My First Alembic 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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armor99
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My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

365694F5-3810-4474-9DF0-1BD8EC5EFCE7.jpeg
It finally arrived this weekend. It’s a 5 gallon Alembic Still. I will start going through the 3 stage cleaning process (maybe 4 stages), and it needs it. There is just a ton of paste residue, black spots, and all other sorts of nastiness on the inside. But super new and shiny on the outside. 😀👍🥃
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by EricTheRed »

Nice one!
Enjoy it.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Irishgnome »

She's a beauty!
Looks just like the one I have.
Treat her with care and she won't let you down.
I would do a few sac runs to make sure you get all the nasties out.
Have fun!
Cheers
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

Irishgnome wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 1:53 pm She's a beauty!
Looks just like the one I have.
Treat her with care and she won't let you down.
I would do a few sac runs to make sure you get all the nasties out.
Have fun!
Cheers
Really??? So a few sac alcohol runs? Any tips to know when it is good to go?
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Yummyrum »

A scourer and some soapy water is all thats needed on the boiler as you can physically clean the inside .

The tricky bit is the swan neck and worm .

Unfortunately you will need to do a vinegar steam up followed immediately by a good rinse in water .

Then a single sacrificial alcohol run should do it .

After that , the inside will look tarnished and brown looking . Excellent ….. it has started to build up the copper patina . Do not try and make it look shiny.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by cob »

viewtopic.php?f=89&t=79145

Late on the second page the owner of whiskeystill makes 2 posts, and says

essentially nothing but his advertising hype. Read the entire thread!
Last edited by cob on Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:28 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

This one is from the Whisky Still Company. Made right here in the USA. Very high quality… 😀🥃👍
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Welcome armor.
You might like to read this end to end.
viewtopic.php?f=89&t=79145&p=7693299&hi ... t#p7693299
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:43 am Welcome armor.
You might like to read this end to end.
viewtopic.php?f=89&t=79145&p=7693299&hi ... t#p7693299
Wow… I had no idea. Just bought some lead test swabs. I will check tomorrow, and let everyone know. I would think someone would be leaving themselves open to a huge lawsuit, but I guess it pays to check…
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Ben »

armor99 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:41 am This one is from the Whisky Still Company. Made right here in the USA. Very high quality… 😀🥃👍
You sure they are making them? I can't find it on their site.
:)
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

So this link should help..

https://www.whiskeystill.net/products/5 ... skey-still

I have emails from Jason. Seems completely legit as far as I can tell. But I promise I will check, and let everyone in the forum know if this is lead free as it is claimed to be.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by NormandieStill »

"Our handcrafted stills are made of 100% high quality copper. All welding / soldering islead free (the body welds are brass wire, smaller connections are tin-silver)." - Taken from the linked page. If it turns out to have lead in, then you've caught them in a lie.

Note "handcrafted" doesn't imply handcrafted in the USA. They could be handcrafted in China and imported.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by NormandieStill »

Very pretty, but again, nowhere does it specify the country in which these are made. You don't see the faces of any of the "master craftsmen" and the only person photographed in their entirety is the (I presume) owner, next to his gleaming copper stills.

I hope they are made in the USA because it's be nice for my inner cynic to be disappointed, but I find the absence of a proud "made in the USA" statement to be very telling in a company whose name is tying them to a specific part of a specific country!
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by jimmydean041 »

I have a very similar looking still. This one was made by Copperholic. I never thought to check it for lead though! I also bought it from Amazon. I will get some swab tests and see what's what on this still! I just this last weekend did my first spirit run this weekend...

I saw this same brand offered through a few company's that sell stills and such so I figured it was legit. Beyond that I will say the still performs very very well! Hoping I don't need to re-solder the whole thing but let me know what you find out with your still.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

pic 1
pic 1
pic 2
pic 2
Gentlemen,
So I did some testing on the Whisky Stills Company 5 Gallon Still. Interesting results.

1. Refer to pic 1.
All of the sticks show a "yellowish" color, this color got even more yellow after this image was taken. That means NO LEAD.
I took a 2 samples from inside seams of the boiler, and one sample from inside the onion head, where the temperature probe bung is located.
You will notice 1 sample is very brown/red (after this image started turning red/pink). This one DOES contain lead, but should not be a problem. This is the solder joint that was tested on the outside of the worm, but inside of the condenser. These connections are purely mechanical, and never come into contact with the alcohol liquid or vapor. Just do not go start drinking your condenser water (for whatever reason. :roll: ). Those dots on the card have very small traces of lead in them, just to confirm a negative reading. The chemical in the sticks made the dot turn reddish as expected.

