perfection

Yes ... what i meant was a short column rectifier (after the stripping operation) with fewer plates (or no plates?) just the spirit condensation chamber making is a column structures pot still but with a continuous (as opposed to) batch operation

I understand the difference between pot and column still distillation and the typical nature of the distillate that results from the two ..... My (not so smart) newbie question is Why can we not obtain a distillate rich in congeners (like we do in a pot still) by distilling a fermented mash in a short columned copper column still or by setting the condenser chamber of the column still very low so that the distilate is relatively loaded with congeners? Is this theoretically possible at least?

awww alright Thanks Foreshot - i will keep this in mind

So spent mash in Bourbon and other spirits that practice fermentation 'on the grain: = (full) stillage = spent grain and liquid sans alcohol coming out as waste from a distillery operation. The spent grain in this may be processed into DSG Silk City Distillers - If backset is more usually the thin stillage (as opposed to full stillage) why call sour mash sspent mash ---why not spent wash? (my original question)?

Thanks Much clearer but am still not clear about spent mash and DSG Spent mash is grain in stillage which is already post distillation to what does "processed post-distillation into DSG etc...."

I am a bit confused about how the terms spent grain, spent mash, spent wash and stillage are used which is why i do not completely understand the term sour mash (as used in much of bourbon production) As i understand it Spent grain (or draff) moist caked leftover grain after lautering off the sweet mash liquid and may be sold and used as cattle feed My real confusion arrives when it comes to spent mash and spent wash ..... are they the same term ? Mash = wort = unfermented liquid having fermentable sugars from grain (made fermentable by diastatic action) Is spent mash the mash after fermentation and before distillation (which i know as WASH) or is it the brownish liquid left over after vapor stripping the wash in a still which means it is the stillage So is the backset used in bourbons actually the SPENT WASH obtained from the still after distilling the top product (ethanol) out? So does that make sour mash = dunder (sometimes used in rum production) Please correct any or all the above statements so that i may understand the actual content of sour mash and from where it is taken Thank you adi members

I understand that the words “to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.” have been removed and additives of sugar ad citric acid have been added. What i cannot truly understand is what were distillers doing differently earlier and what could they do now that the words “to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.” have been removed? After all, the definition of vodka still says that it is to be made from neutral spirit which as i understand would have mere traces of congeners thus anyway yielding an alcoholic beverage without distinctive character, aroma, and taste Can someone throw some light on this with a concrete example?

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Thanks meerkat - that makes total sense and so lucidly explained... AS i now understand the mechanics, apart from the steam being injected into the analyser (stripper) column/section there is no other source of heating either overall or the individual plate level?

Each sieve plate in the rectifier column of a two column (continuous) still is cooler than the plate below it with the spirit plate. If i understood that correctly, please share with me HOW is the temperature (or temperature difference) of these plates maintained ? Are the temperature of the bubble plates in the analyser (stripping) column maintained as well? If so is it done in the same way as those for the plates in the rectifier column?

If the answer is aany may be used, please tell me what is most commonly used in the run industry ......and how is molasses different from cane honey? Thanks

Would not demineralized water or distilled water be 100% pure, so why get into glacial water, spring water and other sources of natural as pure as possible water when you can get absolutely pure water by distillation or reverse osmosis?

I understand that mashing of malted barley with hot water allows the amylase to break the starch liberated during germination into fermentable sugars What i would like to fully understand is how does it work when using unmalted grains....... If unmalted grain (say corn or rye) is the source material to be used to make a spirit (lets say vodka) it would have to be cooked first to gelatinize the starch in the grain (possibly pressure cooked to speed things up or for 'stubborn' grains) - is this cooking done in mash tubs/ranks/tuns? after which it will be cooled to circa 65 degrees Celsius, awaiting the addition of malt meal (or added enzyme) that will break down the starch into fermentable sugars OR are cooking the unmalted grain and mashing it in a tank with malt meal (or enzyme) two separate operations in two different equipment Thank you folks at ADI Regards and many thanks

I was wondering whether the solid spirit plate in a continuous still rectifier can be repositioned if a lower proof spirit is needed (or will this require re-assembling) ? Also if it's position is fixed at the top of a rectifying unit, does that mean that if a lower proof spirit needs to be run it will all be based on thermal control? Is the spirit plate ever externally and deliberately cooled?

