Easy Still

[ncstatefan84]

Hi, Ive been looking into distilling for a while now, but since I live in an apartment, It kinda of limits me in what I can do. Im not exactly a master at soldering, so I was looking into the easy still as a intro to distilling, help me get the basics of fermenting/washes down before moving on to something I build. From what Ive seen it gets mixed reviews, Im not trying to produce everclear or anything, but Im wondering what is the highest ABV it can produce? Any help would be appreciated.

[Husker]

I do not have the easy still. What I have is the "base" water distiller, which I have made some modifications to. Thus, my results might be a little different than the "easy" still being sold for 3x the amount of money I spent on mine. The "EasyStill" is this base water distiller, which has also had some modifications made to it.

The differences between the 2 are:.
1. the easystill has a lower power heater in it. 380w vs 550w (I think).
2. the easy still has a stonger fan. I am not sure this will make much difference at all, but it might.
3. the easy still has the chlorine hole in the condenser plugged up (I did this also).

Now, due to the way the stainless condenser tubing winds up (first), it causes some reflux. Since the easy still has lower heat input, and possibly more cooling, it will reflux more, and thus, will clean out more flavor, and produce a higher ABV.

I will make some assumptions from this point on.

The still I have I have modified by plugging the chlorine hole in the condenser, and by running a slightly flared 1/4" copper tube into the actual output of the condenser coil (avoiding the plastic housing of the still top). With my still, using the pot still calculator from http://homedistiller.org/calcs/husk ... alc_v2.php it models my still VERY closely, if I use 475W heat input (I assume the 75W are lost due to heat loss out the sides of the still), and I change the reflux to 20%. If I do that it models the actual performance of the still VERY closely.

Now, on the true easystill (smaller heater, and more cooling), the pot still calc's may not match as well, as there is actually more reflux in the real easy still. The pot calc apps (mine is derived from Tony's work), actually do not take reflux into account. The reflux, simply has the assumption of all reflux simply dumps back into the pot, and thus, does not increase strength. This does work, as long as the reflux is relatively small in percentage. In this lower power still, the reflux "might" be enough and actually enhance the strength of the resultant ABV so that the ES does not model as well.

With all of that "disclaimer" out of the way, I will describe how my still performs.

1. If you expect to make a neutral, forget it. No matter what the advertisements claim, this tiny little still will NOT make a neutral.
2. The still works good as a VERY easy to use stripper (but it again is a tiny little thing). When I strip a wash, I start at about 12% ABV, and the result is about 1/3 volume and about 35 to 37% ABV.
3. If I rerun this (re-run a combined 3 strip runs), I end up with about 1.8L of 67% ABV and about .7L of 12% tails (which is the strength of my wash). Of that 1.8L, about 1.2 to 1.4L will be decent "body".
4. If you save up 2 these 1.8L 2nd runs and water it down get 4L, you will get a starting run of about 60%. That is a little high on the ABV for a boiler charge, but due to the design of the ES, it can be safetly run. From this run, you can get about 2L of 82% "body" (removing the heads and tails).

This is what I have observed in my own running of the ES. NOTE I usually only use this still to strip washes. I do this, because it is so "fool proof". I simply dump in cleared wash, setup the tubing to run into a 4L jug, plug the thing into a "timed" wall plug, and let it go. I know exactly the amount of time it takes to strip a wash, and when this is done, the wall timer shuts the still off. I simply go downstairs, dump out the backset, load the next batch, and start it up again. I save these runs up until I get 10 gallons, or so, and then perform a spirit run in my larger still.

The ES IS very easy to use (almost fool proof). It is however, VERY VERY small in size. That 4L boiler makes it very difficult (but not impossible) to produce a final drinkable product.

The best use for the ES is for an apartment dweller. There are others on this forum, who I have talked about the ES (or the simple $100 unmodified version), who have obtained one of these stills. I have heard no complaints about these stills. They do work pretty good, and for someone who had NO space, they do provide a viable "pre-manufactured" option. I would not recommend the unmodified version to someone who is not handy enough to make a couple of simple modifications to it. If you simply want a pre-built unit, buy the true easy-still which has already been modified. One other thing, do NOT use the poly carb jug that comes with the still, and also do not use the "plastic" output container that houses the carbon filter pillow. I hook my unit up right to the output of the condenser coil. I am not sure how this connection is handled on the ES.

