Last Layer – Tails
The tails start once the alcohols with lower boiling points has all evaporated. You have to estimate the amount of alcohol you should get from the batch. When you get near to that amount, start tasting.
You can tell you have reached this level in distilling by the smelling the liquid which gives a scent of wet cardboard. The flavor profile of the distillate will change significantly; Keep tasting a few drips from a shot glass. The rich flavors present during the hearts will start to fade, as will the sweetness. Spirits collected during this phase will taste somewhat “thin.” You can tell the alcohol is getting less. Watch the drips as they go into the surface of alcohol in the mason jar. You will be able to see the drips go deeper into the collected alcohol. It looks as if the distillate is now heavier. You are at the start of the tails.
If you run your batch too hot when distilling your run you will “push” your tails through with the heads and hearts. Keep it dribbling.
If you take a little of the drips in the palm of you hand and rub both hands together. Notice how it feels. Then smell it. It will smell like alcohol. When the hearts are ending you take some drips in your hands and you can feel a slipperiness, that is oil. You will also smell the tails odor in your hands. That is propanol. Cut early.
Some people use the tails by making a subsequent batch adding to it the high alcohol levels from the heads to it and redistill it.
This tails portion of the run contains fusel oils such as propanol, butanol, and amyl alcohols. The tails are not very good tasting and are mostly water, proteins, carbohydrates and less volatile alcohols with higher boiling points.
These chemicals found in the third stage with boiling points higher than alcohol’s theoretical evaporation point 173.5F;
- 2-Propanol [Isopropyl alcohol] (180F) 82C (rubbing alcohol) Is present at a point close after the hearts alcohol layer evaporation has finished occurring.
- 1-Propanol (207F) 97C high evaporation point, stays in tails
- Water (212F) 100C high evaporation point, stays in tails
- Butanol (241F) 116C high evaporation point, stays in tails
- Amyl alcohol (280F) 137.8C high evaporation point, stays in tails
- Furfural (322F) 161C high evaporation point, stays in tails