1st run results

[chickenstrangler]

Hi, i have finished doing my first real run of my still and thought i'd put up my results to see what ya's reckon. I think i done pretty good but let me know if something is a miss somewhere.

still

IMG_3562 [800x600].JPG (39.97 KiB) Viewed 3197 times

IMG_3561 [800x600].JPG (41.18 KiB) Viewed 3198 times

I done a 40litre BW sugarwash which i left for 10days .Finished about.90 if i read my hydrometer right(am having trouble taking readings but thats another question for later.

If ya's have time mull over my results and give any feedback (good or bad) please.
Like i said i think i done good for my first proper run and the final product is quite good to drink. There is a slight smell/taste to my final product but i think it is quite drinkable the way it is

Sorry about the squished stats.It wouldnt let me attach my spreadsheet(unsupported format??) and copy from text form squished it.Let me know if there is a fix for me to make it easier to read on here.

Start Date WED 18/2/2009 Gas On 7:40am Gas off 7:10pm Total Time Taken
Batch # 2 11.5 hours
Size 40 Litres Start Finish Mins Temp % @ 25 'c % @ 15'c Quality Notes
Foreshots 150 ml 8:45am 9:05 20 75
1st 300ml 9:05 9:50 45 75 99 95.5 Heads
2nd 300ml 9:50 10:40 50 75 99 95.5 """"
3rd 300ml 10:40 11:15 35 76 98.5 95 """"
4th 300ml 11:15 12:05 50 75 98.5 96 Hearts % @ 15'c tested accurate
5th 300ml 12:05 12:55 50 75 98.5 95 """"
6th 300ml 12:55 1:25 30 75 97 93.5 """"
7th 300ml 1:25 1:45 20 78 91 87.5 """" Heat up 2 to rings
8th 300ml 2:15 2:50 35 75 92 90 Hearts 30 min stoppage
9th 300ml 2:50 3:30 40 78 89 87 """"
10th 300ml 3:30 4:00 30 84 85 83 """"
11th 300ml 4:00 4:35 35 82 82 80
12th 300ml 4:35 5:10 35 84 79 77
13th 300ml 5:10 5:45 35 85 75 73
14th 300ml 5:45 6:15 30 86 70 68 Tails
15th 300ml 6:15 6:50 35 86 68 66 Tails
16th 300ml 6:50 7:10 20 91 55 53 Tails 7:10pm Shutdown


Heads 900mls 95.5 % 6750mls 40% Diluted Spirits
Hearts 3000mls 90 % 1800mls 76% Feints
Tails 900mls 66 %

Total Collected : 4800mls






6 x 40% 1125 ML Bottles



Thanks Chicken

[evilpsych]

only thing that i would change would be ditch that black rubber cork for your thermometer.

[chickenstrangler]

only thing that i would change would be ditch that black rubber cork for your thermometer.

Why get rid of thermo bung? I know you dont really need thermometer but i have to fill the hole with something dont i? What else could i use? Thx

[rad14701]

only thing that i would change would be ditch that black rubber cork for your thermometer.

Why get rid of thermo bung? I know you dont really need thermometer but i have to fill the hole with something dont i? What else could i use? Thx

Use wood or solid cork, not rubber... No rubber... No plastics... At least not in contact with high ABV ethanol...

[HookLine]

Looks good, though the jacket on the condenser in serious overkill, it only needs to be a little bigger than the internal tube it covers. For example, a 1/2" internal tube only needs a 3/4" external coolant jacket, etc.

[chickenstrangler]

Looks good, though the jacket on the condenser in serious overkill, it only needs to be a little bigger than the internal tube it covers. For example, a 1/2" internal tube only needs a 3/4" external coolant jacket, etc.

Yeah, i know re: jacket.My brother in law made it for me out of stuff he had lying round.It hardly needs any water flow through it to condense the vapour.(just a trickle to keep it circulating).
I cant complain though coz didnt cost me a brass razoo!!!
THX

[HookLine]

Looks good, though the jacket on the condenser in serious overkill, it only needs to be a little bigger than the internal tube it covers. For example, a 1/2" internal tube only needs a 3/4" external coolant jacket, etc.

Yeah, i know re: jacket.My brother in law made it for me out of stuff he had lying round.It hardly needs any water flow through it to condense the vapour.(just a trickle to keep it circulating).
I cant complain though coz didnt cost me a brass razoo!!!
THX

Fair enough. There is nothing 'wrong' with it, as such, just not necessary to go that big on the coolant jacket.

[maheel]

[quote="chickenstrangler]
Yeah, i know re: jacket.My brother in law made it for me out of stuff he had lying round.It hardly needs any water flow through it to condense the vapour.(just a trickle to keep it circulating).
I cant complain though coz didnt cost me a brass razoo!!!
THX[/quote]

out of interest (swap and go might mean you are in Australia?) how much gas did you use in 11 hrs?
and how much water (approx) ? the droughts make me feel bad to waste water so i use a wheelie (big) bin full of water

nice simple looking rig

maheel

[chickenstrangler]

[

Yes i am in OZ.I actually weighed gas bottle before and after run and to my suprise it only used 1.5kg of gas.Thats about $3.50 worth! I thought it would have nearly emptied the bottle,but the flame was only on very low for the whole run.(except for initial heat up,which was flat out)
As for water use i run mine from our water tank which i only gravity feed to the still,controlled with a simple ball valve.No pump required as the flow needed to keep condenser water cool is very minimal. It would have dropped the water level on the tank by about 6-8 inches .The tank is a 2400litre slimline so i guessing about 200 litres???
THX

[Fourway]

That looks like one of those great chinese made cast iron multi ring burners... the supply of those has dried up in the USA, did you buy it recently? is there still an online seller somewhere with them?

