Home Distiller

Hi Deplorable! Thanks for your reply and your thoughtful questions. Yes, I am leaving some amount of ethanol in the boiler, stopping at 80%. However, on my still, the ABV drops off at the end of the run rapidly, and I'm not likely to even get one 300ml jar full of stuff heavier than that. That last ...

Hi Jstroke! Thanks for your input. I generally swap out some corn after I siphon off the beer - I guess I left that part out. I've considered clearing the wash, but the mechanics of the UJSSM process seem to make that difficult. Specifically, I siphon off the beer, swap out some corn and then add wa...

You can do this. Look at the still designs on this site for an idea of what is possible. Every one of us has been where you are today. We all want to get started as fast as we can, however that's not the best way to approach this. Read until your eyes bleed. Learn about the different types of still ...

Okay. I’ve been doing this for a while, and I thought I’d put this up in order to get some opinions on what I’m doing and how I might improve it. Thanks in advance for your comments. UJSSM is my go-to thing. I do a run or two every year, and generally go for about five ferments each. I’ve sorta adde...

I make UJSSM in a plastic Rubbermaid Brute trash can. I just put the garbage can lid on, which isn't anywhere near airtight but seems to keep out the critters and big chunks of airborne trash. I never stir it - just pitch the yeast, put the lid on and walk away. This time of year (warm as heck summe...

IMG_20210526_124608176.jpg Well, after about five years, I finally bit the bullet and re-did my 2" Boka still into a CCVM. It was originally built as a modular still, which made the conversion easy. I re-used my 3/8 copper reflux condenser and used a bunch of new stainless parts and tri-clamps...

Excellent suggestion! Thank you very much. I wasn't exactly clear. The oil ring in the boiler was from the sacrificial cleaning alcohol run. I compared the run to UJ just because that's what I'm accustomed to. I've got a starter UJ bubbling in the garage now, so I'm committed to the boka for a bit, ...

Greetings! I run a 2" 60 inch column with a traditional copper coil-cooled Boka head attached with a triclamp. I have a 16 gallon milk can stainless boiler with a 5500 watt element and a homebuilt power controller. I love my rig, but it's slow as hell - I can make a great neutral at azeo, but n...

Hiya! I have a 13 gallon milk can boiler and a 2 inch Boka column, presently undergoing revision with SPP. When I do a run, I collect everything in pint jars. There are 12 in a case, and two cases pretty much does a run for me. I fill each one to the 300ml mark or so. Each one has a labeled number -...

Hi! Your reflux still has a vapor temp that is optimal. Every still is a bit different, but every one has a "golden" temperature. Exceed that temperature during a run, and you're going to get smearing. The easiest way to exceed that temperature is to draw too much. Every drop that comes ou...

Hi! You're in Brasil! Perhaps things are different where you live, but in Volta Redonda, there are a half-dozen fabrication places within a few km of our place. One of them specializes in SS work. Compared to the US, it's much, much less expensive to have something made. Labor rates are much lower i...

Hi! I have a 2" Boka. I also have a removable head, and I have a Liebig as a product cooler on a long 1/4 copper outlet tube. When I want to potstill, I just don't attach the column. I can do this because I have a milk can with a water heater element in the bottom of it and my electronics allow...

I had something similar happen to me last week. I had some high-test neutral that had been stored for a year or so. We were having a party and the missus said that were out of vodka. Well, crap, I can fix that. Got out the hydrometer and the jug of distilled water and watered some neutral down from ...

Hiya!

We'll need a bit more info about your rig to really tell what's going on. Sounds like you may be deep into the tails - that's when things get oily. However, I've never gone far enough to see anything black. Might you have burned something in your boiler?

Greetings, and welcome! You'll find that everyone has opinions here, and part of the fun is to read them all and make up your own mind. My first still was a Boka. When I built it, I put a flange on the head, so that my actual column is one long spool. I built the column just about as long as my stil...

You have had some good advice. Most folks cut back their power once their rig gets up to temperature. You need extra heat to bring your wash and your rig up to working temperature. Once there, you only need to put in as much heat as necessary to do the work at the speed you want to do it. That's goi...

Hiya! Good luck with your rum. Reading over your methods, I thought I might mention that I would have used a bit more yeast. Yeast is a funny thing. You want the yeast colony established in your wash as soon as possible. More yeast is better, less yeast means it takes longer. Since you've split thin...

By the fourth one, I start adding about three eggshells. Your pH is likely a bit low.
If you can find it, pH paper is easier to use than a meter. Cheaper, too.

I can only do four runs of UJ before I'm tossing eggshells in there. Ten runs is awesome! Try a mash with your your tap water - I'll bet the yeast like it. Happy yeast are what gets you good drink - you're going to be distilling the stuff anyway. Save the distilled water for watering your drink to 8...

What I did with my Boka was to take a piece of 1x3 and use a couple of U-bolts (one large, one small with wing nuts) to make a horizontal brace from my column to the Liebig. I also used 1/2 CPVC for the outside of the Liebig, trying to keep the weight down. My Liebig is a long piece of 1/4 copper wi...

Aw heck, this thread is trashed anyway, There's a lot that I don't know about, but I do know Cachaça. Mrs Dog is from Brazil and we still have a home there - where we spend three to four months every year. Cachaça can be purchased almost anywhere in Brazil. You can get a one liter bottle of 51 (a lo...

I run a 2" modular Boka with 2 tri-clamp stainless fittings. I can remove the column and mount the Boka head directly on my boiler when I want to do pot stilling. I have a 24" Liebig as a product cooler that connects to my output valve that makes it easy. In order to get the stainless tri=...

Hansen, you should be able to find that information in the "required reading". You should already have gone through Cranky's excellent thread http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=52975 , but you should read it again. The folks here aren't complete a-holes, it's just they...

Hiya! Don't post much, but I read a lot. Did a UJSSM run today and it took longer than I had planned. We have company coming over and I needed to get the backset cooled down so I could get the next generation kicked off and the still out of the laundry room. I didn't have a lot of time. Sooooooo. Wh...

Hi! I use a milk can electric boiler with a 60" 2" mesh-packed copper column. The column has sanitary clamps at either end, and a 2" Bokakob head attaches on top with a traditional coil condenser. I also have a Liebig-style product cooler attached to the liquid output pipe of the Boka...

This is what you need.

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I have a SW pool, too. However, irrigation water where we live is unmetered, so I don't need it.

I've bought toasted oak from this guy on ebay. However, I char it myself. Yes, it's 15 bux, but it lasts a long time and my product tastes good. The guy's sold over 750 boxes, so I can't be the only guy. 3 charred sticks in a gallon jar do the job. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Charred-Toasted-White-Ameri...

Hiya, Ben.

Yes, I pot-stilled that rum. Twice.

You know, I think I'll give the column a shot at it. What's there to lose, really?

The next time that I try rum, though, I'll likely use a different recipe. Using boiled yeast as a nutrient likely adds to the icky taste.

Hi! I've tried, and I'm not happy with my rum, either. I end up with a crappy yeast taste that even the vanilla bean, spices and Coke can't hide. I also poop like a goose the next day. I've had some sitting around for months, and I'm about to dump it - I'm never going to drink the stuff. I used Bucc...

Hi! I run a 2" Boka on a 13 gallon milk can boiler most of the time. Sometimes, I'll run it as a pot still, leaving the column part in the garage and just attaching the Boka head to the milk can boiler, using my product cooler Liebig to cool the output. It makes awesome UJSSM and rum like that....