What still to built or buy?

[supham]

I had a simple SS turkey pot with a 3/8 in copper coming out and going directly to the worm.

When I decided to upgrade, I was looking at about $80 in copper parts +keg + hoses + pump...

I went with the Brewhaus Essential Extractor PSII High Capacity- Complete Distiller. I believe it was about $150 - $200 more than building my own. I did design my own, and more or less assembled one in the isles of Home Depot.

I have more $$ than time, I get paid by the billable hour. I decided to sit in my office a couple extra hours to cover the cost.

[cactusbrew]

After many hour/days/weeks of consideration and countless hours of reading in the forums on this site and on the mothersite that I would design-build my own still. I am a firm believer that mistakes are the best teacher available. I went with a pot still head that can easily go to a thumper or to the liebig condensor with the use of threaded fittings. Wish I could take credit for the idea but Usge gave me the idea. I have run two cleaning runs today and am getting ready to fire up for a alchahol cleaning run in a few minutes I checked for leaks during build with a rig that I built using compressed air and a water tank to check for bubbles. I will also use a mirror durring next run to check for vapor leaks although I dont think that it will be a issue (Never to CAREFULL!!!!) ethanol+fire=very bad things I would encourage anyone here to try to build there own as it has tought me so much about how all this works and I still have not made one drinkable run.

[Jeffreygab]

Good grief it seems complicated.
I am brand new.
Is there any parts that will be useful in my old gas 40 gallon water heater?
I am interested mostly in distilling Scotch and Gin. What type is best- the pot still with an herb basket looks easy?...

[ctrlaltdel3t3]

can someone talk about

VM
CM
LM

and what might be the difference maybe some photos.

[Tater]

can someone do a search?

[ctrlaltdel3t3]

sorry tater. i been reading here and there but i am am still a bit lost. I thought this thread was filled with a bunch of great work so i thought i would ask.

[gleamingthecube]

can someone talk about

VM
CM
LM

and what might be the difference maybe some photos.

See here. (But yes, search is your friend. Particularly the HD google search at the top of the forum.)

[F6Hawk]

So if I build my still using a 1/2 keg and a 40" boka column, should I make it modular so that I can reduce the height and make it perform like a pot still? As in, take the plate & condenser part off, add a Leibig condenser to it, and run like that? Or can a Boka, with all packing removed and take-off valve full open act closely enough to a pot still so as to produce flavorful spirits, without having to lower the column or change the head altogether?

[yankeeclear]

So if I build my still using a 1/2 keg and a 40" boka column, should I make it modular so that I can reduce the height and make it perform like a pot still? As in, take the plate & condenser part off, add a Leibig condenser to it, and run like that?

Your choice, but that is pretty much what I did. I have a short 6" column including a 2" female copper coupling that attaches to the keg with a tri-clamp. I can then insert a pot head which is basically a liebig condenser with just enough 2" copper pipe to fit securely into the fitting or a longer column VM (actually have the VM and an even longer extension for neutral). Works pretty well for me, though I rarely switch from the pot head!

[F6Hawk]

Thanks, Yankee. I guess I'm on the fence about the final design. If a Boka column, running wide open with no packing, operates pretty much as a pot still, then I don't see the need to make a second head without the slant plates but with the Leibig condenser.

I guess it all boils down to... if I run a Boka column in reflux mode, I get the clear, tasteless stuff, which is an opotion I want to have.

But if I pull out all the packing, add some outer insulation, and leave the take-off valve wide open, does a Boka operate exactly like a pot still? (or at least closely enough to negate the need to build a second head which eliminates the coil condenser and slant plates, but adds a Leibig...)

Thanks again for your comment.

[Prairiepiss]

Close but still not a pot still.

[la-outlaw]

well I can't really afford to buy one but I am building one out of a stainless steel beer keg, with a 36" copper column on top. I was thinking of running a 36" water condensor off of it. Will the condensor or a worm work best? How often do i need to change the packing out in the column? and do i need to add a thermometer on the top of my column? Any and all help will be appreciated.

