Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Other discussions for folks new to the wonderful craft of home distilling.

Moderator: Site Moderator

User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

This post is here to document my learning experience using the Brewzilla Robobrew 35L 3.1 system with the Alcoengine Reflux still. This is my first still, so if you are just beginning, it may be worth the time to read to see what I did wrong. While this setup is designed to be sold together and works together, there are a few things you need to know that aren't in the user manual. I'm not an expert by a long shot, just a fellow distiller learning and sharing what he can.

There's only two things about my setup that aren't in the title:
  • I have the wetsuit for the boiler - it saves on power to boil but will also affect observations regarding power input vs boil temps, etc.
  • I bought the 4mm probe kit for the temperature monitor so I can sit and watch TV while keeping an eye on the temps at the top of the still. I love this thing, it's worth the bucks and time spent pulling apart your thermostat to get the convenience. I can see the temps from my PC, and when I go and sit in my comfy chair to watch TV I can turn the display around and watch it from there.
It's a reflux still so the first thing I did was brew a turbo-yeast and run it through in reflux mode. Don't be like me, don't brew turbo-yeast. Make a Birdwatcher's or something better. That turbo-yeast run is still in a 5L demijohn and is likely to be starting fires for me this Winter.

Using the setup is pretty simple if you are doing a spirit run:
  • make sure to install the 0.6mm fitting they supply
  • fill the vessel with the wash
  • turn on both elements, give it all 2400 watts
  • bring the wash up to roughly 60 degrees celsius
  • make sure to turn on the water supply to the condenser now - not doing it till now saves on water if that's a factor for you
  • use the probe they supply. Place it in the condenser head. When it hits roughly 78c you should see alcohol coming out of the take-off arm.
  • at this point you can switch to just using the 500 watt element, turn off the 1900 watt element, it's too powerful and will cause over-boils
  • discard the foreshots, see other posts for information about this
  • follow guides on taking heads, hearts and tails
  • at some point deep into the tails you will want to either switch off the run or switch to a "stripping run". I have been doing this when the ABV drops below 35% (roughly). This is simply because it takes perhaps 12 hours of reflux runs to get to this point and I am dying to finish the run. A stripping run at this point allows me to get the last of the tails faster.
At some point you will decide if it's worth doing a stripping run. I've brewed up three fermenters filled with Birdwatcher's at roughly 10% ABV and want to strip them all first, before trying to perform a spirit run.

My first attempt was cautious, using the 1.0mm fitting, but keeping the power use down to 500 watts for most of the time. It was stripping, but slowly. Sure, it was several times faster than a reflux / spirit run, but is was still really slow. Liquor was dripping out instead of pouring out.

I started that run at 3:00pm and finished it at 11:00pm, a total of 8 hours. Now, I did mix in some extra feints during this time, but I also poured off some liquor from the tank due to over-boiling issues. Clearly this needs to be faster, and it can be - we will cover that soon.

Firstly, some parameters. Liquor starts to come out of the spout around 90% ABV, and perhaps 79 Celsius (measured at the condenser). I'm running the stripping run until the out-take is roughly 20% ABV and the temperatures are right up near 98% or higher. There's no point going further, in fact, some might say there's no point even going that far.

Things I did wrong:
  • overfilling the boiler. I filled it to 30L first time around and that's simply too much. It vomited several times, even when I had the recirculation arm fixed in place. I tried the "distilling stabiliser" the LHBS sold me, and a tablespoon of butter. It still spewed onto the floor. That would happen when I ran with the 1900 watt element switched on, but was not an issue with the 500 watt element. I suggest instead you fill to 23 litres as this will provide a lot of headspace for boiling.
  • Running with the wrong element switched on. Use 500 watts for reflux runs, 1900 watts for stripping runs.
  • Most important - I didn't unpack the reflux column for the stripping runs.
Here's the thing I learnt tonight, if I want to run my reflux column in "stripping mode" it's not enough to simply install the 1mm fitting.

With that fitting, and running with 1900 watts of power, I was having to get up every 15 mins or so to attend to the still - turning off the power for a few mins to stop it spewing over the floor. If left unattended it would eventually boil over, frothing up into the column (I could hear this happening) and spray it's load all over my nice clean floor.

I would flip it over to 500 watts, leave it for a bit to cool, then flip it back, and so on. It's a nightmare.

