Step 1:
Ferment and clear your wash. This has been covered well enough already, so it is not necessary to go into great detail again. Simply ferment your wash and allow it to clear naturally or use a clearing agent to do so more quickly. I highly advise clearing the wash to reduce the risk of scorching material to the bottom of your kettle. Clearing is absolutely required when using internal heating elements to heat your still.
Step 2:
Transfer the wash to your kettle. While you can use a funnel and simply pour the wash from your fermenter to your kettle, this will also drudge up the sediment and transfer it along with the clear liquid. It is far better to transfer the wash using a siphon, which makes it much easier to move just the clear liquid, leaving behind all the sediment on the bottom of the fermenter. Never fill your kettle to more than 80 percent of its total capacity! This extra space is needed for expansion and potential foaming that may occur during heating and boiling. Overfilling your kettle can create issues that will be extremely frustrating. To reduce issues associated with foaming, it can be very helpful to add an anti-foam agent to the wash.
Step 3:
Complete the assembly of your distiller. Hopefully your distiller came with instructions, but regardless, this part should be rather straightforward. Drawings are provided in the Resources section for several popular distiller styles, just in case. You will place the pot still column onto the kettle and ensure that it is fully sealed. When vapor starts being produced is not a good time to find out that your distiller is not sealed.
Step 4:
Start heating the still and be patient. Depending on the heat source and size of your wash, the heating process can take up to a couple of hours. It can be tempting to turn the heat up to the maximum to get the still producing as quickly as possible, but this is not always a wise decision. This is especially true when using certain types of propane cookers. These cookers can be capable of producing a very large amount of heat, and while they can get your wash boiling rather quickly, they can also put out enough heat to damage the bottom of your kettle and scorch any sediment that may have been carried across when transferring the wash. Trying to rush any part of the distillation process will usually show in the finished product, while patience will be rewarded. Now that you have started heating your wash, you should not leave the still unattended until the distillation process is complete.
Step 5:
Start running your cooling water. While you do not necessarily have to start running your cooling water immediately after you begin heating your still, it is imperative that you start running cooling water into your condenser before any vapor starts being produced to avoid an extremely dangerous situation.
Step 6:
Remove and discard the foreshots. If you have a thermometer in the still head, you can use the vapor temperature as a guide. Once vapor starts to appear, the temperature will suddenly spike, and a few moments later you will see drops of distillate begin to flow into your collection container. Continue to watch the temperature until it reached 175° to 176° F (79.5° to 80° C), or until you have collected at least 4 ounces (125ml) of distillate.* Even if the temperature has risen to above 175° F (79.5° C), continue collecting until you have at least 4 ounces (125ml) of foreshots. Do not be afraid to discard a little bit more of the first distillate. The total cost in doing so is literally pennies, and your finished product will often be improved by doing so. Discard the foreshots. They are poisonous, so there is no reason to keep them.
Note:
The volume of foreshots is based on wash size. You must adjust this volume based on the size of your wash to ensure that all the foreshots are removed.
Step 7:
Start collecting the heads. Change your collection container and begin collecting the heads. If you are watching the temperature, it should now be over 175° F (79.5° C). The speed at which distillate is coming from the condenser will have increased, and will now likely be a medium to fast drip, but should not be a trickle. Continue to collect the heads in pint-sized glass jars until the temperature rises to 195° to 196° F (90.5° to 91° C). It is helpful to mark each jar with “heads” and number them as you draw them off. Although you will use your nose and taste buds to decide which, if any, of these jars will be included in your finished product, numbering the jars will help you get a good feel for the changes in the distillate as the process progresses. It is also a good idea to test the alcohol percentage/proof of the distillate as the process progresses. Many distillers use the alcohol percentage as a guide instead of temperature or use both to be more exact in where they want to make their cuts.
The distilling process of whisky needs to go through seven steps: germination, drying, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, barrel aging, and bottling. Distillation is one part of the process. Different distillation time, different stills used, different times of distillation, etc. will have a subtle impact on the flavor of whisky. There is even such a sentence in the Weiquan: "The shape of the distiller determines the style of the winery." The distiller alone hides a lot of knowledge.
