New member . New still

[johnh89]

Just a quick introduction . I have been a viewer of this site for quite a few years and have read and learnt a large amount from the very knowledgable people who post on here . The parent site is an absolute work of genius and extends a depth of knowledge and willingness to share almost unheard of on the internet . I have been distilling homemade alcohol for about 10 years now with a mate of mine who was working overseas in a dry country . With him being quite a gifted engineer by trade we started by making a simple liebig still from copper tube and fittings and the first batch was somewhat of an acquired taste but it was plain to see that there was potential for improvement and a great deal of entertainment . On his trips back home I would always try to have another batch of wort ready to distil and see what we could come up with . Various designs were tried over the years but having delved into reflux columns and such like , we came to the conclusion that , as with most things , simple is best . The chemical side of the whole operation was refined by my mate whilst I tried to turn his ideas into reality . After about a dozen or so stills I have settled on a design for a simple pot still which does perform a certain amount of reflux by default . It is made from 3 concentric tubes and a total of 4 plumbing fittings . The last one was exported to a mate in rural France who is currently making calvados with it . I decided today to make another slightly larger still to the same design and have a go with that . Sadly the hobby is now a one man endeavour as my mate who started the idea succumbed to cancer and died 18months ago. I distil on a small scale for my own entertainment , normally 2 gallons at a time , a mash made of simple sugar to produce a clear rum or cachaca . I am aware that most on this forum like to do things on a considerably larger scale but to each their own , eh? . I am aware of the moderators comments and peoples thoughts on using aluminium for boiling vessels and various other materials but like everything in life , rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men . As long as something is done with full knowledge of the facts and risks I think that the final decision rests with the individual . The whole apparatus is heated by a hotplate made from a electric hob element as it relies on a known wattage of input and has no thermostat so the heat is constant and controllable in six steps i.e 350w , 650W , 1000W . 1350W , 1650W and 2kW . I have included some pics of the latest adition to come from the dark depths of the garage for your comments . Cheers

[punkin]

Welcome John, nice introduction and a good story. Nice pics also of your shiny coppery goods, but you'll have to explain the function for me.

Nice to have you posting and i agree with what you say about the resources provided by Tony and Uncle Jessie, i've never seen the like for any of my other (now background) hobbies.


Thankyou aging guys.

[johnh89]

Thanks for the comments . i thought it about time that I gave something back to the site having taken so much knowledge from it over the years . I can not hope to compete with the knowledge some of you guys seem to have but i can offer real world experience . I have included a diagram that I drew 5 years ago when we first designed the still . It worked very well but the new one is about twice the length and the inner 15mm pipe now goes up to approx 3/4 of the height of the whole column . I kinda thought that it would induce more reflux .But until I run it for the first time I can only guess what will come out of it . The previous incarnation now residing in France outperformed its design criteria by a mile! It was the first still that I had built that made me think that at last we were on to something and not just peeing in the wind . By tinkering with the wash that we put through it and running it twice or three times it made a hell of a good drink . Originally my mate christened it JFC 'cos the first time he drank it he uttered the words 'jesuus f***in' christ '. Over the years I have made liqueurs and all sorts of rum but I have now settled in to producing clear , nearly neutral spirit for my own edification . I have included some pics of various stills that I have made over the last ten years or so and when I dig deep into the harddrive I may come up with some more . I have also posted a pic of my cider press in action as this is what started the whole thing off . ENJOY . p.s before anyone spouts off about the use of plastics in stills for the product output I am aware of the risks and have now changed my practices accordingly . Education is a wonderful thing .

[HookLine]

Nice design, and like your boiler too. My only comment about it is that the column might be a bit too easy to bend at the base coz the whole column is supported by a 15 mm tube.

Can you rotate the 3rd pic 90º?

Oh, and you might want to remove the trailer registration number from the last picture.

[rad14701]

Welcome, johnh89...

Nice design and pic's... I had a similar idea and it's good to know that the concept works... Now I'm inclined to build one with an external reflux valve at the take off point...

Sorry to hear about the loss of your partner in crime...

[eternalfrost]

surprised no one mentioned this yet....but are those all rubber hoses on the outlets going into your collection jars? thats a big no-no

[HookLine]

p.s before anyone spouts off about the use of plastics in stills for the product output I am aware of the risks and have now changed my practices accordingly . Education is a wonderful thing .

