What's up with wood thump kegs??

Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper.

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Little Lukie
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What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by Little Lukie »

It's seems we are trying our best for a pure output of hooch. CLEAN!CLEAN!CLEAN!COPPERR!COPPER!COPPER!STAINLESS!STAINLESS! Why would anyone use wood barrel for thump keg?Nasty,old and hard to clean. Does this defeat our goal or am I missing something. Just about finished my rig with thump keg and I follow the plan of stainless or copper and clean to the bone. Thanks for the time Guys.
schnell
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simple answer

Post by schnell »

that's the vessel they had handy.

almost all the gear people are using for this "hobby" is improvised.
TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY
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Post by TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY »

LL, this is a guess and only a guess. The vapor that gets to the condensor, even thou the liquid has been in contact with the barrel, is still a vapor. Therefore it shouldnt have any of the solids from the barrel in it and should be plenty clean.

Just cause Popcorn did it, doesnt mean its gospel. I was in Maggie Valley last week and picked up his video (all his books were sold out). Man them folks treat that guy like the second coming of Christ himself, dont they. :lol:
If it was easy everybody would do it.

Please join the Partnership For an Idiot Free World.
goose eye
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Post by goose eye »

sometimes a wood doublein keg will leave it lookin a wee bit milky.

i dont think yall realize the isolation there was in the hills not all that long back.
it was called makein do
so im tole
CoopsOz
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Post by CoopsOz »

Is there a picture of the wooden doubler? What is this thread referencing?
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
hoochinoo
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Post by hoochinoo »

I am not sure either!?

Some of the old still pictures I saw from the good old days my grandpa left behind, hey used wooden thump kegs.

I strive for purity. It gets you higher :D
hoochinoo
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Post by hoochinoo »

Sorry. I forgot to say cheers.
Rotgut
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Post by Rotgut »

Image
I believe that is what they are talking about
Cheers! :D
CoopsOz
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Post by CoopsOz »

Ahhh, now I see. Thanks Rotgut :D
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
hoochinoo
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Post by hoochinoo »

I'd say, that o'l timer can hold his liquor!

Good pic.

Happy fathers day to all you dads and hooch makers out there.
Little Lukie
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Post by Little Lukie »

I collect alot of pictures of stills and have seen modern stills built with wood thump kegs. Maybe if it was charred it could help flavor. I don't know so I was asking you Guys opion. Popcorn is know for his smooth hooch and he always uses wood thump keg. I include picture of one of his big rigs he ran fired with gasoline.Image
msrorysdad
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Post by msrorysdad »

I believe the answer would be, as previously stated, "Makin do". At one time the ability to make a closed ended cylinder (thumper, ect...) was quite the trick. It would be easier, and less costly to use a pre made source, barrel.
goose eye
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Post by goose eye »

little lukie i would say most the folks on hear that been runin for any time atall an is serious is makein at least as good a product as popcorn ever did. yall is workin in controled enviroment. yall got toys he never could dream about. now if yall was put in his enviroment without all the toys
most all yall wouldnt have a chance.
you see him again ask him if ever used any beadin oil. he will say no but watch his eyes
if he usein high test instead of keroseen i no why he burned his barn down

just my openun
CoopsOz
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Post by CoopsOz »

Goose, I'm thinking your not a fan of popcorn! :D
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
goose eye
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Post by goose eye »

coopsoz he was in the business. yall aint got to worry bout your youngins
goin hungry land taxs bein paid sugar an jugs bein bought law always huntin you. look at uncle jesse close to last post. he was talkin bout findin plastic jugs for his product earlyer he was talkin bout how bad it was. the diference is he is in the business now.
i am a fan but he dont walk on water

as far as beadin oil. i reckon most all bootlegers have killed the bead at least once bein in a hurry. thats why you draw out bout a gallon before takein it down just in case you kill the bead you can add it back to get the bead home. no bead no sale - run it again
so im tole
RumBull
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Post by RumBull »

Look up Pussers Rum on the web. They are using a wooden pot still from waaaaay back. They claim the wood is full of flavor from years of use and contributes to their rum.