So, the big lesson is, to run in stripping mode you must remove the steel wool packing in the column to stop the still from boiling over. Just this simple change has allowed my second run to complete in about 4 hours instead of 8 hours. By doing this I was able to run at 1900 watts the entire time, vastly increasing the speed at which I could take off the alcohol.

I didn't remove it all. It's kinda hard to reach up in there, but using a fork I was able to remove 5 - 6 of the scrubbers. That's the majority of them removed.

I have a large supply of cold water, very large (21,000 litres), which I can re-circulate. It's in a concrete tank so it comes into the still at perhaps 16 Celsius.

During these stripping runs, the cold water, which usually exits from the condenser quite cold (for reflux runs) is coming out around body temperature, and sometimes a bit hotter. That condenser is having to work a fair bit harder, but that's for the best. With my lovely cold water supply pushing as hard and fast as it can through the condenser it is able to reasonably cool the head down when running at full speed.

Summary

I was seriously getting frustrated with this still's lack of power control. While it provided a nice level of power for refluxing, it was too high for stripping. De-tuning the reflux still has allowed me to make full use of the power and cooling available to make the stripping runs happen at a more reasonable speed.

I think if I was going to build a still I would ensure I could have control of the power input, either via a gas burner, or more likely a PWM element (or maybe an induction stove).

That said, it is possible to get the Brewzilla Robobrew to play nice, you just have to remove a little bit of steel wool.

TLDR: Detune the still for best results when stripping. Remove most of the steel wool column packing.

Notes:
  • touching the water take-off from the condenser will give you a good idea of how much energy is being added in the condenser. In reflux runs it's typically quite cold. When stripping, it's typically warm. If it's coming out hot, you don't have enough cooling. I have a pretty oversized pump pushing cold water through mine, so it can cope with some pretty hot conditions. If the water is coming out hot, you either need to put less energy in (switch to 500 watts for a while, not ideal) or lower your input water temps or the speed at which they pass through the condenser.
I quite like this setup. It's affordable, flexible and does the job. I just wish the user manual was a little more comprehensive and I didn't need to find out so much of this from trial and error.
Last edited by kakashi on Sun Jun 30, 2019 1:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
kimbodious
Distiller
Posts: 1198
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2015 3:57 pm
Location: Far northern tropics of Australia.

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kimbodious »

Good report with very useful tips!
Get yourself a power controller kit and afterwards you ‘ll wonder how you ever managed a reflux run without one :thumbup:
--
50L Beer keg boiler, 2200W element
Modular 2" Pot Still
opinions are free and everybody has them, experience costs you time
User avatar
fizzix
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3698
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by fizzix »

Good on you for helping others with this.

You say "steel wool packing." Even with the copper column, and more so because it is a reflux where the condensate will run down the column walls
as well as rise & fall where the scrubbers are, I'd recommend copper mesh scrubbers. Copper good. More copper, better.

Learning your distiller is part of the fun and I like hearing satisfaction with equipment.
Keep up the good work my man!
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

kimbodious wrote:Good report with very useful tips!
Get yourself a power controller kit and afterwards you ‘ll wonder how you ever managed a reflux run without one :thumbup:
I've been wondering about getting something I can use for power control, but am worried it will interfere with the electronics on the boiler. Do you have any recommendations that are safe to use with a boiler that has some electronics built into it?

I'd love to have better power control. I can hear the boiler from where I sit and see how much liquor is coming out of it. Being able to tweak a knob to control that has a lot of appeal.
fizzix wrote:Good on you for helping others with this.
You say "steel wool packing." Even with the copper column, and more so because it is a reflux where the condensate will run down the column walls as well as rise & fall where the scrubbers are, I'd recommend copper mesh scrubbers. Copper good. More copper, better.
That's good advice. Now that I've seen how relatively easy it is to unpack and repack I can look at ordering some replacement copper scrubbers.
User avatar
fizzix
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3698
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by fizzix »

Ignorant of your setup short of just going by photos, I do not recommend running a power controller on your Brewzilla.
Controllers are terrific when hooked up straight to heater elements, but will not play nice with whatever sensitive electronics that are in there.
Simply my 2¢.
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

fizzix wrote:Ignorant of your setup short of just going by photos, I do not recommend running a power controller on your Brewzilla.
Controllers are terrific when hooked up straight to heater elements, but will not play nice with whatever sensitive electronics that are in there.
Simply my 2¢.
That's my basic concern. Although it has been mentioned elsewhere I could re-wire the Robobrew and connect a power controller to just the elements. My electrical skills are not so great that I would risk mains voltage shocks from a boiling hot kettle.
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Stripping + Spirit Runs - What to Expect

Post by kakashi »

I've just completed my first big run of Birdwatcher's on the Robobrew. I was expecting it to take two days, but it ended up taking three to get it all done. If you're thinking of doing a batch of stripping runs followed by a spirit run; here is what you can expect using this equipment.

