Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper
I finally took the first step today in the build for my new Bok! Honestly this is the only part that I was worried about.... winding the coil. Thanks to a fantastic tutorial, it only took be 1.2 tries First attempt i got a kink in the first rotation so I quit before using any more copper. Second attempt worked like a charm. No salt added
Its not perfect by a long shot, but its functional!!
Hello Expatlab, those coils can definitely be a pain in the ass. Just make sure it passes the 1 liter/min test and it should work just fine. I was really upset about the flow test because I read somewhere that it should flow near a gallon a min. I found out from Rad that the 1 liter / min test should work just fine. And IT DAMN SURE DOES. Mine works great, I don't know your coolant situation, but I run a barrel and pump, and it gets WAY hotter than I want it too. I can run my pot still all day with the lieberg arm without problems, not on this coil design though. Looks good and don't worry too much about looks anyways, just test the flow and time and you will be fine
Hey whiskeytripping, yeah I gotta get the connector so I can try out the flow rate.... Hoping it makes the grade
I've got a laundry sink that I've been using to draw water from to run my cooling coil; at present my plan is to put a 5 gallon plastic pale in the sink, and use a fountain pump to circulate the water from there through to the condenser and back. I'll be able to use the tap to add/refresh water as required that way.
I'd imagine that a rain barrel (50 gallon?) is a hell of a heat sink, Its hard to imagine that its getting so hot! You must have one heck of heat source!
Heat source is a mulekicker 5500w controller. Best investment I ever made for my hobby. And not to mention a degree or two safer than propane in my own opinion. I still have the bottle if needed though. But adding fresh water will work fine though, it's amazing though even with the water hotter than hell, it was still knocking down the steam though
Yes sir in classifieds, mounted water heater element inside keg, I used 2" tri-clamp fittings to install with. Super easy takedown and clean out, I have a sankey style keg here in USA, I think they might be different elsewhere possible, (hell who knows they might actually come with a tri-clamp fitting on top in other countries)
It's the way to go for sure. I had a ghetto stainless steel pot before. But if it works for you go for it. I just don't have to worry near as much about sealing it off now. Obviously alcohol vapor is not something you want to leak out for safety reasons, and you lose your product as well
LOL yeah, that's true. When I finally get a visit from the Keg fairy i'll likely head in that direction myself.
I'm in the process of sourcing 2" tri-clamps and ferrules so I can do a break things down pretty easily; the plan is to make it easy to switch out my current column for the Bok i'm building, and then eventually switch out the boiler for a keg.
The coil and its mount are now complete; soldered to the 2" cap and added a 1/4" vent with a needle valve (when running detuned).
I did a quick flow rate test and i'm getting 2L/minute through the coil with the tap open about half way, so likely I could push more if needed. I'm very pleased by the result and thought I would share
Good job, have you tried it out on a vinegar run? I'm sure you will be impressed how well it will knock down the vapor. Glad it worked out for you. Did you locate a keg you can work with yet? I saw the one you were looking at with the insulation already. I'm sure you can buy one online easy, I know getting them at liquor stores and bars isn't the proper way to do it. Looks good
Hi Whiskey, No so far I've only done the flow rate test. With the coil complete i'm moving on to doing the column/plates build.
Still sourcing triclamps and ferrules to make life easy; Alas... no keg thus far so i'm still looking on that front. I had a guy who was selling a batch of pure stainless kegs (sankey and everything) but he suddenly stopped communicating
I ended up passing on the insulated keg, since I've already got 100L of fermenting capacity.
This place has all the triclamp stuff, I originally had a hard time finding this stuff, triclamp fittings are sanitary fittings, so there is not really supposta be a triclamp fitting and a pipe fitting adapter together (although it works for our purposes) just not in the food industry. Make sure to get a Teflon sankey 2" gasket for the column mount, you will also have to trim the Teflon raised surface on the side that mounts to the sankey keg (it's like an o-ring built into it)
I definitely think the coil is he most difficult part of the build, the plates were easy using a small dremmel tool and tape on template
First attempt i got a kink in the first rotation so I quit before using any more copper. Second attempt worked like a charm. No salt added 
