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I have been using rocks and marbles for packing and plan to upgrade to rashig rings and copper packing. Where do you recommend getting this stuff? Also, how do you pack the column with the two materials? Rashig rings at the bottom, copper at the top? What sort of proportions do you use? thanks ben t...

Mr Piss - I don't think she puked - it's happened before so I know a little something about that. My sense is that the cables were holding down the heat. I replaced the skinny guy with #12 wire and it fired up really well this morning. Pot was at 184 and column was at about 164. Seems about right fo...

It's a liquid management still with the condenser in the return leg. I read three temps - one in the keg (in the wash), one above the packing (marbles and small smooth stones) and in the return leg (below the condenser). The gauge in the pot is a good Ashcroft dial thermometer and the other two are ...

Yup, that all makes sense Mr Piss. My column is 4" (I happened to have 4" copper pipe) so I imagine all three heaters would be necessary. I confirmed the outlets are on different circuits, but tomorrow I'll make #12 gauge cords to lower the resistance. Something else seems a bit odd. I'm g...

I have 3 1500 watt submersible heaters and I think they are on separate circuits. They must be because I checked the panel and no breakers are tripped. I'll replace 14 gauge wire with 12 gauge to be safe. I reduced the reflux ratio and started making some 190 proof, but man, it's going slower than i...

hmmmmm. That makes sense, but I have all three heaters plugged in - I usually run two of three when it's up to temperature. Cables to all three heaters feel warm, like they are pushing current. I am measuring the 182 in the pot. It's locked in on that temp just as it normally would at 191. I have a ...

I normally let my wash run for 2 or 3 weeks but this time, I let it go for 3 months. It looked clear and smelled fine, but when I ran it, the keg only got to 182 degrees (instead of 191) and I didn't make any product. I kept it in a sealed barrel with a vapor lock the entire time. Thoughts?

Thanks Myles. I checked CL in my area and came up empty. I googled used plastic barrels and found nothing yet in my price range. Some of the barrels weren't bad, but the shipping more than doubled the cost. Guess I'll keep my eyes peeled

BTS

O.F. - If you are still checking in, I have a few questions. First, your 25 gallon fermenting drum. Where do you get such an animal? I'm using a trash can that doesn't seal well. I have never had a problem with air getting in (as far as I know), but my airlock doesn't bubble, so I assume the CO2 is ...

Wow - 3500 will buy you a lot of good store bought hooch. I hope you have an uneventful move. It's the best you can hope for

thanks - I have to study that some more. How many gallons of wash and how much product do you get? Wow, 30 minutes is really fast, but the good proof says you are doing it right!

Thanks, Old Fart - I have three temperature measuring devices in my still. I have a dial thermometer in the keg, submerged below the wash to measure the temperature of the wash. I have a dial thermometer in the top of reflux column above the (marble) packing, and I have a thermocouple in the vapor l...

Myles/Old Hippie - thanks for the feedback. I admit I'm puzzled. Step 1 will be to check the calibration of the thermometers. I agree that the wash temperature should hold at 192 deg F when it comes to a full boil, based on a 10% alcohol/water mixture. And, in fact, shouldn't I expect the temperatur...

Thanks for jumping in Rad. Here's what I think I know.... I put the wash in the keg and plug in 3 submersible heaters. In one hour, the liquid temperature in the keg gets really high - I want to say 250 deg F. I unplug one heater but the temperature of the wash remains about the same. I have a temp ...

I was reading an article that says "you should never boil the mash" when making alcohol. I never heard of that before. I have 3 elements in my keg pot and I run all three until the column temp reads 192. Then, I cut back to two heaters, but the gauge in the pot (submerged in the wash) read...

Hi everybody - well I screwed up by not making this my first post, so my apologies to the nice folks who run this forum. I'm not sure what to post here, except I lived in Saudi Arabia for 6 years and made booze out of necessity (couldn't buy it). I was always fascinated with the process so I recentl...

Hi Old Fart - I have a question about condensing temp on a VM machine. My column (generally) runs at the correct temp (192 F) and the vapor goes to the condenser. I have a thermocouple running down the center of the condenser coil to check the condenser temperature. Assuming that I throw out the lig...

Hey Wineo - What happens when the SG gets over 1.085? I can tell you what happened with mine, but it may not be related. I had a mash of around 1.10 and when I heated up the VP still the column temperature went past 192 - and stayed around 194 - 196. When I measured the proof I got around 170. That ...

I have the thermometer in the middle of the reflux cooling coil so it should be very close to the outlet temp. I tried to insert a picture off my camera, but I don't know how. My intent was not to turn the cooling water off/on, but to find the flow to manage the reflux head temp. So, with a CM desig...

Thanks for all the good advice. I got rid of all the plastic and have just started a "Tried and True" recipe. I also saw Prairiepiss' recommendation on a centering ring. My column is 4" diameter, so I bought a stainless steel floor shower strainer and placed it just below the reflux h...

Do you have a recommended distiller's yeast and possible source?

thanks

Hi Folks - thanks for all the responses. This is my second attempt to reply - I think I screwed the last one up. A picture of my lash-up is attached. I use a John Deere trailer as a reservoir for the condenser because water is pretty precious where we live so I don't want to do a once-through proces...

Hi -I'm new to this forum and look forward to advice from all you smart people. I built a still from a beer keg with 3 1300 watt heaters and added a 46" packed column. I run 12 gallons of mash. I watch the temp gauge in the head section of the column begin rising rapidly and then it levels off ...