H.

[ncstatefan84]

Im not looking for something that produces large quantities, just something that produces a few pints here and there. Since im new to all of this, I dont want to make huge batches of crap. Why is it that it can produce a neutral??? and could you make mods to it to help with this??

[Husker]

With a tiny pot still such as this, is simply VERY tough to make a "good" neutral.

When you make a neutral in a pot still, you have to collect just the very center of the body cut, and usually redistill this twice (after you have made the original strip run).

Here is an "example" from my own experience with the ES:

Each stripping run will get you about 1.2 to 1.4L (depends upon the final ABV of your wash). So to do a spirit run, you will have to distill 3 "strip run" still charges. You will then do a spirit run, and from this run, you will get about .75 to 1 L of "good" center hearts (the part with only the BEST flavor, and the least odor). So, it will take 3 spirit runs, to accumulate enough of to charge the still for the 2nd "level" spirit run (say you get 2.5L from your three "1st spirit runs", and you water that down to 3.8L or so to rerun the 2nd time). From this "2nd" run, you will get about 1.5L of pretty neutral "center" hearts.

Now, those 1.5L will be 80-85% ABV, and pretty pure. However, to get there, you had to perform 9 stripping runs, 3 "first" spirit runs, and your "second level" spirit run. All that for 1.5L of 85% (which will get you about a gallon of 40% "vodka"). However, to get here, you produced 9x4L of washes. Say they were 13% ABV to start with. That would be 4.68L of 100% ethanol, to get 1.2L of 100% ethanol that is "clean enough" to be called neutral. This is why I say that making neutral with such a tiny pot still is an adventure in minutia.

The problem with such a "tiny" still, is that the output from a pot still is "constantly" changing, in what it is outputting, both in ABV of the ethanol water mix, but also, in other things you DO NOT want in a neutral. There "will" be a part of the center of the body run, where the spirit is much cleaner (i.e. much closer to being ONLY ethanol and water). On a small still like this, the percentage of output "in" this sweet spot, will be VERY small. If the pot still was larger (say running 13 gallons out of a 15 gallon keg), then this "sweet center spot" might be 80%-85% of the "body" for each run. However, when you are running 3.5L or so out of the easy still, the percentage of the "body" part of your run which is this "sweet center part", might only be 35 to 40% of what would be considered to be the "body" part of the run.

I know this reply was very long and drawn out. I also bought an easy still believing the marketing hype that goes along with these stills, and then "tried" to produce a neutral with it. What I ended up with was a rotgut vodka, and very little in percentage to what I was "hoping" for (based upon how much "expected" product I had "computed" that should have been in the wash). I got the easy still prior to finding this site.

IF you wish to proceed forward with the ES, again, I would recommend using it as it "should" be used, and that is as a pot still. Even then, it is small, and will be difficult to perform "good" spirit runs using it. However, with practice you "can" produce a pretty darn good whiskey, brandy or rum (I was able to with the ES, prior to getting setup with better sized stills).

H.

[Usge]

I have the same "generic" one Husker does, with my own mods, that I mainly use just for first runs (stripping runs).

Doing neutrals on "any" pot still is a bit of challenge compared to a reflux unit. It's not like you can't keep running something over and over ...which would raise the abv and strip more flavor as you go. But, there's only so far you can go with these.

It's ironic that they sell these as being "more" suitable for such product as opposed to flavor...becuase they are "so" much a typical pot still. (something I've learned over time owning one)

Anyway, you can, for the same price...get a copper alembic (gooseneck) still. You'll need to find/build your own water source hook up (I ran mine on the sink using 1/2 inch plastic hose and a 1/2 inch to faucet adapter (like for a dishwasher). It's a LOT more hassle. And I've timed and trialed both. The Husker pot...strips 3x faster, and is more efficent to boot.

