Strip on a Reflux

Edmonton

Hoping someone can shed some light on this for me…
I have a 6 plate 4” column still and have no issues getting 190 proof every run.
But, it has been suggested to me that I should do a stripping run first, then dilute down to 40% and do my final run and that this will give me a true neutral.
My question is, should I make ANY cuts on my stripping run?
The way I see it, I should let everything go by without cuts but I am tempted to still discard first part of heads and the last part of my tails.
My first attempt at 40 gallons of Bird Watchers V4.

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:::Heads Hearts & Tails:::

NZChris

The first off is commonly called the foreshot.  It smells like nail varnish.
There is no tails cut, you just shut the still down when you have your desired Low Wines abv.

shadylane

When stripping, there's always a tails cut.
It's what left in the pot, to be drained out.
Personally, I always do a small, sacrificial foreshots cut every time I distill something.
It doesn't take much, just a little bit to keep the still house leprechauns on my good side.

Setsumi

For me a plater/flute is not the best tool for neutral. Then again if you are after a clean neutral a strip run will benefit your process. AND if you want a flavour product on a flute do all grain and run low wines.
After the first 3 strips and spirit run you will have enough product not to worry about the precieved effort.... then your real effort will be on keeping the fermenters full.My first flute
My press
My twins
My controller
My wife tells me I fell from heaven covered in white. Why did they let me fall?

CopperFiend

With that few plates it is not likely to be true neutral (as close to 96% as you can get) and a long packed column or many more plates would be needed. That said, a stripping run and then a very slow take off with high reflux ratio on your setup should give something close to neutral for most purposes.

Demy

This is exactly my opinion and what I do.

NZChris

I am constantly surprised by the number of people who don't understand that there are no tails from a stripping run.
Turn the heat off and chuck the backset on the weeds in the garden before it cools down.

Saltbush-Bill

Doesnt matter what still you try to use to make neutral, neutral will always benefit from a stripping run first.
If you use all 6 plates and a tiny bit of reflux on the strip it will be slower , but you will hold a lot of the tails back in the boiler so that your still doesnt have to deal with as much of them on the spirit run.Agree with shady 100% here .....its easy enough to run slow at the beginning of the strip and take some of the fores off.......Its less you have to remove later when doing the spirit run.
I see from your photo and text that your running TPW "Birdwatchers".........from my experience you will get a better end product using a plated column if you switch over to Shadys Sugar Shine.Why would you not try to leave the worst of the tails behind on a stripping run if your trying to make a really clean neutral......the more of them left in the boiler the better imo.
Its very possible to do that with a still like a 6 plate column on the strip.

Edmonton

Why?
What make Shady’s better? :::Heads Hearts & Tails:::

Saltbush-Bill

I've refluxed a fair few of both over the years.......Shadys gives a cleaner end product imo.

Edmonton

I have been recommended Birdwatchers Version4 multiple times on this forum and others. I try to research the heck out of everything before I jump in and I will say I was very hesitant at first as I have heard people say they can smell the tomato paste in the final product. I am not sure I believe this but I have no way of knowing until I try.
Now, because I have done a turbo yeast and can tell you there is a substantial taste difference than a standard sugar wash, this made me a little skeptical with birdwatchers. Although I know the reasons are completely different.  
What do you use for a recipe?
The one posted on this site? or a modified version?
The reason I ask is because Birdwatchers has changed somewhat over the years from the original recipe and Shady’s Sugar Shine was posted almost 5 years ago in this forum.
Doing some reading it seems everybody and their dog is altering this recipe.
Without knowing who any of these people are…
Do I try the original recipe?
Or do I listen to some somebody such as yourself “Experienced” that is already pointing me in a new direction?
I am guessing by some of your posts on this forum that you you have a modified version that, if you don’t mind, help a “young” old buck like me out.  

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:::Heads Hearts & Tails:::

Saltbush-Bill

Stick to the original in my opinion.......or ask shady.
I rarely if ever modify proven recipes.....they are where they are for a reason.

shadylane

If you don't have a calibrated pH meter.
Do the original recipe.
I think it's good folks make mods to the recipe and then share what they did and how it came out.
The basics stay the same. Don't stress the yeast.