when to polish

linw · Post by **linw** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 1:32 am

Yep, brass and copper can be soldered to SS with soft solder. Like you say, KH, the old zinc chloride is the magic stuff. I used a propane torch with a low flame. I have tried a large elec soldering iron but it just didn't have enough heat. But the gas fired one sounds good. As you say, it avoids discolouration and it also avoids the oxidation that too much heat can produce.

allen42 · Post by **allen42** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 7:27 am

well guys i bought some SS lil pots , perfect size and fairly cheap too, i was all excited right up till i tried to silver solder the damn cooper to the SS!! what a mess i made !! i will try some lead free solder next time i get brave enough to soak 5 gallons in carbon !!lol after busting my A@@ to clean this last batch it might take awhile for me to ever soak it on carbon again !! lol

thanks for all the advice & Ideas ... i am sure i work on it again before the new year , if for no other reason to show the SS & Copper whos BOSSS!!!! lol

Merry Christmas everybody !!

Allen

possum · Post by **possum** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:26 pm

I suggest you try another yeast, it is easier to not have the stink before you distill and filter than to remove it.

Try to use something like white labs high grav ale yeast.
I had some bad experiences with red star champagne yeasts producing stink that was hard to remove (multiple redistillation and carbon soak/filter). I have never used turbo but if it makes nasty odor or taste then the principle is the same.

Good luck allen42...I assume you are using a reflux.

knuklehead · Post by **knuklehead** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:59 pm

allen42 wrote:well guys i bought some SS lil pots , perfect size and fairly cheap too, i was all excited right up till i tried to silver solder the damn cooper to the SS!! what a mess i made !! i will try some lead free solder next time i get brave enough to soak 5 gallons in carbon !!lol after busting my A@@ to clean this last batch it might take awhile for me to ever soak it on carbon again !! lol

thanks for all the advice & Ideas ... i am sure i work on it again before the new year , if for no other reason to show the SS & Copper whos BOSSS!!!! lol

Merry Christmas everybody !!

Allen

You said you are using silver solder, is it a hard solder in a solid stick? If so what kind of torch are you using to heat? I think Uncle Remus already mentioned that you will need to get the metal red hot to use this type of solder and for that you will need a turbo torch, not just a regular blow torch. You can get a soft solder that has silver in it and for this you will not need to heat the metal as hot. The key to soldering is really the flux you use. If you use the wrong flux the solder will not flow, if at all. When you use the right flux it will work like a dream.

knuklehead · Post by **knuklehead** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:18 pm

possum wrote:I suggest you try another yeast, it is easier to not have the stink before you distill and filter than to remove it.

I use turbo's all the time to make neutral and I've never had a problem out of the ordinary. I have also tried Lavlin EC-1118 on sugar and they both ended up the same. If you are going for neutral I don't think the issue comes from the wash, it's a "separation" matter form the still. I let my column run under total reflux for a whole hour before removing anything to let it reach an equilibrium. Then one drop per second I remove forshots. Then I collect at about 10 - 12 ml per minute from here on in. I collect at a much higher abv then 90 which allen42 does. I believe that if you don't let your column establish the separations before you start to draw off that is when you get the off tastes. If you do let your column run under full reflux for the right amount of time and then start drawing off to quickly you'll loose your separation. I've never collected any product intended for neutral at 90 % but I imagine what it would taste or smell like. Not bad at all, but not neutral either. Carbon will fix it up no problem, the only problem is getting the damn dust out out of the product

.

allen42 · Post by **allen42** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:01 am

possum wrote:I suggest you try another yeast, it is easier to not have the stink before you distill and filter than to remove it.

Try to use something like white labs high grav ale yeast.
I had some bad experiences with red star champagne yeasts producing stink that was hard to remove (multiple redistillation and carbon soak/filter). I have never used turbo but if it makes nasty odor or taste then the principle is the same.

Good luck allen42...I assume you are using a reflux.

yup possum i use a reflux , it *really* wasnt bad at all, it came off at 94% without any moonshine smeel at all BUT i wanted to make it taste the very best i could So i soaked it on carbon

allen42 · Post by **allen42** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:05 am

knuklehead wrote:
allen42 wrote:well guys i bought some SS lil pots , perfect size and fairly cheap too, i was all excited right up till i tried to silver solder the damn cooper to the SS!! what a mess i made !! i will try some lead free solder next time i get brave enough to soak 5 gallons in carbon !!lol after busting my A@@ to clean this last batch it might take awhile for me to ever soak it on carbon again !! lol

thanks for all the advice & Ideas ... i am sure i work on it again before the new year , if for no other reason to show the SS & Copper whos BOSSS!!!! lol

Merry Christmas everybody !!

