New to Forum-- question about still hygiene

[agooga]

Hello-- I've looked at this site and forum for a while but just now registered. GREAT info and experience here.

I've owned a still for about 8 years, but haven't been operating it that whole time. It's a 5 gal. pot still with a reflux column and a small condenser. I built it myself out of mostly SS parts. The column is 3" SS tube, with 3 water ports welded in. The top of the column channels down to a 3/8" copper pipe that bends down into an 4" ABS water jacket, coils around a couple times and outputs out the side of the ABS.

I have just replaced the condenser actually-- it used to be several coils of 1/4" copper tubing in an ABS water jacket, and the plumbing was more rinky-dink with some rubber fittings and hose clamps involved. It wasn't as smooth operating or elegant as I'd like, so I replaced it with all 3/8" copper connected with lead free solder.

I have not run the still with the new condenser yet, but I'm expecting it to run more smoothly-- less sputtering and less pressure throughout the system.

Inside the column I have it filled with glass marbles, but I am in the process of slightly revamping it to include some copper scrubbers-- mainly because of some of the reading I've been doing here.

My still routinely yields 90 - 95% pure ethanol at the peak of the run.

I've had some issues with having "off" tastes in the distillate, and I'm attributing that to poor still hygiene at this point-- I haven't been removing the marbles and washing them after runs, and it seems that the old coil and fittings were not getting perfectly flushed out before.

What do you guys recommend as a procedure for flushing a reflux still-- and when and how often?

Looking forward to being a part of this forum!!!

[olddog]

Did you do a cleaning run after not using the still for a long time?
What wash were you distilling?


OD

[kiwistiller]

I give it a soak / clean with citric acid, and pretty much just when it starts looking REALLY manky inside. mostly I just give it a good rinse after running, especially product condenser.

[agooga]

I've been doing a variety of runs-- fruit and grain washes mainly.

And normally I've been just taking off the column and firing hose water into it until it comes out the condenser end clean, then just hanging it up to drain and dry. When I get set to distill again, I hose it out again, sometimes I run some weak acid through it before flushing it again.

When i sniff the condenser end, I can smell a bit of funk.

What I'm planning on doing now is to drop out the marbles and scrubbers and really cleaning them, and when they're out of the column really nuke it with a weak acid bath and hot soapy water. I honestly think that the 1/4" coil was partly to blame. I just don't think there was enough throughput for it to clean itself out properly.

Thoughts?

[Samohon]

I give it a soak / clean with citric acid, and pretty much just when it starts looking REALLY manky inside. mostly I just give it a good rinse after running, especially product condenser.

+1 Kiwi, I'm the same. When the run is over, a good rinse with hot and cold water makes a difference.
If I'm not going to be using the still for a while, I clean and dry everything, wrap it up in cotton bags my wife made and store it.

The packing is rinsed well and left to dry naturally. Then stored the same way...

[ScottishBoy]

I've had some issues with having "off" tastes in the distillate, and I'm attributing that to poor still hygiene at this point-- I haven't been removing the marbles and washing them after runs, and it seems that the old coil and fittings were not getting perfectly flushed out before.

What do you guys recommend as a procedure for flushing a reflux still-- and when and how often?

Looking forward to being a part of this forum!!!

I clean mine after each use, but its usually just a hot water flush. Maybe if you could describe the "off tastes" of your product, we might gain more insight. It might be something as simple as cuts or your running speed. What ABV do you usually shoot for? Do you use Turbo's? Does your water have a little extra sulphur in it? What is the off taste? Metalic? Sour? Soapy? Does it go away if you air it a few days?

[agooga]

Great questions-- I'd say the "off" taste is funky. But I'd say that the taste is coming from improperly cleaned packings and coil, because it's exactly what the inside of the coil smells like before I run it -- if I haven't ballistically cleaned it out. Once in a while I've nuked it with diluted muriatic acid, which helped, but after a while the funk creeps back.

The thing is that I've had a difficult time cleaning the column up till now. I recently modified it with bigger diameter coil tubing (and fewer winds) and REMOVABLE packing (marbles and scrubbers) so I can thoroughly clean them. And I'm wondering if I should dry the packing and store it unpacked?

Before, with a 1/4" coil that had about 10 winds in it, water would just trickle out of it-- and I just don't think it was getting clean, and then water was probably sitting in there going bad over time as well. I'm expecting my improvements to make a big difference.

Overall, I'm just wondering if anyone else had a "been there / done that" attitude about this.

[airhill]

Personally I'd use ss scrubbies (easier to clean and are not effected) and chuck a few bits of copper in the boiler. Funky could be puking/surge boiling or just tails. I just hose mine out and leave it to dry.

[kiwistiller]

I don't know about the inside of your column after a runm but mine stinks of tails. I'd be thinking hard about cuts first of all before pulling apart the still looking for the culprit. though it is very impressive that you can get 95% with marbles as packing. Is that temp corrected? Could we see a pic of the still?
Cheers,
Kiwi

[agooga]

Here are a few pictures of my still.

Don't know about temperature adjusting the reading. I just use the specific gravity meter on the distillate right out of the still-- and it's probably about 70 to 80 degrees F.

[ScottishBoy]

Althought a bit of a pain in the ass, have you tried doing a quick water run before you still ?

To echo kiwi, I store my condenser and the boka component inside of the boiler and I catch that "tailsy" whiff when I open it up. I think you are on to something. If this is the case then the off taste is probably "vaguely metallic" with the "ever so slight memory of soapiness" mixed in.

Sound close?

[agooga]

Actually, you're right-- it is metallic-- but also organic-- probably that weird soup of tails compounds that weren't getting fully flushed. And I will try a water run if I need it at some point-- that's a good idea.

I'm starting another fermentation batch this weekend with exactly the same recipe that I used on the last batch that has that slight taste/smell issue. But this time with the new condenser and packings. After a few runs I'll have a very good handle on what the cause was and I'll report my findings.

[phoenixbws]

Looking at your still and the different metals could the off taste be electrolysis happening by using two different types of metals? Just a thought.