Home Distiller

I'm designing a wet bar and I'm trying to figure drawer heights. I measured a various amount of sizes downstairs just looking at my liquor collection and thought, well darn. 13" seemed to be a good upper limit for most bottles, but not all. Then I thought, why not just buy empties and relabel e...

Thank you for that info. I need to get to building my still so I can play with this. The only reason I wanted to trial with ready made was for what flavors I like in terms of toasting, wood type, etc.

Nice! I need to befriend a tree cutter now haha.

very interesting. I'm going to get some "cheaper" stuff to play around with like say the Kirkland Signature bourbon. I will be able to test multiple wood types at once with small mason jars. What's a good dosage, I haven't been able to find that, or is it just experimentation?

ok i gotcha. So you're 'toasting' them first to a certain level of darkness, then char one side, presumably for the mellowing aspect?

You're charring on a griddle right? I was thinking careful butane torch application. But on a note about charcoal...wouldn't that mellow it out? Gentleman jack is essentially JD filtered a couple times through charcoal and it's definitely smoother

this looks awesome. Not only do I love bourbon, but I love science and experimentation. I live in the PNW as well, maybe I'll run across some HbB one day in my travels. Do you have a general oz/liter/proof ratio you think is ideal? I see you're adding to barrel strength liquors, but how would you ad...

I like both tips. For the citrus, I was just thinking that since we add orange peel to our OFs, maybe it would go well. But hell I'm guessing. I'll definitely try a vanilla bean and some toasted wood. I just picked up a Elijah Craig small batch 94 proof at Costco today. It's...cheaper, so maybe I'll...

My brother got me a decanter for Christmas and I thought about making a home "blend". I found Henry McKenna 10 yr at costco for 30 bucks and its 100 proof and darn smooth, maybe a good base for this project. I thought about adding a few coffee beans, vanilla bean, maybe citrus. I'm unsure ...

Been gathering info for quite some time and put this together. This may or may not be an original design, who knows. I just want feedback on it. Goals: whiskeys with this bad boy. The adjustable parts are the middle lyn arm section which can be rotated up or down and the 90 just at the column for in...

I did a bourbon brown ale last year. Soaked oak chips in makers mark for a day then tossed it in the keg. It sat there until the keg ran dry. and OMG it was the best beer I ever made.

awesome thanks for all the help folks. I won't have any stainless to practice with really. I'll just do it and if it's not nice or done well I'll try to re-melt the solder or just cut the copper off and get another stainless TC flange.

this is a cool idea. I am most likely going to copy you. Why was the 3/4 too big for you? just for your space or was it not needed?

I've been reading that it's better for stripping runs. But I guess if you only have one size, 1/2" seems to satisfy the majority of members

Silver soldering occurs under 800 F right? I have an infrared thermo gun I can use if I have a target temp for this. If this helps identifying when the metals ready. So heat stainless first since it's greedy then hit the copper? Or hit the copper first and let it heat stainless. I've seen both metho...

k so flux, heat slowly then once solder collapses and melts into the joint, squirt or brush on more flux to finish? good deal

I don't have supplies yet, have any recommendation? brazing rod, solder?

harris stay brite #8?

skow69 wrote:Playing the cello looks easy when you watch Yo-yo Ma do it.

Hah true. I'm a quick study so I'll try my hand at this. Think I'll try MAP gas instead of propane too.

oh ok so if using the right flux (I've seen harris stay silv a lot of places) and heating stainless first, then it should be doable. Also: 1) I assume it'll be easy to test the final product by either torquing the joint or seeing for liquid leakage 2) to save on supplies, can I use copper to stainle...

I've been watching videos on silver soldering (or brazing) copper to stainless. I've read that it can be tricky or that it's finicky. However I'm watching these videos and it doesn't look that hard, unless I'm missing something. Put flux on, heat it up, maybe more flux, silver solder, then let cool....

just sayin wrote:A horizontal union followed by a ninety gives you 360 degrees of choice and will lock soundly into position at any angle you prefer.

that's what I meant, thanks. Just like a 90 after a TC

having not used unions before, can they be tightened at different angles or do they thread in to the same location? In other words, will they function just like TC for adjustments?

very cool. I made a price list from supplyhouse to make Samohon's Easy Pot still. I got roughly 220. I'll maybe add either an adaptable lyn arm, or just a 45 incline line arm for a short distance to prevent these nasties you mentioned. So in Australia unions cost more than triclamps? In a way that's...

also, how does the 50.5mm fit with 2" NPT? I see that its 1.9something inches after converting.

It's personal preference, Mendozer... Looking at those price tags....the threaded ferrule I showed above, was the most "expensive" of them all (5 or 6 $ on Ebay if I remember correct, free shipping). All the others were around 2$ for 2" 304 stainless steel. I wonder how they can even...

also, Yummy, that first picture...that's just adjusting the condenser angle right, not the lyn arm. putting a piece, like 12" or whatever, with tri clamps on either edge would make the lyn arm adjustable with the (currently) adjustable condenser arm angle right?

regarding clamps, what would be the advantage(s) of using: tri clamp adapter made of copper or the straight to NPT copper into NPT to triclamp ferrule? The straight copper triclamp is $20 from mile Hi and it's less overall $$$ vs getting the straight to threaded copper piece and the NPT to ferrule s...

I didn't realize that angle piece was closed off. Couldn't tell from the pic. I imagined the tightening bolt going through a hollow tube. Whoa thanks for all the pics. Options, options!

oh ok so something like samohon's design would likely make a regular whiskey and post-distillation handling would influence my final product more? like wood aging and other influences

Just found these...https://www.kegworks.com/adjustable-flush-elbow-fitting-1-5-od-brushed-stainless-steel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow I know soldering copper to stainless is a little trickier. That same product is available in brass, for about do...

Has anyone ever made a lyn arm that's adjustable somehow? For my first still I want an all purpose product to make full bodies whiskeys and lighter ones as well. I don't know of a mechanical adjustment for copper but I'm visualizing a pivotable joint that maybe tightens with a nut which copper pipe ...