[johnh89]

Thanks again for the comments . Regarding the 15mm copper tube supporting the column , I have never had any problems yet with heavier stills than this but I will let you know when I try this one out . The cooling is done by a simple siphon system from a bucket on the bench to another one on the floor and if the water is still cool when it gets ther it is emptied back into the top reservoir , if not it is filled from a hose . As I only run small washes it is not a problem . The reg plate on the trailer is not a problem as the car that it is attached to went a long time ago but thank you for your concern . Also thanks Hookline for correcting the poster regarding the plastic lines from the still . I do not use them anymore for safetys sake but they were checked by the other half of the operation , him being a chemical engineer , and found to have no detrimental effect one the product . I have taken the 2 photos that were 90 degrees out and reposted them . Ta ta for now.

[bronzdragon]

Nice work, I could only hope to one day be able to solder/braze that good. Hope it works well for you.

~bd~

[johnh89]

Thanks for the compliment ! Soldering is just a case of plenty of heat until the flame goes green , nice clean and shiny surfaces to the joint , plenty of flux and not to much solder . If you can see blobs of solder outside the joint then they are doing nothing other than looking ugly . Joints can be wiped with a damp rag while the solder is still molten and if you can be bothered , after the joint is cool , excess solder can be removed from the tubing with fine wet and dry paper . As I like the stills that I make to look tidy , I spend a bit of time after construction polishing them up . After any solder has been cleaned off , I scour them with fine wire wool and then polish them with T-cut . All they need when they get used is a quick wipe over after use . Practice makes perfect and I would recommend anyone to have a go . Besides what the finished still looks like does not change what you can do with it . I would rather see plenty of well designed but ugly stills than listen to people talk about what wonders they will build in the future but never get round to . Talk is cheap . Everyone has to start somewhere and my advice would be to dive in and have a go . I started building them without the benefit of the knowledge that I have since gained from this site and have made and drunk gallons of hooch that with the benefit of hindsight would have been better used to fuel one of the motorbikes . With the time and application to read some of the advice and info on this forum and the parent site , it is not beyond anyones capabilities to produce decent homemade hooch for your own consumption . Good luck with future building and post some pics of your stills without any embarrassment .

[bourbonbob]

Nice work Johnh89, but as eternalfrost says, ditch your rubber/plastic collection hoses and replace them with copper or stainless. Your body will thank you for it.

[tracker0945]

Nice work Johnh89, but as eternalfrost says, ditch your rubber/plastic collection hoses and replace them with copper or stainless. Your body will thank you for it.

re-read BB, he's already done that (old photo's).

Cheers.

[johnh89]

In reply to the members of the forum regarding the use of plastic for the collection hose , I thank the two members that have pointed out that I had already addressed this in previous posts . For the record and to clear it up once and for all , the stills pictured were built and used many years ago . The material used and the hooch that had come through them were professionally tested by a chemical engineer and found to be fine . I have drunk many gallons of produce that were produced using them with no ill effects other than the usual effects of overindulgence of alcohol . My body will not thank me for ditching them as much as it would thank me for ditching drinking alcohol altogether . HOWEVER ( and please forgive the use of capitals ) MY METHODS HAVE NOW BEEN AMENDED TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE . I NO LONGER USE PLASTICS OF ANY SORT WHERE THEY COME INTO CONTACT WITH WITH HIGH ALCOHOL VAPOURS AND LIQUIDS . THE PICTURES POSTED ARE FOR INFORMATION . I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO USE PLASTICS OF ANY SORT IN THEIR STILLS . SUBJECT NOW CLOSED WITH REGARDS TO THE ABOVE . Thank you for listening to the rant but please read all posts before replying . I will have a look for some more pictures of stills that I have made in the past . Feel free to post comments good or bad about the designs or any aspect but steer clear of mentioning the P word again as I don't respond well to nagging or being told what is good for me . ( my mum tried it 40 years ago and it did't work then !)

[I-GOR]

Cool design. It's simple and compact, sassy and brassy - a musical humdinger!
What should we call it : how bout "the smiling spider column".

I want one too. But first, I am interested in whether or not it will only produce neutrals, or is it good for some flavor, i.e. brandy?
Maybe it could be upsized for o.d. of 2" and a hot run. Maybe the top could be threaded to allow access to some packing.

One observation about the design pops into my wee brain: if for some reason the distillate take-off tube comes loose with 85%abv dripping down the side of the pot into the burner, it could be a hot time in the ol' town tonight.
How about a copper or stainless tube w/ a threaded connector to that take-off nipple at the base and a little flour / water as pipe dope; just to make a skookum connection.