So my thought would be that a wooden thumper would be doing the same thing. After many batches, the wood is saturated with all kinds of goodies and it would start giving back to the spirit. This may not have been the reason the old timers used a wooden barrel but I bet it works great for flavored spirits. It may be one of my future experiments.

Just my inexperienced thoughts.
Dnderhead
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Post by Dnderhead »

mite be ok (1) if you continually do the same thing all the time ( flavor
would be in the wood and if you switch form say rum to whisky you would have rum flavored whisky) (2) if you continually use it ( alcohol -heat will
kill bacteria -mold in wood but if you let it set it mite mold) and can not be easily
washed out
pintoshine
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Post by pintoshine »

My first cent of advice. Noise suppression. My 15 gallon stainless steel thumper sounds like thunder when it is starting up. I bet wood would be much quieter.
Second cent. Heat retention. Since the thump keg is a secondary distillation, the heat input is limited to the incoming vapor. Retaining the heat would allow better efficiency.
Now you have my two cents worth.
goose eye
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Post by goose eye »

rumbull im betin they aint fillin them ketle half full of coton like
some do them wood doublein kegs


so im tole
Little Lukie
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by Little Lukie »

Pintoshine what size boiler you running with that 15 gal thump keg? 35,45,55 gal?? Also small burner under thump keg (stainless) as preheater speeds up process and makes for more controled run.
pintoshine
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by pintoshine »

It is a ss 55 gal similar in design to the copper pot. No I just fire it up with a 55k btu and let it go full tilt beginning to end. I usually only charge it with 130 to 140 L and it takes 2 hours to get going good. Most of the time it runs constantly at 12 L/h which is slightly smaller than a 5 mm stream. Off 135L of 10% It puts out 32L of 45%. Of course this is just stripping. This makes enough for a good charge to my 58L keg with a 3L thumper.
goose eye
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by goose eye »

dern pint you started out fine talkin galons then jumped to the dam liters. how much is a liter. cant be 2 to 1
so you run it til it quit burnin or you just goin by numbers. - what it aughta be by syferin -
sounds hi it you runin til it quit burnin - 90 proof
you adin anythang to that small outfit to fill it up some cause i rekcon you putin 1 and 1/2 in
your doublein keg that leavein that charge bout 1/2 a ketle full


ole boys i no pa would make em run another galon out if a dam moth cause flair up. - theyd run out some in a cup an throw on side of ketle to run down to flame an if it flaired up
theyd keep it goin. there was one ole boy that was alwas jokein an he would add alittle likker to the cup just so it would burn an theyd have to keep the coals to it. had there pa scratchin his head moren once.
burnt the botom out of a ketle that way one time to.
there pa didnt much think that was funy after he found out.

so im tole
pintoshine
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by pintoshine »

Well goose eye let me do the conversions I charge it with about 35 gallons, off which I get 8 to 8 and a half gallons of 45%. The thumpin keeps it up higher longer and it don't have a straight line drop. It starts off about 65% and stays up there for a while then all of a sudden drops to nothing. Believe me there is nothing left to burn in that last half gallon and it is usually badly colored white from all the tails. Then yes you are correct I only charge the doubling still with about half a load. the 8 and a half gallons at 45% makes just under 5 gallons of between 75 and 80%. Again it starts up there near 90% because of the thumpin and doublin and drops and sits there at 80 for the longest time. Then all of a sudden the fall starts and that is where the flavor usually starts in. This last run went through a sour spell, a sweet spell and then a very flowery stage right before the tails hit. So depending where I cut tails I end up with between 4.5 to 5 gallons of 75 to 80%.
Sometimes, I may even take one run and out it on oak. Two runs get rerun again and I get xxx rum which is very fine for white spirits. And some always get the column to make some neutral.
goose eye
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by goose eye »

pint so you getin 4 1/2 to 5 out of 35 adin no suger. these boys never come close to that.
there outfit will hold steady then drop 1 or 2 then 3 then wont hold but drop steady then bout 65 an up to 16+ minutes a gal you shoot it an it back down to 14 minutes or so a gal then it drops an you gotta turn the wick up
an start flingin on the ketle next charge its to backins reguardles an that could be in the mid 50s with fruit an 40s with grain
you keep savein but you ainta mixin


so im tole
pintoshine
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by pintoshine »

