Ultra Pure Still

[WhiskyBarron]

Hi! I'm new to all of this and have a couple of question...

I am interested in getting a still. I am looking at either an Air Still or an Ultra Pure Still. Both are quite expensive, but I will pay the money if I know I'll get a good product at the end. I want to make neutral spirit, then flavour/oak to make whisky.

I have read that the AIr Still can produce sub-standard and smelling liquor. I am not interested in that.

I have read some of the posts on this site about both air still and Ultra Pure Still. But both say good and bad things about both types!

What to do???

Thanks!

[olddog]

Make your own still, you will get a better product. Pot still for whiskey bourbon and spirits with flavour, reflux VM type for neutral spirits.

[Hawke]

You are able to make a decent product from those stills, with the right wash and technique. Turbo yeast pushed to 18 or 20% is not one of them.

The biggest drawback for them is thier size.
It won't take you long to wish you had something a bit larger. Most that have been through it agree, that a 20L boiler is about the smallest for practicality.

[Hawke]

One of the easiest ways to build a still is to get either a 1/4 barrel (7.5 gal) or 1/2 barrel (15.5 gal) beer keg, about 5 feet of 2", 3/4" and 1/2" copper pipe and a few fittings. This is the basics for a Vapor Management (VM) still, that would produce 190 proof, clean alcohol, for about the same price as one of the store boughts.

[rad14701]

You can definitely build a bigger and better still for less money...

[WhiskyBarron]

Thanks for the advice. Take it on board.
As a general question I guess, what rate of water should you run through the still - say a reflux or one of these ultra pure stills? We are very water conscious in Australia and I would like to know how much water needs to be run through say, a 25Litre wash? Thanks

[Dnderhead]

probably 50l but it can be recycled or used for other things.

[olddog]

I have a 50lt boiler and I use a plastic garbage bin from Bunnings which is about 60lts full of water with an aquarium pump feeding my leibig, it normally takes about 4 hours to distill a 25lt wash and its just getting warm by the time I finish.

[Websterman]

Hi! I'm new to all of this and have a couple of question...

I am interested in getting a still. I am looking at either an Air Still or an Ultra Pure Still. Both are quite expensive, but I will pay the money if I know I'll get a good product at the end. I want to make neutral spirit, then flavour/oak to make whisky.

I have read that the AIr Still can produce sub-standard and smelling liquor. I am not interested in that.

I have read some of the posts on this site about both air still and Ultra Pure Still. But both say good and bad things about both types!

What to do???

Thanks!

I have the Ultra Pure still and its really good at neutrals, especially if you run them through twice. Stay well away from turbo yeast and you wont need the carbon filtering gear. Like you I just wanted something that would work and I was happy to pay a little for it as long as it did work. The ultra pure still delivers 92 percent valve fully open every time if your wash has around 10 percent alcohol or bit more. If you slow it down to near a drop per second it will deliver 95 percent or more, but I find thats power consuming for not much benifit. Its extremely effective on water usage, just needs a good trickle going through it. Make sure you use the stainless scrubbers that come with it as I tried copper ones and it throws this still out of balance. The stainless scrubbers are better at holding heat and last heaps longer. It dribbles out 1.3 litres @ 92 percent per hour valve fully open and is very constant and easy to use. I usually let mine initially reflux for 20min before I open the valve and collect 1 drop per second of the first 250ml. Once I got that I open it up and let it rip. Keep an eye on the temp guage and as soon as you notice half a degree rise from were its been initially sitting stable "stop" collecting. The tails come out strong and quick towards the end of the run. Double distill a plain bakers yeast sugar wash using tomatoe paste, lemon & sugar, water you will get a awesome neutral garuanteed, but definately stay right "away" from the turbo method for a good quality neutral.

For neutral alcohol this is receipt is great -Birdwatchers sugar wash recipe. You can find it in the tried & true recipes section.