The biggest problem with either the ES or (the generic) is that they use all plastic and silicon on the front end that you need to get rid of. In it's original form...there was a stainless steel pipe that ended inside the head...that was attached to a 90 degree elbow made out of silcon...that dripped openly into the hard plastic snout...which then found its way out the tiny hole there. AWEFULL.

You need to find a way to get that extended out...using either copper or stainless. (although I've found a 90 degree brass coupling fits perfectly...you'd need to treat that for lead before using it). Husker just uses a flanged copper tube. I have a custom, angled cut 90 degree elbow that sleeves the stainless 3/8ths coil...all the way up...(no solder), and has about 6 inches of copper out the other end.

The 2 big mods I had to do to accomplish this were..to use an exacto knife to cut the floor out of the bottom of the hard plastic snout. And to seal up the "chlorine release valve" (which basically just took a daub of solder to do).

This unit runs hot. (ie..the one Husker and I have). It will strip a 4L wash in about 1:45 flat down to nothing. If you want more reflux....and or better performance...then stick it outside in teh cold, and shove some loose copper mesh into the coil pickup..as well as the output. I did..and Igot a doublin twist out of it that started at about 65% abv.

The ES...with it's lower heat coil and higher velocity fan...(ie..more reflux) is a better bet that's going to be your primary still. But, you are most likely going to need to do the front end mods anyway to get rid of the plastic.

[MudDuck]

So to try and put it in a nutshell are you saying that these things make good flavored spirits but you're just doing a lot of extra work for very little finished product? And if I start with a 3gal wash and double run it how much decent product (Brandy or Whiskey) could I expect after cutting to 40%abv?

The reason I'm interested is because I have a need for distilled water and will be buying a counter top distiller anyway, I just don't know if it would be worthwhile to pay a little extra for one suitable for spirits.

Edited to correct %abv

[Usge]

No, that's not what I said.

[punkin]

So to try and put it in a nutshell are you saying that these things make good flavored spirits but you're just doing a lot of extra work for very little finished product? And if I start with a 3gal wash and double run it how much decent product (Brandy or Whiskey) could I expect after cutting to 80%abv?

The reason I'm interested is because I have a need for distilled water and will be buying a counter top distiller anyway, I just don't know if it would be worthwhile to pay a little extra for one suitable for spirits.

Ya can't drink 80% product, you'll hurt someone.

[MudDuck]

Ya can't drink 80% product, you'll hurt someone.

Sorry about that, I meant 80 proof or 40%.

No, that's not what I said.

I guess I should have been more specific as I was referring to huskers post, yours dealt more with the necessary mods while his was more about the operation and results that I was asking about (BTW I do realize that even with the "already modified" one there will still be issues to address before using it). I have plans to build something once the weather gets better, but due to space limitations any projects like this will have to be done outside. I just thought one of these might be worth playing with in the meantime.

Added on edit: I just edited my fist post.

[SiliconJaguar]

I've just bought one of these, actually a newer model that has a Thermastat nob and temperature meter.

I can't for the life of me understand it though.

The knob to me seems to control the heating element and the fan.

I would have thought that the heating element should be constant and only the colling fan should be controlled by a temperature sensor on the cooling coils?

Any comments.

I'm probably just totally lost. I'm totally new at this.

My current goat is to understand enough just to produce something that is drinkable with alcohol in it. So if anyone has any advice?

I was going to try just a plain sugar or molassas wash for my first run.

Anyone feel like a chat on the phone with a N00b?
.-.-.

[xsquared_uk]

There's info on my site about using the standard EasyStill/SmartStill, but I have to confess I haven't seen this newer model - have you got a link so I can check it out?

[edit : never mind, found the link on your other post, see reply there!]

[SiliconJaguar]

OK, Thanks..

Yes sus out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUnWyyNoBFw

And their web site for better pictures.

I tried ringing the guy but he just said `Where the Hell R U ring'n from Boy¿?' Then something else about it would cost $200 to send one to Australia and hung up.

So I never got to ask him anything about them unfortunately.

.-.-.