As per the original post I switched to a de-packed column to perform the stripping runs, and ran the boiler on the 1900 watt element. Learning from the mistakes of the first load I only charged the boiler with 23 litres of wash for the following runs. This meant four stripping runs rather than three, but - because I was able to boil at a higher rate the entire run time was significantly shortened. This time there were no pukes from the boiler. The condenser was working hard so the output water line was pretty hot the whole time.

My current estimate is approximately four hours for each stripping run from charging the boiler to collecting the tails and discharging. That would mean it could be completed in 16 hours, so that's either a really long day or two moderate days. Either way is fine, since I now am setup so I can listen to my boiler from the couch and keep an eye on a temperature gauge as well from there.

Now I could take my low wines and run it all through again as a spirit run. I re-packed the column, switched to the 0.6mm fitting, charged the boiler and sat down for a while.

It takes about 45 minutes to go from room temperature water to first boil. I like to keep my condenser off until it's boiling and I can see the temperature probe rising towards 60c or more. I'll touch the still to see what the temperature is like all up and down the column.

When it hits 78.2c it will happily sit there nice and steady. I give it about 10 minutes before I open the release valve, but beware since you may start to lose vapour out the top if you leave this step too long or keep the heat up too high. You want to only have the 500 watt element on for this step.

With the valve opens it's time to let the sweet sweet liquor slowly drip into a jar. You should be getting 95% - 96% ABV from a double distillation on a good clean wash. I discard the foreshots into my grease remover jar, and use a series of small Weck jars to collect the spirits. I have a dozen really small jars (160ml) which I use to collect the heads, until the booze smells nice and clean. This will let me get a nice tight cut later. At that point I switch to my 600ml Weck jars and collect a few of those before switching to my 1050ml jars for the hearts. Later in the run I switch back to the medium jars as I try and anticipate where the tails will start to come through.

I will let a drop or two of liquor onto my finger as it comes out and give it a smell. This lets me switch to a new jar if I start to detect anything I don't like in the smell. Once that tails smell comes in I collect a couple more small jars, then just start to toss it directly into my feints jar. I strip the last of the alcohol out the low wines fast and hard.

This run took 3 x 30L fermenters which were full with 28L of Birdwatchers. I had to do four stripping runs, so next time I will break them up into 21L runs. I ended up with about 16L of low wines, which were pretty strong, around the 50% ABV mark. I wanted to dilute these down to 30% ABV and came pretty close when I filled the boiler to the 24L mark. This seemed like a decent compromise between head room in the boiler and hitting the 27% low wines guide.

With the boiler charged it was as easy as firing up both elements until it hit the boil, then switching to the 500 watt element and waiting as it all slowly dripped out.

I was pleasantly surprised at the drip rate and the ABV of the alcohol produced. It ran steady on 78.2c for hours, producing 95-96% ABV the whole time. This went on for a good 9.5 hours, by which time I had collected roughly 6.2L - though the yield was down to 94% by the end.

I wanted to let it continue to run for a few more hours in spirit mode. Two hours later it was smelling like tails, and I collected two the last 600ml jars before I switched to stripping again - but this time without de-packing the column. With such a low charge of wines left in the boiler I was able to strip it at 1900 watts without a boil over. The ABV dropped fairly quickly from here on.