I don't go to all the bother in the instructions. I just mix it all up well with warm water, stir in the bakers east, seal it off and let it ferment away.

[Aces High]

Where in Oz are you Whisky Barron?

Like olddog, i've got a big plastic bin, although mine is 200L and I have a cheap boat bilge pump running the reciculating water. No waste water at all. There is a guy here in WA that sells 150L bins for about $17 bucks. They're HDPE plastic and have a metal locking ring around the outside, so they're also good to do a large neutral run.

If you'd like to buy an easystill i'll sell you my one second hand. It was good because it got me excited about this hobby, but I soon learnt that it wasn't big enough to do proper cuts.

[WhiskyBarron]

Thanks for the replies gents, especiallu Websterman - it's great to hear from someone who has one and has run it and can vouch for it. I'll give it all some thought and decide this week I think. I am also still reading everything to get on top of the vast amount of imformation - this site is amazing!!!!

[Websterman]

Yeah it is amazing and I have learnt so much from it all. I was totally disappointed when I started out with the turbo wash and carbon filtering and ageing crap. I can get a damn good vodka now without any carbon filtering at all and no ageing. Just shows what our home brewer sellers know about it all in Oz here. Or maybe they do know and they just want us hooked on buying their products for profit reasons. Anyway I am comparing my tripple distilled vodka against some bought products and I really do think mines good, I know thats easy to say but I am sure mines got the edge. Im very careful to collect the hearts on the last run im doing, well I narrow it down each distillation to be truthful by removing some heads and tales each distillation. Its great fun and just amazing what some of these dudes on here can teach you. By the way my pure distiller came with a 30 litre pot. Its my advice to have atleast that otherwise you cannot make thos proper heart cuts acurately. Right now im in the process of making a lite rum, I used 6 kilo of good brown sugar (not raw) in my approx 35 litre bin using bakers yeast. Its got a good rum taste but im going to run it fast 3 times through my pot still I made and see how it comes out. Hopefully won't need ageing because im using good product. My pot still I made attaches to my pure distiller pot so I utilized the cost of the pure distiller..

[Websterman]

Oh yeah,, forgot to say but your better off buying those 40 litre bins from Big W or somewhere for $12 and throw some wrap over them with rubberbands tied together so they can stretch around and hold the cling wrap on firm. I find those 25l things are a waste of time in comparison. Better off making bigger washes then dividing them in half and run them through the still in two seperate goes. If your going to run a 2nd or even 3rd time just add litre of water so your boiler don't run dry.

[VicBill]

Hi,

There have been previous threads about the Ultra Pure Still before, like this one...

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

and there is a picture of the 5 litre version (at the bottom) as well as other reflux stills here...

http://homedistiller.org/photos-reflux.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I've also been using the 30 litre version for over 18 months, don't waste time with the 5 litre. I agree with Websterman with much of what he says, only I tend to run a bit quicker than a drop a second, about 600-800ml/hr.

I also tend to finish my run at a temperature rise of only .2 degree.

[Ayay]

Hi Whiskeybarron. Websterman has the best answer (I think I got the names correct)...make what you got work the best it can one way or another. Keep on tweaking it on all fronts. A complete upgrade of the still will happenn sooner or later. Previous experience with whatever will make a huge difference because nothing goes to waste.

[Websterman]

I run mine flat out once I rid the initial 250ml. The slow taking of that first 250ml keeps the still refluxing and the higher alcohols and metho etc have time to build up in the top of the still and be more consentrated which allows catching them more thorough. Another thing is I have more trouble with the headsy taste than the tails as I find this still does a great job at letting you know when to stop by the sudden temp rise, even though its only 0.1 or 0.2 of a degree as VicBill mentioned. I refuse to carbon filter my products as it should not be necessary.

