Going to try to run my first wash tonight.

[regulardaddy]

I did a cleaning run this morning with a strong mix of water and vinegar. I let it run hard for about an hour and blew the lines out and washed the pot and lid.

Any last advice before I give it a go? I'm going to turn the flame on med/high till it starts to run and then turn the heat down to control the flow. I don't have a thermometer so I'm going to play it by ear I guess. I'll toss the first 250ml and collect the rest in a series of jars finally killing it at around the 3L mark (the tails will a bit thin but I plan on tossing them in with the next run.)

If you see a flaw in this plan let me know, otherwise I'll post back with the results.

[kiwistiller]

I wouldn't get hung up about the three liter finish, just go until you're collecting about 20%abv.

[regulardaddy]

Well how do you check the volume without an hydometer or alcohometer?

I got the 3L mark using a calculator, but I guess I could just let it keep going and use it to fortify my next distillation.

[kiwistiller]

ah ok. what you could do for a finishing point is watch for the 'break', which is the point where the stream flowing from the condenser doesn't have a nice stream but begins to break up into drops. I *think* that happens around 30-40% but not certain.... could someone else chime in here? I've always had an alcometer

[HookLine]

The stream also 'dances' around more the lower the abv gets. You'll see what I mean.

[LWTCS]

The stream also 'dances' around more the lower the abv gets. You'll see what I mean.

ah ok. what you could do for a finishing point is watch for the 'break', which is the point where the stream flowing from the condenser doesn't have a nice stream but begins to break up into drops. I *think* that happens around 30-40% but not certain.... could someone else chime in here? I've always had an alcometer

+1
I'd keep smellin for card board and use collection jars. First part of them tails may taste and smell kinda good. But you will smell it when its time to shut down.

And as the others said, your output will deminish. Your stream will start looking pretty straggled

[regulardaddy]

Well I had an even better indicator. I ran out of gas

I guess I didn't keep good enough track about how much I had used and it's hard to shake my last 100# cylinder to see if it's almost empty

I fired the rig and once I got a nice steady stream I cut the heat back enough to maintain the flow. I was surprised at how responsive the whole system is. You can really fine tune the output with the heat control.

I only managed to collected around 1.5L off around 4 gallons of wash, but for a first run I think it went pretty darn well. I'm going to toss the first 250ml, though just to be safe. I collected it in 250ml jars for easy comparison. So now comes the fun part. I'm going to let the jars air overnight with some cheese cloth over them and see what I have tomorrow.

I can't really smell or taste any difference between the batches right now, but it seems like the first 250ml has more of an 'oily' texture.

More on this tomorrow.

RD

[kiwistiller]

now my imperial measurements aren't the best, but I'd think that if you only got 1.5l out of 4 gal, that wash has more to give, you might not even be in tails yet. I'd fill that gas bottle and start her up again.

[regulardaddy]

It's around 16L total. I only got about half of the potential 'good stuff' in theory. I went ahead and threw the wash out, though.

I won't be getting my tanks filled till Monday and I probably wouldn't be able to fire it back up till NEXT weekend. I'm going to start a new wash tomorrow so I'll have something to run.

I have to be careful, though. I don't drink and I don't want to have gallons of this stuff sitting around

RD

[RefluxFan]

I have to be careful, though. I don't drink and I don't want to have gallons of this stuff sitting around

Are you having a laugh??

I'm not trying to be rude, seriously, but if you don't drink then why do it? Isn't that like restoring a classic car, have your mates come 'round and drool all over it, then when they ask you to take them for a drive you say "Oh no, I don't drive, I just like to restore them."

You must really love the opportunity of the challenge.

[The Baker]

Well I had an even better indicator. I ran out of gas

I guess I didn't keep good enough track about how much I had used and it's hard to shake my last 100# cylinder to see if it's almost empty

snip

More on this tomorrow.

RD

Now let me see if I remember this right;

pour hot water down the outside of the cylinder. You will see frost up to the level of the gas, above that it evaporates.

[regulardaddy]

The Baker: I knew it was low, but I'm so used to using high volumes I figured I'd have enough to run a small burner for a few hours. My big burners use around 1.2 bar when running and I use 3 at a time. Just a miscalc on my part. I should have checked before hand.

RefluxFan: Don't get me wrong. I have the occasional sip, but it's not something I do on a daily or even monthly basis.

There was a time when doing such things was normal. People HAD to learn such things because it was a two day ride to the closest general store or saloon.

Here it is 2009 and I'm making my living as a blacksmith. Distillation is one of those things that's right up my alley.

And as a matter of fact I AM having a laugh because life is only as fun as you make it.

RD