Do you want to get the most out of your iStill? Tastewise, that is? Here's an approach that will help you supercharge taste! Based on a rye base beer recipe and tuned for the iStill 250, it can be used as a corner stone for any grain wash and any iStill.
Making beer
Make 850 liters of 7.5 to 8% rye base beer.
Stripping
Perform three super fast strip runs of 250 liters. Since filling the boiler, heating-up the wash, stripping, and cleaning will take about 3 hours, the three stripping runs will take a good days work.
iStill settings for super fast strip runs
For the super fast stripping runs, dial the iStill in as follows, using the menu options:
- Set Fores Collection Temperature at 77 degrees C;
- Set Column Stabilization Time at 1 minute;
- Set End Temperature of the run at 99.5 degrees C.
Choose the following programs:
- Pot Distillation Mode;
- Fores Removal Program;
- Non-Carbon Filtered Output;
- Press Start;
- When the boiler contents are heated up, dial in 18 KW power input.
This way, the iStill will run at maximum speed and will strip 250 liters of beer to around 50 liters of 40% low wines and discard some 400 mls of fores.
If you strip three times, you collect 150 liters of 40% low wines. You can use the iCatalyst during the strip runs, but that is not obligatory.
Finishing
Prior to starting the finishing run, add the iCatalyst 250. Now fill the iStill boiler with 150 liters of 40% low wines. Add the remaining 100 liters of rye base beer. This will bring boiler content up to 250 liters. Total ABV of the boiler charge is now 27%.
iStill settings for finishing run
For the finishing run, dial the iStill in as follows, using the menu options:
- Set Fores Collection Temperature at 77 degrees C;
- Set Column Stabilization Time at 10 minutes;
- Set End Temperature of the run at 97.5 degrees C.
Choose the following programs:
- Pot Distillation Mode;
- Fores & Heads Removal Program;
- Non-Carbon Filtered Output;
- Press Start;
- When the boiler contents are heated up, dial in 7 KW power input.
This way, the iStill will heat-up at maximum speed, then take around 400 mls of fores. After fores are taken, the column will stabilize for 20 minutes. Heads will be removed after the first stabilization is done. Now a second, 10 minutes, stabilization period will start, after which some more heads are taken. After that, dial back power input to 7 KW and collect hearts.
Depending on your wash and the goal you are after, you may want to stop collecting as soon as 97 degrees C (for a white whiskey or a whiskey that will age for a short time only) or go as far as 97.5 degrees C (more early tails will give a more complex product after a prolongued period of ageing). Hearts will come over at around 70 to 72% depending on where you cut.
Just an example
The above discription is just an example of how to use the iStill for maximum taste transfer. Off course, it is also possible to do a potstill run without any stabilization time or automated heads collection. It does not necesairily make the product better or worse. But taking advantage of the stabilization functionality as well as the automated heads removal program will give you more control and a bigger hearts cut.
What you are actually doing, what we are actually proposing in the above example, is that you combine the best of both worlds: fores & heads will be seperated as in Pure Mode, to compact them as much as possible, while hearts are taken in Potstill Mode for maximum taste transfer.
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