Stilling in heat

[Twisted Brick]

So I looked up earlier this afternoon and it was 115F outside. Not that I would ever try it, but those of you with experience stilling in heat (just the guys! ), are there any tips or no-no's to be aware of?

[still_stirrin]

My tip...”go electric”. That way you can run in the living room from your easy chair.

Propane adds insult to injury by waste heat pollution. Even if you can find a nice shade tree, it’ll be a hot’n sweaty day at the boiler.

Also, you need to make sure your coolant is not at 90*F too, as that will require a faster flow rate to pull out the heat. In fact, your worm may not be long enough to transfer the heat to the flake stand.

But...a cold beer will taste mighty nice midway through your run. <—- experience talking now.
ss

[Desvio]

Yeah, don't...

Or like whats been said, go electric. And make sure your boiler is insulated, the AC isn't blowing at the column, and your coolant doesn't get too hot. Keep plenty of munchies on hand, cold beer, and don't fall asleep.

[DuckofDeath]

I mashed an all grain in 105 Degrees F. It really really sucked and I don't want to repeat.

[Twisted Brick]

I mashed an all grain in 105 Degrees F. It really really sucked and I don't want to repeat.

DoD, cooling that mash must've been a bitch. Since I've gotten into stilling, I'm starting to like life a little more in fall/winter temps.

[shadylane]

The best thing I've found for distilling on a hot summers day is a 120 square foot still house and a 18,000 BTU air conditioner.

[Flatlands_Hillbilly]

So I looked up earlier this afternoon and it was 115F outside. Not that I would ever try it, but those of you with experience stilling in heat (just the guys! ), are there any tips or no-no's to be aware of?

I've done it in my shop, which is well vented. It was in the mid-90's and needed to get it done then, didn't have time later that night. I ran ice in my worm bucket. Cost me about $20 in ice but I got it stripped and a spirit run. Found myself eating the ice out of my worm bucket to cool off. lol I wonder though, if one was to drain all water from the bucket, put a blanket over the top so as not to seal it, but give it a bit of insulation and buy a $10 brick of dry ice. Would that sufficiently cool the run or would it possibly be overkill. you wouldn't want to seal in case the copper started to sweat. You'd make a big dry ice bang box. But if you threw a blanket over where it could breath and yet hold in the cold, I think a one pound chunk of dry ice would work and be much cheaper than 4 20 pound bags if you are running in the heat. Any of those with much more experience got any wisdom here. Don't want to try something that might end up being potentially and stupidly dangerous that I'm not considering.

[Yonder]

Yeah, electric is the way to go. I've run a couple of UJ gens in a garage with electric when it's over 100 outside. It works but It ain't pretty. Fall needs ta get its ass in gear soonest

[Flatlands_Hillbilly]

I did figure a cheaper way to ice it down without purchasing big bags of ice at the store. Our water sucks so we buy gallon jugs of drinking water. I use the same when cooking. Wife had been saving them up the jugs for some reason she couldn't answer. It downed on me that I could fill these things 2/3 full and drop about 6 of them in the deep freeze. They would chill the water longer than bag of ice, it would take longer to get the water cold and it might not get as cold as there is not as much surface touching the water as with bag ice, but it would last longer and would keep the water coll sufficiently to be able to run in the heat if needed. Beins my work schedule takes up the cool night times, I usually end up doing just that, doing the run in the heat. Cuts down my cost per run about $20.00. Finding out this ain't a cheap hobby, but the benefits are well worth it.