Simple Beer Keg Pot Still?

[andystanton74]

Yep exactly

[andystanton74]

People talk about using a 50/50 mixture of water and vinegar and run it through with the condenser off for about an hour. Sugar wash is probably the cheapest and best thing to do for a sacrificial run.

I think you are saying is with the condenser coolant water off but with the condenser connected so it gets cleaned as well.

Yep

[shadylane]

Sugar wash is probably the cheapest and best thing to do for a sacrificial run.

Sac wash recipe.
1 pound sugar per gallon and nothing else. Pitch bakers and ferment @ 100'f
In 48 hours or less the yeast will crash at the same time as the pH.

[Saltbush Bill]

I don't know what I don't know.

but "book larnin'" only goes so far.

Now there ya go.....you've learned two very important facts.....your about 7 steps in front of those who haven't realised that yet.

[deanodeano]

Thanks everyone. I will do both the vinegar and sac washes. Probably use Popov or similar cheap vodka, sounds like am efficient was to accomplish the task.

I'm running on propane to start, so I will make the sac wash 5 gallons by volume. That should allow for a nice long run.

[deanodeano]

I removed all of the ugly label pretty easily with a paint and epoxy stripper. Painted the stripper on and let it sit and let it do its work.



Am still hoping to get at lease the vinegar run done today, but we keep having storm cells blow through with rain, thunder & lightening. Not conducive to running a propane still



So I unpacked and sorted out some of my brewing gear while I'm to waiting get struck by lightning. I think the majority of it will translate to distilling

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[deanodeano]

Vinegar run is under way. As I think Andy Stanton mentioned, I am just letting it blast through without hooking up the water source to the condenser for this run.

[MooseMan]

Good to see you getting started Deano.

Now the vinegar run is done, either get the sacrificial run done really soon, or give the boiler a very good clean out with water if you didn't already.
The acetic acid from the vinegar clean can start attacking metals if you leave it in there to go dry.

[deanodeano]

Thank you Mooseman! That makes sense. I did not know that.

[Yummyrum]

Thank you Mooseman! That makes sense. I did not know that.

More so the still head . If you haven’t rinsed it already , have a look inside it . I bet its going green already .

[shadylane]

Personally, I like to design everything so a brush and soapy water can clean inside everywhere possible.
Especially the areas that have been soldered or welded.
Not as the only cleaning but in addition to the normal sac run protocol.

[MooseMan]

I meant to say still, sorry, not sure why I typed boiler.

The copper in the riser and condenser will be what gets corroded, not the boiler so much.

Now shady mentioned it, a good few pull throughs with a clean white rag on a string will tell you if the evil green stuff has appeared.
That same rag can then be used to get it cleaned out before you do your sac run.

[deanodeano]

Thanks Gentlemen. Everything was nice and clean. No damage done. Everything in the head breaks down easily and the boiler and condenser are both easy to clean as well. As a professional cook I am used to cleaning everything as a matter of routine.

[Yummyrum]

Cool .
Think of your still head like a cast iron pan . Once you have “seasoned” it , (IE done an alcohol run through it ) , just a quick rinse is all it needs . Don’t scrub it back to bare metal after every use . In a similar way that the seasoning of a cast iron pan protects it from rusting , the patina that occurs during an alcohol run will protect the copper from corrosion .

[deanodeano]

Great, thanks Yummy.

The weather is not cooperating with me right now. I was hoping to get my sac run done but it keeps raining.

Once I have that run done, I will be ready to do my first keeper run. I will mash 75% flaked corn and 25% malted barley with the appropropriate amount of amylase, yeast and yeast food. Planning on 10 gallons in the mash.

Once it is ready to distill, I will make two spirit runs ( I won't do a third run, not really looking for 100 proof.) I know everyone's mileage varies, but GENERALLY how much time should I set aside for two completed runs? If necessary can I do the first run and hold the product from the first run until I can get the time to do the second run?

[MooseMan]

Once you've run low wines, (The first run is called a strip run, as you are running hard and fast, stripping the alcohol from the mash/wash and the result is called low wines) you can store them for years if needed until you want to run them mate.

I keep 2 corny kegs that I've done stupid simple mods on, one for Grain based low wines, the other one for Rum low wines.
Once they are full I'll do one or two more strips of that type and then I'll have 7/9 gal to do a spirit run.

