-
Embarking on the Sacrificial Journey
I have been dutifully trying to study up on it. This seems to be a topic with little concensus. I don’t want to put a lot of energy or resources into this for obvious reasons. I intend to make a sugar wash, throw some cornflakes into it and throw whatever yeast happens to be in my fridge into it. My still can handle about 45L. I am only going to try to half fill it with wash.Does anyone see any problems with what I intend to do?Thanks in advance,Chremes”Paranoid is just good thinking.” – Dr. Johnny Fever
-
15 Replies
-
As long as there is alcohol it will be fine for a sacrificial run. If you can, follow a recipe anyway, something like Shadys Sugar Shine, or even just a UJSSM or Odins cornflakes. That way if there are any issues, even though it is just a sac run, will be much easier to troubleshoot should anything go wrong.
-
It might seem like a big waste now, but in the end it’s not. If you have the capacity, save what you come up with for later cleaning runs.. if you think you might do some modifications. May as well fill the boiler 30l or so. And yes, choose a T&T recipe to get your self started.13.5g/50L keg modular 3″ pot/VM copper&stainless w/offset gin head26g 4″ stripping still5500watts of fury
-
Where is there no consensus ?________________I drank fifty pounds of feed-store corn’till my clothes were ratty and torn
-
No need to get fancy making a sacrificial wash.A malnourished wash that crashes due to low pH would work just fine. When it’s time for a real run, follow a tried and true.
-
Did you do your first cleaning run? The consensus is that you first do a 1:1 vinegar and water cleaning run. Rinse everything thoroughly. Lastly do a sacrificial alcohol run.4″ VM Build
-
I think the answers so far explain what Chremes means by little consensus.I’ll throw my two cents in.If you’ve got experience fermenting, and have a very large fermenter, you can make a well cared for ferment and use a small portion for your sacrifice, and the rest for a product you intend to drink.If you don’t have much experience and intend to ferment small batches. Whip up a 5 gallon bucket of a t&t sugar shine, and if it crashes it will still have enough alcohol in it for a sacrificial run.If you don’t have any experience running a still, your sacrificial run is a good time to learn, but don’t taste. You said it holds about 45l, you can make a wash large enough to fill the boiler, see how long it takes to bring 45l to a boil, and how long it takes to strip all the alcohol from a full charge at a given abv.Lots of ways to skin this cat, and a lot of it depends on what you currently know, and what you still need to learn.In the end, I don’t personally see the need to make a sacrificial wash larger than you need to clean the new still. You’ll have a lot of feints to use later for cleaning runs after any modifications are made.That’s my opinion, and it’s worth what you paid for it. Have fun, stay safe, and enjoy your journey!Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
-
This is what I was getting at, in less words. I did a cleaning run on a new Vapor Management setup, it distilled down to two gallons of 95%, so it was easy to set aside for later uses. So far I’ve lit my briquettes with it I guess if all you’re coming up with is low wines, that wont be worth saving.13.5g/50L keg modular 3″ pot/VM copper&stainless w/offset gin head26g 4″ stripping still5500watts of fury
-
Maybe I should expand a bit on what I meant by little consensus.First off, there are a number of experienced distillers that are willing to say that no sacrificial run is needed at all. They are clearly in the minority but say it nonetheless.Secondly, boiling copper in vinegar will gently remove any oxidation that occurs. As well, it also helps to loosen any kettlestone that may have formed in your still. So the vinegar run makes complete sense to me.Boiling copper in ethanol does not affect the copper at all, though. The only thing that might legitimately happen is that the copper might serve to reduce the ethanol into ethane and hydrogen gas. It will not form any kind of “patina” on the copper, as some folks have claimed.If it did form some kind of patina on the copper, a vinegar run would strip it away. So you would need to do a sacrificial run each and every time you did a vinegar cleaning. Clearly, this is not the case.I have, however, heard it claimed that the sac run will clean out any residual flux that might still be lingering on any welds. This actually makes some sense to me.Thirdly, I have seen a couple of YT videos of people with new Vevor stills who intended to use them for making essential oils. They, too, did a vinegar run. They then did a sacrificial run of their essential oils as well. If ethanol is needed in the sac run, why are the essential oil enthusiasts not aware of it?Fourthly, I am being told to save the results of my sac run by some folks who seem to think that I should use it as a cleaner. But then others state that “sacrificial” means throw it away.Now, despite my doubts, I am going to do the sac run. I am not going to save any of it. But I am going to document everything and take many hydrometer readings. Hopefully, I won’t end up in the Dunning-Kruger club. LolThank you, everyone, for your input!”Paranoid is just good thinking.” – Dr. Johnny Fever
