The purpose of a stripping run is to reduce volume, so you can run it as fast as you like. Don't worry about the temperature. When I strip I take it down to about 20% before I call it quits.

"You can get a good estimate of how you did based on your initial charge and your final volume/abv.

For example, if you started with 11.4 L (3 gal) at 14%, you have about 1.6 L of EtOH.

If you collected about 2.8 L (3 quarts) at 50% you would be left with about 1.4 L of EthOH ... which seems fine ... you recovered about 88%."

The numbers I gave were just examples.

Here are some concrete numbers. I make mostly neutrals and Birdwatcher's is my favorite wash. My BW washes have been very consistent. I end up with 22L
11% - 12%. So there's about 2.4 L - 2.6 L of EtOH in the wash.

My stripping runs are also pretty routine ... the numbers always track the same. I strip down to about 25% - 20% abv. When I'm done, I'll have about 4.7 L (~ 5 quarts) of low wines at about 50% abv. So the low wines would contain about 2.3 L of EtOH. So I'm recovering about 90% (give or take a few points) of the EtOH in my wash.

I suppose I could bump those numbers up a bit. But to be honest, by the time I'm down to 20% abv I'm starting to get a bit tired and figure that going lower isn't buying me much in the grand scheme of things. I have much more interest and enthusiasm when I do a spirit run.

I keep very detailed notes about everything. Some might say I'm OCD ... maybe ... but I like knowing what to expect. And when things are the same I know I have a consistent process. That doesn't mean it's a good process ... but it's consistent. So when I start monkeying around I can see what actually changes ... or when things are different on their own, I know there might be a ghost in the machine somewhere.

Anyway, I hope that helps. If you're recovering around 90% when you strip I would say you're doing just fine.

BTW: I do discard fores when I strip.

--JB