I have brewed beer for many years, and have some friends that don't have a taste for beer. (Any beer, whiskey drinkers..) I have been gatherin up materials to try my hand at some sour mash and have amassed a 15 gallon keg, 5' sch 40 SS 304, 4' SS sanitary pipe, and a 5 gallon keg. I also have a 19 gallon 304 SS pressure vessel that could be used for something I would guess.
I would like to make a pot still, should I cut the sanitary tubing down to about 15", fill with copper scrubbies, and a 45 and lyne arm to that? OR should I leave it at the length it is and not put any scrubbies in it? I will be making the lyne arm and condensor out of copper. What would everyone recommend with these materials? I am not a voddie drinker so that would rule out a reflux column.
Lastly, should I build a pot still with a thumper? My guess is that it isn't worth it from my readings on the board, but I am sure it would sound cool when running!
Pot still for whiskies. Pot still as you describe the heart cuts should average around 60% ABV, without scrubbers. With scrubbers I have gotten mine as high as 78% when it first started with an average of 66%-68% for the hearts. The target for my oak keg is 62.5%. Running it slower can also increase %ABV some.
That pressure vessel aught to make a jim dandy if ya can get pipe threads on it.
Thanks for the replies guys! So far it seems the pressure vessel would be the way to go, not using the keg and the sanitary pipe? Should I cut a hole and have a 2" threaded fitting welded to the top of the vessel, and then thread the end of the SS pipe I have?
What length should I cut the pipe if I want a flexible pot still that will do whiskey, rum, brandy, that kind of thing? Would 2' be better than say 4'? If it is longer, I would probably get some reflux out of it and then strip flavor? Should I go taller and not use scrubbies or shorter and use scrubbies?
Sorry for the questions guys, I have been reading up on this, but I would like to do it right the first time!
a pot still is the way to go for whiskey and you need to cut the pipe down to make a pot still some say 18'' at most mine is 24'' and makes a nice clean whiskey.sorta a matter of taste. if you use the ss you need to put copper packing in it.the copper will help to get rid of sulfurs and other nasteys.
What kind of heat supply are you thinking about? That, along with condensing power should be considered sooner rather than later.. I'm a purist when it comes to pot-stills.. The good ol' bush stillers never used scrubbies.. Homebuilt has a beautiful example of a solid/simple potstill a few threads below this one.. A larger diameter pipe than his couldn't hurt, but while vapor obstacles are great for ABV, they're also great at flavor stripping.. The beauty of a simple potstill is that with more effort you can get the ABV by redistilling, and in doing so you can keep up the flavor by adding a portion of new wash to your 2nd run.. (Not that you can't do that with any still).. Another great potstill example is in Tater's avatar (although there are many others that also deserve honorable mention [Pinto et al]).. Its not rocket science.. (Unless of course you intend to use your distillate to power a rocket..
I actually saw a proof of concept rocket fuel based on ETOH and parafin wax.. With enough oxygen all I can say about that is holy dog-snot!:)
First you get the sugar.. Then you get the power.. Then, you get the women...
Trigger,
I am going to use a turkey burner for the still. I have a smaller one about 55k max that I can turn down to a candle flame as needed. I would like the still to be able to run a reflux head as well as I was thinking of adding the PDA-1 head down the road to mess with a little ethanol.
Thanks for all the input folks, I expect that I will start with plasma cutting the hole for the fitting on the vessel this evening.
Wish me luck!
use the keg as the boiler the ss tank as a thumper, and some copper pipe to connect the two. I don't run a thumper on my new still, but I have, it does help (in my opinion).
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Homebuilt has a beautiful example of a solid/simple potstill a few threads below this one.. A larger diameter pipe than his couldn't hurt, but while vapor obstacles are great for ABV, they're also great at flavor stripping.. The beauty of a simple potstill is that with more effort you can get the ABV by redistilling, and in doing so you can keep up the flavor by adding a portion of new wash to your 2nd run.. (Not that you can't do that with any still).. Another great potstill example is in Tater's avatar (although there are many others that also deserve honorable mention [Pinto et al]).. Its not rocket science.. (Unless of course you intend to use your distillate to power a rocket..