Allen
You said you are using silver solder, is it a hard solder in a solid stick? If so what kind of torch are you using to heat? I think Uncle Remus already mentioned that you will need to get the metal red hot to use this type of solder and for that you will need a turbo torch, not just a regular blow torch. You can get a soft solder that has silver in it and for this you will not need to heat the metal as hot. The key to soldering is really the flux you use. If you use the wrong flux the solder will not flow, if at all. When you use the right flux it will work like a dream.

the tourch i use is a turbo with mapp gas , beleive me , it got hot enough lol hot enough to melt the copper fitting while i was playing around it see if i could get it to stick

i used the zink cloride * sp* as a flux and i could get the solder to stick to the copper without any problems at all, but the stainless , now that was another story

i'll play with it somemore over the holiday& report back, i might try a different solder too

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:08 am

I use a wire type silver called Braze 452. You gotta use silver solder flux. Make sure both surfaces are spotlessly clean.

Are you positive it is stainless you got and not a polished aluminum or aluminum alloy?

Usually silver soldering is a piece of cake.

allen42 · Post by **allen42** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 5:34 pm

uncle remus , its Stainless , cheap stainless i am sure BUT it is SS, not sure of the name brand of silver solder i have ..all i am sure of is that is says Silver solder , the flux is zinc cloride , it is s liquid ,pink in color , i cleaned with a wire brush the brushed everything with the flux,

i havent given up on the project yet , i will have the week after xmas ,so i will work on it then

thanks for all yalls advice !!

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:11 pm

I looked at the flux I got and it doesn't say the chemical make up of it...well maybe it did one time but the writing on the bottle is faded now. But the label says silver solder flux The flux is a thick white paste, it will almost floor you if you get a whiff while heating it.
Anyway play with it some more, let me know how it goes....Merry Christmas

Peachey · Post by **Peachey** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:51 pm

I polish my spirit after distilling it.

I sit it on High Activity Carbon for 2 days (I'm gonna extend this next batch) then filter it through an inline drip filter, twice.

dave_j · Post by **dave_j** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:05 pm

I have a 1.2 Metre 2 inch still (copper) sitting on a 30 litre stainless steel boiler with a 1.3 kw internal heater. The pipe is full of copper mesh. the still head is based on one of the vertical reflux designs on the net with a pull off needle valve. I let the still balance itself for an hour or so and then after tipping out the first 100 ml extact at a rate of approx 700 ml an hour at 95.4% alcohol.

Using Turbo yeast l find l do not have to double distill nor sit on carbon. To me the trick is not to add too much sugar. Try and keep the alcohol at or below 14% otherwise you just seem to get more acete rather than ethonol. Also watch the temp as this also can create off flavours. try and keep it at approx 25 C

I have been distilling for four years now and this is my third still. I must say the height and tightly wound copper mesh really make a difference.

With a 2 inch diameter 15 inch still with copper mesh and the still head above, it is not hard to extract at 95%

Captin Moron · Post by **Captin Moron** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:17 pm

I dont know why you guys are getting so much dust in your product. If you follow the instructions from gert stand (sp?) website, there is also a link and most of the info on the home distiller site. It instructs to boil the carbon and decant all the dust, 4-5 times. I did this and ended up with almost no dust. I froze the product after and the rest of the dust clumped together ( you can see it) its a very minute amount. I then passed it through a cofee filter once and it turned out crystal clear.. There was almost no trace of black in the filter!

The boiling also improves the efficiancy of the carbon by allot.

FireH20 · Post by **FireH20** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:17 pm

My first run, fermented with Turbo48, I just let sit on carbon for a week and filtered it off by hand through coffee filters. That made it halfway drinkable but didn't get rid off all the off taste. I hadn't added the max amount of sugar for this mash and had only gotten about 14% abv from the ferment. It refluxed to 95%.

My next 2 runs, I added more sugar (17 lbs. in a 25 L wash) and got over 17%. It distilled to 95% too but had a distinct banana taste. Looked that up and found out it was isoamyl acetate. Good to know that's normal for a turbo loaded up with sugar. Anyway, I thought that might make an interesting drink so I mixed it with tonic after diluting right out of the still. But it tasted more like a bad artificial banana flavor.

Then I let it sit outside in subfreezing temp for a couple days while I set up a real filter tube per Gert Strand. Just for the heck of it, I tried a drink of it again before filtering, and the banana flavor had mellowed and was pretty good.

But I filtered it through the tube anyway, and was blown away by the results. It stripped out all the taste, came out real smooth. I've NEVER liked drinking vodka on the rocks with no mixer, but this was so smooth I switched over to drinking it that way for a couple days just to enjoy the fruit of my efforts unadulterated. Smooth as silk. So I definitely recommend this method.

