Big ballz up - where to from here?
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 5:40 pm
Here is my rig: 4inch 80L boiler
Here is my story:
5 weeks ago I put on a macrum wash in a 120l fermenter.
3 weeks ago while I was waiting for my IBC and pump to arrive I took the still outside and hooked it up to the garden hose and ran about 50L through the still as a bit of a test run since I pulled it apart and cleaned it inside and out. I noticed a a leak coming from the base but I kept going as I was just mucking around learning how it works.
I removed the fores and collected about 5l totaling 80 percent ABV
Today I finally finished the pump, IBC and new larger diameter hoses and replaced the seal. I still had 50L left in the fermenter (it was kept sealed and there was water in the airlock) So i added the wash into the boiler and I also thew in the 5l demi. Then I saw there was a bit of water still in the bottom plate and didn''t think much of it. While the boiler was heating up I remembered that the last time I used it I poured vinegar down the column to clean out the previous rum. So then I poured 1.5l of water down the column to try and clean the vinegar out.... and well it just filled up all the plates.... :text-lol:
I wasn't going to stop there so I got it up to temp, kept it in full reflux for a good hour and then I took out my fores. Then I was off, collecting around 300ml in each cut glass and everything was going smoothly, I was collecting it very slowly at about 1.8L per hour. Until cut jar 7 and 8 where the ABV went from 86 to 75 and was slowing down. Once it got to 60 abv which was cut jar 12 I turned off the RC and added the 2nd heating element. It pretty much dropped to 48 ABV straight away then held at 46 ABV for 3 jars.
Jar 17,18 & 19 were also a little cloudy? I started to find a heap of floaties but I have no idea where they came from.
My questions are:
Will the vinegar or water which was in the column ruin the rum?
Can I still use this rum?
Is it okay to have liquid in the plates prior to starting?
Did I rip it into pot still mode too early?
Is it okay to add the previous heads, hearts and tails to my current wash?
Did I leave the rum in the fermener too long given there was 50/50 air and wash?
How do you clean the still after a run when you are planning to run it next week?
I'm prob just going to try and forget today and start again tomorrow. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Here is my story:
5 weeks ago I put on a macrum wash in a 120l fermenter.
3 weeks ago while I was waiting for my IBC and pump to arrive I took the still outside and hooked it up to the garden hose and ran about 50L through the still as a bit of a test run since I pulled it apart and cleaned it inside and out. I noticed a a leak coming from the base but I kept going as I was just mucking around learning how it works.
I removed the fores and collected about 5l totaling 80 percent ABV
Today I finally finished the pump, IBC and new larger diameter hoses and replaced the seal. I still had 50L left in the fermenter (it was kept sealed and there was water in the airlock) So i added the wash into the boiler and I also thew in the 5l demi. Then I saw there was a bit of water still in the bottom plate and didn''t think much of it. While the boiler was heating up I remembered that the last time I used it I poured vinegar down the column to clean out the previous rum. So then I poured 1.5l of water down the column to try and clean the vinegar out.... and well it just filled up all the plates.... :text-lol:
I wasn't going to stop there so I got it up to temp, kept it in full reflux for a good hour and then I took out my fores. Then I was off, collecting around 300ml in each cut glass and everything was going smoothly, I was collecting it very slowly at about 1.8L per hour. Until cut jar 7 and 8 where the ABV went from 86 to 75 and was slowing down. Once it got to 60 abv which was cut jar 12 I turned off the RC and added the 2nd heating element. It pretty much dropped to 48 ABV straight away then held at 46 ABV for 3 jars.
Jar 17,18 & 19 were also a little cloudy? I started to find a heap of floaties but I have no idea where they came from.
My questions are:
Will the vinegar or water which was in the column ruin the rum?
Can I still use this rum?
Is it okay to have liquid in the plates prior to starting?
Did I rip it into pot still mode too early?
Is it okay to add the previous heads, hearts and tails to my current wash?
Did I leave the rum in the fermener too long given there was 50/50 air and wash?
How do you clean the still after a run when you are planning to run it next week?
I'm prob just going to try and forget today and start again tomorrow. Any advice would be much appreciated!