Well we can save the heads & tails for a further run but any way you wish to do it is fine.

I am new too but I think I read somewhere that you want 50% for your carbon run as the nasties tend to bond to water and at higher alcohol levels the carbon cannot grab the nasties. Then your spirit run is much cleaner with less heads and very clean cuts.

none I know of carbon filter there stripping runs prior to doing a spirit run. If you are reasonable with the ABV of your wash, patient with your ferment and tentative with your distiller on ur spirit run, and cut throat with your cuts, you wont really need to filter ur lickker with carbon. It will be sooth and clean straight out of the Parrot. Don't be GREEDY! Be PATIENT. it will pay off in the end guaranteed

Ok I am still confused by the answers here.

No one has really stated WHY they strip it first. The only reason I can com up with is if you started with very low alcohol wash and needed to bring the volume down for the reflux run.

Is there any reason other than that? I am diligent in keeping up on my reflux run, tending to it the entire time. I get very pure alcohol out of it, water down, then filter it. I get very, VERY clean spirit from this. So my question remains, why do people recommend stripping it first?

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I don't see anything wrong with what you are doing especially if you are happy with the end product. I guess the question about stripping runs would basically let you concentrate several quicker batch's for the more time consuming reflux run. End product should be about the same."

Couple of tricks we do making beer. Once fermentation is complete chill it to 30 degrees (or as cold as you can get it - called crashing), I ferment in old refrigerators or upright freezers) then the yeast falls to the bottom. Another one is to get some unflavored gelatin a teaspoon I think in a cup of water, pour it into your wort/wash shake well then leave overnight in the cold. The gelatin attaches to all the proteins and yeast then falls to the bottom. Siphon off and you are good to go.

I'm spoiled as I have 4 of the PET 6 gallon bottles and two 7.5 gal. stainless conical fermenters. But I am not stopping making good beer either. Oh yeah I just got a 15 gallon food grade tank (it has bungs like a 55 gallon) but getting the corn mash out after fermentation could be fun on that one. When I am ready for a good whiskey run I have 55 lbs. of flaked corn and 100 lbs of Canadian 2 row pale malt. I have some more reading before that one. I plan on making a 12-13 gallon mash, not sure if I will keep it going so I can develop a sour mash or not yet. I think I am equipped, once my delivery gets here today to do a single run pot still set up using my Sanke keg/pot. I am scratching more on the setup and technique and do not want to mess up a good mash. I might keep my heads from my neutral spirit runs to see if that will start my sour mash, I know it gets better with time. I have enough materials for two 12 gallon whiskey runs, but chicken little in my head keeps slowing me down.....

Just had another thought, since I am using flaked corn I probably will not have to put that in the fermenter like cracked corn. I think if I run a full mash/sparge like making beer I will only get yeast and troub (proteins & other stuff that falls out) on the bottom of the fermenter. Hmm this is sounding pretty good. I will probably design that for 8.5% ABV for the whiskey yeast. Anyone done an all grain pale grain & flaked corn recipe they want to share????

"Roger that.

So in a nutshell, I could do two 5 gal fermentations, strip them both to, for the sake of argument, 50%, then mix them and add the ""new"" 5 gallons (what used to be 10) into my boiler for the reflux run.

I get it. Thanks a ton."

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+1 good explanation."