Home Distiller

Thanks a lot to all who replied and special thanks to you Rad. I've read a lot of your posts and as a result I've LEARNED a lot, thanks for all your contributions. I will be building a still very similar to yours very soon, I think of all the designs I've seen it is the best from a cost/constructibi...

Hey Rad,
I checked out your All bran wash and I'll give it a try; however, there are 35 pages of replies and adjustments (and I’m at work right now so I can’t read them all before I head to the store on my way home) is there any way you can give me your final , refined recipe?

Regards,
b

I am trying to find a simple, clean sugar wash with as few specialized (DAP, fertilizer, etc) ingredients as possible. Currently the wash I am making is as follows: 5 lbs sugar 1/2 tsp gypsum pinch epsom salts, 1 Nature Made B vitamin 1/3 cup bakers yeast water to 4.75 gallons I have been pleased wi...

Any thoughts on using a valve with a carbon steel body and a stainless steel needle? I would want to take it off after use and make sure it is clean and dry to prevent rust during storage but should I expect any off flavors? I don't think there is much that can leach out of steel...?

-B

I’m wondering how much cooling water y’all use when running your stills? I am working on a total rebuild so I figured I would give my external condenser an overhaul as well or possibly go to a internal column mounted condenser but I would like to keep my water usage as low as possible. I originally ...

As I mentioned in my post, I am ignoring the valves on the water side... I have seen some lead free brass but I'm wondering if that is what most people are doing or are they simply pickling?

Thanks for the info; I’m already looking into sources for some 2” copper. However, for my own information could you elaborate on what is causing the cloudy distillate? Is it foaming/carry over into the packing? Is it carryover all the way to the condenser? I like to understand why things happen…

I was able to reduce the heat for the second run, I'm using a hot plate but its a pretty good commercial model with variable control and a thick cast iron element so it does a pretty good job holding temperature. AFTER the temperature stabilized it definitely wasnt at a "rolling boil" it w...

Hi All, I have a homebuilt reflux still, 20 liter pot, 1500W hot plate, 1" copper column packed with SS scrubbers, and a separate condenser that returns the reflux to a point about 2/3 up the column. My first two runs were a basic sugar wash and I have had mixed success. I have two main issues:...

Hi All, This is my first post here but I know it will be a contentious one.... The consensus seems to be that brass is not a preferred material for stills because of the possible lead content. However, as I look through pictures of stills, inluding those built by admins/moderators/experts I still se...