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My Vodka Is Misted

edited September 2016 in General

When I dilution 40% spirit.
Next day. My vodka is misted
Can you help me?

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  • Highly rectified spirits shouldn't do this. I could understand if this was just a double pot distilled vodka ex grain...what's the story @sakura120 ? Tell us how you made the product.

    Cheers,

    Mech.

  • Yep, sounds like your vodka isn't vodka.
    What's it smell like?

  • edited September 2016

    Thank for all. I stripping by continous still. (60-70%)

    • Dilution stripping : 40%. add Bakingsoda in strip ( pH 8 -9 ) for 48h
    • Process distillation of my CM column ( 10 plate): ( spirit)
    • heat to boil : temp : 182 - 184°F. When temp180°F open max valve cool in dephlegmator
    • Reflux for 1 hour. Slowly decrease the cooling in deph, start to separate out distinct fractions in the foreshots. temp deph out : 120 - 130°F. Temp top : 174°F, temp vapor near condenser : 140 - 170. Take foreshot
    • When temp vapor near condenser : 170°F( may be 30 min) I increase cool in deph reflux again ( 30 min), then Slowly decrease the cooling in deph. Take head
    • When temp vapor near condenser : 170°F I increase cool in deph reflux again ( 30 min), then Slowly decrease the cooling in deph. Take heart
    • temp deph out : 130°F. Temp top : 174 - 176°F, temp vapor near condenser : 166 - 170°F, temp out condenser : 30°F
    • when smell alcohol of wet dog, mint. Take tails
    • i collected my product in 20 separate jars
    • dilution spirit ( jar 7- 14) down 40%
  • edited September 2016

    What was in those bottles before you filled them?

    Oils or other nucleation points (particulate, dust) will cause this issue.

    Also, there are some anecdotes that point to this being caused by dropping the spirit proof below 40%. I think Pintoshine posted a good comment on this, on another board. It's a common mistake to overshoot the dilution because you aren't accounting for the heat associated with the process. So when verifying the dilution, the temp is higher, so the proof on the hydrometer is higher, and the "correction" is really an over-correction, and you end up closer to 37, 38, 39%.

    The solution is going to be based on the problem. There have been multiple solutions to the problem, but they are based on the issue.

    Washing bottles with RO or DI water.

    Gas injection to blow out particulate.

    Rinsing bottles with spirit prior to filling.

    Filling at a cooler temperature.

    Purging the bottle with nitrogen (to displace air in the headspace).

  • edited September 2016

    Does it go away after you shake the bottle and leave it to settle? Does it come back after a few days?

    If so, I would suspect the bottle. Are those used plastic water bottles you are re-using?

    Is it across all bottles, or just some? The photo isn't clear. Looks like some yes, some no.

  • Thank @grim it is across all bottles. It come back after a few days. I accounting by AlcoDen. I cool RO water before dilution. I used new plastic bottles and washing bottles with RO. You can give me link "Pintoshine posted a good comment" Thank a lot

  • PET bottles and glass bottles

  • edited September 2016

    After my spirit run, I usually wait a few days and add RO water to get to 85-90%

    Here's what I do:

    Combine the whole batch of spirits together (usually about 8-10 gallons). Add the water, 1 gallon at a time until I reach the desired %. The spirits were crystal clear and the water was crystal clear. They were all the same room temperature. I filtered with Norit carbon. BUT, when bottling the finished product (spirit + water), it all came out cloudy! WTF!? I've let the mixture set for a couple of days and nothing, still cloudy.

    Anyone got any ideas as to why? Also, any way to get it clear again?

    Thanks

  • I've started cutting everything here to 45% and it definitely helps. Of course with the temps here it is probably closer to 40% in reality. I gave a bottle of rum to a friend earlier in the year and he left it in his truck overnight on a rare night when it almost dropped to freezing. The next day he asked, "Is it supposed to be cloudy?" .

    On an aside, a bottle I have from a local distillery is at 35% and I get the condensation at the top of the bottle. No cloudiness though.

  • I bet is is higher vapor pressure (lower boiling point) things coming out of solution... to test, take one bottle, leave condensation on the neck, carefully siphon out to a clean container, rinse the container with distilled water, and refill, see what happens in a couple days.... if it happens less, the higher vapor pressure things have been somewhat removed....

  • Thermal mass of the plastic vs glass? Maybe a temp change phenomenon?

  • Thanks for all comments @CothermanDistilling : Can you please say precisely? Thanks

  • PRECISELY

    DAD... not yours.. ah, hell... I don't know...

  • edited September 2016

    Ba dum bum tsss...

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • more precisely? non-ethanol lower boiling point impurities... aka heads

  • edited September 2016

    @sakura120 said: After my spirit run, I usually wait a few days and add RO water to get to 85-90% Here's what I do: Combine the whole batch of spirits together (usually about 8-10 gallons). Add the water, 1 gallon at a time until I reach the desired %. The spirits were crystal clear and the water was crystal clear. They were all the same room temperature. I filtered with Norit carbon. BUT, when bottling the finished product (spirit + water), it all came out cloudy! WTF!? I've let the mixture set for a couple of days and nothing, still cloudy. Anyone got any ideas as to why? Also, any way to get it clear again?

    I've run into problems with clouding or flavors after carbon filtering. the carbon needs to be well washed or higher percentage spirits can pull odd flavors out of the carbon.

  • You may need to regen your carbon. Acid-Water-Caustic-Water-Acid-Water. See how you go.

  • edited September 2016

    @CothermanDistilling said: more precisely? non-ethanol lower boiling point impurities... aka heads

    non- ethanol lower point is Andehit, metanol, Ethyl acetate...?

  • could be 1000 different things, or just a couple... but siphoning out the liquid into a clean container leaving the droplets in place is similar to doing another distillation to remove them, right?

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