Home Distiller

I saw this on the news today, apparently the virtues of home distilling have found their way into the illegal plant trade. The following is the copy of the article: MODESTO- Modesto Police said they found a “unique” THC extraction lab this week. An anonymous tip led investigators at a home on Fairfa...

Perfect. Thank you. I have plenty of 2'' and 3'', no need to buy a length 4''. I appreciate your patience, and I apologize again for being rude earlier.

In your opinion very little is gained by putting a plate directly above the boiler and beneath a column? Or, is a single plate more effective below a narrower column? I only ask because this seems to be a sticking point. There are some who say that a single plate or two below a column runs like magi...

Holy cow! Yeah I have the same situation. I even switched to a water heater element to eliminate the burner height.
You can buy lava rock here at greeneries by the cubic foot. I use a tree nut scoop as a sieve to get the small pieces. You're right about smaller pieces; marble size or smaller.

Hound Dog, how tall?

My apologies Cooker, I've been shooting from the hip all day. I've read in several places that 1 or 2 plates beneath a short column will out-perform a taller column without the plate. My main goal with the next build is to build something with a low profile and a high take-off, but not a flute. A mu...

wv_cooker: If you keep feeling the need to apologize it might mean you're being an asshole. I read everything on here, but I have long hiatuses where I'm too busy to indulge my hobby. I built my first pot when I was ten years younger and a nixon stone a few years after that. I also built a boka that...

Sieve plate sounds like a good way to go, probably easier to build.

Googe- I was thinking of 30'' of 4'' above a 4'' bubble plate and below a dephlag. Edit: I see what you mean... Could I offset a single bubble cap and have the downcomer closer to center?

Wow, thanks for all the information. If you use a packed column definitely give lava rock a try. It's cheap enough to replace every spirit run and it outperforms everything else I've tried. I'm sold on trying a plate at the bottom of a shorter column. Imagine getting a clean neutral from a rig you c...

Thanks for the quick replies. I've used the calculators and played around with different heights and widths to get approx. number of plates and purity. My main problem is that with 50'' of packed column my rig is over 7 feet tall. I need a step ladder to adjust reflux and that's a pain in the ass. I...

I have a 50'' column of 2'' copper that I use for making neutral. I have read that I could improve efficiency by increasing the width of my column to 3 inches. Is the efficiency gained due entirely to the increased surface area inside the column? How much does height come into play? The volume of a ...

I there anyone in the U.S. making modular bubble cap plates? I wanted to add one to the base of my column in the hope that it will shorten the duration of my spirit run. I've looked around and I can't find anyone making these outside of NZ and AU(aside from the dragon that shall not be named).

Okay, thanks Richard, I'm glad I asked.

I know this topic should go on the Mentors forum but it appears to be locked. I've read differing opinions on how many valves are necessary on a Nixon/Stone off-set reflux still. If I have only one valve for the output, should I have the inlet for the output a little bit higher than the inlet for th...

Okay, thanks.

I'm working on a off-set reflux column and wanted to know where I should get a thermometer for the top of my column.

If I had 2''x50'' reflux column, how many centering collars should I have and where should they be located?

Right now I have Guinness Extra Stout, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde and some mustard.

Okay that makes sense, I think I can swing that.

I did a google search and found a company that makes 2'' copper discs. Could I drill holes in these discs and stagger them in between rolls of copper mesh in my column instead of using centering rings? The discs are only 2 bucks a pop, which is a lot less than what I would pay for reducers and they ...

Thanks again RD, ordered another 2 feet of 2'' copper pipe from ebay yesterday. I've done a few searches on the site for centering rings and haven't found a whole lot of info that I can use. Should I just buy a few 2'' reducers and trim them down? I've read that there should be a gap between the cen...

When you say my column should be a two piece, do you mean that I should be able to break it down and remove packing/centering rings? Do you have to remove the column packing and centering rings in order to clean them, or can you just occasionally do a vinegar run?

Thanks for the quick reply RD, will do.

I've been gathering parts here and there for a valved reflux still and I have everything I need. I'm close to putting it all together but I'm a little worried about the column length. I've already had the column welded to my boiler lid, but it's only 2 feet long. Since then I have read that the colu...

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm going to give it a try.

I wasn't aware that acetic acid had a higher boiling point than water. I've read about using baking soda to neutralize acetic acid, but was warned to use it only after the stripping run because adding it to your wash could lead to the production of ammonia. Is that true?

I have access to a lot of old wine that is unsuitable for drinking and was wondering if I could distill it. If wine has started to turn to vinegar is it still suitable for this purpose?