My first still

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

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Garouda
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My first still

Post by Garouda »

Hybrid LM/VM
Hybrid LM/VM
Hello
I'm not really a newbie, but a member who does not publish a lot.
When I was ten years old I was a boarder and before leaving home, I mixed some water with yeast and brown cane sugar. Back home for holiday, I set up a kind of still made of glassware I could find. Result, the glass was not fire resistant, but for a few second I could smell something that reminded me to the smell of rhum pancakes my mother prepared for my father...
Later (1979-I was born in 1952...) I managed to buy a book we could not find in my country (I'm Belgian and live and work now in Thailand)
Technologie der Obstbrennerei written in German bei Pieper, Bruchmann and Kolb. How I got the book is another story. But it's a great book.
Now I'm about to retire and fortunately, my wife owns some paddies and rubber plantations in a quite remote place. I'm about to build a still and would like to know your critics about my project... I would like to build a versatile still. Reflux and fractionning using Liquid Management to get rid of the foreshots and heads and vapour management for mass production of good stuff.
For flavoured stuff, I will replace the head by an elbow and remove the packing. By the way, do some of you use cuts of copper pipe as rashig rings to fill the column?
In my plans, the column (Ø 3'') will be 1m high (+ the sight glass, + the Tee) and there will be a 23-centimetre double coil above the slanter plates.
I need to source the pipes. I initially wanted to use copper. Well you can get it (3''-6m) for +/- 490$. I'll try to find some A304 stainless steel. People like to modify their exhaust pipe here, or have nice stainless steel gates at home. The boiler will be a noodle soup pot like the ones you can find at shops selling noodle soup. (in fact two, like Russian dolls, to enable indirect heating).
The condenser will be a two-stage Liebig. First stage Ø 1'' within 1-1/2'', indeed if you work in a vapour management setting your Liebig should not add additional vapour reduction. Second stage, 1/4'' within 1'', both are 60cm long.
All remarks, pieces of advice and critics are welcome
Thanks
Bernard
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Version "pot still"
Version "pot still"
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Re: My first still

Post by jedneck »

Welcome. Looks like you have a plan. The one thing that I see to change would be keep separate otakeoffs for your outputs. If ran through same condesor your can smear heads through your hearts.
welcome aboard some of us are ornery old coots but if you do a lot of
reading and don't ask stupid questions you'll be alright most are
big help
Dunder
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Garouda
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

Thanks for your advice. Yes indeed I've a plan. I've made so many drawings, now let's materialize the project...
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Halfbaked »

Alambic/pot version def can not have a valve on it. It is a bomb if you do. If you are going VM then keep the Tee and put a cap on for the pot still. That will be the cheapest way. Don't use exhaust pipe. There are tons of used stainless pipe available some with ferrules already on them. Are you in the USA? Your liebig should be fine with 3/4 over 1/2. How big a pot are you going to run?
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Garouda
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

Thanks, but I have this setting to be able to change from one type to the other easily. I'm sorry I did not write everything in English but it's written in French and in bold , the gate valve MUST REMAIN OPEN. Thanks anyway, we never know who may copy these projects without knowing what they do. I go for a 3'' column, how big should the boiler be?
I haven't found any way to get a beer keg here (I must have written somewhere I'm living in Thailand)
Thanks again and bye for now
cheers
Bernard
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

homedistiller1.png
After quite a long silence here's a new stage. The base is a Ø8" to Ø6" reduction followed by a Ø6" to Ø3" reduction. The reason for that is another project in Ø6" size.
That new Ø6" project is based on asparagus pots I could get for a cheap price from auctions on the German EBay. I need to make some pictures to make it more understandable...
My next difficulty will be cutting and soldering the slanter plates and associated equipment.
Another concern: would my liebig condenser be strong enough? Øoutside pipe 1" inner pipe Ø1/2" length 50cm
homedistiller2.png
homedistiller3.png
I've been silent for a long time because I moved from Sriracha to Loei and built a house there.
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