[Saltbush Bill]

I will mash 75% flaked corn and 25% malted barley with the appropropriate amount of amylase, yeast and yeast food.

Shouldn't need yeast food / nutrient in an All Grain.

[deanodeano]

Thank you Moose and Salt! Very helpful.

Any opinions on how much time I should set aside to get the initial 10 gallons of mash distilled?

[Yummyrum]

Usually I set aside about 3 hours per stripping run from start to finish and around 8hrs for a spirit run . Irrespective of boiler size or charge , these will be the same . This is why it is recommended to do several stripping runs and combine for a final spirit run . You save 16 hrs over doing 3 seperate strip and spirit runs .

[deanodeano]

In a stipping run, I am assuming you run your still as hard as possible without vapor exiting the condenser?

[MooseMan]

Yeah give it as much power as the condenser can cope with. If you can keep your fingers under the distillate stream and there's no trace of any vapour, you're fine.

Your Liebig will be able to handle a huge amount of power I reckon, so you should be able to strip really fast.
Mine is similar and I only need a slow trickle of water even on strips.

[NormandieStill]

Yeah give it as much power as the condenser can cope with. If you can keep your fingers under the distillate stream and there's no trace of any vapour, you're fine.

A little caveat to the above. If you're running something with lots of proteins or unfermented sugars then it could well puke. Read the thread on LME whisky for a lot of solid advice on dealing with pukes.

[MooseMan]

Yeah give it as much power as the condenser can cope with. If you can keep your fingers under the distillate stream and there's no trace of any vapour, you're fine.

A little caveat to the above. If you're running something with lots of proteins or unfermented sugars then it could well puke. Read the thread on LME whisky for a lot of solid advice on dealing with pukes.

Ah, I wanted him to learn the hard way!

No, joking aside that's a good point NS. I put a sight glass at the top of the riser for this very reason.

[NormandieStill]

Ah, I wanted him to learn the hard way!

No, joking aside that's a good point NS. I put a sight glass at the top of the riser for this very reason.

I did the same, then moved it to the bottom of the riser. At the top of my very short riser, by the time I reacted to a puke it was already coming out of the condenser!

[MooseMan]

I get you. You'd have to be sitting with your hand on the power dial!

Because my stripping head is basically my 2.5" CCVM upside down, there's quite a lot of height and the Tee allows a bit of puke before it gets near the condenser.

[deanodeano]

Thank you Normandie and Moose:

I did the reading on puking. I bought a 360 degree sight glass that I can clamp between the boiler and the still head.

[MooseMan]

Thank you Normandie and Moose:

I did the reading on puking. I bought a 360 degree sight glass that I can clamp between the boiler and the still head.

Perfect, that will look after you. And the money will be well spent the first time you strip a boiler full of Rum wash, for sure!

And you're very welcome.

[deanodeano]

@Normandie and @Moose: Here is my site glass. It is beautifully crafted, especially for an item price under $30!

I do think I will have to modify the gasket that sits on the 2 inch ferrule on my boiler. The gasket has raised or male ridges that are designed to fit into the female slot parts of a standard 2 inch ferrule. The ferrule on my boiler, which is made from a standard beer keg does not have that female receiver, of course. Do most of you just use a Dremel tool and sand the male ridge down on the keg side so the gasket is flat where it mates to the keg? Otherwise, That ridge seems to interfere with the seal at that union?

[Salt Must Flow]

Yeah you need to shave it off to make that side of the gasket flat. If it's silicone, I'd use a razor blade. If it's PTFE, you can grind & sand it down. Smoother the better if it's PTFE. If it's silicone, it doesn't have to be perfect because it compressed and will make a good seal.

[MooseMan]

As salt says, yes the ridge has to come off.

I'll assume you are using PTFE because you should be.
Get a sheet of sandpaper on a perfectly flat surface, put your seal on the end of one of your fittings, press down gently onto the sandpaper and make circles like karate kid.
The ridge will be quickly and evenly sanded away to leave a perfect flat face.

Yes I have a short version of that sight glass type, they are so cheap from China!
FYI the seals inside are silicone. I took mine apart and wrapped them in gas fitters (Thicker) PTFE tape.