Home Distiller

It's been a while since I've fired up my still, and I'm planning on making up a batch of DWWG. I have some left over heads and tails from my last run, as well as an cheap bottle of store whiskey sitting around. I have a VM reflux and was planning on making a clean neutral spirit. I'm wondering if it...

I pushed left over bud light from the keg through my VM. After a few runs and plenty of cleaning I don't notice the smell anymore. That said clearly you beer had quite a bit more hops than bud light.

-x7

When you say the diameter is "a little smaller" that the pipe, how much is a little? To get a good solid solder/braise you want to have a nice fit between the two pieces for a strong joint. I can't really see how much space there is from the pics, can you provide that info?

-x7

I did not use any heating or cooling techniques. One thing to note was that I used short collar ss ferrules, not the longer collar ones.

x7

Another great option is to go with a convertable VM design. Here is a pic of mine:

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp18 ... nt-Web.gif

The VM is real simple to operate and makes great azetrope.


-x7

I just gently tapped the ferrules into my column using a mallet. You can also lighly sand the inside of the pipe and the outside of the ferrule to get them nice and clean which will also help a bit with the fit. As far as joint strength, if you get a solid braise on the joint it will be plenty stron...

Much apologies to Rednose as I misaddressed my reply that was intended for McBadWash! I guess I need to be more cautious when I'm posting from my phone

rednose wrote:Thanks x7 for your kind tip but as Thorn already mentioned, the built of stills isn't really MY problem.

Rednose You might consider going with a vm if you want to make neutral spirits. VM's are pretty easy to contruct and stupid simple to run. I built a VM as my first and just love it. I also built it in a away that allows me to covert it into a pot still as well to make more flavorful spirits. I have ...

+1 to Bob's experience.

I highly recomend againt it. I have a VM, and ended up scrubbing it several times to gt rid o the smell. It especially hard to remove the smell from the copper packing in the column.

x7

Sorry a couple of more questions x7 Ive read a fair bit about this... hwoever had one question around removal of the nasty stuff.. When you say Equalize for longer, how do you drop off the nasty stuff. Does the nasty stuff still come out in the heads itself or first up as i would expect on a CM ? T...

Not sure if you started your build yet, but I would suggest going with a VM design. I've been very happy with mine and can consistently push out azetrop with very little adjustment. Another couple tips for getting the very best: -Let your colum equalize longer. This will make sure you have ideal sep...

My vote goes for VM with gate valve. Most people that start into distilling now days want some thing that is high proof and easily got. With a column this is easily obtained, and a neutral spirit can be flavoured to just about anything. Trying to get an acceptable drink from a pot still takes time ...

Looks like a nice setup. Can you provide a little detail about what type/ how much packing you are using?

x7

I'd be interested in more details about the filter process you used, and of course we all like pics.

x7

I'd second all the advice from the experts. As far as what you have already, you could try letting it air out a bit, but if it's pretty rough, I'd just dillute it down to 40% and try running it again watching your cuts closely.

x7

Running a gas burner can be done very safely, and lots of us out here do it. You should indeed take all the precarionary measures, but once you've done that don't over worry yourself. You can find a long list of 'stilling safety guidelines' on the site but feel free to ask questions.

x7

Welcome Fishy: As far as heating goes, there are 2 main heating options that most of us use. The first is a propoane burner such as what you mind find from a turkey deep fryer kit. The second is an electric heating element that you install inside your boiler. persoanlly I use propane, but think that...

Since you missed you OG, you could still try an ABV calculator like the one I mentioned in this post:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =3&t=12872

x7

Welcome Radman:

A reflux (not reflex) is a different type of still targeted at creating a cleaner spirit by forcing more seperation of ethonol vapors from other contents in the column. Even running wide open you will still get some amount of reflux activity occuring in the column.

x7

If you are shooting for neutral, you might consider a simple sugar wash as it's dirt cheap and makes brilliant neutral. Also, don't forget to put your packing in your column and run slow for your spirit run. I think you will be pleasently surprised how clean your prodcut will be using the 2 step pro...

Good work, I'd call that a success for a first run. If you like what you got, they go ahead and drink it. A couple questions for you; how tall is your column, and are you looking for a flavored spirit (I assume becuase you used an all bran wash) or a neutral spirit? If you want a good flavored spiri...

Woody: Here is an example: Starting With 20 Lbs Sugar 12 Gal Water 32 oz Wheat Germ 4 tsp Citric Acid Produces 12 Gal wash @ ~10% ABV containing ~1.2 Gal Ethanol (assume total ethanol = volume of ferment * ABV) Stripping run produces ~2.4 Gal Low Wines @ ~ 50%ABV (assume 1 kg sugar produces 1L low w...

For your neutral batch, why are you adding salt & baking soda?

Welcome conduktor. I'm not sure how much the still you are looking at costs, but 2.5 gal is a pretty small boiler. If you plan to invest in this as a hobby, you might be surprised how cheap you can build a simple pot or even vm still with a keg boiler. It might be worth doing a quick buy vs build co...

Looks like a usable rig to me. I'd be intereted to hear about what kind of results you are getting from it, and how hard you can push during a stripping run with your condenser setup. I'm also interested in how you made your keg connection. My guess from the picture is that you have a 2" male t...

Would you happen to have the name and where to get some? I'm in the same position as xx7777xx and having a hell-uv-a time trying to "tin" the stainless :? . Any other tips been discovered for this process? WalkingWolf I ended up taking my parts over to my buddy's shop where he braised it ...

If you are shooting for great neutral spirits you might also want to consider a VM column design. There is nothing wrong with building a Bok, the VM design really makes great spirits and is super easy to run.

x7

There are a few ways to create turbulence. Here is a link to a leibig I recently built that uses bends in the pipe to create turbulence:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 36&start=0


x7

What is your plan for connecting it to your boiler?

x7

Just out of curiousity, how smoothly did the stainless to copper braise go? That was a bit of a challenge when I did my first joint. Pretty horrible actually. I think that many people have a challenging time with this process. Since all keg design stills really require this step I'm wondering if on...