I'm running into a lot of difficulty recently with my distillation/ fermentation. The symptoms are early onset of feints/ tails. I have tried increasing reflux in the still to continue the hearts cut but it isn't working. I have tried less reflux too.
Fermentation appears to be good.
Grain bill - 100% barley malt
Starting gravity 1.061 Final gravity 0.997. Estimated ABV 8.38%. Final PH 4.19
Distillation
Still - 250 litre pot with 3 plated column with dephlegmator.
Heads and foreshots are compressed at the begining of the run - 100% reflux for 30 minutes and heads collected slowly afterwards. Cut is determined by taste a smell.
Hearts- relfux is reduced and heating of pot is increased. Cut is determined by taste and smell. The average abv i was collecting before this was 81% ABV. I can achieve above 81% ABV initially but the abv drops fairly suddenly when about 25% of the expected hearts cut is obtained. The product becomes feinty after this point.
I have checked the still for leaks but all the gaskets look fine. Any advice?