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Tricks, Heads, Tails or Both
I have read ,but cannot find the answer so i have Questions ,
1)For those of you who rerun feints ,After you have done your cuts do you keep both the remainder (excluding the fores ) Heads and tails For Feints or just Tails
2) If you constantly Use the feints in the next run ,after a while do they slowly build up or get stronger in the concurrent reflux runs
I have always thought that the head’s taste slightly sweet toffee flavor on my last run TFFV which is airing the jars at the moment, the Heads had a strong Back of the throat bitter taste and a lot of volume to it , which is why i asked Question 1 and 2
A little History , the feints i re run was from a prior TFFV run , on that reflux run i discovered much to late that the lid was leaking so i basically got heads , very little Hearts and Tails , so i used the entire Spirit (excluding the fores) as feints and added them to the run i have airing at the moment , that has a high proportion of Bitter tasting Tails , and a poor yield of Hearts.
So i suppose what i am asking is it worth keeping the Heads as feints , or should i Ditch them just in case they contaminate my next run
Cheers -
8 Replies
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Because of the volume I ferment I do stripping runs in pot still mode then do a spirit run of Low wines. Everything except the fores of this run are kept until I have enough to do a full run in f feints
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Welcome
I always throw away the fore shots.
Keep the heads and tails as feints to run again later when i have enough.
Drink the hearts :obscene-drinkingdrunk:Last edited by WoodyD40 on Wed Dec 04, 2024 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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i strip and then spirit run, same as wellsy.
but differently, the spirit run fores are chucked, the heads and tails are saved together and put in the very next spirit run.
i also wondered if this would lead to an accumulation of heads in subsequent spirit runs, but that is not the case for me.
i collect in 250ml jars for fores & heads until i get hearts.
it is always about jar 6/7 when heads completely disappears.
i’ve never filtered anything, you shouldn’t need to if you’re running a still properly.
it sounds like you smeared a spirit run, i would just re-run whatever you are unhappy with.
do you hold your still in full reflux (until it is stacked) before started the run?
this usually concentrates the fores and heads. -
Thanks for all the reply’s, Howard how long do you stack the tower in full reflux mode for , i have to admit you reminded me of what i might be doing wrong , recently i read and been practicing that, leaving the product tap open as you go through the metho temp range gets the fores out quicker , then close the product tap and then i leave it in full reflux mode to stack the tower for 15mins and then start drawing through the cuts.
this maybe were i am going wrong , -
I am replying to my prior question as i just thought of a couple of maybe fixes
i have still spirit pro Carbon filter , Can you filter Heads as i have only ever filtered Tails and would could it improve the taste if i run it through that or
option B maybe rerun the bad tasting spirit diluted down to 20% just to give me the volume so i could run it Again through my Reflux Still
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciatedLast edited by shadow74 on Wed Dec 04, 2024 9:28 am, edited 2 times in total. -
nice explanation Howard.
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You cant filter out heads as they are lighter alcohols then ethanol. Tails are heavier then etanol(fussel oils) they can be filtered out.
Or follow the directions here, ditch your filter especially if its not stainless. And just learn cuts its not that difficult, if heads and tails are not in final cut in first place then There is no need to filter.
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i used to have it the column in full reflux for about an hour on a nice rolling boil, this produced a stacked column and the first gently extracted vapours are all the lower temp unwanted bits.
then one day i accidentally noticed something happening.
i had a temperature probe just stuck in between the column and the top of the insulation, just below the deflag (see rig pic)
this was originally to alert me of the column getting hot in that region, which it usually settled to around 74°C, and stayed there.
one day, after about 40mins, i noticed the temp dropping very slowly.
i resisted the urge to alter any power or water settings and watched as the temp dropped a couple of degrees.
so now it steadied at about 72°C.
i concluded later (rightly or wrongly :think: ) that the temp drop was an indication that the lower temp vapours had gathered at the top of the column and the column was stacked and ready for me to bleed off the nasties very slowly by reducing the water slowly.
i have replicated and observed this numerous times now and it’s now part of my reflux procedure.i also have a thermometer in the vapour path after the deflag.
this remains at ambient temp in full reflux, then it tells me vapour is getting through, as it rises when i reduce the water in slow increments.
refluxing is the only time i embrace the help of themometers.also "the metho temp range" – sugar washes produce little or no methanol AFAIK.
other foreshot nasties include acetone, Aldehyde volatiles, esters etc
so i wouldn’t call it the metho range, just fores.
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