copper coils not safe?

[stillvodka]

OK, i haven't been on here for a long while
I am building a new still, need to brush up on what i learnt over the years, so doing a lot of reading on the various forums
At the moment deciding build pot still or slant plate, always ran mostly pot stills , this time I decided on the slant plate design, looking around info on a double helix condenser, flicking through the various distilling forums came across someone asking the question on making a copper coil condenser, first reply from forum member was that nobody on here uses copper coil condensers no more, everyone uses stainless steel, and stated copper ones are unsafe and stated that for $135 you can buy stainless one
downward path was mentioned

Did I misread , have I got this right , I did recognise the poster

[Expat]

No idea why they would say that, perhaps they had an interest in selling stainless parts. Lots of people here use copper coils, it's safe. As with all copper, clean it properly before use with drinkable spirits.

Also if a stainless coil were desired, CSST (corrugated stainless steel tube) can be had for far less than described and pretty easily wound into shape.

[still_stirrin]

...nobody on here uses copper coil condensers no more, everyone uses stainless steel, and stated copper ones are unsafe and stated that for $135 you can buy stainless one downward path was mentioned. Did I misread...

Are you talkng about this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53217 Much debate there and the conclusions are very polar. So, decide for yourself.

Incidently, if you HDGoogle “ethyl carbamate” you’ll get a lot of responses worth reading to educate yourself. Cheers.
ss

p.s. - my shotgun PC is copper, as is my whole stillhead. And I sleep fine at night...

[stillvodka]

p.s. - my shotgun PC is copper, as is my whole stillhead. And I sleep fine at night...

I'll go with that statement,

We all know without a doubt dangers of plastic! but bloody hell, having a go at Brass was bad enough, but Copper

I'll stick with Still_drinking on this one

[Saltbush Bill]

Sounds like a lot of garbage to me.

[cranky]

I remember reading on the old parent site something about a major distillery saying you need to run copper in the descending path to help remove ethyl carbamate so I never put all that much credence in the belief than stainless steel condensers are necessary. Copper has been used safely for hundreds of years with no real issues.

[Bushman]

+1 on what has been said, copper has been used for ever in Europe, I have used some form of copper coil/twisted copper shotgun condenser/dephlagmater in all the stills I have built without issue!

[Alchemist75]

I ran with glass once, well, for many years and I figured out a way to put copper in the path. it made ok product and I made it so it was 100% copper free in the downcomer. I shifted to steel and copper, copper in the downcomer, copper in every spot not steel. I swear by God it makes the best liquor there is, better than glass by far. Copper is tradition, copper is the best, copper draws out the impurities and makes the cleanest booze. Keep it clean and rinsed and there will be no problems, only benefits. I'm buzzed but sure of myself, use copper. Where available. Always.

[Kareltje]

I have not yet heard one sound, really well funded argument here.
You really have to study for yourself, so buy a gaschromatograph and start experimenting.
I am very curious to hear your findings.

[Desvio]

Copper by nature is easily mined and processed, it's very malleable which is why it has been used for centuries, it is also inherently anti microbial. So all of that considered the human race would have died long ago if it were that unsafe, with that I'm going to call total BS on whomever told you it is unsafe in this practice.

[Kareltje]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf ... .tb00450.x" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Alchemist75]

Sweet article kareltje. It almost seems, from my personal experience, that the more contact the spirit has with copper the better it gets. That may be a strictly personal thing and perhaps not strictly true but that's been my impression.

[Kareltje]

Another one:

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/sa/v57n4/a05v57n4.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Bizelli, L.C., C.A.F. Ribeiro & F. Valadares
Dupla destilação da aguardente de cana: teores de acidez total e de cobre.
Double distillation of sugar cane spirit: copper and total acidity contents.
Scientia Agricola 57 (4), oct./dec. 2000

And then there is of course the association of copper with Venus, while iron (and ss is mainly iron) is associated with Mars. When the distillate condenses in a copper worm it takes some of the Venus energy of the copper and is smoothed, when it condenses in a ss worm it takes some of the Mars energy and will become sharper.

[cranky]

And then there is of course the association of copper with Venus, while iron (and ss is mainly iron) is associated with Mars. When the distillate condenses in a copper worm it takes some of the Venus energy of the copper and is smoothed, when it condenses in a ss worm it takes some of the Mars energy and will become sharper.

That right there is the best argument for using all copper

[Bushman]

Making sure when you are purchasing copper mesh that it is 100% copper is important. In my post Making your own copper mesh, Mash Rookie had the welding cable tested. He was a person that really spearheaded a lot of experiments to improve the hobby and put his money where is mouth was when it came to investing material and design concepts to compare methods.

[Alchemist75]

And then there is of course the association of copper with Venus, while iron (and ss is mainly iron) is associated with Mars. When the distillate condenses in a copper worm it takes some of the Venus energy of the copper and is smoothed, when it condenses in a ss worm it takes some of the Mars energy and will become sharper.

Solve et coagula kareltje? Getting into alchemical jargon now. Maybe start saying things like:
Increase the flame under the alembic that our white dragon may take flight into the retort......maybe instead of heads, hearts and tails use terms like draconis caput, Cor draconis and cauda draconis. That'd really confuse the noobs lol.

[Kareltje]

De opinionibus discutandum esse, rather.
But then with sound and relevant arguments, please. There is no need to confuse noobs with nonsense.