[Samohon]

Welcome to HD la_outlaw.

Your ??? can be answered very easily within the Reading Lounge, The Parent Site and the boards of HD...

Hope it helps...

[Samohon]

well I can't really afford to buy one but I am building one out of a stainless steel beer keg, with a 36" copper column on top. I was thinking of running a 36" water condensor off of it 1. Will the condensor or a worm work best?2 How often do i need to change the packing out in the column?3 and do i need to add a thermometer on the top of my column?4 Any and all help will be appreciated.

1. What is a 36" water condenser?
2. We need more information, not enough detail.
3. I have never changed the packing from my column and never will..
4. For a reflux column, Yes. Pot still mode, No...

Do a little research here on HD. The search link at the top/right of the page is great at answering these ???...

Hope it helps...

[la-outlaw]

well I can't really afford to buy one but I am building one out of a stainless steel beer keg, with a 36" copper column on top. I was thinking of running a 36" water condensor off of it 1. Will the condensor or a worm work best?2 How often do i need to change the packing out in the column?3 and do i need to add a thermometer on the top of my column?4 Any and all help will be appreciated.

1. What is a 36" water condenser? What I am calling a condenser is a 1/2" copper pipe with a 3/4" copper pipe acting as a water jacket, flowing cool water thru the water jacket to cool the vapor.
2. We need more information, not enough detail.
3. I have never changed the packing from my column and never will..
4. For a reflux column, Yes. Pot still mode, No...

Do a little research here on HD. The search link at the top/right of the page is great at answering these ???...

Hope it helps...

[Sheff]

What is the reason that you can't put a whishey/moonshine mash through a reflux still? I haven'y bought a still yet? just trying to make a good descision.

[F6Hawk]

What is the reason that you can't put a whishey/moonshine mash through a reflux still? I haven'y bought a still yet? just trying to make a good descision.

A pot still is used for making flavored spirits, and a reflux still for making flavorless (less-flavored) spirits.

In essence, the reflux still is like using a pot still over and over several times, each time removing more and more of the flavors of the mash, until you are left with nearly pure ethanol. (i.e. Vodka).

Build a still that does both. A Boka Reflux, but cut the column in half so you can run it in pot still mode and get very little reflux action (particularly if you insulate the column).

[sunshine4me]

ive seen do this no do that. What should my first still be? I just want to make some good rum. i was thinking pot still but I cant get the price below $138. any ideas? blueprints? Dimensions would help me a lot.

[mash rookie]

ive seen do this no do that. What should my first still be? I just want to make some good rum. i was thinking pot still but I cant get the price below $138. any ideas? blueprints? Dimensions would help me a lot.

Please spend some time in the new distillers reading lounge. Plans, diagrams, explanations are all there for you. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=46
Welcome aboard.
MR

[elliottsmith]

Wonder how a "water boiler" like this one on Amazon would work? It holds 100 cups, electric, thermostat controlled and looks like it would be pretty easy to mount a column on top. What ya'll think?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FNZM9C" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[F6Hawk]

Like any thermostatically-controlled electric heating device, you will get fluctuations because it is ON until temp gets so high, then OFF until temp drops to the lower limit of the thermostat, then ON again. Hard to hold reflux steady unless said range of temps was VERY close. But if you hooked it up to a power controller, would prolly work ok.

[varocketry]

Prairiepiss or Samohon:

I'm coming out of reading everything for a week mode and am arriving, in my mind, at a Pot Still design as I really want to make bourbons, and mash whiskeys. I sincerely respect your knowledgeable, old hand comments and suggestions, so I hope you'll weigh-in here for me...

I like F6Hawk's compromise suggestion:

Build a still that does both. A Boka Reflux, but cut the column in half so you can run it in pot still mode and get very little reflux action (particularly if you insulate the column).

But Prairiepiss didn't agree:

Close but still not a pot still.