[punkin]

I swear sometimes people must just look at pictures or scan a couplea words before they post

[trthskr4]

I swear sometimes people must just look at pictures or scan a couplea words before they post

I just found out the other day that there are words and stories in the nudie magazines...what the hell are they doing there? Must be getting old when I start reading the articles instead of looking at the photos.

[DestructoMutt]

from punkin-

I swear sometimes people must just look at pictures or scan a couplea words before they post

some don't even do that....and to think, they're "playing" with fire and an explosive vapor in a house next to you.....

[I-GOR]

I swear sometimes people must just look at pictures or scan a couplea words before they post

O.K. Still learnin' here and I ain't too proud. What do you see that I missed?

[rad14701]

I swear sometimes people must just look at pictures or scan a couplea words before they post

O.K. Still learnin' here and I ain't too proud. What do you see that I missed?

Just a couple of posts above yours was a post explaining how all plastics have been replaced in these old designs...

[punkin]

I swear sometimes people must just look at pictures or scan a couplea words before they post

O.K. Still learnin' here and I ain't too proud. What do you see that I missed?

Just a couple of posts above yours was a post explaining how all plastics have been replaced in these old designs...

It was B/B who reiterated the plastic stuff.

And that is the second time in this thread that the explanation of past mistakes has been made by John.

[I-GOR]

Lesson learned.

[Dan Call]

Feldman was fantastic in Young Frankenstein......love the "Certainly....you take the blond
and I'll take the one with the turbin."

Welcome to your first series of posts....I wish more people would post, the "read to post ratio" on this site is stupifyingly outlandish. Sincere concolences on the loss of your friend, perhaps continuing in this excellent craft will impart a certain honor bestowed on your friend's memory.

I'm wondering, with the concentric design, what type of throughput you are getting, a little explanation of some of your mashes, and in particular, if you are having any heating or evaporation issues with the take-off so close to the heat. I'm also wondering how a system like this would scale.....I'm wondering how it would effect efficiency. My guess is that you would be getting "output reflux," so to speak, if the heat effects your take-off area to a reasonable extent which leads to what your results are like.

[johnh89]

Righty ho . time to reply to some of the above posts . So many questions . FROM THE TOP ....
RAD14701 - I take it by external reflux you are talking about throttling back the output and allowing the still to flood back on itself . A nice idea but I think if you wanted to try it the inner 15mm tube would have to shorter and have a reducer to allow the distillate to drip into the middle of the column and the column would need packing .Also i think it woould benefit from being scaled up somewhat . I have in the past run the condenser on top of a packed reflux column about 2 ft high with some success but as I said earlier there are better designs for reflux columns and I now prefer the simplicity of pot stills .
I-GOR - I tend to use the still for producing neutral spirits but I have run various washes through it with success . I made some acceptable rum with a wash made from blackstrap mollasses some years ago but in hindsight it could have done with another run through the still and possibly aging longer than the 20 minutes or so it got last time ! With regards to packing the column see the above comments and I suspect that it would benefit from being scaled up somewhat . Maybe 2in or so column and appropriate other tubing to fit . If you do it please let me know how you get on . I have been toying with the idea of breaking out the welding gear and making a similar design in stainless with a 4in column when I can lay my hands on some tubing at a decent price . Regarding the fire hazard aspect , I have been a professional firefighter for the wrong side of 20 years and whilst not immune to the odd bout of idiocy , I am aware of the danger of heating flammable solvents . This is one of the reasons that I use electric heating rather than gas . I like the idea of a threaded take off tube . At present after ditching the plastic , I am using 8mm copper tube sealed to the outlet with flour paste for the product take off . What does the word "skookum mean " . ? Is it some strange yankee vernacular ?
DAN CALL - When I run 2 gallons of wash it takes me about 2 hours after coming to the boil to produce about 2 pints of product . All cuts are done by taste and experience as I can't be arsed anymore with a thermometer . For the first still we built I had a set up with a thermistor and multimeter that had been calibrated so we knew what the temperature was at the top of the coulmn but after a while I decided that doing it by taste was a better idea . I normally run washes made from 1kg of cane sugar per gallon of water with a dash of citric acid to help the yeast as I find that it likes a slightly acidic environment to work . I have run all sorts of washes through my stills in the past and the original concentric design still now in france is used with a wash of cider to produce calvados . It does appear to require aging but after 2 runs through the still it has a decent flavour . Regarding your observation about the take off being close to the heat source , I have never had a problem with it but the distillate does come out still warm . This is the reason that I made the new column somewhat longer . When I have run it I will let you know if it makes any difference .

