Home Distiller

We brewed two batches. One came out nice, but the other came out with almost an smell of finger nail polish remover. Kinda like acetone......

so no chance in it being bad to drink? just taste like crap.

Question: Ive had three 5 gallon buckets (with top on and pressure valve) sittin in my neighbors kitchen for close to 7-8months. Its a simple combination of corn meal sugar and distillers yeast. We mixed it up and never got around to brewing. This warm weekend sparked me wanting to check it out. Now...

15 gallon ss keg on a turkey burner, 8 gallons mash running at 180 degrees f. Been running for an hour, how long before any product starts running? 10 ft coil 2 inch column 2ft tall

Im sorry, I had 3 different buckets with varying the ingredients to see what i got and one of the buckets i had 6 lbs of sugar. I think that was the one that i got the highest percentage on

did some trial runs last night on the new pot still, and with the ratio i used the highest percentage i got was around 45.

Ive been using a simple mash of 4lbs sugar, pound of corn meal, and a small packet of bakers yeast you get from walmart for 4 gallons worth of mash. Im not gettin the proof i want and im sure the yeast is what is limiting me. The local home brew store has distillers yeast that im goin to grab later....

Thanks for the reply, the build should get started tonight. Ill post pics of the progress

So Im ditching my little 5 gallon stove top still with the jimmy rigged top for a 15 gallon keg. Ive taken out the ball valve and bought a tri clamp to connect to a 2inch piece of copper pipe. Im goin to use the "easy flange" method to seal it down. Im goin to come out the top of the 2 inc...

I completely and totally understand the safety factor in this hobby. I work as a lineman for a utility company so safety is one of our main priorities. I just dont understand how flour and water is any different from 40 binder clips around the top of the pot? If that photo isn't enough to get throu...

I just bought one from the local brew shop for 6 bucks, probably the same one. 3/4 copper was too small to give it room to float. 1 inch worked perfectly with cap on the end. Im turning it into a parrot by tonight.

Just a thought on your design If it was me I would use a 45 fitting at the top of each vertical tower rather than a 90, then bring the 2 towers together with another pair of 45's then a 3/4 x 3/4 x 1" tee 1" pointed straight up and then you could add whatever height in 1" you desired...

I completely and totally understand the safety factor in this hobby. I work as a lineman for a utility company so safety is one of our main priorities. I just dont understand how flour and water is any different from 40 binder clips around the top of the pot?

No flour paste. And it isn't leaking. How do you know? Ahhhh, you used a candle. That's it from me Ryan. You have no idea or you just don't listen, or you don't care. I hope that when the explosion occurs you will be alone. :shock: Wow! really? Why would you wish harm on someone? Im pretty sure tha...

I got a s*** load of homer buckets that I keep my grains and sugars in but I mash and ferment ONLY in Food Grade. When you're mashin' ya got some hot stuff in those buckets. The extra investment in "safe" buckets is worth it in my estimation. Big R The homer buckets have the same HDPE num...

... Had to do some adjustments on the lid, but got it sealed tight. ... Did you seal it with flour past, ryan? No paste, used binder clips. As for the ones who have been on me about not searching for the topics ive asked about, sorry. I guess after so long a forum needs to remove the submit button.

I just looked at one and it said HDPE 2

yes the orange ones..

Whats the offical diffinition of "Food Grade" and if its not, what will it hurt if it aint.

Are these buckets safe to use with making mash.

We silver soldered copper to ss this weekend with no flux and it worked. Mapp gas was used. Had to get teh copper reallly hot.

Ok so we got some good progress. We got the still running today with just water. Had to do some adjustments on the lid, but got it sealed tight. Cleaned out the pot and everything else and got it set back up on the stove. Ive had some basic mash working since last tuesday afternoon. 2 gallons water,...

So we got it set up inside on the stove top and water to just run some water through to check for leaks. Everything is good, but we dont have a good seal on the top of the pot with the lid. We got couple paper clips and clamped them down, but theres got to be a better and easier way. Any suggestions?

Some one who makes wine said that if bacteria sets in on it, it's harmful to you to drink after distilled. Any truth to this?

Thank you everyone for all the helpful advise. All the material goin into this build is absolutely free. All the copper pipe, filltings, everything is just material that has been picked up off the job site over the years. We've got 5 gallon buckets slap full of nothing but copper fittings from 90's ...

what time difference are we talking time wise in 3/4 compared to 1inch stack. Im not limited to materials. My neighbor is a plumber. Would a 2inch stack to a 1/2 inch worm be effecient?

Im wondering how do you know if your mash has gone bad? Is there anything to look for or smell. Reason asking is because ive got some mash fermenting and the bucket used wasnt air tight. Im worried it might be bad. How do you tell if its bad?

no parrot

If i heated it up enough, wouldnt the water evaporate at a certain temp and you'd get watered down product?