That's it, I'm jumping in!

Other discussions for folks new to the wonderful craft of home distilling.

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MrFish
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 12:49 pm

That's it, I'm jumping in!

Post by MrFish »

Hey all,

I've started homebrewing 6 years ago as a first step towards making whisky. That second step sure took a while! I had to explore deep into the HB world and was about to build that overengineered HERMS but thought the money would be better spent on a still, finally!

So after hours, nights, months of reading here it is, first (not really first but hey!) thoughts on a drawing to see if anything doesn't make sense. Nothing is out of the extraordinary but everyone thinks differently so I thought this is a good place for everyone to chime in! Hope the image is alright, I cropped it and resized it to kind of fit the quidelines on posting pictures. It's pretty close to ShineOn's build:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 801&hilit=

My thoughts are of a CCVM, coil reflux and shotgun total condenser. Keg boiler, immersion electric heater, 4.5kW. Ferrules everywhere!!! Seriously, modularity is awesome and I'd run it as a potstill using the top part of the CCVM head as a tiny hat/helmet (part on top of a boiler in a pot still).
Shotgun and heater are probably overkill. The thing is that I have the tendency to want to grow on hobbies like that... I see I'm not the only one.

I'd run apple brandy and whisky in the pot still configuration. Neutral for Dry Gin in the CCVM configuration. And well, just plain old fun trying weird stuff.

Fish out!
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Pikey
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Location: At the edge of the Wild Wood

Re: That's it, I'm jumping in!

Post by Pikey »

Yes - I think so ! :)
rumbuff
Swill Maker
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Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:09 pm

Re: That's it, I'm jumping in!

Post by rumbuff »

I'd go bigger than 2" for sure, would take full advantage of the power you're going to have!
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bluefish_dist
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Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:13 am
Location: Eastern Ia

Re: That's it, I'm jumping in!

Post by bluefish_dist »

For neutrals a 2" is very slow. 3" or 4" would match your max power better and give you a lot faster takeoff. Also 1/2" ccs fits very well in a 3". You will need 3/8 for a 2".

For comparison, the best I got from a tall 2" was 1/2 gal/hr and it ran better at 1l per hour. My 4" can pull 1/2 gallon every 20 min at azeo.
Formerly
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RedwoodHillBilly

Re: That's it, I'm jumping in!

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

That design look much like my first serious still. After running it a while, I was dissapointed with the takeoff rate and built a 3" ccvm. If possible go with at least a 3". A 4" starts to get expensive, but your call. Either way a ccvm is a versatile and easy to drive column. The simple conversion to pot still is nice too.
MrFish
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 12:49 pm

Re: That's it, I'm jumping in!

Post by MrFish »

Thanks for all your input. I ended up ordering stuff for the 2'' version, mostly because of an extra tight budget. I'll mostly run it as a pot still anyways so if I get frustrated by the speed when I get better with neutrals the equipment will be amortized :ebiggrin:

Again thanks and I'll post the progress in the construction site when I get there (chinese shipping is pretty much unpredictable!).

Fish
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