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Good Luck! I definitely like the vapor path idea. It should give you a subtler version of the spice flavors. Please let us know how it goes. I planted a pumpkin patch this year with brandy in mind, but it did not survive the heat of texas summer. So I'll have to wait until the post-Halloween pumpkin...

Def going to be low ABV if you don't add sugar or do something to invert the carbs. Only about 3% of total weight of pumpkin are naturally fermentable sugars. Also would worry about adding the spices to the ferment. Cinammon, allspice, et al have antimicrobial properties; and are among the earliest ...

I did something similar last year, although I used molasses & brown sugar instead of additional malts. I used 4 medium pumpkins for a 15 gallon mash, and I boiled the pumpkin instead of roasting, using pectic enzyme and amylase to invert the carbs and sugars in the pumpkins. I pot stilled it twi...

Of those three, I would spend the extra money and get the "Might Mini Dual Purpose." It will give you the most flexibility. You can pot still whiskeys, rums, et al. But you can also run it in reflux mode to make neutral spirits. For similar design and price range, check out brewhaus. http:...

That's sounds like a good improvement. I bet if you pack just a little more packing in it. And run just a little slower. You would see 95%. Yes indeed, we are pulling off at 95% now. We repacked more densely, run it a little slower, and let the equilibrium establish a little longer before starting ...

A couple of questions about the yeast bomb and the recipe. 1) Has anybody tried the bomb in neutral spirits? For instance, substituting the yeast bomb for tomato paste in birdwatcher's recipe? It seems like the bomb is basically a homemade turbo yeast/nutrient. I am wondering if it will impart simil...

Hi all-- I am seeking some guidance about timing of the heads-to-hearts cut. Are there any heuristics about when to make this cut--an approximate ABV or vapor temperature? I should mention most of my experience is with nuetral spirits. I have a few rounds of Hook's rum under my belt, but this is the...

Prairiepiss wrote:Great news. I'm glad its working good. What kind of ABV was you getting out of it?

After adjusting for temperature, a little under 93% ABV.

Before making the mods to the column as described in this topic, we never saw more than 88%....so I guess this evolution is a success.

Success! Today we repacked the column with 1/2 the amount of Cu mesh as used previously, and dumped a couple of pounds of ceramic rashings into the boiler to break up the bubble pattern. This significantly stabilized the column. The wild temperature fluctuations and bursts of vapor are not happening...

>>Do you have a vent on your parrot? Yes. >>how tight did you pack your column? It should be kinda tight but you should be able to breath normal through it. We thought it was loose enough, but are repacking it today with less mesh >>Can you hear liquid bubbling in the column? Flooding? It would soun...

>>Do you have the coolant supply going to each condenser or through one to the other?

We have separate flows to each condenser. Pic attached.

We shall try it without insulation before disassembling the column again. When we ran it over the summer, even at 105F ambient, a breeze would cause the temp at the top of the column to briefly fluctuate a few C. Now I look back on that small fluctuation fondly! ;) Coolant flow is anti-gravitational...

Tried another run on the now-temperamental MileHi still today. Today's goal was to get the heat down as low as possible to see if a full reflux equilibrium could be reached. At lower heat, the same general behavior is observed--wild temp swings between 60 and 78C, accompanied by the belch/guyser out...

>>What are the ambient temps where you run the still at?

We're in central TX. Lately, daytime highs have been in the low 80's.

>>Perhaps you could define "cactus style column" Certainly. It is a very simple liquid management reflux column design, as described in John Stone's "Making Gin and Vodka." He refers to it as the "mexican cactus," because the head sitting on a column column resembles a ...

Hello to all! I just posted for the first time, so it seems a good time to introduce myself. I have been lurking and learning from the forums for a few years, but have never posted until now. I'm a Virginia native living in Austin, TX. Studied chemical engineering, but jumped into the dotcom world a...

>>Even if you turn the heat down you can't get it to go into 100% reflux? No. I suppose I could buy a smaller burner so I have more granular low-temp control. But never had a problem until now, and didn't have a problem with the first run after making the mods (ie the run from the cold start). Could...

Thanks for the response! >>When you fired it back up. Did you run it in 100% reflux again to get the column to equilibrium? How long did you let it equalize? Well, this still has never truly seen 100% reflux even with coolant going 100%. The shotgun condenser inside just doesn't have the surface are...

Hi folks. I'm looking for a little help troubleshooting my modified CM still. We have a Mile Hi still to which we have recently made many of the suggested modifications: --lengthened column --insulated column --packed column with copper mesh --added manifold --added ball valve to output (between dep...