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You guys and this site are amaizing! I just did my first run of 5 ml. UJSSM! All the advise and reading in here payed off tremendously. It was easy, but only because I was given very good advise and guidence. I sure would have hated to try this alone! I decided to make the run on the electric stove ...

Soggy Bottom Boy wrote:The Invisi-still. Very easy to build, ...and inexpensive as well! Wouldn't change a thing!

And....."they" will never find it!

I just finished running my sacrificial alchohol run. I used about 2 1/2 gallons of old crappy wine and a gallon or so of water. As the first drips began to appear, it occured to me I was extracting the alchohol out of the wine, just like I will be out of the mash. I waited until I had about 3 or 4 o...

You and I are at about the same place with our wash. I started UJSSM about the same time and will run it this weekend. Good luck with your run....keep us posted.
Tim

That is just freeking awesome!

BareKnuckles wrote:Yep... oxidization and flux.. Yes you can use crappy wine for cleaning...

Thanks knuckles......feel better now......lol

Next question......I assume the drippings coming out GREEN is normal from the vinegar oxidizing the copper inside the still????????
lol...hope so!
Tim

Ok, seams resoldered, and it is on the stove boiling vinegar as I type. I have 2 bottles of crappy tasting wine to run through next. Can somebody confirm that will work for the sacroficial alchohol run?
Tim

I have got to say that this is the time of year when my favorite mixed drink, by far, comes into use. The classic Egg Nog! I like it with bourbon or dark rum. Two or three fingers of spirit in a rocks glass, topped up with egg nog, a shake of cinnamon and you're set. I've tried many recipes for hom...

i know its like asking how long a string is, but how much wood do you need to complete distillation? i live in area with plentiful wood, but i can also get locally made and very good quality charcoal. i havnt seen anyone else using it so im guessing theres not much in it. I haven't done my first st...

i guess not many cooked on a wood stove? a cook wood stove is very even heat do manly to its shear mass. then you don't regulate the heat by the amount of wood,you do so by moving cook ware around, diferant places are diferant temperature, and if that's not hot enough remove a lid and place the pot...

The more I look at your set-up, the more I love it! Did you by chance take a series of pictures of constructing the fire box around the still? I would love to see just how you did that.
Tim

Heres a picture of my small still getting warmed up on the mtn side. That is just an awesome still "shiner"! Actually it is almost exactly like the one I just built except for the lyne arm, and I don't have a thumper yet. I see you are firing with wood? I would love to hear the details on...

UGH! lol.....Ok, this is the morning of day 5. I hadn't touched it since day 3. This morning I tasted the wash and the sugar is GONE! Hungry little yeasties seem to have eaten it all. It is almost as sour as biting into a lemon. If I understand what I have read, that means she is almost ready to run...

chris is right about securing the cap...its even more true when running a thumper ( or two ;) ). Also if you still ever starts spitting vapor cut off all possible ignition sources immediately !! Just set it low and take it slow... Love the still! :clap: CT Tonight I am going to stop by the shop and...

Thumper,
No thumper for now, though maybe in the future.
Tim

Update: Well, sorta good news, bad news....... runnin' 009.jpg runnin' 005.jpg I think the stove could work out pretty well. It took a while, but it did make my vinegar cleaning solution begin to boil. Then, I could see a couple of very small steam leaks around the top of the wall of the pot where i...

I have put pots of water on my wood stove in the past just to add some humidity to the house, never saw the water boil only light simmer. To change a liquid to a gas requires many BTU'S so , you may be able to get it to temperature but you may not have enough BTU'S available on the surface area of ...

I am new to distilling, but have been working with wood, including VERY old wood for almost 45 years. I have recycled barn beams, and logs from old log houses, etc. I am in total agreement there will be no issue at all with wood from the inner part of the beam. I will be real interested in hearing t...

Is, or has anybody ever run their pot still on top of a wood burning stove? I am limited on space, it is cold outside, and the woodstove would work out real well. I plan to make a vinigar run tonight and try it on the stove. Just wondering if anybody else is firing with wood.

Tim

Welcome! You will find this a very friendly and helpful place. I just joined here a little over a week or so ago, having never distilled anything in my life. Now, my first wash is bubbling and I will be making my first stripping run this coming weekend. That has only been possible due to the people ...

Welcome! Lots to learn in here....keep reading.

I have 2 - 5gal batches of UJSSM working. This is my first attempt ever. I started both last Saturday evening, so this is part way through day 3. This morning while having my morning coffee before work, I just had to take a peek. It is bubbling fast and furious, and smells wonderful. I had to take a...

Introducing...... "Ethel".......

Squint wrote:named mine Ed

anybody asks where I am ,
he's in the shed talking to Ed

Ed was the name of my best friend, Ed loved his Scotch

he died the week I received my still so thought I would name it Ed
his name and spirit are always with me while running the rig

Ed would be proud!

Pardon me it I am wrong, I am pretty new here to be handing out advise, but I look at your story like this: The yeasties are like little workers. You started putting the roof on 5 houses with your workers, each a day apart. The same number of workers were working on each roof, the houses were all id...

Welcome woodstove,
I am pretty new here too, but have learned more reading this forum and talkin' to the fine folks in here than I could have learned on my own in a year. Read everything you can in here. There is sure a ton of information and experience to be taken advantage of.

Tim

Tater wrote:might wanna get a piece steel to put between bottom of still and burner will help with flash heating the copper that thin and make slower temp swings.

Thanks Tater, good idea! I plan on heating her up real slow the first run until I get a better feel for it.
Tim

Thanks Knuckles, I have been reading everything I can find to read in this entire forum. The UJSSM is bubblin' as we speak. It has been a mild winter here in these here parts, so it has been easy to keep the cabin warm all night and day for the wash to brew. Good thing I have the wash covered! Every...

Hmm...so why you smoke in the outhouse? Just kidding! I haven't gone so far as a separate building but I have more than a few ideas about hiding in plain sight. I still on my back porch most of the time, and a nosy neighbor could possibly see me. I use a keg over gas. I now have a SS Gas grill, on ...