Here is how I get a really good quality vodka using this still (no carbon filtering or ageing)

Ferment 6 kilo of sugar with 1 cup of tomatoe paste and the juice of 1 medium lemon in a 35 to 40 litre bin. As I mentioned before I just use those cheap bins with gladwrap held on top with rubberbands around.. I dont pearce the wrap because it will balloon up and slowly seap out itself. I just grab the Lowan premium bakers yeast from woolworths. Use whatever though, defiance etc. The lowan yeast comes in a bigger 280g ? cylinder package which is easy to pure around a 3rd in a wash and keep the other 2/3 in the fridge for later. It also works out heaps cheaper as well.

Once its fermented.. (the time varies and it depends alot on the temp its been fermenting at) I give it a good stir and let it setlle for 1 or 2 days before siphoning it off into another bin, I then let it sit and settle clear enough to see through to the bottom during daylight hours (might take 1 week or might take 2) either way you have to let the yeast sediment clear. If your smart you will let it clear on a bench or something so you don't have to move it to siphon out into the boiler. Any yeast sediment you get in the boiler will make for a horrible smell & taste which creates more work for you and is exactly what you are trying to avoid.

By not using turbo yeast and letting the natural sugar wash thoroughly clear you have a wash product "leaps and bounds" ahead of those using turbo's. So half the battle is done as far as im concerned. Also you have no more stinky turbo washes smelling the house out, which is a good feat in itself to say the very least.

Now for distilling I collect half the wash in the boiler and remove that initial 250ml and then let it rip into a large glass bottle until I notice the temp suddenly rising up to 1 degree from what it was stable on. So it might read 78.9 the whole way then suddenly move up to 79.9 etc.. Thats when you stop. Now throw the other half of the sugar wash in the boiler repeat the process and add the finished spirits together.

I now clean the boiler and still out with the hose to prepare it for a good quality spirit run. The boiler will heat up alot quicker now you have removed the solids & reduced the water volume etc. Pour your already once distilled product back into the boiler and add a litre of water so it can't run dry. This is were you start getting a good product. Let the still refux for around 10 min or more (dont collect any product) and the high & smelly alcohols will slowly make there way to the top first and the temp gauge will settle back to a stable constant reading. As normal I collect that initial 200ml or so very slowly at around a drop per sec. This time once I have done that I open it up and collect the first 750ml in a seperate bottle. I usually have 4 or 5 clean 750ml bottles handy for this run. Number the 1st bottle No1 keep collecting in seperate 750ml bottles one after the other until you notice the temp going up half a degree and than stop.. Your all done...!

Now bottle No1 will taste a little headsy.. Bottle No2 should be quite good, hopefully no tails got in bottle No3 and it is just as good as No2, the 4th or 5th (or last bottle) depending on how much product you ended up collecting should contain the tails which is easy identified when taste tested against the rest. Keep the headsy bottle and the last bottle containing tails aside for adding with your next sugar wash. This will up the next batch alcohol percentage and you will not be wasting a good drop of your hard work.

Now you should have a couple of 750ml vodka bottle containg well over 90 percent alcohol. (And all HEARTS)

Accurately water them down to 40% and bottle them away in the pantry for a day or two.. You will be impressed with what you have made...!


I hope this helps all those that have a pure distiller and have not been able to get a good vodka going CHEERS.

[VicBill]

Websterman,

Pour your already once distilled product back into the boiler and add a litre of water so it can't run dry.

What it sounds like your doing is adding 3 litres of 90%+ from your first run with 1 litre of water to give you ~70% that you rerun.

Putting such a mix in a container with an electric element sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Surely you should add at least 3-4 litres of water to bring the liquid below flammable, especially as your mix sounds like it fills the boiler to just above the element.

I hope I misinterpreted what you said.

In fermenting I use a close match to Wineo's plain old sugar wash. 5.5kg sugar, 15 gms DAP, pinch of Epsom salts, teaspoon of dolomite lime, teaspoon of citric acid, 1 multivitamin b tablet, in about 27-28 litres of water, 1/2 cup lowans bakers yeast. I was using birdwatchers tomato paste recipe, but found this cleaner, easier, faster.