In the end considering the drawbacks I decided not to follow the Bokabob fashion and made a pure VM head instead of my initial Boka/VM hybrid.
In fact I found confirmation of my doubts about the Boka head in Michael Nixon & Michael McCaw's "The Compleat Distiller" appendix 6 p. 131:
"A vapour management still head is very easy to build because the concept is so simple, and is a considerable advance on all previous liquid management techniques that utilize small, temperamental needle valves that can be difficult to procure and which often change their settings with temperature."
I wish I had read this before...
Here some picture of my final VM still.
As you can see, I joined this forum in 2011, in a first post about dephlegmator, I mentioned a book in German "Technologie der Obstbrennerei" (Technology of fruit distillation), in fact I bought that book in 1979...
A very long project indeed!
Boiler H Dist.png
ColumnH Dist.png
Tete VM H Dist.png
VM HeadH Dist.png
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Yummyrum »

Nice work Garouda . It has taken you a while , but
It’s a great outcome . Should work a treat . :thumbup:

VM :D :thumbup:
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Re: My first still

Post by MartinCash »

Looks good. I used a similar VM (but copper) for 8 years.
4'' SS modular CCVM on gas-fired 50L keg.
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Garouda
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

:clap: Thanks to Yummyrum and MartinCash for their comments.
I appreciate their encouragement.
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

Yummyrum wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:04 am Nice work Garouda . It has taken you a while ,
VM :D :thumbup:
I wasted time with my Boka head. When I made my Boka head, I got some negative guts feelings about its effectiveness. Before that I was just following the trend, so many people seemed to be convinced by that solution. I wasn't in the end, and
Did you say waste of time?
Did you say waste of time?
then read more carefully "The Compleat Distiller", I wish I had done this before... I sourced my needle valve from the US, and it was quite expensive... This was several years ago, so let's say it's amortized now...
I had to cut a new section of 3" SS pipe and order two ferrules. Fortunately, I found a guy down the town who does all the TIG welding for me, without asking any question...
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
Garouda
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

This is the pot still setting I used for my first stripping run. I have prepared a second batch which must almost be ready by now (day four 03 FEB 2021). I'll let it clarify for two or three days then will use my VM, without the valve, as stripper.
There's a second picture showing a 1" copper pipe ended by a Liebig condenser. The reason why I have a 45°elbow fitting is to keep a safe distance between my gas burner and the Liebig outlet.
I have to improve insulation
I have to improve insulation
Big enough to knock all vapours
Big enough to knock all vapours
Safety first, keep distance between Liebig and burner
Safety first, keep distance between Liebig and burner
Good to go! Ted's recipe's very fast indeed. Thanks mate!
Good to go! Ted's recipe's very fast indeed. Thanks mate!
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

I'm adding pictures
This is the one I'm going to use for future stripping runs. It's shorter and will heat up faster.
This is the one I'm going to use for future stripping runs. It's shorter and will heat up faster.
As you can see, I used all the available height. No valve because it was a stripping run (assembly practice)
As you can see, I used all the available height. No valve because it was a stripping run (assembly practice)
safety distance between parrot and burner
safety distance between parrot and burner
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

A little additional trick for my VM column, a centring ring...
Easy!
I cut a circle in a copper foil and cut a star in the centre to get an opening.
I cut two narrow (+/- 2 mm) circles from my Ø 3" SS pipe. did some grinding , cut an opening and bended them in order to make two clips, see the pictures.
the two SS clips and the copper disk...
the two SS clips and the copper disk...
the little but effective gadget in place, notice the difference in height between my VM column and my pot still column...
the little but effective gadget in place, notice the difference in height between my VM column and my pot still column...
here the detailed data for both settings:
image.png
image.png (6.71 KiB) Viewed 1454 times
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
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Re: My first still

Post by Garouda »

On a picture in a previous post above, I wrote "Graham condenser", and that's a mistake !
In a Graham condenser your product is running inside the coil which is cooled by a water jacket around it.
In fact, what I should have written is "double helix reflux condenser ", which is similar to a Dimroth condenser, where the coolant flows inside the coil.
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin
"In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
Garouda
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