Estimated Times
  • These are just guesses, but if you're doing a run like this plan on the stripping runs taking a total of 16 hours or more.
  • It took around 9 hours to get the bulk of the heads and hearts.
  • Two more hours and I was getting a whiff of tails.
  • I spent another 90 minutes seeing if any of the tails might be salvageable.
  • About 3-4 more hours of stripping out the last of the tails. I turned it all off when I was ready for bed so I actually collected to lower than the 20% ABV I had planned.
Now I know how long it takes for each part, next time I will prepare a bit better and think about splitting it over four shorter days e.g.
  • Day 1: strip half the wash - 8 hours
  • Day 2: strip the other half of the wash - 8 hours
  • Day 3: spirit run on the heads and hearts - stop when the smell of tails arrives - 11.5 hours
  • Day 4: strip run the tails out of the remaining low wines - 4 hours
Liquor Quality

I'm letting it all sit out on the bench for a day or two in my Weck jars with their lids sitting on them (not airtight, but close). I'm giving them a few minutes without the lids on to allow the volatiles to off gas as well; so this judgement is based mostly on smell and a small sampling.

First up, the heads were very nicely compressed compared to the other two times when I went straight to a spirit run. There is a massive selection of jars filled with the hearts, perhaps 5-6L - I won't know till after I do the cuts. The tails were also well compressed.

Overall, there are less off flavours than previous runs. This is a really good clean spirit and there's a surprising amount of it.

I added in a portion of my feints jar to each stripping run, which certainly seems to have helped with the total yield.

Final Thoughts

It's pretty time consuming to get a large run done, but it has the advantage of double distillation which provides a cleaner spirit and a chance to re-run your feints. The liquor yield is both plentiful and high quality. I think I'll keep the best of the hearts for sipping vodka, and use the (more) heads / tails jars for ouzo, gin, rum flavour packs. The actual heads and tails are in my feints jar where they belong.

This is pretty much the template for how I'll do it in the future, now that I've given it a try.

I have enough neutral stacked up for now, so I suppose the next thing I try should be a rum or whiskey...not quite sure how well that will work with a reflux head, even de-tuned. Time for more reading and study!
User avatar
fizzix
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3698
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by fizzix »

You're progressing.
Excellent!
barleywine
Novice
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:36 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by barleywine »

Just like to say thanks very much for this helpful post - I've got the same still as you and I am just starting out my journey with it so hopefully this will help me to avoid some teething issues!
Congenial
Novice
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:29 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Congenial »

Kakashi, you are so generous with your information: it is a massive help, especially to newbies like myself, and especially to newbies who have the same equipment as you! Just done my first run, a TPW (read enough beforehand to not even try turbo yeast).
Things I have learnt already:
- DEFINITELY do a stripping run first. I used the column in reflux mode (novice that I am) and it took for bloody ever. I started with the 0.6mm nozzle, but after 8 hours and a long way to go, I switched to the 1mm nozzle. Still took another 12 hours to finish! I will thus do my next run by starting with the pot still I bought at the same time, then do a second run when I have enough low wines.
- Pay close attention to temps. I brought the kettle up to 95C (refused to go higher, even with both 1900 and 500W elements on: forgot of course it was a mixture!), but I left them both on. After about 10 minutes the top of the column started hissing and spitting like a psychotic death adder! This was even with cooling flowing through the condenser. Realised at this point to turn off the 1900W element and just run with the 500.
- As mentioned, in reflux mode, the cooling does not work hard at all. I have a recirculating pump with a cooler attached, and it barely raised a sweat at all. I think the physics of the column does most of the work
- In a Volume control still the take-off rate is CRITICAL to keep the column in equilibrium. The instructions that come with the unit are pretty hopeless, and if you open the tap full bore, it won't take long before the head temp starts climbing above the low 78's, and you will be fiddling all the time: nearly drove me nuts until I realised how slow the take-off has to be to not upset things
- Someone in another post mentioned about getting a needle valve to control the take-off. If anyone has any ideas of a good one I would be keen to hear. The 1/4 turn valve is WAY too much of a blunt instrument: it is very hard to adjust to get just the right flow...a little too much and you are back every 5 minutes adjusting the thing.

Bloody hell it's a massive learning curve isn't it Guys! But the information on this forum is gold, pure and simple. And has been said, just keep reading!
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Alcoengine Pot Still

Post by kakashi »

Appreciate the comments, guys!

Last week I added the Alcoengine Pot Still to my collection. It was my plan all along to eventually get both stills so I could make whiskey and rum as well as vodka and gin / absinthe. Adding flavour packets to a vodka makes a pretty decent Caribbean rum and a decent enough whiskey, but I want to try making both of those from scratch. I was looking at making a pretty decent sized batch of Deathwish's vodka and so I pulled the trigger on the pot still in the hopes of cutting down my stripping time.