-
-
There’s MUCH consensus HERE. It’s likely that you just haven’t read enough HERE. No one HERE gives a shit about what’s going on on YouTube other social media and the like. Why should we? They’re the main source for bad information.I keep jars of foreshots for firestarter, adhesive remover, etc… Do you think it’s odd that there are uses for flammable/volatile products other than drinking?4″ VM Build
-
Yes, you need a sac run, remember anyone who tells you otherwise in a file named ” George”Vinegar water provides an acidic cleaning cycle and the steam is effective at removing mill and machining/ manufacturing oils and residues. There will be no kettlestone as your still has not been used yet (?)Disregarding the chemistry of reduction.. your sac run will be made from a wash. Even Jesus was only able to turn water into wine, if you can convert a wash into pure ethanol you should consider starting a religion.That wash will contain other compounds and chemicals that absolutely will form a patina… in fact many stainless systems introduce copper for its benefit as a catalyst.As SWS said… do a sac run after you do a vinegar run… if you do not, or you get in the habit of putting your still away dirty or wet you can expect to produce some blue spirits sooner than later.Perhaps the essential oil people are not producing a beverage product, vevor stills are stainless and a vinegar run will do what is intended and the sac oil run will condition the ( non-reactive ) distillation path.”Sacrificial” in this case only means NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION…. do what you want with it! Light your BBq, kill weeds on your driveway, use it as a solvent for cleaning, or save it for future uses like cleaning your still, after the many hours spent producing it you may find yourself irrationally attatched to it.It is VERY important to keep sac. run product in a clearly marked container, I use a 10L gas can … it is red and the only plastic container any of my brewing product ever sees, it is marked as “Cleaning solvent” and POISON…..because i lack subtilty. it may possibly (.. and most probably) contain some things that are not tasty or safe to consume. Also, those people who told you to just throw it away, should also be added to the ” George” file.I would suggest that a sac run is your first true chance to learn to run your still! you can determine many aspects of operation and with good record keeping you can use that as the baseline for improvements… maximum heat and cooling power max power and ABV, determining how much heat your condenser is able to knock down… lots of fun and knowledge to be had while you are making your Sacrificial run.
-
That made me laugh so hard That is awesome.4″ VM Build
-
I’d be interested to know where exactly you found these people, I’ll bet it wasn’t on this forum or any of the other forums I’ve had anything to do with.Let’s see…….could it be those stupid Facebook groups or YouTubers maybe??Use reputable sources for your information and you don’t get shit advice.
-
Seasoning your boiler is a continual process that happens every time you run it. Stripping runs are typically more acidic with less alcohol in the boiler and more “other stuff” depending on what you’re running. Spirit runs are certainly higher concentrations of alcohol and boiling ethanol for several hours certainly cleans and conditions. Compare and contrast the seasoning or “patina” effects below and above the boiler liquid level after a run. Easy to see especially in a copper boiler/riser/condenser. The cleaning protocol is a good kickoff to seasoning with regular use. If you’re making small batch gin, a glass lab setup may be more appropriate than copper but i enjoy my well seasoned all cooper boiler and kit for whiskies and boiling distillers beer for hours on end. Cheers,-jonny————i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred————
-
Consensus is appropriate if you are discussing flavors, but if you are discussing toxicity, I would prefer to research the science.It could be that Vevor’s stills are well cleaned and don’t contain toxins, in which case it wouldn’t make much difference what new users cleaned them with. I have no need to buy one, so I’ll never have first hand experience with them, you go first.
Log in to reply.
English 
Spanish 
German 
French 
Russian