Cone still

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Dan P.
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Re: Cone still

Post by Dan P. »

A proper pot still is not expensive to make, Guca.
JERSEYSHINER
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Re: Cone still

Post by JERSEYSHINER »

What we've got here is a failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach.
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Prairiepiss
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Re: Cone still

Post by Prairiepiss »

Zia Guca wrote:Just thought I would get back to you on this. It works good. Filter the output through 4 feet of carbon and it tastes good. It does not kill people. It has been done for thousands of years. You don't require a $400 dollar rig from a place that needs someone that looks like Ellie May Clampett posing with the equipment to sell it. Sorry but there's a lot of misinformation on this thread, and "Prison Hooch" is just the start of it. Just sayin' .
The fact that you need to filter it through 4' of carbon tells me it doesn't make a good drink. To begin with. So you saved a bunch of money on the still. But you spent the money you saved on a filter to filter bad spirits. And this option is not a one time purchase. Carbon needs to be replaced it doesn't last for ever.

So the money spent on a carbon filter could have gone towards a easy pot still. You already have the boiler parts. A few copper pipe bits and you have a pot still. That proper cuts can be made with. And carbon filtering wouldn't be needed.

Carbon won't remove the headaches proper cuts will. Carbon won't remove the nasties found in foreshots proper cuts will.

And your idea of prison hooch may be different then mine or others.

If it works for you. More power to you. Have fun. But you have to admit it is not the best still to use. It would get you by if you absolutely needed one. And that's all the parts you had. But personaly even if I was in that situation. I still wouldn't use this still design. My need for sub par alcohol is not that great. I can live without it. I would however use it to distill water if I needed it.
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cornsqueezer
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Re: Cone still

Post by cornsqueezer »

Some people ya just can't reach!!!!! :wtf: :crazy: :thumbdown:
I'll take these guy's opinion any day, they won't lead you the wrong way!!!!!

Thanks guys
jasonh82
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Re: Cone still

Post by jasonh82 »

Alrighty! I actually did this a few times before I took the sound advice of people on this forum and actually got a pot still. Here is how my experience using the "Cone-Wok" still worked out.

First, I grabbed a 21 quart stock pot with a deep rounded lid that I flipped upside down to contain the ice I would be using. I got two 16 oz Anchor Glass measuring cups from Walmart, a stainless steel teaspoon (I'll explain), and an 8oz ramecon. The basic idea is to place the spoon on the bottom of the stockpot, place the ramecon on top of the handle of the spoon to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of stockpot during distilling and trapping mash inside, thus scorching the crud out of it and making some really awful flavors. Next you place your first glass measuring cup on top of the upside down ramecon and place the rounded lid on top of the stockpot rounded side down (again for the ice you'll need).

Second, the mash. I used a sugarhead corn mash with 1/2 ounce of rye for flavoring. Now because your "still" will not be airtight and due to switching out measuring cups and occasional opening for collection of your distillate you are going to lose A LOT of alcohol vapor during the process. Furthermore, you are forced to keep your mashes to only a gallon which makes it hard to make cuts even if using a proper still. To make up for this I used a 48 turbo yeast to ratchet up the ABV to around 18-20% which is a no no due to off flavors which can arise (and on a few of mine it did) from using it. (I've read on this forum that you really want your mash to stay between 10-14% ABV max). With the funky smelling mash all fermented and the "still" assembled I placed my trusty ole wireless thermometer inside and fired up the stove (seriously this was stupid, kept fire extinguisher handy).

When the mash reached 130F I began to add my ice to the top of the stock lid. Make sure you have something handy to suction off the water from the melted ice. Replace ice as necessary. I then collected everything from 148F-170F and removed about 6oz of bad smelling stuff which went right down the drain. At this point the stock pot had to be wrapped heavily in foil around the lid to prevent alcohol vapor from escaping (this is bad). I then collected everything from then forward and would typically get about 16oz (185F by this point) of clear distillate which tested to be anywhere between 45-50% ABV (low compared to using a true pot or reflux still). My general rule of thumb was to check the measuring cup every half-hour and collect what was inside into a Mason jar. I would then fill up an additional 16oz Mason Jar which would end up being around 25% ABV and used this for tails.

Ultimately this was a HUGE amount of work for a product that smelled weird and tasted only alright. I tested it by lighting the finished product in a spoon and it burned blue at the base and clear on top, so it was clean. However because of the material of the stock pot (the super heated blue glass stuff) and the turbo yeast (which is probably good if you are making fuel) I truly did get an inferior product for probably 3X as much work as if I just got a still. I ended up either just dumping the final product or turning it into Apple Pie or something like it. I did soak some of it on some toasted oak chips which helped, but the foul smell and slightly bitter bite never truly vanished. Furthermore, because you get an initial lower ABV you have to distill multiple times which meant for me making about two gallons or so of mash and repeating the tedious process several times to get a somewhat solid 16-24oz. I finally conceded after reading a lot of things on this forum that the "cone still" method requires far more work, resources, and is potentially dangerous with only so-so results at best. I finally got a pot still and am MUCH happier with the results. Take it from me who has tried this method that an actual still is the way to go. For those who can't or don't want a traditional still for one reason or another there are electric counter top water distillers that will work well also.
Last edited by jasonh82 on Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
One Sock
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Re: Cone still

Post by One Sock »

Even in a prison setting the setup doesn't make much sense, it's gotta be plugged in, a cord running under yer bunk is gonna attract attention! Output is a few ounces, good luck making everyone on the cell block happy with that! :wtf:
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