Blue distillate and brown (copper?) flakes.

[Geremy]

So I ran some single grain mash (reasonably well filtered) this evening. The first 3 liters were perfectly clear, beginning at liter 4 I started to get a bluish tint to the distillate, and what looks like a brown/coppery looking flake. My search online yielded many answers, sometimes contradictory. Generally people are saying either too much nitrogen in the wash thus creating ammonia, or copper sulfate (maybe acetate). I did a vinegar cleaning run followed by a water run beforehand. How, if at all, can I save this second half of the distillate?

Pictures included. The funnel shows whatever the brown stuff is, and you can easily see the difference in distillate.

 

[brumateur1]

Don't drink it. You will not die but copper salts are very unhealthy.

 

[Shine0n]

Keep it for window cleaner or fire starter or adhesive remover.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Run it through a coffee filter to remove the flakes, add some sodium carbonate to convert any ethyl acetate back into ethanol, and re-distill, it should come out just fine. The sodium carbonate reacts with the ethyl acetate, creating ethanol and acetic acid. The acetic acid is then converted to sodium acetate and carbon dioxide when reacting with the sodium carbonate.

 

[bracconiere]

did it puke? could just be wash if so....

 

[Geremy]

Run it through a coffee filter to remove the flakes, add some sodium carbonate to convert any ethyl acetate back into ethanol, and re-distill, it should come out just fine. The sodium carbonate reacts with the ethyl acetate, creating ethanol and acetic acid. The acetic acid is then converted to sodium acetate and carbon dioxide when reacting with the sodium carbonate.

Thank you! I knew something could be done, just not well-versed enough in the chemistry to figure it out on my own.

 

[Geremy]

did it puke? could just be wash if so....

In this case there was no puking, although I’ve definitely had that happen in the past.

 

[bracconiere]

In this case there was no puking, although I’ve definitely had that happen in the past.

Just to check...you did clean whatever column/condenser afterwards?

 

[Geremy]

Just to check...you did clean whatever column/condenser afterwards?

Vinegar run followed by water run with no water in the worm bucket.

 

[bracconiere]

Run it through a coffee filter to remove the flakes, add some sodium carbonate to convert any ethyl acetate back into ethanol, and re-distill, it should come out just fine. The sodium carbonate reacts with the ethyl acetate, creating ethanol and acetic acid. The acetic acid is then converted to sodium acetate and carbon dioxide when reacting with the sodium carbonate.

didn't know that, voyering is educational! i would have thought you'd need a stronger base to split an ester, even with heat.... (is it because there's so much water present?)

If he were doing this, would he dilute down to a certain % alcohol before rerunning? like 20-30% or something?

 

[jimmayhugh]

didn't know that, voyering is educational! i would have thought you'd need a stronger base to split an ester, even with heat.... (is it because there's so much water present?)

If he were doing this, would he dilute down to a certain % alcohol before rerunning? like 20-30% or something?

It's generally recommended that you should dilute any distillate that you intend to re-distill to not more than a 40% wash, mostly for safety reasons, and especially if using an open flame.

 

[bracconiere]

It's generally recommended that you should dilute any distillate that you intend to re-distill to not more than a 40% wash, mostly for safety reasons, and especially if using an open flame.

with my reflux column i can pull 92% first run with a 16% wash...why i went electric! (thanks for the info)