I understand that if you are making a sugar wash that you should do a stripping run hard and fast in pot still mode. Say if I started with 25l of was at 14% or so I should end up with around 3/4 of a gallon after stripping. So I cut that with water to around 120 proof( am I right here?) and then run it slow in reflux mode watching my cuts. How much should it yeild of finished product after this. Secondly the pot is 8 gallons or so. Is it safe to run only a gallon in there using propane?

Excuse me? Facts please, don't just perpetuate myths you have read. When they make scotch or irish whiskey and triple distill they never cut it. Low wines about 35%, high wines 65% and final product around 80%.

To the original poster. If you are using a reflux still like sold by Brewhaus there should be no need for a stripping run. Just run it nice and slow once. If you are doing stipping runs usually you will do at least three boiler charges to collect enough to be worthwhile doing a final spirit run. The only time i will water down for a spirit run is if im doing a bourbon grain bill and want my final product to come off at 80% for hearts. Thats on a pot still with thumper and i know anything with 20% or better charge is going to give me 85% or a little better for hearts so i'll water down to around 15 which give me my hearts at about 80.

"You can save all and redistill but you should dilute down ESPECIALLY if using flame heat so you dont create a bomb. I usually dilute down to 40%(80 proof) for distiiling stripped runs or just to re distill a crappy product that didnt come out to good which I have not had to do(Yet)!"
http://www.brewhausforum...ad.php?1130-General-help

"When you redistill make sure you add some water to your pot along with your distillate."
http://www.brewhausforum...lcohol-yield-please-help

"But if you strip first then dilute your spirit run boiler charge to 40% or lower"
http://www.brewhausforum...1-Newbie-Questions/page2

"then dilute it back down to below 40% and re-distill."
http://www.brewhausforum...read.php?1477-Blue-hooch

"Open flame? Definitely dilute to 40% or less.
Lectric? Better safe than sorry. Dilute to 40% or less (or not)."
"any thing over 40% while using an open flame could surely send you to the pearly gates if you spring a leak or some such catastrophe."
http://www.brewhausforum....php?1440-Double-distill

You stated a good argument. Can you provide proof from elsewhere to back it up? Otherwise, I'll just regurgitate what you've written. And you stated that was a bad thing to do without actual proof or science.

I'm not sure what i need to back up. Bushy made my point about explosion. And yes Bushy, i have been following this season. I don't really get why those boys and putting so much time, money and effort into a hidden still location then advertising its location meaning they can only use it before the show broadcasts. Am i the only one that thinks the shows new cop looks like he could be Tim's brother? But i digress.

As far as my point about pot stillers often running higher abvs if you check out the video thread and watch the irish whiskey video you will see what i was talking about them running their product three times through pot stills. Starting with their wash/beer, then low wines and the final stage high wines to finish with a product of about 80%.

If you don't beleive that only the vapour burns take some of your own uncut, say an ounce and put it in a jar and light it. It will burn a long time as the liquid turns to vapour. You can blow it out and restart it. You can even put a lid on it while its burning and it will just run out of oxygen and burn itself out.

And as far as my point about the vapour off of a 20% wash being about as volitile as a 40% or higher at distilling temps here is a flash point chart for ethanol at different temps from wikipedia.

"Flammability

An ethanol-water solution that contains 40% ABV will catch fire if heated to about 26 °C (79 °F) and if an ignition source is applied to it. This is called its flash point.[31] The flash point of pure ethanol is 16.60 °C (61.88 °F), less than average room temperature.[32]

The flash points of ethanol concentrations from 10% ABV to 96% ABV are shown below:[33]

10% — 49 °C (120 °F)
12.5% — about 52 °C (126 °F)
20% — 36 °C (97 °F)
30% — 29 °C (84 °F)
40% — 26 °C (79 °F)
50% — 24 °C (75 °F)
60% — 22 °C (72 °F)
70% — 21 °C (70 °F)
80% — 20 °C (68 °F)
90% — 17 °C (63 °F)
96% — 17 °C (63 °F)

Alcoholic beverages that have a low concentration of ethanol will burn if sufficiently heated and an ignition source (such as an electric spark or a match) is applied to them. For example, the flash point of ordinary wine containing 12.5% ethanol is about 52 °C (126 °F)."


As you can see from this even the weakest of normal washes will burn at the temps you run in a still.

If your pot is secure and your set up is sealed and you pay attention to what you are doing then you are safe. But yes there is a potential for danger if you aren't meeting those criteria even at a 12% wash.

There is a lot of "group think" on both sites. Some one says it, it seems to makes sense so it gets repeated. Doesn't make it true.

I post on a chevy site where someone asked what stall speed of a torque converter means. A bunch of people including an admin explained the common misconception of what stall speed means. I explained what stall speed actually means which i learned in college and backed it up with site references from actually informational sites as opposed to forums. Then i got admonished by and admin who had answered the question incorrectly who explained that it was easier to understand the way he and everyone else explained it,even though it was wrong. Thats the power of group think. Even confronted with actual facts some will choose to stick their heads in the sand.

No i don't think i am putting anyone in danger. If your boiler has a leak or may develop one you are flirting with disaster and thats not my fault. If you think running a lower abv% in your boiler is going to save you from disaster if you aren't using quality equipment and paying attention to what you are doing your are just giving yourself a false sense of security. I have provided you with real information from an information site. If you choose to beleive common misconception thats your right.

And the other forum only has a handful of actual knowledgable people on it that i can tell. That site has a serious problem with post whores, followers and group think.

Hi OYY,
This is a pretty informative and very helpful post, just wanted to say thanks. By the way, I love the term "post whores"
Maddawgs