HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

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hoppinmad
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HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by hoppinmad »

Hello fellow brewers from here in sunny blighty, i'd like to introduce myself and say thankyou to whoever created this wonderful site and to you who fill it with limitless wisdom and knowledge. I am a seasoned beer maker that has only recently ventured into the world of distillation, and I am loving it. Currently I am making 25litre sugar washes and running them through a 4litre potstill to produce neutral spirit to flavour,but with only 2 washes under my belt I am already eager to learn more and build a bigger,better still
Squint
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by Squint »

Hi from the UK :) :wink:

sunny blighty ? raining where I am
Boozehound
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by Boozehound »

Nice to see another U.K. stiller. I started out with country wine making (C. J. J. Berry and all that) before distilling. If I had your experience with grains I'd get to work on some pot distilled grain spirits ASAP.

What are you planning on doing with the neutral spirit you're making now?
hoppinmad
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by hoppinmad »

I flavour the neutral alcohol and make anything I like :egeek:
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thepatchworkdoll
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by thepatchworkdoll »

Hi and Welcome Hoppinmad. Like Boozehound I started of making wine and then converted to this realy rewarding hobby. I prefer to make neutral and flavour to almost anything with very good success. There are a few good suppliers of essences and stilling products in the UK.
Regards
thepatchworkdoll
rad14701
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by rad14701 »

Greetings, hoppinmad...

Most of what I make is neutral spirits as well... I never have drank that much flavored spirits but would get into the aging process more if I ever have the space to do so... And now that I know I can take everything out of the spirits, it would be nice to play with leaving what I want in... Blending in takes up far less space than aging in...

Anyway, good luck...
ty-tek
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by ty-tek »

I'm a UK newbie too!!!

Where abouts are you? I'm in Leeds.

How far have you got? I'm on the lookout for potential equipment to start my build.
I'm considering a pressure cooker setup just to get the ball rolling.

Tom
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thepatchworkdoll
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by thepatchworkdoll »

Hi Tom if your looking for copper bits try BES .co.uk they have the lot.
Regards
thepatchworkdoll UK
ty-tek
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by ty-tek »

thepatchworkdoll wrote:Hi Tom if your looking for copper bits try BES .co.uk they have the lot.
I'm going to be looking at what pipes/fittings I could make work at the local B&Q I'm not going to buy from them though (have you seen their prices!!!).
What type of still are you using at the moment? Any pics???

The more I research the more I'd like to make a Nixon Stone Still like this one. it's looks fairly simple and easy to make.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3600" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

As I am a sparky and have access to larger sized copper pipework and fittings (not to mention the plumbers). I'll have to see what becomes available and who I can get to solder it all together.

Tom
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rednose
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by rednose »

Welcome and maybe you want to revise your opinion on the Stone - Nixon still.

I will not be the only one that recommend to built a much cheaper and efficient Bokakob still instead.
Licensed Micro distillery "Bonanza"; fighting the local market
ty-tek
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by ty-tek »

rednose wrote:Welcome and maybe you want to revise your opinion on the Stone - Nixon still.

I will not be the only one that recommend to built a much cheaper and efficient Bokakob still instead.
I just did a search for Bokakob and got over 1000 results.
Can you point me in the direction of a diagram or schematic so I can check it out.

Thanks Tom
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rednose
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by rednose »

The double plate version is the most popular one, here a draw.

The thermometer hole have to be below the lower plate.

If you have all the material by the hand you can build it in less than 2 hours.

Add: this draw isn't made by me, just saved it from somewhere.

When you built it don't forget to push the nose of the lower plate down, later it'll be very difficult, I'm talking from experience. :oops:
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ty-tek
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by ty-tek »

Thanks for the fast response rednose. :D

The design is very simple and like you said can be quickly made.
What diameter pipe is most popular? Is bigger better or would you recommend keeping it small??? :?
Tom
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rednose
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by rednose »

If your boiler is not bigger that a 50 Ltr keg 2 inch is ok, bigger than 50 Ltr I would recommend 3".

Here the templates for 1.5" and 2" to make your plate cuts easy.


ty-tek wrote:Thanks for the fast response rednose. :D

The design is very simple and like you said can be quickly made.
What diameter pipe is most popular? Is bigger better or would you recommend keeping it small??? :?
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rad14701
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by rad14701 »

You can't go wrong with a Bokakob for a liquid management reflux column... Easier to run and cheaper to build than an offset head valved reflux column...
atticpc
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by atticpc »

There is a full bok mini build documented at http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =17&t=5829. I found it very useful when doing my build. That being said shortly after I built this I went off and built a VM head as well. Its the VM that I have ended up using.

Minime has doen a lot of research into VM. Take a look at this thread http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 8&start=60. On this page he just decides to build the VM using a 2 x 2 x 2 T junction and then reduce down to a 1/2 inch ball valve. This is what I did and I am very happy with it. Very simple build and no need to source a needle valve as required by to bok mini.

In both builds the most difficult part is going to be winding your coil.
travis
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Re: HELLO FELLOW BREWERS FROM THE UK

Post by travis »

Hi, when designing my “Still” I nearly fell off my chair when I priced up the 2” copper I needed. I pondered for a few despondent days & came up with a budget version using cheaper 22mm copper, instead of using a single large column I use 4 x 22mm tubes.

Pictures are in “Column Distillation & Design” somewhere @ page 11 dated June 2008 with the title of “4 Tube Still now with reflux design up & running”

I make Vodka, Rum & Whiskies from the recipes on the site, really pleased with the results & the information on the site.

Regards Travis

Lancashire UK
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