I'm doing it in 25L batches and stripping it down till the temperature reads 98 Celsius (roughly 20% ABV).

My first attempt was a no show and I had to switch back to my trusty reflux in detuned mode to finish it. I thought the pot still was a wash running at 1900 watts, since I had steam coming out the top at some point. If I couldn't just set it to 1900W or the 2500W mode it wasn't going to be worth using.

Sitting on the couch waiting for it to finish gave me the time to remember how little water pressure the Ozito immersible pump I am using has. I use a Y connector with taps to control flow giving it a little pressure relief - because the condenser coil can only move a small amount of fluid through at a time. I had simply opened the pressure relief up a little too much, and not enough pressure was pushing the water through the condenser. I setup the pot still again and this time let it run without the pressure relief.

I switched it to full 2500W boil and waited for it to come up to temperature again for the next batch. Making sure to check both the thermometer, and feeling the outward flowing water hose, I could tell there was actually enough cooling power to run the still at full bore. The batch ran flawlessly at 2500W, pouring out sweet lovely liquor until deep into the tails. I was able to open up the relief valve a little, to reduce the strain on the pump; apparently they don't like strain.

Next batch I ran some timers.
  • 55 mins - 1hour to come to full temperature and start to produce liquor
  • 8 mins for the first litre
  • 12 mins for the next, and so forth
  • entire batch completed in 2.5 hours
By comparison, running the reflux still in detuned mode takes about 3.5 hours to complete a batch. That's a savings of 1 hour / stripping run.

It's pretty thrilling to watch how quickly the pot still runs when stripping hard and fast.

I'm lucky I have a source of water both cold enough and with enough pressure (barely) to run the condenser pretty hard. Water is going in at about 14c and coming out at 40+ (a guess only, it's not quite as hot as my regular hot water tap).

The liquor came off at 70% ABV to start with, and I ran it down to 20% by the end. It averaged out as a 42% ABV low wine once the collection was completed. I've watered it down slightly and am now running it through the reflux still.

The low wines have a good clean boozey smell to them, similar to previous runs with the reflux still.

Summary: I've already saved a good number of hours just stripping down to low wines. I haven't been able to test it running slow and steady yet, but I have reasonably high hopes it will perform well. I like it so far, and will look to update this post when I've made a few rums using it.
BurningFalls
Novice
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2020 6:39 pm

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by BurningFalls »

Thanks for this write up, wish I had seen this prior to my first run on the alcoengine reflux. I made a 13% sugarwash and set my Grainfather to 212°, and just let it run on max for the entire run using the 1.0ml valve and all of the packing. After the temps settled around 175° for several mins, I opened the valve, collected 100ml of foreshots and then proceeded to only collect about 500ml at 92% (using this for hand sanitizer), then the heat began to rise in the column and the % began to fall. I didn't realize the temps needed to maintain 176°+/- so I continued to run it for about 3 more hours on full power until it dropped to around 45%. Most of it smelled pretty bad. So it seems I may have a very small heart section in this run.

Although after leaving the jars open for a couple of days with some coffee filters, I would say about 750ml seems pretty clean with a rough abv of about 75 if I had to guess. I still need to compare and combine the jars and see where the cutoffs are.

@kakashi did you do the acid, vinegar, water, and sacrificial runs first? I did, but still found the smell during distillation was pretty pungent. Not sure what I was expecting, but certainly not this. I had used turbo clear and thought the wash looked pretty clear going into the boiler. Are you still using the alcoengine reflux? Any additional tips/tricks to maintain the column temps? What I'm confused about is, in their instructional video, they say to just run your boiler at max for the entire run and the column should balance on its own, in turn, allowing you to collect a full run at 90+%. That wasn't the case for me.
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

Last run I did was using the pot still to strip my beer into low wines. That's pretty quick and I've now found that with a good liquor I can put 24L into the still and boil it on either 1900 / 2400watts the whole time.

Next step is the reflux of the low wines. Since this has been distilled once already, it's pretty clean and doesn't puke, even when run at full 2400watts. The heat should sit stable at 78.2c once you hit the hearts and stay there for hours before it drops (depending on how much you are stilling).

I think if your head is heating up you are simply not pushing enough cold water through the condenser to counteract the amount of heat coming off the boil element. My tank water is pretty cool and I have a water pump pushing it through the condenser which is enough to ensure the head temp stays where it belongs. If the head temp quickly rises about 78.2c then it will pretty soon start to steam out alcoholic vapour which is super bad. You can hear it and smell it. Shut the still down immediately if that happens.

