Well Monday I had 6 quarts of 45 to 50% abv of UJSM made off of several runs. As of last night I'm down to 1 quart, and it's mine hands off. There's nothing like a little night cap before bed. I have my 4th generation ujsm fermenting in the bucket now. Still got another week or so to go on that one. I may mix up another bucket this weekend that way they'll be ready to distill 2 weekends in a row. So much for putting some back for a rainy day. It's funny how many friends I have now, they are almost like flies at a picnic. However a little cooch for hooch isn't bad trade off and that makes me one happy hooch maker.

Yup and I think I found the magic recipe for my appleshine. 8 pounds sugar, 4tbsps yeast and 5 pounds apple mush. The yeast is eatin that stuff up like mad! Got 4 5 gallon mashes going, staggered at about 2 or 3 days each. Should be a good run!

It carries over a bit, just enough to be tasty LOL! I run a basic pot still to preserve as much flavor as possible, and for apples it works great!

Well sounds like a great way to be healthy and intake apples without having to eat any. Smart thinking.

I gave total plumb up on neutrals. It dont make no sense to go to the trouble to make it when you can buy it cheaper and it tastes just about the same..which is like nothing. Just seems a little economically unwise. This be with the manuel labor time investment calculated at only ten bucks an hour. I am really worth a lot more than that maybe. Too bad we aint unionzed. Smart folks figger that angle up at fifty bucks an hour most likely..counting double time for holidays etc. Sure be glad when Jimmy Hoffa shows back up and gets us organized or whutever. Rational folks looks at things funny sometimes huh?

Is that you John? I have heard that phrase somewhere before. lol.

...said the man that has only done one pot still run and now only does reflux runs, which strips out all flavor from the output.

Am I missing something?

I have been in this for 20 years, and have trained commercial distillers that sell rather pricey vodka (one is over $100 per bottle). Hopefully that makes me experienced enough to disagree. If run properly, a well designed reflux unit will separate each component so that it is pulled off virtually pure and independent from the next. It is only if a unit is:
a) incapable of a high degree of separation, or
b) run incorrectly
that this would not be true, especially given that 'flavors' are generally higher fractions.

If I remember correctly, you don't use the router speed controller any more. The first one burned up (or something like that) and the company replaced it free-of-charge. As of now, you just plug directly into the wall circuit and go with that. When you finally get to temperature and start getting output, I would bet that you're getting a pretty good stream (but not a quick drip like you're supposed to). Therefore, I think you're running the reflux unit more like a pot still. You're pushing the vapors through the system too hard and not getting good separation of the components. So it's not hard to believe that you're getting flavor in the output.

I would think that if you used the RSC and aimed for a four-drip-per-second output rate, you would see less flavor carryover. But, whatever floats your boat.

Hi BW,
First off let me say that I have no equipment and have not yet run a batch or fermented anything. My answer to your post is based on research that I have done to this point (and as I'm still learning I certainly could be wrong). A true reflux system run correctly will in fact (if you do your cuts correctly) produce almost pure hearts. This would mean that you would have a high abv (above 90%) nuetral (flavorless) spirit (vodka?). Now if you choose to run it a bit faster you can smear the hearts a bit and be able to impart a bit of flavor from your mash. Along that same line you could also choose to run it hard and fast like a pot still or as a stripping run. For what you want I would suggest you run your ps2 in pot mode. Do a few runs and watch your cuts. This should get you your flavored spirit--corn whiskey. Again, this is just based on research I've done so far and I could be wrong. I hope it helps you out. I also suggest you read "The Compleat Distiller'. This is a very good book in that it explains the different types of stills and what types of spirit they are good for. I would also suggest reading "Making Corn Whiskey" as this seems to be what you are trying to get.
Maddawgs