[maheel]

[

Yes i am in OZ.I actually weighed gas bottle before and after run and to my suprise it only used 1.5kg of gas.Thats about $3.50 worth! I thought it would have nearly emptied the bottle,but the flame was only on very low for the whole run.(except for initial heat up,which was flat out)
As for water use i run mine from our water tank which i only gravity feed to the still,controlled with a simple ball valve.No pump required as the flow needed to keep condenser water cool is very minimal. It would have dropped the water level on the tank by about 6-8 inches .The tank is a 2400litre slimline so i guessing about 200 litres???
THX

cheers very handy info, yeah i thought more gas would be needed than that !

[chickenstrangler]

That looks like one of those great chinese made cast iron multi ring burners... the supply of those has dried up in the USA, did you buy it recently? is there still an online seller somewhere with them?

Yeah the burner is just a 3 ring cast iron burner. Its available at any camping/outdoor store here in oz.($49). 3 rings only used for heat up then very low heat/flame for the run.You could easily use 2ring burner though just longer heat up time.
THX

[punkin]

Looks good, though the jacket on the condenser in serious overkill, it only needs to be a little bigger than the internal tube it covers. For example, a 1/2" internal tube only needs a 3/4" external coolant jacket, etc.

Here i was thinking the condensor was more complex than that Looks extremely familiar in dimension


You should be able to run that puppy heaps faster than that, and if ya stick a submersible bilge pump in your tank, you can recycle straight back in and use virtually zero water. $20 for the pump and $20 for the transformer, you've already covered the cost from the first run.

[trthskr4]

$20 for the pump and $20 for the transformer, you've already covered the cost from the first run.

Water must be like gold in Oz. I can run my whole house on $40 for 2 months of water. It'd take me 2 years to use $40 in water running through my still.

[minime]

If that was my still I'd disconnect the water flow through the column and call it a pot still. I think you would be better off learning to run it like that. Both those tubes are too low in the column to do you any good. They're just wasting energy and water in my opinion.

[HookLine]

Looks good, though the jacket on the condenser in serious overkill, it only needs to be a little bigger than the internal tube it covers. For example, a 1/2" internal tube only needs a 3/4" external coolant jacket, etc.

Here i was thinking the condensor was more complex than that Looks extremely familiar in dimension

Fair point. It may not be a simple Liebig.

Can't quite think what it reminds me of.

Water must be like gold in Oz.

Yup. Even in the monsoon tropics, coz we have a long dry season with no rain at all, up to 6-7 months.

If that was my still I'd disconnect the water flow through the column and call it a pot still. I think you would be better off learning to run it like that. Both those tubes are too low in the column to do you any good. They're just wasting energy and water in my opinion.

+1

[FeralPig]

That condenser reminds me of the old WWI and WWII water cooled machine guns used by the Brits and Aussies (and the US I believe).

http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/30calhv.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[rad14701]

rat-a-tat... rat-a-tat... rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat...

"EAT LEAD...!!! Oh, sorry... Dozed of and the still started surging... I hate when that happens..."

Definitely got some water weight going on there...

[CoopsOz]

Water must be like gold in Oz.

Depends where you are in Oz, hook's got plenty of water...Blaniks got none, even more of a problem since the fires. All the water used to fight the fire plus all the run off is feared to be contaminated, the authorities have been transferring billions of litres between reservoir's to try and keep it clean.

[chickenstrangler]

[/quote]You should be able to run that puppy heaps faster than that, and if ya stick a submersible bilge pump in your tank, you can recycle straight back in and use virtually zero water. $20 for the pump and $20 for the transformer, you've already covered the cost from the first run.[/quote]

I have just done 2nd run today and i tried to up the output a bit , when i increase heat and increase water flow temp only rises about 3-4 deg c and output increases to about 1 litre an hour.(currently get about 500-600 mls hour @ 94%)HOWEVER,with the increased output rate my purity drops down to about 84-88%. When i backed the heat off again and slowed down the output my purity climbed back up to 95%. Should i just run at the slower rate to get better % 's or faster rate for quicker running timeand lower % ??? Is over 80% still a good enough drop for adding essences or should i just go for purity?
I am now recirculating water back to tank,works a treat so water use is not an issue now.
THX

[punkin]

That's for you to say CS, if you're getting 95 from that thing you're doing well.

[aussiebrewman]

looks like a very good job mate

maybe i will build something like yours. (first post lol)

[Hawke]

If you are going to use essence, you may as well run slow and make it as clean as possible. Get enough off tastes from the flavoring, don't need to add to it.