My latest configuration, and an interesting result.

[jimmayhugh]

My latest setup:

I was running an LME barley/rye wash at about 10% ABV.


Once the run started, I noticed something peculiar in the sight glass:

At the end of the run, the sight glass looked like this:

It appears to be about 50ml and has a lower SG than the wash.

After looking around the internet, my conclusion is that some of the fusel oils were captured in the sight glass.

Any thoughts?

[Demy]

It seems that some parts of the wash have risen in the sight glass. If they were just oils I think they would float on the surface, I think there are fatty / heavy substances that tend to decant. Was it a cereal wash?Now that I've seen the first photo better, is this sediment in your lower level glass? If that were the case I would say rather normal in that configuration

[Boozewaves]

its a interesting setup , I understand that the fans are for an air condenser so I get that bit .

I have not seen a sightglass to the side of a keg still posted here yet though , this is interesting to me because I want to do something similar just so I can fill up my boiler to the maximum safe amount for stripping runs without having to measure the amount I am pouring or syphoning in . did the sightglass come like that or did you change the glass for a taller piece?

does the side sightglass have a pipe connected to its top which goes up to the base of the column? . it looks like that in the picture .

maybe because its all connected in a loop (if it is) the boiler is pushing something into the glass ,did you distill on the grain or did you sieve grain out as you put the boiler charge in?

another thought I have just had is once last year I did a stripping run outside seeing as the weather was nice and I turned my water on for my condenser at the usual time , what I did not realise was that my hose was not connected to the stills hose connector and so I got a jar of brown stuff even though I was running ujssm that I had carefully cleared and racked . maybe oils is right

sometimes the very last part of emptying my keg through my drain I get a brown sludge , not really thought about it too much , could be dead yeast or small burnt corn particles , the results have always seemed o.k to me so have not thought about it too much . that could be what's getting pushed into the glass .

i'm not sure just sharing some thoughts I had , be interested to see what other people who've had more experience than me think

[jimmayhugh]

It seems that some parts of the wash have risen in the sight glass. If they were just oils I think they would float on the surface, I think there are fatty / heavy substances that tend to decant. Was it a cereal wash?Now that I've seen the first photo better, is this sediment in your lower level glass? If that were the case I would say rather normal in that configuration

The wash was an LME barley/rye mix, with an OG of about 1.101 and a FG of 1.010, somewhere around 10% ABV. The dark-colored liquid in the sight glass is the wash. While I didn't record any videos, I could clearly see the straw-colored liquid dripping in from the top.

[jimmayhugh]

its a interesting setup , I understand that the fans are for an air condenser so I get that bit .

I have not seen a sightglass to the side of a keg still posted here yet though , this is interesting to me because I want to do something similar just so I can fill up my boiler to the maximum safe amount for stripping runs without having to measure the amount I am pouring or syphoning in . did the sightglass come like that or did you change the glass for a taller piece?

does the side sightglass have a pipe connected to its top which goes up to the base of the column? . it looks like that in the picture .

I ordered the asight glass as-is from the distellix store on aliexpress

I have a length of 1/2" CSST on which I silver-soldered two tri-clamp ferrules, and attached on side to the top of the sight glass, and the other side to a 2" spool with a 1.5" tee mounted on the boiler.

maybe because its all connected in a loop (if it is) the boiler is pushing something into the glass ,did you distill on the grain or did you sieve grain out as you put the boiler charge in?

The wash is a barley/rye LME that I mix to an OG of about 1.100. I also use room-temp amylase to break down some of the longer chain sugars. It regularly ferments out between 1.010 and 1.001.

another thought I have just had is once last year I did a stripping run outside seeing as the weather was nice and I turned my water on for my condenser at the usual time , what I did not realise was that my hose was not connected to the stills hose connector and so I got a jar of brown stuff even though I was running ujssm that I had carefully cleared and racked . maybe oils is right

sometimes the very last part of emptying my keg through my drain I get a brown sludge , not really thought about it too much , could be dead yeast or small burnt corn particles , the results have always seemed o.k to me so have not thought about it too much . that could be what's getting pushed into the glass .

i'm not sure just sharing some thoughts I had , be interested to see what other people who've had more experience than me think