Hey guys! (and gals?)

[Moparnut]

Thought I would post some pics of my homemade moonshine style still that I ran for the first time yesterday!

The main boiler (60L) had already been set up as a older style reflux still and contained two 1500W heating elements. I removed them and placed a thermometer in one hole and a tap in the other. I took the reflux condenser off it and had a friend (who happens to be a plumber!) braze up my new pot still type condenser design using a 200mm long 50mm diameter copper pipe, which had a reducer on top to get the pipe size down to 15mm. That pipe runs to the copper thump keg.

The thump keg is a bladder from a 15L under bench water heater. The inlet pipe goes to within a couple of inches of the bottom of the keg and i filled it with mash through the old electric element hole, which is bunged with a element base with the element cut off and brazed. The outlet pipe at the top of the keg goes to my copper coil condenser which sits in a 35L fermenting bucket full of water. There's approximately 10 meters of copper pipe in the condenser.

I ran it for the first time with 50L of corn/malted barley mash with had been brewing for a couple of weeks.

It took 5 hours or so for the boiler to hit around 90 degrees C and sufficiently heat the thump keg and start to run.

The first jar filled quickly but I also realised that the condenser was going to heat up the water very quickly too...! Even ice and plastic cooler ice blocks were no match for it, so I had to bring in the garden hose and run a hose from the bucket tap to outside the garage and drain and top up the water with cold water as I went. My plan is to install a float/valve like a toilet cistern so I can control the water flow with the bucket tap and keep the water at a uniform level. (Job for next weekend.)

Anyhoo, the first jar came out at 75% and I collected nearly 6 jars, the last one coming out at 65%. Unfortunately I ran out of time and had to shut it down before I started running into tails. The whole process took nearly 8 hours, and potentially will take longer if i run it into tails next time. I intend on hopefully reducing this however by also heating the thump keg next time, rather than relying on the steam from the boiler to heat the mash in the keg.

Righto, I'm going to try and upload some pics now!

[Moparnut]

Some more pics

[still_stirrin]

It’ll do.

If you insulate the thumper, it’ll “come online” quicker, saving you heat up time and money. Also, it’ll reduce the amount of heat you’ll need to remove from the flake, saving you coolant make up water.

If you insulate the vapor supply line to the thumper it would help keep the vapor hot, helping the thumper start quicker too. This probably isn’t quite as critical because your vapor stream is most likely quite fast already because of the pipe ID vs the still outlet ID. In other words, the vapor throughput will be limited by its velocity. A larger diameter piping network to the thumper would flow more vapor at a slower velocity with less pressure drop.

I’d install breakout unions as a “swing joint” from the top of the potstill riser to the thumper inlet. That would help setup and leveling the still and thumper...that is, height adjustments would be much easier to make.

When done with the build and mods, make sure to follow the cleaning protocol so your product is safe to consume. Have fun. Be safe, responsible, and discrete.
ss

[MoonBreath]

It will do..Clean and tight.
3/4" id from pot to thumper would really be proper.
Good job.

[fizzix]

Better'n I could make!

[Moparnut]

Thanks fellas, really appreciate the input! still_stirrin, I always make sure my gear is cleaned and sanitized before I use it, I learned about this early on in the piece! As for discreet, I live in home-brewers/distillers utopia of New Zealand, where making your own whiskey is perfectly legal!

I will insulate the boiler pipe as you suggested, but i'm thinking I'll sit another burner under the thumper to pre-heat it when the boiler gets close to the running temp. It shouldn't use much gas and once it's up to temp the boiler will keep it there by itself. Consulted my plumber friend and he confirmed that a bottom fed toilet cistern valve will work to replenish and maintain the water level in the condenser bucket.

Looking forward to running it again, I guess I better get mashed in again this weekend coming!