Chub · Post by **Chub** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:41 am

One thing about the book I did not understand was how it said to pour water in the filter column then add product in before the water stops. How would you know when to start collecting? Also some have just used plain pvc pipe for this what have you guys used?

FireH20 · Post by **FireH20** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:59 am

Chub wrote:One thing about the book I did not understand was how it said to pour water in the filter column then add product in before the water stops. How would you know when to start collecting? Also some have just used plain pvc pipe for this what have you guys used?

The book says just to taste what's coming out, but someone on one of these pages had a great hint - use hot water, so you can feel the pipe and tell what's coming out. Since my alcohol was so cold that helped in feeling the difference too. I even suspect that kept it from mixing too much. And it's good not to dilute all the way down to your final percentage before filtering, in case it gets diluted more. Measure the abv and do a final dilute afterwards. Another thing I'm going to try is setting my digital thermometer w/ temp alarm and taping the probe to the pipe near the bottom so it alerts me when it's time to change the collection jar and I don't have to keep checking it.

I bought the filter column from brewhaus, which says it's chemical tolerant. There's a lot of debate here about what kind of plastic is and isn't safe, so I'm still confused about that. So I figured better safe than sorry.

grant · Post by **grant** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:16 pm

Was just having a read of this topic.
I carbon mine anyhow can't do any harm, and doesnt take that long.

Saw one of these in a home brew shop might make something similar out of copper.

http://www.homebrewkegs.com/filter.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Basically you pack the bottom bit with filter paper, cotton wool, then fill the smaller column with carbon, screw together and fill up with spirits.

The idea is to let it drip at 2 drips sec, (tap at bottom). this way the spirit gets a fair amount of time on the carbon and the papers should filter it clean.

Captin Moron · Post by **Captin Moron** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:57 pm

thats a great looking filter!

lawnman · Post by **lawnman** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:08 am

this is what i use a z-carbon filter system.
http://www.westbrew.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

grant · Post by **grant** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:10 am

Lawnman,
Not too keen on them.
A few home brew shops around here have stopped selling them and are warning about the use of them.
Being plastic, alcohol and plastic = not good.

Easy to make one out of copper, same sort of thing and still use the z carbon in them.

junkyard dawg · Post by **junkyard dawg** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:50 am

seems I read that copper is a poor material for a carbon filter. bad reactions... Here i go searching again...

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:08 pm

junkyard dawg wrote:seems I read that copper is a poor material for a carbon filter. bad reactions... Here i go searching again...

I thought I read something to that effect too. About copper reacting with carbon, but I can't find where I read it. I wonder if The Chemist could tell us.

grant · Post by **grant** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:37 pm

well thats good to know before i went and made one

I guess some old glass thing is what to look out for

junkyard dawg · Post by **junkyard dawg** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:50 am

glass is good. I found some old brushed finish stainless tube at a scrap yard and put one together for about 2 bucks. even looked nice... but I gave up on carbon polishing pretty quick.

possum · Post by **possum** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:07 am

I havn't done muh carbon treatmentlately, but in the past, I put the booze and carbon togeher in a glass jug. I let it sit a week or two, decant the booze out, and then coffee filters and cloth and a funnel.

hillbilly_john · Post by **hillbilly_john** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:14 am

I don't know how many of y'all have seen the tv program on Discovery Channel called "Mythbusters". The show is a couple of goofball characters that take myths, urban legends and such and put them to the test. They lean towards issues that allow them to blow things up and such.

Anyway, on an episode last week, they tested the Brita filter legend. I may have the details wrong but they took some rotgut vodka, and made samples of it unfiltered, filtered once, twice...up to six times. Then had a professional vodka taster rank them and he got them exactly right in order with the top-shelf vodka being the best.

Thought it might be on-topic here.

JB

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:11 pm

Sorry, but I've once again a translation problem... What do you mean with "the top-shelf still"?
The most filtered or no filtered?

hillbilly_john · Post by **hillbilly_john** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:51 am

Wooops...my mistake, should have read "top shelf vodka". I'll go back and edit it to avoid future confusion.

pablo · Post by **pablo** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 7:57 pm

I saw that episode of mythbusters. The vodka expert said that while filtering makes it better you cant turn a rotgut bottle into a top shelf by doing it. So how do you make top shelf vodka? I have almost finished my still and have been wondering if what makes a great vodka is not being the purest but leaving in a tiny bit of the quality, tasty tails from a quality wash or am I way off?

Home Distiller

when to polish

get the stank out

Re: get the stank out

Re: get the stank out