on whether or not you believe that you can truly control the temperature. I don't buy the concept at all. The temperature is going to be what it wants to be. Look at it this way, once you charge your boiler there are only two things you can adjust: your power level and the flow of water to your column condenser. So you can only control (within limits) the latent heat you put into the system (power) and the latent heat you remove (water flow to the condenser). That's all. Everything else will be what the laws of physics say it will be at a given vapor pressure.

Does this make sense? You only have two knobs to turn (power and water). Use reasonable power for good separation (avoid smearing) and manage your reflux ratio ... the temperature should be irrelevant. Just give it try on an upcoming run ... see if it fits your style.:)

It takes me around two hours to get some output on stripping runs (22L
10% - 12%).

If there's more EtOH available to collect, there are only two things you can do: increase power and/or reduce cooling water to the column.

I use one pump and one ball valve. The ball valve controls the flow into the column condenser. I have no way (or need) to control flow into the product condenser.


Ahhh ... you need to move that valve. Put it after the supply side tee (between the tee and the column condenser input). Then you will be able to control the water flow to the column only. The product condenser will be on autopilot.

--JB"

"Travis,

If the abv of your wash was lower than you expected, you may very well have been into the tails ... which would explain why you only collect so much, then saw things come to a halt. The fact that it was the last sample you collected might be a smoking gun.

Did you take original/final gravity readings? If so, what were they?

--JB"

If you are wanting a neutral then you are only completing half the process. You should strip in pot mode & then reflux for your final. If you only have a pot stil thi it is possible to a quality product, but you need to distill it more than once.