Then is there, on this site, a better picture or offering of plans for "The Pot Still" other than the grainy picture in Message #1 of this thread that you do recommend? I plan to build myself on a 15.5g Sanke keg boiler design converted to electrical heat. I've looked up a couple local scrapyards where I'll scrounge-up 3" or 4" copper pipe for the build and copper tubing as needed (worm, etc).

Can you point me to a recommended pot still design?

Many thanks folks!

[Prairiepiss]

Samohons pot still plans. It's a pdf file found in the plans and diagrams thread. Two different locations. One in the must read new distiller reading lounge. For some reason nobody ever sees that thread while doing their needed research? And one in the research and theory section.

[varocketry]

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 0&start=24

Prairiepiss:

I did just find Samohon's "The Pot Still" at that link above in the forum I see you answered with. Thanks.

Thanks.

[pt49]

I made a Bok/potstill from scrap copper I got from a scrap metal merchant... they have 5 skips full of copper, everything from copper rope thru ¼" tube to 9" copper chimney pipe and old wash tubs and hot water service boilers about 50 gallons size.... and they only charge $8 a kilo for all you want.

My Bok is modular... 40" of 2" pipe cut into 3 pieces. I went to an auto exhaust workshop and got them to expand the top inch of the 2 bottom pieces so everything simply slips tightly together (no leaks).

• Top section (14" long) has a condenser 8" long (¼" tube double wound fits in top section), collection plates and take off tube with needle valve.
• Mid section (10" long) is for additional packing
• Bottom section (12" long) fits into a kitchen sink drain fitting thats set into the top of the pot.

Bottom and mid sections are stuffed with copper mesh

I've just bought reduction fittings to fashion a 2" to ⅜" turkey top that can fit onto the bottom section to convert it to a potstill... I've got 1" and ⅜" tube to make a liebig.

Total cost about $95 with $34 of that being for the kitchen sink fitting and $44 for copper mesh.

[MaineShine]

Hey all, been reading for 3 weeks now and I am in the process of starting to gather materials. Space and money are extremely limited at the moment and am just trying to make a small still very basic to get some practice on. Would a 40 qt stock pot be an ok starting point for a very basic pot still?

[pt49]

It sure would be... my 1st was a 7 litre pressure cooker

[gonagin58]

OK, I am now confused. I built a liebig almost identical with the one hookline built with the 1/2" inside and the 3/4" outside with the wire soldered to the inside pipe and wrapped around the tube. I also built a double condenser coil. I plan to build a VM still with a keg as my boiler and 2" copper column. After researching I thought the Bok slant plate would be what I would go with but others on this site say to use a 1" valve and the Bok shows a much smaller design. Should I scrap the slant plate and go with a one inch pipe out and after the valve reduce to the 1/2"? My other question would be where to place the thermometer if I do this, as with the slant plate design the protect it coming out from under the first plate. Any thoughts on this?

Bushman,
When I built my 3"X 48" Bok I used a 1/4" pickled needle valve for the out put with 1/4" line and ran it through a 1/2" pipe with caps to form a liebig, works great. I also put the thermometer port just under the top plate and positioned it so as to be in the vapor path and not the falling product. Thanks for all of your great posts. I've learned a lot here.

[ChefSteve]

I really like the Boka style myself even if you want a pot still just remove the packing. But I think the mash is the most important part a high% ABV here will determine what the final product will be, pot or reflux. If you can't sweat copper maybe you have a friend or a plummer friend. read read read that is where all the past knowledge comes from beleive me there are some people all over that have made mistakes and share their screwups so google what you want to know and search for the info.....its not all in one place so take notes or download info that you find you need.......Ok there are some nice stills out there but maybe just buy a good tower SS or copper, pot or reflux just make yourself happy with your hobby....I gotta have have a drink seeeya....

[Brewing bob]

Hi all, I've built a pot head for my t500 stills boiler, I've done a few cleaning runs and 1product run which wasn't to good, I never used packing stupidly, what is the best packing to use and how much do I put in??? Cheers