simple pot still

[RedEar]

I have been reading up for a while around here and built up a few versions of a pot still with the stuff I had lying around. Here are the results.


I will eventually upgrade from here but I am happy with the performance of this rig other than the leaks I get from my flour paste. Just need more practice I guess. Anyway, the pot is about 3.5 gal (thats just over 13l) when I run it, maybe 4 if I know it will not foam much. I run it fairly hard into the thumper and get a decent stream out of the condenser.

The condenser is my weakest point as it is not long enough for larger runs.

However, I made the whole rig with stuff I had lying around, so while it is not ideal it does work out nicely. The sugar wash with wheat for flavor comes out mildly gin like and strong. The still ran all of this in about an hour.

Cant wait for my Barley wash to finish fermenting so I can get some hooch on oak for when my second baby arrives... have a little celebration drink. I brew beer as well and picked up a keg to convert for both the improved brewing as well as a bigger still eventually, but now that I have this dialed in I will use it until the enamel pot gives out. Don't have any more $ to spend on copper right now anyway.
Sorry for the small pics, just have my phone as a camera.

[bourbonbob]

It will certainly do the job till you get around to building a bigger better one. Good luck with your new hobby.

[I-GOR]

The enamel wear coating will break off where you drilled the hole for the column and it will shortly rust out there. Speaking from experience.

oh, don't be dis-heartin'd......

[boingk]

Not bad, liking the thumper setup. Only thing I'd change would be the length between condensing coil and the thumper, looks to be quite a way. If you get some more copper tubing, say 12' x 1/2", then that'll work nicely in the bucket and should be good for whatever you want to throw at it.

Just note that you'll want to use ice water for longer runs as the water tends to heat up quickly once you start cranking the heat through...

Cheers - boingk

[Ayay]

Your setup will do just fine for a while as you say. What you learn from it it priceless and it will only get better. Goodonya!

[pumpman]

Be careful with those leaks bro. I see your on flame. The vapor is flamable and I would hate to hear about you burning your house down or somthing worse. If you havn't already done so please invest in a fire extinguisher and try to improve your thumper setup.

[CoopsOz]

happy with the performance of this rig other than the leaks I get from my flour paste.

If I can offer some advice, the term flour paste is a bit of a misnomer.....what you are chasing isn't really a paste at all but more of a dough. Make it the consistency of childrens play dough, it will harden like a biscuit on the outside and stay wet and moist on the inside.