First time stillin

[Hombre]

Hi everyone, I'm from way downunder in sunny Western Australia. I have been brewing beer for quite a few years and have always wanted to try my hand at distilling. The opportunity came up recently when I was offered an old still spirits reflux still on a 20 litre bucket with an electric heater built in. So my first distilling project just finished and is .... well... not too bad.
I had some old beer that was given to me, some cans of Calsberg special brew, Stella and Skol super mostly 9% stuff, so i figured I may as well still it and see what happens, at least it would clean out the old still. Anyway I am surprised at the results, quite drinkable stuff, different but OK. Better than the beer was. I'm hooked already.
I have a Birdwatchers brew on at the moment for the next run.
What really surprised me was how easy the whole process has been, pour it in, heat it up and still it off, ...way to go.
The manual that came with the still is piss poor as far as directions, temps etc and from what I have been reading on this fantastic site I should have been getting changes in temperatures at the top of the still as the different alcohols come off, this didn't seem to happen, the temps were a lot higher, but the good stuff came out at about 75%, and the last parts dropped off to 40%.
Anyway, thanks for an amazing site, full of great information that I am still working my way through.
Cheers all.

[BokaBakla]

I've always wanted to go to Australia but my image of Elle Mcphersons walking around everywhere I'm sure is over exaggerated j/k

Yeah pot still is pretty simple to run.. But cuts and mixing cuts is where you can read up some more.. The temperature will go up over the run- as the ethanol to water ratio changes.. It's kind of nice to have a temperature reading on a pot I think.. Just cause you can conserve propane on stripping runs when it hits around 209-210F.. Not much more you can get out before a spirit run

I really enjoy running the still to make neutral though.. So sure a pot stiller can chime in on my post- I know from reading most don't even bother with a thermometer and use parrots.. I run a thermometer and no parrot- just use beer bottles and label them over the run..

I should add.. I don't have anything against parrots- I just found didn't need it but I'm mainly making neutral and dipping my feet into rice liquor lately

[beelah]

welcome Hombre...maybe if you could, post a picture of your set up so we can give you better advised as to how to run your still....on the issue of distilling beer, the problem that many have experienced is that the hop flavour gets concentrated in the product, and may leave a residue of hop oils in the still...I have never run beer through my still, but I have done some essential oils, and they remain for a long time and are hard to get out of your system...if you are a beer brewer, then just continue making beer, but don't add the hops...then you get the same kind of wash that the pros start with to make there expensive products...after aging on oak of course...

[goinbroke2]

Just to add my 2 cents, I made a parrot and wouldn't run without it. When stripping, I note the start abv (50% or so) and when it drops to 25% I stop. When on a spirit run I note the start (about 81%) and collect in 500ml mason jars. I used to mark each jar and have found my hearts start around 71% and tails start around 59%. In theory I could just watch the parrot and do my cuts like the pro's do but I like to ensure my cuts are what I want so I air for a day, etc,etc.
Later I added a thermometer to the parrot to measure the temp of the distillate as I was reading the abv.

No you don't need a thermometer on a pot still, but a parrot is a very handy tool. And a parrot with a thermometer measuring output temp is even handier.


EDIT: Forgot to add, WELCOME Hombre!

[Hombre]

Boka Bakia, you would love it, Elle's are everywhere at the moment with all this hot weather we are getting.
Thanks for the advice, I do need to get my cuts sorted, some small jars and a parrot would be handy, that will be my next copper project. Is rice liquor kinda like Sake?
Beela, I think you are right, the flavor is probably the hops coming through, but I really didn't intend to drink the stuff, I was only cleaning out the still after it not being used for years, I had to taste for the cuts.I will post a picture soon.
Goinbroke, yup I will be making a parrot and may as well include provision for a thermometer as the alcometer needs correcting for temperature. Thanks all for your welcome and advice.
Cheers

[BokaBakla]

Yeah it's kind of a pain to make baijiu.. Like sake in a way, aiming for around 130 proof- You make the koji first which is a mold, grow it on short grain rice and stop it before it flowers.. Then mix it with soaked/steamed rice and let it sit.. The koji breaks down the new rice into sugar the yeast can use.. The trick is making the koji correctly- It has to stay under 104F and the vets have different ways to make it better, like letting it cool near the end of the cycle so the mold creates more enzymes in the rice.. It's actually more trouble than it's worth But I really wanted to make a batch from scratch..

They also use a different yeast and nutrients for the yeast during the ferment.. I read the recipe on this site and they recommended morton salt subsititute and regular yeast nutrient.. My father in law is actually a shaman and he doesn't think I can make the stuff right- so damnit I'm going to prove him wrong He said the stuff I make is weak cause he wants the stuff that burns to his stomach.. You can really explain to the older folks that the burn is bad- they actually like it from years of drinking cheap hooch

[Hombre]

Hi everyone, I have realised that the still I acquired is a still spirits super reflux still 25 litre. I also have discovered it is probably at the bottom of the list as far as quality of stills for sale. Nevertheless I continue with it and take on board some of the mods suggested by kiwistiller on his great summation of these CM stills. First thing is to fit an extension tube of 50mm copper to the column, Not sure if I can get copper mesh for the column but stainless steel is available here. Also I intend to split the water supplies and fit seperate control valves. I am wondering though, should I replace the ceramic saddles in the upper, ( the original column ) with stainless or simply leave those there and fill the bottom(new column) with stainless. I was also going to fit a centering washer so the reflux drops through the stainless steel mesh instead of running back down the walls. The other thing I was going to do was get rid of the original glass thermometer and use a digital one.
Am I on the right track here, or should I save the effort here and just use this one for a stripping still and build a Boka or a flute.
If I can modify this super reflux to work better I could maybe then build a simple pot still for stripping.

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Cheers