Now, maybe your water pressure is low, or it's not overly cold, if so - instead of running on 1900 / 2400watts, switch it down to 500 watts and just sit back and relax.

I don't know how you setup your water, if it's coming out a barrel, store in a bath and cycled through so it keeps getting hotter, or pouring out a municipal tap and wasted onto the garden. In any case, look to see if there's a way you can make that water colder or flow faster.

As for the wash...

I did run vinegar through the still for a few hours, but didn't have any booze crappy enough to sacrifice to the gods for cleaning. The first run I did was a turbo that was pushed right to about 16% and it was bloody awful undrinkable rubbish. It tasted like ass the whole way through.

Since then I've learned not to be such a greedy twat. I'm doing a wheatgerm recipe (Deathgerm's) with baker's yeast, and keeping the ABV down to 9% or lower. I'm getting really good results now. Last run was done in a barrel, stripped to cubes for storage, then I run half the low wines through the reflux at either 1900 or 2500 - can't recall for sure. It was hearts for maybe 8 hours. I turned the heads in hand sanitiser, being more generous with that cut than usual, drank the hearts, and used some of the tails to water the sanitiser down to 65%.

I think maybe your wash isn't so great, especially if you're using a turbo yeast. Try bring the initial ABV down to 8-10% instead, and do a Deathwish Wheatgerm wash. It tastes pretty bad as a beer, but once it's been stilled the only flavour I could taste and smell was some banana. Best vodka I've ever had. I mad a gin from a packet mix, bought some vermouth, and served myself an ok martini.

Keep at it, it only gets better with time and experience.
User avatar
Saltbush Bill
Site Mod
Posts: 9674
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:13 am
Location: Northern NSW Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Seems like you are getting that still and what makes it tick sortted kakashi :thumbup:
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Sorted

Post by kakashi »

Thanks!

Yeh, pretty happy with how it's all going now. It's pretty capable, given the size and cost of the gear. Deathgerm is a good recipe, but I saw Jessie, from the StillIt channel did a recipe recently that was rye and a few other ingredients. I figure I might give that a try, since he seemed very impressed with the results. I home brew from grain, so good chance I have most the ingredients around or can get them pretty easy. Plus, it always looks weird walking out Coles with 9 bags of wheatgerm and 14 x 2KG bags of sugar in my trolley :D

My cuz was around today and he had a chance to try the last sip of the vodka I did a few months back. He was well impressed, and it's inspired him enough to try and get going with distilling. He had already bought a T500, just not taken the leap to use it yet. I'll be heading around to his place soon to get him started on the path. Time to go and read up on the nuances of the T500, it's quite different to my still(s).
Maowmaow
Novice
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Maowmaow »

Kakashi, have you considered getting the column extension for the AlcoEngine? Supposedly, it could increase the speed and purity of the output of your still.
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

Actually, I was just looking into that, and then I saw the bloody thing was sold out. So yes, considered it, thought it was a decent idea...can't get it.
Maowmaow
Novice
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Maowmaow »

It's just a length of 2" tri-clamp (tri clover) tubing, you can get it from any decent homebrew shop (I ordered mine from AliExpress). Just make sure to get the clamps and the weldless 2" tri-clamp bulkhead. That way you can also get any length you want (I think Kegland sells 18", but splurge and go 24"). Warning though, I haven't actually gotten mine yet, so I'm only 99% positive, but I did bet my own money on it.
tc490225
Novice
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:57 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by tc490225 »

just bought my AlcoEngine Reflux Pure Distilling. Could you guys pass along pump specs? I need to buy a pump but no idea what size. Upgrading from Airstill and soo excited after reading these posts.
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

I use a submersible Ozito pump from Bunnings. It goes in my water tank and I pump the hot water back into my gutters so it returns to the tank. It doesn't have a lot of water pressure, but it's enough to do the job.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-350w- ... p_p4816179
Maowmaow
Novice
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Maowmaow »

I use a pond pump. Works great. Could also use a faucet attachment for a garden hose. If you place a ball valve inline on the output of a pump, can better adjust the flow of your water as well.
tc490225
Novice
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:57 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by tc490225 »

im running a cleaning cycle. 3gals total.. 1.5 water and 1.5 vinegar.