2. After these results, I feel confident that Jason Stone (the owner of the company, and the one that sent emails to me, I bought the still via his website.) was being truthful about the "no lead" construction.

3. In addition, I actually did look up the address on google maps. And the location of his company is actually in a fairly large industrial looking wearhouse. (appears to be shared with a few other companies) Cannot see inside obviously, but it seems plenty large enough to me, that all of the construction of his stills really does take place in that building (as he claims on his site.)

4. I would have no issue at this point recommending these stills. Passed a leak check, and seem very heavy and robust to me. On to the cleaning process!!!!

https://www.whiskeystill.net/products/5 ... skey-still

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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

So the cleaning process has begun!!!! And man oh man is this thing dirty!!! I am using a combo of bar keeps friend, dawn, and LOTS of scotch brite pads. And it is STILL not completely clean. Getting there though. The toughest part is that they slathered on some sort of wierd paste over where they welded the handles onto the boiler. That stuff is like concrete, had to chip it off. See bottom right of pic. Oh well... they say if you had to suffer a bit for something, it makes it better in the end. Will post pics when it is fully clean. But for now, this is what I started with. Yum... don't you want to drink something out of there? :roll:
IMG_1220.jpg
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Yummyrum »

Unless the paste is on the inside , I wouldn’t worry about it . I would have thought the handles are welded to tje outside .
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

IMG_1220.jpg
What an improvement an overnight soak in a citric acid solution makes! Thanks to everyone who suggested a one tablespoon to one gallon solution. That works amazingly well. The pic below does not capture just how clean the boiler is now. That "paste" by the way, was on the inside of the boiler over where you can see the weld points for the handles. Not sure what it was, or why it was there. Might have been some sort of thermal paste to prevent warping of the metal when they welded it? At any rate... all of that stuff is gone now. On to the 50/50 water/vinegar mix! And we can see what the still can actually do. Before and after pics shown below.
IMG_1222.jpg
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Ben »

The paste was most likely a flux, used to prevent oxidization of the back side of the weld during the process. Solar flux is an example of this.

Nice job getting it clean!
:)
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

So to start. I did a cleaning run today with around 3 gallons of 50/50 vinegar solution. No leaks were present, the PTFE seals great. Lots of steam produced, saw lots of particles in the collected liquid, so bad stuff was comming out of the still... great...

Sadly... I did not account for evaporation as much as I thought. Ran for just under two hours... and the still ran completely dry. I was watching.... temp shot way up... turned everything off, could not have been more than 60 seconds. As a result... it left a really nasty residue on the bottom of the boiler. :(

So I rinsed everything out as well as I could, and filled up the boiler once again with water and 5-6 tablespoons of Citric acid, to start the cleaning process again. The residue definately had a greenish tint to it. So I will repeat everything again. Sigh... :(

So let this be a lesson for other newbies on the forum... 3 gallons in a 5 gallon still... will not run for a few hours. At least it did not for me.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

Redemption.... and it feels so good!!! :) Set up the still again today, and ran another 50/50 vinegar run. This time for like 20 minutes. Lots of steam, clear liquid, and stopped way before the boiler ran dry this time. Cleaned the boiler one more time, rinsed the onion head and condenser again. Should be good to go for the sacrificial alcohol run that will occur next week. A friend will come over to give me a hand, and will be running the condenser with ice water (and pump) for the first time.

In the interim, decided to put all of my gear in the cabinet. Organization is the key. :) Enjoy... and thanks for all of the useful advice!
Cabinet.jpg
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Yummyrum »

On a Pot still ( Alembic is one ) , so long as your reservoir is about 2x bigger than your boiler charge , you shouldn’t need Ice . ….. there will be enough cooling capacity in the volume of water .

You should however aim to adjust the coolant flow ( read , turn it down ) so that the water exiting the top of the Flake stand is about hot enough for a bath .

Pull( pump) water from the bottom of the reservoir , into bottom of Flake . Hot from flake overflow back to top of reservoir .

It is common thinking that water should circulate as fast as possible …. not the case .