I understand that if an alcoholic beverage is based on barley as raw material it would go for the malting -(self saccharifcation) route to make a mash for fermentation as barley has high diastatic ability Possibly that holds good for wheat too? Theoretically, if a spirit or liquor steam is to be made from rye, corn, millet can it be done by the malting the grain followed by saccharification using the grain's own amylase assisted by malted barley or does it have to be done by cooking the grain or grain bill before adding malted barley (as cooking will destroy any amylase) to do the saccharification. Will the results of say, cooking the rye grain and malting the rye grain result in a mash that tastes the same (only different routes to get there)? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but would like to settle it my my mind Thanks folks at ADI Stay safe

Is their a technical name for those port hole type windows that one sees alongside the running length of the analyser and rectifier columns of a continuous still? Are they optional to the design of a still and what benefits do they serve?

Is the term rectification used to refer to all the post stripping processing in a distillation process including processes used to concentrate the ethanol in one of more subsequent runs) and column runs that are aimed at isolating the ethyl alcohol from certain or a specific congener element? Is the word used in pot distillation too and if so, how ? would a second and subsequent run in a pot stil batch process also be described as rectification sub process within distillation Thanks for any clarification and guidance from experts at this fantastic forum

Thank you for taking the time out to help me Meerkat - Would you please in a few lines, explain its consequence to distillation? Distillation is a controlled process and the lower the temperatures the slower (and more thorough?) the distillation. So do distillers stay clear (below) this temperature (boiling point of the liquid at various concentrations) for a better separation or is there some other significance for pot and column still distillation? Thanks

Easily googled i have found that the boiling point of ethyl alcohol is 78.37 degrees Centigrade. I would believe that this is the boiling point of PURE ethyl alcohol at 1 atm pressure Distillation however occurs on a (fermented) wash or a low wine (the distillate after the first distillation of a pot still process) which means the quatum of alcohol would be in the region of 7-12% and 28-32% respectively. My question: Although, the ethanol will vaporize at various speeds at various temperatures, what would be the boil point of the alcohol when in amixture where its strength is 15% or 30% - will it still achieve a boil to vapour at 78.37 (other things being equal)? How does one approach thinking about this?

when distilling in a pot still (and I am assuming twice to get the distillate to an appreciably high alcoholic abv) is it that the distillate resulting from the first distillation is ALWAYS cloudy resulting from smearing even if one has made cuts to sever heads and the tails? What is the reason why smearing happens resulting in a little cloudiness? Does it happen with all spirits or does it depend on the source material from which the wash is made? Why does it not happen in the second run of the pot distillation? Thank you

Thanks a lot each one of you. Much clearer now.... Does this further imply that each plate in the rectifying column is at a marginally higher temperature than the one below it and can the temperature of each plate be controlled externally or manually? and WHY wash with water if the distillate has to rectified in another set of 2 to 3 columns (like for vodka I assume)?

Dis not understand.... Are not plates in a rectifier column supposed to make up a continuous still? So whats the difference?

I do understand that continuous (column) stills are more efficient due to their throughput and non-stop feed of wash, but I would like to know whether repeated distillations ( I believe it is called rectification) in a pot still could produce neutral spirit with almost no congeners identical to a continuous still Do/can continuous stills produce neutral spirit in a single run? or are they also rectified to get neutral spirit?

Thanks for all the help folks

I understand stillage is what is left behind in a pot still after distillation is known as stillage (variously called pot ale and vinasse) My question is whether the term applies to column (continuous) stills in any way? Is the pumped wash (ready for stripping) filtered in some way before being pushed into the analyser of the column still ? Thanks