Home Distiller

Yeah sure, that’s why the stuff is on github. Have at it. A software PID is implemeted easily enough.

I've been working on an arduino based slow PWM SSR controller for some time now, and v1 is operational. fd81d1681a3d3a202a0607be2b0dfe49e7cfbc06_2_1332x1000.jpeg In a case. Old pic, it now has 2 controls - an analog pot for setting powerl level and a rotary pot for the menu. 092987054ad70a92b84799b1...

Welll the pads work, so far. Currently no isolation over the pads, and 11 pads @ 300W (full pull, 100% power) heat up 40L of water from 18C to 98C in an hour and a half without the stirrer engaged. Works out, efficiency should be somewhere around 60-70%. We'll add isolation over the pads later on. H...

20230918_142253.jpg Something like this. A colleague hobby dude from one of the dutch forums, not very experienced distiller but a kickass welder built it for himself. I'm doing the still controller and together we're doing the testing & pad controlling stuff. When the first version is finished...

The last pic, no, they’re heating pads. 12 x 300W.

Teaser. Building a new potstill controlller. Operations screen 3D8A8EDA-D5F3-4107-BC2A-AD3E8334C174.jpeg Menu 87452932-EFBF-41AD-9A5D-D32E039B78ED.jpeg Warning and error. Configurable in the menu. 77D5C714-610C-4627-81BD-688350822D2A.jpeg E8B2220B-D5C3-47B8-942A-0C6CD94A8288.jpeg WhatsApp Image 2023...

An update regarding no 3, the Clostridium butyricum "pit". I finally received the miyarisan pills, and, after some googling, found a small but interesting paper on butyric acid production with c. Butyricum and optimum temp/pH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1390654/ So I made...

I hope you take into account that clostridium butyricum will only produce butyric acid under anaerobic conditions and with pH>4.5-5 I have separate muck pits, hoping to create a "somewhat controlled" muck blend to follow the classic way of making High ester Jamaican rum (Allan, Cousins, Ar...

One word. Beautiful!

If it's high ester rum you're after, try searching for the H. Cousins high ester rum process. Supercharges the ester content of the thumper.

PTFE, or teflon.

Stupefait.

I was aware of plastics being frowned upon, didn't know it was forbidden to talk about them. But ok, no offense taken, if that's your rules, that's your rules.

And another update.
The small still/helm is now also a thumper. Second one is in the works.

Interested, please keep us posted.

I'm starting to experiment with brettanomyces as a finishing yeast for rum washes to get some additional flavors.

Providing the temp gradient is long enough on the beer pre heater what is the negative effect of beer boiling in the injection line. Compare it with tossing a Mentos in a coke bottle. 5 times per second. The sudden increase in pressure in the supply line pushes out the rest into the column, or wors...

(When) the still behaves nicely and effluent temps are not an issue then why bother. :ebiggrin: Exactly. @bluc - not trying to discourage you :), have at it. Just posting my experience. Yes, we tried silicone based defoamer (struktol, food safe industrial defoamer), which works way better than any ...

One, only the product condensor. That is (unfortunately) more than enough. We needed a bypass so the wash wouldn't arrive at the feed point too hot. Injection temp around 65C seems to work well. Using another hx at the spent wash exit would only heat it up more, boiling the wash in the feed line :( ...

The foam needs height to disappear. If the foam bubbles up to the next level, you'll end up with an "erupting" column.

Nice. If you use less plates (say 9 or 10) with 10-15cm in between it might work

No. Tried, tested, gave up. Column is too small for that (not wide enough). Foaming is an issue with sugar wash already, let alone protein containing rum wash/whisky mash. You need to clear and de-gass the sugarwash thoroughly (drill with paint mixer), and use an anti foaming agent to prevent "...

Yep, bottom temp and boiler pressure. If the latter rises too fast (too much wash) the pressure in the boiler rises earlier than the temp drops, and the boiler pukes via the spent wash exit before ending up in a cold crash. If you then turn the wash feed down to quickly, the level sensor in the boil...

You're right, 30 isn't necessary. About 8 (or more) too many. Depending on your MO. I based the design on one of the NSC threads on homedistiller.ru (a very very long thread), where they somewhere in the middle came to the conclusion that one perforated plate under non-ideal circumstances behaves li...

Manual adjust. Piston type with adjustable stroke. I suggested a peristaltic pump for automation purposes but this one was available, and as we"re only using it once or twice a year there"s no use in automation (except for "because we can") Iff I were to automate wash feed I gues...

Driving the waste to less than 1 percent etoh is frigging great. Keep in mind that the column builds a bit of pressure in the boiler (around 10-15cm water or roughly 10-15hPa), so boiling temperature increases a bit. "After carefully calculating and measuring losses" ... Our best guestima...

25-30L/h beer feed of course. 25l/h product take off at 2.5kW would get you a very well paid job at a random oil company. No pics at the moment, but we use 30 plates, 30% holes of 5.3mm (laser cut), 4.5cm between plates and 0.15mm between plate and column wall. Top 2 plates have doubke spacing (~9cm...

More or less, yes. That's what you get from using basically the same design choices.
You do have to tweak the wash temperature and feed speed to get there though.

My friend built it and uses it, I just tag along for the ride

Output abv at ~50%ABV with 25-30L/h @2.5kW Bottom temp in column stable at around 99.8-99.9C Sugar wash at ~10% input, feeding from the top Depending on setup 25-30 plates with holes, 2" column. No steamer, the spent wash is used in the boiler and overflows into the sink. We do use a bit of ant...

A stirrer, well, stirrs. Liquid. There's quite a lot of wash under the heating element (heats slowly), and stirring the wash reduces smearing of fores, heads, hearts and tails.

Finally added a stirrer to the small still. In the pics it's setup as a helmet on top of the bigger boiler, but i can use it stand-alone as a small still. The stirrer will only be used in stand alone mode (obviously). Stirrer (needs cleaning): stirrer1.jpeg . Mounted on helmet: stirrer2.jpeg . Speed...

Sure, you don't run a still by numbers, it's not going to improve your product. Well... That depends, really. Of course there is no replacement for organoleptic tests (bottoms up!) but there are advantages in having some numbers, especially with reflux columns like a Boka and even more so when you ...

It's what I had :) I will be building a keg based boiler though sometime. I want to have a short sight glass and/or a polish style buffer at the bottom of the column, but no more ceiling height... Already have a 4" ferrule and end plate for easier filling/cleaning, just need a keg. Currently I ...