Experience with a Grainfather with an Alembic top Potstill

[McMelloW]

Hi folks

Some notes on my experience with the Grainfather (all in one breweing vessel) with the Alembic top.

Grainfather kettle with the Alembic attached

The kettle has a bottom with a heating element of either 500 or 2000W. In the Alembic top is a silicon ring which closes the top OK to the kettle with the 4 clips.
Distilling goes OK. But I have a few remarks on it
The condensor is rather short, so the spirit comes out at about 40°C. I think this is rather hot.
A second point, You can not regulate the heat. It is either 500W or 2000W. This makes the distilling going fast.
I did 25L of sugar wash of about 11%ABV in about 3.3 hour. This is from switch on the kettle, collecting 6L of 40%ABV and swith off.

Are there some other HD-ers with experience on a GF with an Alembic top

[pfshine]

Holy plastic batman. You can do better. I would take the top and put it on something else and make the leibig longer. How is that goose neck attached to the onionesque dome?

[bellybuster]

sadly the grainfather does not have infinite control of power. The temp controller is that systems weakest point. a $17 temp controller on an expensive system. If you can figure a way to get infinite control you'll be fine. 2000 watts is fine for 25l.

Brace yourself, folks are gonna jump on regarding your seal, silicon is not approved.

[amdamgraham]

I'm currently fabricating a small worm and bath using a 5-gallon home brew bucket and about 9 feet of copper tubing from the hardware store. I expect to load with ice and water. You could fabricate a small worm like that to connect to that condenser to cool things a little more before collecting? You just want to make sure you frame (light duty shelving truss) the worm coil so you have a consistent downward spiral and nowhere for the spirit to pool. If that sounds dumb I'm sure everyone will let me know.

[pfshine]

I'm currently fabricating a small worm and bath using a 5-gallon home brew bucket and about 9 feet of copper tubing from the hardware store. I expect to load with ice and water. You could fabricate a small worm like that to connect to that condenser to cool things a little more before collecting? You just want to make sure you frame (light duty shelving truss) the worm coil so you have a consistent downward spiral and nowhere for the spirit to pool. If that sounds dumb I'm sure everyone will let me know.

You don't want to use ice it causes huffing shock cooling and messes the temperature gradient all up.

[Danespirit]

+1 Bellybuster
2 KW is fine for 25 L, it will run perfect IF you get a controller (cheap SCR will do) to adjust the heat.
+1 Pfshine ..ice ain't a good solution, if it's to close to your pump...it will cause shock cooling.
Hmm...McMelloW...you probably know what i am going to write about that silicone ring..?
And surely your product comes out quite warm, the Liebig condensor is dimensioned to small.
Not to be a asshole...but you could have done a lot better, building a potstill with a stockpot and some copperpipe..

[rad14701]

Things are going from bad to worse in this topic... I'm just gonna come out and say it... Both McMelloW and amdamgraham need to slow down and do some serious research... If they don't know why, that very research will answer the question and a whole lot more questions that they don't even know they have yet... I'll leave it at that...

[amdamgraham]

Rad you make a great point, but where else am I going to learn about huffing shock? Pfshine has just given me a lead I can now follow-up on to learn more. How much of an expert do I have to be before I'm allowed to start and make mistakes? It's that whole thing about expertise comes from experience, experience comes from making mistakes. Cheers everyone!

[rad14701]

Rad you make a great point, but where else am I going to learn about huffing shock? Pfshine has just given me a lead I can now follow-up on to learn more. How much of an expert do I have to be before I'm allowed to start and make mistakes? It's that whole thing about expertise comes from experience, experience comes from making mistakes. Cheers everyone!

In this hobby it's better to know what you need to know before you need to know it... Kinda like flying... We take safety seriously and if you don't know all of the theories and fundamentals you have a greater chance of becoming a statistic... And in the course of learning those you will learn answers to questions you don't even know you have yet... And the next thing you know you're piecing disparate pieces together, having a wealth of epiphanies... We'd rather you go that route than to attempt to repeat known mistakes merely due to lack of research...

[shadylane]

Rad you make a great point, but where else am I going to learn about huffing shock?

Searched "condenser huffing" found 773 posts

[pfshine]

The point he made was he didn't even know the term huffing or shock cooling yet. Now he does and is on the hunt reading what he can about it.

[McMelloW]

Thanks for all your replies. Nobody is using the same equipment?

Holy plastic batman. You can do better. I would take the top and put it on something else and make the leibig longer. How is that goose neck attached to the onionesque dome?

This is all bought stuff off the shelf. Nothing changed or modified (yet)
A kind of hollow bolt inside and a copper not on top as you can see. The sealing is an o-ring on the inside. Easy to disassemble

[Danespirit]

Yes..and that O- ring will be as much of a problem as the silicone gasket.
I know the seller in the shop probably told you "it's safe to use, proven..bla,bla,bla.."
But at the end of the day, he is just a seller, doing his job...to sell.
Please take you the time and read the link in my signature, it will provide usefull information.
Here is also a link: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=89

[bellybuster]

take it easy boys, the grainfather is a nice piece of kit and with a few small mods can also make a nice still. Biggest hurdle will be the power control, everything else is easy.

As far as a worm with ice, not a problem, the vapour is already collapsed, he'd be cooling liquid. although, I don't think its necessary at all. Once you have power control you can run at the capacity of the liebig.

[McMelloW]

Thanks for all the advice I received from you.

However I was asking for experience from other Grainfather / Alembic users. I just post my first experiences with this equipment to share it with others. Since I have only done 5 runs yet to see how this equipment worked. Knowing the Grainfather is primary designed for brewing beer. That is why I bought the Grainfather in the first place. The temperature is done by a STC-200 just to switch it on /off. This is good for beer brewing. The Alembic top is an extra received as a bonus

I am not a novice to distilling but also not an expert. Therefore I realized the cooler is too short and the spirit is coming out too hot at about 40°C
Yes I thought already you need a power regulator to control the distilling process, because it is either 500 or 2000W.

A external power regulator can be done easy. A cable with a plug from the control box is used for the heating element. Just plug the power regulator in between without any changing to the Grainfather. I have already ordered one.
To have a longer cooler I have to build a new column on top of the dome to attach the longer cooler. The dome has a hole on top of 47.5mm. Anything with that wide can be attached to the dome.
Any suggestions are welcome

[InglisHill]

This is a similar unit and the mods done on the kiwi site

http://www.nzhomedistiller.org.nz/forum ... f=15&t=201" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[bellybuster]

considering the Grainfather was just released in North America a couple weeks ago, you'll have a hard time finding anyone with experience.

[InglisHill]

It's been in NZ for some time...........

And, that particular head has been offered as an option on the T500 for more than a year.

[Danespirit]

InglisHill, that link took me to the frontpage of the NZ distillers..can't access the forum without login..

[InglisHill]

Oh, yes........

True..........

I will get onto someone about that