Regarding washes to distill , my wife makes a lot of Jams and jellies to sell at a local market and yesterday told me that the latest batch had failed to set . Hold on a minute I thought . Fruit and sugar . Shall I chuck it in the bin ? Feed it to the chickens ? How about chucking some yeast in it and firing it through the old still in a couple of weeks . Just about to do that so I will keep you all posted on the results .

Regards to all and thanks for your interest .

[bourbonbob]

Nice work Johnh89, but as eternalfrost says, ditch your rubber/plastic collection hoses and replace them with copper or stainless. Your body will thank you for it.

re-read BB, he's already done that (old photo's).

Cheers.

Yep, noticed that. I got a bit passionate with a bottle of UJSM last night, funny what it can do to your comprehension.

[Hack]

Skookum is strange yankee vernacular meaning stout and strong. I'm not sure how widespread it is. It may be more of a Warshington thing.

[johnh89]

UJSM ? Que-ce que ces't en francais .? Or english if you prefer . Don't speak yankee . Only joking and please don't take offence .

[Hawke]

U.J.S.M. Uncle Jesse's Simple Sour Mash. It's a tried and true recipe. Great way to start learning the ins and outs of the hobby.

[johnh89]

Just dug through the hard-drive and came up with the following photos .
Small still along the lines of the concentric referred to previously . If you ask nicely I will give you the details . The whole unit measures about 7 inches end to end and be easily hidden if required . I had to cut a few corners and efficiency has been compromised but it works !



offset head design with leibig condensor . Was run on the top of a 2ft packed column . It worked adequately and produced spirit at 78% on one run . This was meant to be the dogs bollocks but I was rather disappointed and since then have reverted to pot stills .



Close up of the same




One wall of my shed . The large plastic thing is not a still but an air cannon .

[I-GOR]

I-GOR - I made some acceptable rum with a wash made from blackstrap mollasses some years ago but in hindsight it could have done with another run through the still and possibly aging longer than the 20 minutes or so it got last time ! With regards to packing the column see the above comments and I suspect that it would benefit from being scaled up somewhat . Maybe 2in or so column and appropriate other tubing to fit . If you do it please let me know how you get on .take off . What does the word "skookum mean " . ? Is it some strange yankee vernacular ?

I did my first molasses / sugar wash this summer and found that is greatly improved after about 6 weeks now w/ a bit of oak and a tablespoon of molasses. Although, I was definitely drinking it at 20 minutes. It seemed like tater's ratios worked best for me.
I really like your column design and want to play with it later. You did use it for clavados so it must be good enough for fruit brandies.

Forgive me papa Tater, for I am about to post off topic: Skookum is a regional word adopted from coastal Salish (native american), used in the building and marine industries with the context of watertight. My apologies for the unfamiliar vernacular. I have to keep in mind that this forum is an international brotherhood transcending national boundaries (sisters welcome too) - how cool is that!

[johnh89]

Just a quick update on the new still . Just had its first run this afternoon . Wash was 10 litres of sugar wash . 2kg of sugar , 2 teaspoons of citric acid (the yeast seems to work better in an acid environment) , made up to 10 litres with cold water and a good handful of general winemakers yeast . Original gravity about 1080 so about 12.5% alcohol . Fired up the hotplate and ran it flat out (2000W) with the intention of doing two runs but stopped after 1 run and 1.5 litres of hooch at 60% . The reading was taken with the output slightly warm so I cooled it and it registered as dead on 50% at 20 degrees . The run took about 90 minutes and on tasting it was really quite good so I aborted the second run idea and bottled it . I will keep one bottle as it is and have a play with some recipes with the other one . I will let you all know how it turns out probably at xmas time .
I was quite pleased with the performance of the still and the only slight drawback is the warm output which is a symptom of the design . The condenser is very efficient and only used 2 buckets of water in 90 mins . The cooling water coming out was quite warm with the flow turned right down but the bottom half of the condenser was cold . Even running the cooling water flat out will not cool the output any more as a previous poster pointed out the output is close to the vapour path . I have never worried about a warm output as the more volatile products would evaporate .
See ya all later .