Never tried a turbo, as I spent enough time reading here before I started.

[HookLine]

Easiest way to make sure you do not run dry is to simply add water to the empty boiler first, enough to cover the element by an inch or so. Then add the alcohol.

[Websterman]

Websterman,

Pour your already once distilled product back into the boiler and add a litre of water so it can't run dry.

What it sounds like your doing is adding 3 litres of 90%+ from your first run with 1 litre of water to give you ~70% that you rerun.

Putting such a mix in a container with an electric element sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Surely you should add at least 3-4 litres of water to bring the liquid below flammable, especially as your mix sounds like it fills the boiler to just above the element.

I hope I misinterpreted what you said.

In fermenting I use a close match to Wineo's plain old sugar wash. 5.5kg sugar, 15 gms DAP, pinch of Epsom salts, teaspoon of dolomite lime, teaspoon of citric acid, 1 multivitamin b tablet, in about 27-28 litres of water, 1/2 cup lowans bakers yeast. I was using birdwatchers tomato paste recipe, but found this cleaner, easier, faster.

Never tried a turbo, as I spent enough time reading here before I started.

I was thinking along the lines that all altra pure stills came with the same boiler setup I have. The element is under the pot (not in the liquid product) therefore it cannot boil dry if you add a litre "or" even 1/2 a litre. It also has boild dry cut out so you cant boil dry even if you try. Its a very safe setup they have put together and as I mentioned the "element" is not inside the boiler. Its no more dangerous than fuel stored in a motor vehicle. On a motorbike for intance you have a tank of the stuff between your legs sitting over a hot fueled up engine. But I would have to agree you are right and what I have written is bad practise to try this with an internal element. It was more or less intructions of how I get a good product just using the ultra pure still setup I purchased. Adding enough water to bring the product to under flamable state is the correct and safe practise, I don't dipute that.

[Websterman]

The only reason I only add an approx litre of water is because A.. I have a very safe boiler designed for the job its doing B.. Far Less heatup time. If I hade anything else I would definately be watering it down to an unflamable state.

[HookLine]

I was thinking along the lines that all altra pure stills came with the same boiler setup I have. The element is under the pot (not in the liquid product) therefore it cannot boil dry if you add a litre "or" even 1/2 a litre. It also has boild dry cut out so you cant boil dry even if you try. Its a very safe setup they have put together and as I mentioned the "element" is not inside the boiler

Ah. That is a slightly different set up to an exposed internal element.

[rad14701]

Even with an external element you need to insure that you will have enough water left in the boiler once the good alcohol has been removed... You should still end up with an inch or two of water in the bottom just to be on the safe side... In addition, the added water will help further purify the spirits that are taken off as that is where the nasties will end up being... There is more reasons behind dilution prior to subsequent runs than to simply keep the boiler from running dry...

[Websterman]

I definately agree that adding more water will help purify the product even more so. I have an extremely good tripple distilled vodka which from memory I did dilute half an half with water on both the 2nd runs. As Rad has mentioned (and thinking back) it was more than likely the extra water added in the distilling runs has caught all those nasties.

The thing that I have found with producing Vodka is that if it aint up to your expectations then simply dilute it down half & half with water and run it through the still again. The product definately improves dramatically each run, and if you catch it in 750ml bottles one after the other you will most definately have a superb Vodka in the centre bottles. I always notice a slight bite in the first bottle and a tangy tails taste in the last bottle used for collecting, although after tripple distilling even the 1st & last collecting bottle near pass as a good vodka when I use the method I posted.

So I would change my (previously posted) directions to atleast half and half water to spirit dilution. Im definately no expert in the feild but I do get an extremely good Vodka using this method. When I go to a BBQ or party everybody cleans it up once they have had enough of the beer, they all comment on how good it is and "now" totally rely on me to bring a few bottles, I don't mind as long as they collect me some good clear empty spirit bottles I can use for storing.