Home Distiller

All good points, I find the desire for more volume a constant struggle, but there are logistic challenges once the volume gets too big, I tend to ferment, strip and spirit run in different areas, so being mobile is helpful and limits me to hauling around 10-15 gallons at a time instead. Have you con...

I agree, the best hobby improvements are ones that reduce time/effort by the largest margins. Fancy gizmos are not as valuable as time. I don't brew beer and I like temperature controlled fermentation but the Catalyst Fermenter (small volume) looks like a pretty great little system, they have a butt...

Currently I use a hops basket to block solids as i Siphon from the mash, pushing the basket down more as more as I can, sometimes I gotta wait for liquid to seep in but its quite fast and leaves the grain on the top, rather dry. I then just use a hand-held basket strainer and do scoops of grain, hol...

Why not add the clearing clay to the blue fermenters that already have some decent separation I imagine from sitting? Have you considered adding insulation and either an AC unit or the guts from a freezer to your chamber and cold-crashing to clear your wash? Skip the clay? I've designed but not yet ...

Very cool build and thread, been great reading through it! I too look for ways to utilize my 3D printer in my other hobbies, haven't found much use yet.

Why a gate valve and why not an electric ball valve? They are reasonably priced but could allow you to operate easier from the ground.

I've got the same barrels, I use the clamps and some gardening ground-cloth that has very fine holes, to cover them to keep out pets and the like. Works great, easy to lean in to listen for bubbles and get a strong CO2 whiff if you're into that sort of thing. I've had infections from time to time bu...

I wrap mine in a sleeping bag, I've burn the liner of a carhartt by wrapping it when it was still up on said propane burner. I'll be working on a wood/foam insulated keg next. Making an electric mash keg, will be easier to insulate without the risk of a flame anywhere. I've heard people have great s...

Third, I might cut the bucket lid in half so that I can adjust the grind more easily. My first try with this today, I had the grind set too fine and the drill just couldn’t handle it. I had to open the lid to adjust it, which meant I spilled grain out of the hopper in the process. Teething problems...

Did you build that controller yourself using a Still Dragon kit? If so, fantastic +10 job job on the fan vent. Very clean. It looks like you used a CNC router. I did, wanted to program something cool for the vent fan holes, but couldn't think of a design I liked, so I just kept it simple. Used it f...

I think you are on the right track with the auber unit. https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53&products_id=560 Then you will need a SSVR with a 0-5 V input instead of the potentiometer input you are using. https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info...

Yeah, not seeing alot online that wouldn't have me adding a SSR / heat sink / box, etc to something like the Auber Ezboil - which seems like a pretty solid little tool. So since I'd rather not build a 2nd box, perhaps I can just find a spot for this Ez-Boil and wire it in with my controller, then by...

I build my own controller, 2 SRC's for running stills and a PID to mash and brew beer all in one box with isolaters to the different outlets. Currently I use the PID ONLY as a kettle temp probe. When I mash and brew I use the SCR to control the mash temp and boil. It gives me better response time a...

I've got a 220v controller for a 5500watt element for my keg still. It's relatively simple; https://i.imgur.com/nbRm1Jul.jpg I'm working now on a kettle upgrade, going to invert a keg, put in a heating element and probably a temperature probe. I'd like the heating element to be able to hold a consta...

I've got a 30x30 wood CNC that could be programmed easily enough to cut a tapered circle out of a solid piece of wood. Could do the same for the holes as well. Now we're talking, could bash them out. Does it burn the wood though? Why would it burn the wood? It's a computer controlled router, it onl...

Ah did some more digging around, triclamp filter cartridge seems to be the ticket.

https://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/inlinefilters.php

Or possibly something like this using a 2 inch ferrule ??? This is exactly what I'm looking for. Wanting to turn some kegs into kettles for mashing, without a false bottom or bag to deal with, since I want to distill on the grain, it'd be ideal to just drain it all into a fermenter once done. That ...

I've got a 30x30 wood CNC that could be programmed easily enough to cut a tapered circle out of a solid piece of wood. Could do the same for the holes as well.

GOLD Wow that's awesome! I appreciate you taking the time to plug it in and share, I'll go track down that calculator down, I'd be interested in messing with the numbers some and then recording my field numbers to see how they line up. I use quite a few calculators for mashing, and then some for pr...

Not specifically a dual thumper question, but it is thumper related. If I have two 15 gallon kegs, one for creating steam, to feed a 2nd thumper keg that I would like to fill with 10 gallons mash (distilling on-grain) how much water do you think I'd need to have in the steam keg? One doesn't want to...

Ran once through a pot-still, low and slow. I've read its supposed to be 1x but I felt like a 2nd would improve it. That or I needed to run even slower. My rice "whiskey" was 2x. I still have some white that might be a year old now. May have to go sample some... My very first batch of any...

I think you'd be better off making a hot-box and placing your fermenter in there. To that extent, just make a fermentation chamber, add two heat sources, rather than 1 since you'll want a low-heat to gradually/help maintain a temp, but then the 2nd one's main purpose will be to just heat the fucker ...

I've got a 6-gallon pot still with a worm-tube condenser that is probably a hair on the small side. I siphon water into it, from an elevated 5 gallon bucket, which is filled via faucet and hauled over when I need it. Well I have a spare bucket or two that I work in rotation. I'd say I ran my still o...

My rice whiskey turned out pretty good. Has a scotch flavor IMO, single-grain, little to no sweetness. But couldn't have been easier; Calrose 60% rice steamed in a basket on the stove until sticky. Mixed in with Koji Rice Spores and Liquid Sake Yeast. Put in a bucket, inside a fermentation chamber, ...

10 gallon mash, ferment on-grain Takes Two batches Off-Grain through a 6 gallon copper pot-still (1 run) Combine for a Single batch through that same still (2nd run) Oak in half-gallon jars with cubes. Month or two out from; 10 gallon mash, ferment on-grain One batch on-grain via steam-distilling du...

I used to think Yeast mattered little. Then I made some whiskey that knocked my socks off. After replicating the recipe, I was left quite disappointed. Based on my notes, I assume it was the temperature and time of the ferment, that produced the flavors I liked, as it was the only real difference. I...

I also love my Tilts. I've been using them for months and they're great! Given my fermenters usually need a bit of help applied by way of a heat pad, and given that I am often travelling, I plugged my heaters into a smartplug so when the Tilts data says it's done (which I can also check from anywhe...

Ah the KISS principle, my arch-nemesis. Just shared this yesterday in a different thread, but more relevant here. WIP; put on hold due to moving, should be finished by the end of the year however. Still need legs. Should be able to tighten/loosen with it in-place, to adjust the grind. Im sure we wil...

I love my Tilts. I thought it was gimmicky at first but got one for my birthday and now have 3. I highly recommend getting a Raspberry Pi to log data. It's got more features than the iphone/android app. Logging every 5 minutes cuz i can :wink: I will be buying more. Been wanting to dive into raspbe...

Gotta be one of my favorite purchases so far. I'm only 80% into a batch, so I should hold off until more experience, but so far I am pretty impressed. Seems a tad steep at first for $100 but the ability to know anywhere, anytime is rather nice. Im sure the novelty will wear off eventually. I bought ...

Mine isn't that accurate as I'd like either dut to a century's worth of wear on the burr cones. Therefore I use it to get whole corn to a course grind, then run that through my roller mill to get it where I like it. Hand grinding 37 pounds of corn in mine takes a good while. I grind several hoppers...