I have the digiboil (1500W max) set to 100C. It gets to 95C and doesn't climb. I'm getting a kind of sputter out..
Is this to be expected since there isn't alcohol in the boiler?
User avatar
kakashi
Novice
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 9:09 pm
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by kakashi »

Yes. The temp can't go above the boiling temp of whatever you are boiling. Water boils at 100c, alcohol at 68c (I think, IIRC), and who knows what the boil temp is for vinegar and water.

Keep the boiler temp set to 102 or so on the console, and let it run. It will release vapour in time. If you keep putting watts into it, it must produce some form of steam.
tc490225
Novice
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:57 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by tc490225 »

thanks for all the info.

one more question.. should I keep the boiler set at 102C even when charging the still with 10% Birwatchers? or lower? I don't see this in the info above.. maybe I missed it.
Maowmaow
Novice
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Maowmaow »

It's not above because that information would be in every other post on this website. You don't set what the boiling point is, the boiling point is set by physics. The question you actually need to ask is how much power you put into boiling (aka, how hard to boil it, aka, how many watts to turn on for the boiler) which determines the amount of steam created. That questions needs to be prefixed with which type of still you are using (pot or reflux) and whether you are doing a stripping run or going straight to a spirit run. I would assume it's a reflux column, as that is the topic of this post, which then leaves whether it's a spirit or strip run. All of these answers and more are found in the beginners forum, guided by cranky's spoon feeding post.
tc490225
Novice
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:57 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by tc490225 »

I have exactly the same reflux column that this topic is about. I will follow the guidance above. Max 1500W till the boiler gets to 60C. Turn on water and wait till head temp raises to 78ish. Drop to 500W and open output valve around 78.2. I'm doing a Strip run.

ill read / re-read cranky's spoon feeding post now that I have something to work with.
Maowmaow
Novice
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 8:27 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by Maowmaow »

Make sure to read up on how to operate a LM reflux column. Husker did a good job of explaining here: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=13265

Also, if you're doing a stripping run using the AlcoEngine Reflux, there's practically no science to it. You boil hard and condense hard. Use an anti-foaming agent or keep the boiler charge volume low. Take some of the packing out if you can. Use the large diameter hole union/coupler thing (restrictor). Set the temp over 100C, all elements in, when the boiler reaches 70C start the cooling water and watch as product comes out. I strip until the head reads 98C on the AlcoEngine pot still, yours may be different or you may not want to go that far into the tails. Done and done.

For your spirit run, read that link. Then read Cranky's.
tc490225
Novice
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:57 am

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by tc490225 »

Thanks for all info and support. Keeping up with cooling is a real problem.. I have a 10g plastic fermenter I'm recirculating into with water and frozen gallon juice jugs. I'm letting my condenser water climb to 100F / 38C before I swap with cool water and ice. I'm reading posts about this now.
User avatar
gwizard
Novice
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed May 13, 2020 5:30 am
Location: AUS

Re: Brewzilla - Robobrew 35L 3.1 - Alcoengine Reflux Still

Post by gwizard »

I have the same still with Brewzilla 35.

For stripping, get all the scrubbers out of the column. Its easy to do with a coat hanger or large screwdriver.
Put 1.0mm restrictor, open the valve fully and run all your elements on the boiler until column temp reads 50C/120F.

Then leave just your stronger element and shut off the weaker one. On my system that's 1900W and 500W, but you are in US on 120V so it would be different. Turn on your pump.

You should start getting product when column temp shows around 160F/70C.

I check ABV with a refractometer, so usually strip until 20%/40 proof, unless I am doing a whisky, in which case I would go as low as 10%/20 proof.

Word of caution, if you are like me, you would soon see that column temp keeps climbing to 80C and beyond and your emerging distillate is quite hot. That is the unfortunate downside of this still. It is NOT intended for stripping. they sell a pot still for that, which I have no experience with so can't comment. To remedy that problem, I have built a liebig condenser to cool down the distillate. You can avoid that issue if you run the slower element, but then the whole process will take more then 4h.

Cooling wise, 10g is 40L, yeah? Not nearly enough.
I have a 100L tank which I had to put 3 x 5KG ice packs to maintain decent temp. Since then I use the pool. It's big and always ice cold.

Good luck.
Post Reply