Yes I am only using 26.5 gallons water/bushel and getting most of the time a 1.075 to 1.090 sg to start. The lactic fermentation in the steep water allows more starch to be available for conversion, separates the starch from the protein better like they do for wet milling and prevents the starch from solidifying when used in conjunction with a pre malt of about 1% by weight. I use pretty much the most efficient commercial process that can be implemented on a small scale.
I shoot for 10% abv in the mash, and 35G x .10 = 3.5 G at .45% abv gives 3.5G/0.45 so that is 7.7G. Depending on the efficiency of the conversion I can get sometimes 8.5G at .45%. You have to realize I have been at this for a long time and had College classes to teach me the necessary lab techniques.
Maker's Mark uses about the same recipe except for the fact they add wheat and I don't. It is all in the very careful temperature management when mashing. It is not a simple matter of mixing it up and letting it go. I use steam injection and a double boiler and a PID controller to help with the mashing temps to get the best conversion I can.
RumBull
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by RumBull »

Cotton in the thumper? What was the purposed of doing that. Was it loose cotton? Sounds like it would have been a mess to clean up.
7.5 gal and 15.5 gal SS keg with copper Super Sankey Scotch Style Still head.http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =16&t=8550
I make Rum and um... Rum
goose eye
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by goose eye »

rum now theses aint coton balls. keep it from getin milky. just warsh out with clean water.
if it gonna be sitin up for a while pull old coton out an stob holes good cause rats
like them to together.

pint best these boys can do is make do an aint nowheres
close to all that

so im tole
trthskr4
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by trthskr4 »

goose eye wrote:pint so you getin 4 1/2 to 5 out of 35 adin no suger. these boys never come close to that.
there outfit will hold steady then drop 1 or 2 then 3 then wont hold but drop steady then bout 65 an up to 16+ minutes a gal you shoot it an it back down to 14 minutes or so a gal then it drops an you gotta turn the wick up
an start flingin on the ketle next charge its to backins reguardles an that could be in the mid 50s with fruit an 40s with grain
you keep savein but you ainta mixin


so im tole

I've learned well enough to watch Goose eye's posts. The bad thing is that I know enough to know that I probably need to sit down and interpret this post, but it might take me a while. Goose eye, I mean absolutely no disrespect to you in saying this. :D It might be a good thing that some of us have a hard time interpreting Goose's posts. :lol:
15 gallon pot still, 2"x18" column with liebeg condensor on propane.
Modified Charles 803 w/ 50gal boiler, never ran so far.
Old_Blue
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by Old_Blue »

rum now theses aint coton balls. keep it from getin milky.

Not store bought cotton. This is field cotton, pull a hand full from a bale. Put in the thumper as a filter. Think wads of cheese cloth.
if it gonna be sitin up for a while pull old coton out an stob holes good cause rats
like them to together.
Take the cotton out between uses and plug up the holes in the thumper. Rats or mice will crawl in the holes and make a bed. They love cotton as bedding material.
pint best these boys can do is make do an aint nowheres
close to all that
Pintoshine is getting a very high yield.


Hope this helps to glean Gooses' wisdom. :wink:
Fire is the devil’s only friend - Don McLean
Jump in where you can and hang on - Brisco Darling
trthskr4
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Re: What's up with wood thump kegs??

Post by trthskr4 »

goose eye wrote: there outfit will hold steady then drop 1 or 2 then 3 then wont hold but drop steady then bout 65 an up to 16+ minutes a gal you shoot it an it back down to 14 minutes or so a gal then it drops an you gotta turn the wick up
an start flingin on the ketle next charge its to backins reguardles an that could be in the mid 50s with fruit an 40s with grain
you keep savein but you ainta mixin


so im tole
Thanks Old Blue. I had that part pretty well understood. This is the quote that's a little more difficult, "the Redneck Dictionary" is pretty well useless as well on some of these. But I'll figure it out.
15 gallon pot still, 2"x18" column with liebeg condensor on propane.
Modified Charles 803 w/ 50gal boiler, never ran so far.
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