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Congrats on your first spirit run. Looks like your off to a good start.

Thanks for the replies. I kinda thought that would be the case.

So I have a 15 gallon SS milk can as my boiler. When I purchased it I got a metal "diffuser" plate. If I use this with a propane burner and heat up slowly can I distill on the grain? Or will this still cause the grains to scorch? Getting ready to do a stripping run of my first Honey Best B...

This sounds good. Will add to my try list. Got my first HBB mash fermenting now so it will be some time. Plan to do a sugar head with the grains and start the second batch fermenting this weekend.

First batch of HBB in the fermenter. My LHBS had flaked corn and I didn't go with any oats for the first run. Gotta try it as it's before modifying. I do like oats in things so well probably add some in a future batch. Did a double batch. 12 gallons fermenting on the grains. Due to flaked corn I got...

If your water to the condenser wasn't cold enough or flowing enough that would allow non condensed alcohol vapor to escape. You would need to increase the flow, decrease the temp of the water entering or even slow down the output of the still to take care of this. As stated already alcohol vapor is ...

Welcome from a fellow new guy

The reason I asked about running it "in reflux" is because if I ran it with my VM still, it would come out pure, odorless and tasteless which would be a waste of corn. I've heard of some people removing a lot of their packing in reflux mode and it would not come out anywhere near as pure....

... Curious, you said you "ran it in reflux". Were you using a plate/bubble cap still or a reflux column with packing? I'm running a 2" reflux column with copper mesh packing. I collected the first 80 ml or so In a separate container and then added the parrot for the collection of th...

So I ran my first drinkable alcohol through my still yesterday. As you guessed 1st generation of UJSSM. I ran it in reflux and got 1500 ml of 90% at the parrot. Collected in aprox. 250 ml increments and the last one the % was starting to drop and it was getting late so I shut it down. I may have bee...

I think it went well for a first run. I didn't go all the way with it and stopped when it was around coming out 85%. It ran at 91-92% in the parrot with ambient temps around 70F for most of the run. Got close to 3 quarts total. Left them covered with a rag over night to see if the smell changes. The...

Running my sac run in my Brewhaus essential extractor P2 with gin basket. Did the vinegar run last weekend. Getting a pretty constant 91-92%. Too bad I can't taste it. Fermented this batch with turbo yeast and it came out at 14% ABV. There is definitely and if smell to the wash before and on the pro...

Welcome looks like you have a good system going. Plants must be happy.

Welcome from a fellow newbie

So when people talk about collecting the heads and tails to run together, we are NEVER using these heads and tails actually in the mash bill, Nor do we ever use it in conjunction with mash in the main pot, correct? We just collect these heads and tails until we have enough ( 5-10 gallons worth - us...

This post is a classic demonstration of why you should include your location when asking electrical questions. For those of us who have never lived in the states the knowledge that your 240v systems are essentially 2 phase rather than single phase is unlikely to be there. You are absolutely correct...

The two live wires (red and black) go to the terminals on the element. The green is ground. The white wire is used as the neutral for 110V applications where one would draw current from ONE of the live wires and complete the circuit with the white/neutral wire. That's for supplying power to 110V co...

Salt Must Flow wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 2:30 pm I'd return that and get a Dernord heating element because it has a built in wiring guard with ground terminal as well.

Thanks for the link to something else. I will look at it. I haven't purchased anything. I was just using that as an example.

This really is a if you have to ask you shouldn't be doing it thing.... That was kinda dick. Then no one would ever learn. Isn't it better to ask and make sure then to assume you know it and hurt yourself or someone else. But anyways, the screw terminals are active and neutral, the threaded body is...

So If I bought a 240v element for a hot water heater https://www.homedepot.com/p/Westinghouse-240-Volt-5500-Watt-Titanium-Electric-Water-Heating-Element-for-Universal-Replacement-6060P-937/306086503#overlay there seems to be only 2 screws to wire to. would that be the 2 hot wires? what about ground ...

So many people get disappointed or confused while doing their vinegar cleaning run. Don't give it any thought. The still behaves entirely different with ethanol than it does with water/vinegar. Thanks for the heads up. I thought it was a good learning experience. It's the first time I've ever turne...

While alcohol will behave differently in some respects, the vinegar run is a good way to get a feel for how to run your still and a way to check for leaks, before you actually start playing with hot ethanol. Thats what I figured. I didn't try to get the reflux going but played with it like a pot st...

So it took about 2 hrs to get to a boil with 2 1500W elements in it. Ambient temp was about 55 F outside and very windy. I ran it for about 20 minutes with just steam coming out to get that hot steam absolutely everywhere. then I played with the condenser and got to about 400 ml liquid in my collect...

So I have the vinegar mix, I diluted it a bit more so the volume covers both heating elements in my boiler, heating up in the kettle now better to be safe then sorry. waiting for it to boil. tested my sugar wash and it finished at .990.

Washing with vinegar is not the same as the cleaning protocol recommended here which is to boil and run it through the still. My understanding was that running it with the vinegar mix was to get the areas that you couldn't get with washing it. I soaked it overnight in the mix then took a cloth and ...

So the sugar wash has mostly stopped bubbling. I know its not truly done or settled but since It's my sac run I'm gonna run it today. This will be my first run on any still. I washed and rinsed everything with 50/50 vinegar already. including my copper packing material.

So my LHBS talked me into a basic sugar wash with Turbo Yeast Classic. So I followed the directions on the packet for a 5.5 gallons at 104F, 13.2 lbs sugar. Pitched the yeast then in a room that stays at 70F and within 5 minutes had activity in the airlock. I did totally forget to get a hydrometer r...

Throw it all away. Check. Thanks for the replies

So I have received my Brewhaus PSII with Gin basket and Parrot which is all stainless. I have some copper mesh to pack around the through tubes on the reflux and for packing the column. I have done the mods mentioned https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=25732 It is all soaking ov...

... This https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=85&t=75372#p7570629 That was informative. Thank you. Guess I didn't use the right search terms when looking up info here on it. Probably because I have a habit of referring to it as 120v instead of 110v. Shadylane, sounds like a plan. I d...