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Thank you DAD. And I should also acknowledge Manu for his CCLM. Hear hear :clap: I was so blown away by the developments they so generously shared to the world. Blessed are the innovators! They opened my eyes to the possibility of an affordable modular system that could be constructed from prefabri...

Are you saying that someone has to manually raise and lower their reflux condenser before they could possibly KNOW that they would prefer to simply turn a valve? That doesn't make any sense at all. It's not a complicated thing to understand. I used to turn a valve when I had a VM before I decided t...

Do you really think that not one of the many users of CCVMs has not already weighed up the pros and cons (as best they can without experience) before settling on it? I started out with a CM then went to VM before settling on CCVM. My CCVM was by far the cheapest to construct and the easiest to run....

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 1:07 am All of this talk of fiddly makes me laugh a bit , CCVM, VM, LM

Don’t forget CM. If there was one easy way, we’d all be using it !

You can just push the reflux coil lower if you are worried that the water temp in your RC isn’t low enough. The supply water for my RC is at least 26C (79F), never has any problems reaching total equilibrium/ full reflux on my CCVM.

Can you adjust the ccvm reflux condenser water temperature to not overcool your condensate without product coming out the product pipe? I'm thinking, if you want steam to dwell inside the condenser (IE hot exit water temp) which is often many times longer than the diameter of the product take-off, ...

Did the final blend from the Woolworths Lager kit wash recipe. I’ve kept 9.9 litres (measured) at 54% ABV (temperature corrected). Got to be happy with that!
It has now been divided across 3 x 5 L glass demijons, each with 4 pieces of extra-toasted French Oak, to be aged.

I do potstill LME stripping runs at the max possible, usually decided by how much power before it foams up and starts puking. Next turn the heat down, wait awhile, then turn the heat back up to the below limit of drama. I gotta agree , its not really rocket science, get that thing heated up ,if it ...

@shadylane, totally agree about stripping way down! I will also collect way past tails on this spirit run because I like the flavours and mouthfeel that the sweetwater brings.

@drtb, a very long time, more than 2 hours compared with the usual 1.5 hours. Spirit run today (12L low wine + 23L wash). Much quicker heat up today, the usual 1.5 hours. Collecting around 1.2L per hour with the power controller at an indicated 104V (I don’t believe that). I have collected nearly 5L...

Ok, I can help here. My stripping run with the LME (lager) wash had the boiler at 90% capacity. My boiler uses a 2000W element on 240 VAC. I started getting fores at around 130V on the power controller. I gradually increased that to 180V and at that stage had collected about 6 L. From then on I disc...

using the beer LME kits Are these actually beer kits in a tin, or just tins of LME.? Both are available, both look very similar, both will give very different results IMO. I've only ever used the tins of pure LME. Woolworths Lager (beer) kit, I just use the can with the liquid malt extract+ but not...

I am currently doing a stripping run with the recipe using the beer LME kits. I’ve got 45 L of wash in a 50 L boiler. No puking because I brought it up to boil very slowly, also very boring!

Quick update for those who have been playing along, I have sold the packed column, sight glass and reflux condenser. That just leaves me with a pot still. I hadn’t run the reflux column in nearly two years, we really don’t use much neutral spirit.

Great info thanks dtrb! I usually run my pot still flat out on stripping runs but following your observation I will now employ a power controller and bring up my LME wash low and slow to the boil.

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 11:02 pm I was hoping I’d get more a Scotch style . Would the Backset throw it more towards an American style

My experience so far, adding backset with a wheat bran based spirit, lends itself to a scotch whisky based character. We’ll see what happens with this one. That’s the fun bit aye!

I’m curious . So these “Beer”kits are for making beer . Which is usually around 4-5% abv even when you add the 1kg of sugar . I see Howie is using 4kg + the Tin . That seems like a lot of sugar ….. sure would uo the ABV but surely dilute flavour I am using 3kg raw sugar with the 1.7kg LME for 23L b...

You’ll be able to feel the temperature of the outside walls of the spool section where the reflux coil is. You’ll be able to feel a sharp temperature change (colder) above where all the reflux has completed. That’ll heap give you an idea how much water you need to be running through the RC and how m...

I can’t see why you couldn’t remove the RC and cap the column if you really wanted to use it as a pot still. Not that I would.

I change the position of the reflux condenser only two times from the initial lowest setting. I move it maybe an inch upwards to bleed off fores etc and up about three inches more for the remainder of the run. How far down is the bottom of the RC, at its lowest position, from the TEE's takeoff?? Th...

Why? My modular CCVM is brilliant for making high purity neutral and that is the only reason I run it. I reconfigure the components for a pot still when I want to make anything else. Prior to this I ran CM and VM reflux column stills, IMHO the CCVM is by far the simplest to operate. There is a link ...

Oops, my bad, I use 2 x 60 cm sections of 2” spool packed with SS potscrubbers on my CCVM reflux column. You can see it from the link in my signature.

I have a sight glass immediately below the offtake on my CCVM, at the top of a 60cm packed section. I use the sight glass to monitor for build up of condensate on top of the packed section. If too much condensate builds up there, it may spill out the offtake. I adjust the power to the boiler so tha...

I have a sight glass immediately below the offtake on my CCVM, at the top of a 60cm packed section. I use the sight glass to monitor for build up of condensate on top of the packed section. If too much condensate builds up there, it may spill out the offtake. I adjust the power to the boiler so that...

Googe’s Goo is the bomb!

180ml (less than one cup) per hour is extremely slow. I suspect you need to ramp up power to the boiler.

This thread is a CCVM build thread. On CCVM’s the valve is before the offtake. VM type solutions involving restricted offtakes and valves after the offtake are distracting.

Search for triclamp reducer fittings and you’ll find gems like this one! This is a 2” to 3/4”. Then you get a triclamp ferrule to solder on to your leibig and you’re good to go! You’ll see where I used one on my CCVM to put a long spout from my shotgun PC.

@Stillcity, you won’t get such fine-scale control of reflux ratios by incremental movements of a regular RC coil. You might if say all the reflux occurred immediately at the bottom edge of the RC but a coil usually doesn’t work that way, some vapour will reach higher up. You’ll be able to feel where...

. A smaller port at the offtake increases the reflux ratio thereby reducing the output rate. Indeed , but when do we ever need it ? When running in reflux mode , invariably it’s to make neutral and with such a high Reflux ratio that again port size is not an issue . The issue I read here and other ...