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Ok -- first, I'm not saying that my way is the only way or the absolute right way, I'm just saying this is the way I do it. I've wanted to add a thread like this for some time because there's always a newb that comes onboard and asks, why is my hooch so shitty and --how do I collect???? I'm gonna add some pics and give some details and maybe get a response in a positive direction. Of course asking questions is always ok so give er a read and add anything that would help the next guy who might not want to ask for help.
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"This is a slant reflux tower spirit run, nice and slow........ Once my distillate starts to run I am trying to get my temp or discharge set to that just right sweet spot. What you are looking at is a pint jar that has been collecting the foreshots and most of the heads, it's full and I'm gonna set it aside for now. I leave it under the upright tube with the valve open until it's full. I've closed the valve and the drip is just about to start coming out of the spiral.   "
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"At this point I've collected a few small jars (half pint jars 1/2 full) and set them in order to the side. From the smell and from lots of runs I know that I'm right at the start of the hearts collection. For the newbie - once you've made lots of runs you will learn that smell too. So again..since I started I've got one full pint (foreshots and heads) and three little jugs in the collection process. At this point I would tell a newbie to continue to collect in small jars because[COLOR=""#FF0000""] tomorrow when you make your cuts [/COLOR]it will be easier to descern the good from the not so good. Your nose is the key -- 24-36 hours after you finish your run. But I'm gonna start collecting in a qt. jar cause I know my recipe and my still and I know I'm right there.:)  "
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"  So how many little jars would this be if it wasn't all in one jug? I dont know but if your new or unsure just keep collecting in the small ones, no one will make fun of you, but if you start too soon you just smeared some Acetone or Methanol in your hearts jug....yuck!!!! If you combined the 3 little jars I bet they would be close to another pint in quantity, so almost a quart to discard....somewhere a newbie is saying OMG I'm not throwing all that hooch away. Thats why we collect in small jars and then tomorrow give em a good sniff to see what they REALLY consist of."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"So this next one is just moving on through the run, you can see I have filled one qt. jar and its kept in order. In front of the blue jug is an empty I forgot to move but it's gonna be used at the end. So now I have added the second qt. and I'm still running about 160 at this point. Again, if you were collecting in small jars you can see it would be a bunch but dont be lulled into jumping the gun, if you are not sure of your recipe or cooking style and what it will give you just continue with small jars for now, no worries.  "
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"  Now in my mind I know I've still got some hearts left in the run but I'm getting close to the end so I've gone back to the little jar. I dont want tails in my hearts and tomorrow when I sniff I'll know if that is something I want to add to my hearts. It's a smell and taste thing tomorrow or even the next day but not now, remember I keep saying for the newbie, "
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"So you can see how the collection was laid out ---IN ORDER-- from the foreshot and heads jar (the blue one) right on through to the final jar. If I had used only little jars how many would there be?? A friggen bunch but until you learn how and where to make your cuts and when to turn your still off, the little jar concept is really the only way to keep everything seperate until you can make your cuts. [COLOR=""#FF0000""][/COLOR][COLOR=""#FF0000""]If I had used only one big jar you can NOW see what would be in with your good stuff[/COLOR]. Of course you could always collect in one big jug and then re-run it nice and slow and collect in smaller jugs then, that's not wrong either thats called a stripping run but thats not what I did here. That's another thread at another time, this was a spirit run nice and slow.......  "
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"So this is the end for me I dont really collect down into the tails or should I say UP into the tails (tails are high temp at the end of the run) I could tell I still had some goodie there so at this point I turned it off and I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to give everything a good sniff and make tight cuts. Ok then, I hope this helps somebody to see how and why we dont collect in one great big jug and say man the recipe sucks or this still sucks, proper collection and seperation is EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck and happy hoochin.  "
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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for what it's worth...in the previous pic, two of the little jars after the blue one were also headsy so I discarded em and the last 3 three jars were a little tailsy for my taste so I'll just add em to the next run if I haven't dumped out by then. If you decide to keep em and add em to your next run thats cool too.
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered
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Excellent thread, Heeler... I have been collecting full half pint jars as my container size, but you have made me think that maybe that's still too much for each container and I oughta be doing half that size at the takeoff phase. |
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
Joined: 4/14/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,666
Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 15 post(s)
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"Ahhhhh thx pal, hope it works as good for you as it does for me and that anybody that needs the knowledge can find it here.
I have found that letting those jars breathe for even 2-3 days more before you add all those jars together is even better sometimes, so try it that way sometime."
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