Regardless , pleased to hear you have cleaned your still and are ready for Sac run. :thumbup:
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Saltbush Bill »

A little more to consider , it seems the subject of the Whisky Still Company has raised its head in other threads on this forum in the past.
Those who are convinced that they are made in Texas or any where else in the USA might like to look at this link.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=69263
jb-texshine wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2018 2:47 pm Then there's whiskey still company, bigbobs got one... they are not made in Texas or anywhere else in the United states. Their supplier is al-ambique the Portugal company. Good stills just falsely advertised. Small worm diameter though.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by RC Al »

So firstly, a thank you for showing me that they make inch wide ptfe tape, didn't know that was a thing - never even thought to look.

Secondly, it needs that to seal? Gosh :eh:

Sorry, not having a go at you (OP) or anything, just wondering if thats normal for that style of construction, its an interesting substitution for flour paste?
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

RC Al wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 6:07 am So firstly, a thank you for showing me that they make inch wide ptfe tape, didn't know that was a thing - never even thought to look.

Secondly, it needs that to seal? Gosh :eh:

Sorry, not having a go at you (OP) or anything, just wondering if thats normal for that style of construction, its an interesting substitution for flour paste?
Yeah... so the name is called "Venom tape" They sell it on Amazon... see link below.



I might have used a bit more than needed, but hey... I wanted to be sure... :)

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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by armor99 »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:48 am A little more to consider , it seems the subject of the Whisky Still Company has raised its head in other threads on this forum in the past.
Those who are convinced that they are made in Texas or any where else in the USA might like to look at this link.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=69263
jb-texshine wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2018 2:47 pm Then there's whiskey still company, bigbobs got one... they are not made in Texas or anywhere else in the United states. Their supplier is al-ambique the Portugal company. Good stills just falsely advertised. Small worm diameter though.
I have no reason to doubt the veracity of what this company has claimed. I tested it for lead, there is none in areas where it comes into contact with alcohol vapor (they did use some lead solder in the condenser to physically connect the worm). They use either brass, or non lead solder to made the connections. How do I know? I can see it, and I tested for it. Even posted the pics so others could see.

Their address seems to be a place large enough to build them themselves, as they have claimed. Obviously, I cannot see inside the building, but it seems to me to be a very long way to go, to start making stuff like that up. Maybe pieces are built elsewhere, and then final assembled in TX? Who knows... but I would think if you are going to go through all of the extra effort of using brass (rather than cheap lead solder), why would you start making up other stuff? This is reminding me of some of the discussions in the watch world about "Swiss Made" where some watch makers were using all swiss parts, but then assembling them in some other country so could not be called a "swiss made" watch, but that is another story. :)

I have looked at, and used this still quite a bit, and will be using it even more soon. Sac alcohol run comming up next weekend. From what I have seen so far, seems to be sturdy and well built. Not trying to promote, or demote Whiskey Still Company one way or the other, just providing my unbiased opinion on what I am seeing from using one myself.

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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by tommysb »

image.png
It is indeed Portuguese construction. Making stills like this is somewhat of an artform, and you need to learn as an apprentice via an old master. There just isn't the tradition of this type of construction over in the good ol' US of A. And probably even less so at a way that you could pay the artisans who make them a fair, living wage.

I'm based about an hour away from Al-Ambiq and have actually personally visited them. I bought a small 1.5-2L still from them, and it kick started my foray into this world.

There's loads of small producers of this type of still in these parts of the world, they are completely commodity items. Not that many/any of them have the web presence that Al-Ambiq do.

For those curious - have a look on the local free-ads site with the search term 'Alambique'

https://www.olx.pt/ads/q-alambique/

(Ok, now we're getting off topic). But worth a look to see what the price of new, home distilling size units are over here, and also for some weird and wonderful larger scale systems that come up for sale!
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Thanks for your input Tommy :thumbup:
tommysb wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:58 pm And probably even less so at a way that you could pay the artisans who make them a fair, living wage.
My gut feeling and one reason that I doubted they where made in the US from the beginning, was that paying artisans in Texas or most countries such as Australia to make stills this way would not be economically viable. You would be loosing money from the beginning.
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Re: My First Alembic Still

Post by cob »

It's nice to know what they really cost at their point of origin.

For 75 euros a 2 liter would look good on a shelf, but shipping???
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