Hello from the Great Lakes!

[exotica59]

Don't think I could draw this out as well as it is posted here:http://gillesenergies.webs.com/stillsfo ... ducers.htm about half way down the page under theheading of mini still.
following this set up but changing the pipe size to 2" plus chaning the fitting sizes of course.
Seem like a good plan to you guys?

[LWTCS]

Not my first choice for rum.

[exotica59]

what do you favor LWTCS? I do want to try my hand at some rum as well as vodka. I'd like to stay a small scaled model if that is possible for my first try on building and operating a still.

[olddog]

A pot still is a better choice for flavoured spirits like rum, bourbon, whisky, gin etc, a reflux still is the best choice for neutral, a lot of members have one of each, for that reason.


OD

[kiwistiller]

that's a very short boka... if you're after something for neutral to make your liqueuers, then you probably want significantly more height in it than that one. there are a few stickies in column distillation and design about boka lm designs, might be good to have a read of them.
here is a good one http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =17&t=5829 (although I'm a big advocate of using a keg as a boiler over a pot like in that build)


And as LWTCS pointed out, it's not a great design for flavoured spirits like rum, but i think that your purchased still will probably end up being reassembled into a plain pot still head if it arrives, and that will be great for rum.

[posting same time as od]

[LWTCS]

What Olddog said.
Potstills can render nuetural,,,but not as efficiantly as a column still.

I think the thing to do is conclude what your "go to" likker is. With me, it was always rum.

I used (and still do) Rad's All Bran recipe to cut my teeth on makin cuts.
Molassas,brown sugar and panela can be a bit more spendy than white table sugar.

Now I just keep recycling my trub and dunder and can augment my panela (condensed cane juice) with some table sugar to keep cost down and still get a proper rum profile.

But if the vodka is your daily drinker, then the column might be a better choice for starters.

[rad14701]

A 2" column has 78% more volume than a 1.5" column... The numbers are misleading if you just go by diameter...

[exotica59]

I have discovered a small keg in the corner of my garage. 1/4 size barrel I think. I also found a perfectly good unused 3ft section of 2 inch copper tubing. Not ready yet of course to tackle a build or any sort. The more I read the less I'm sure I can build my own.

I am learning though, some of the stuff is actually starting to stick in my brain.
Jeez, people have been distilling for years and years, and I just can't seem to be able to totally wrap my head around the mechanics of it all.
I need to find someone who has a still (somebody has to have one around near by to me to at least make ethanol for fuel-this is farm country for heaven sake!)
I'm going to hang in here though, I've already learned a lot and it very interesting to read all your posts and see some of the amazing stills that you guys have made!
I've finished reading through Bill Owens and Alan Dikty "The Art of Distilling Whiskey and other spirits" Really a nice coffee table type book, Focus is more on the small time distilleries around America, but I found it very interesting.

[rednose]

Why don't you just start a new topic named like "Exotica's first still" or so, upload photos of what you have in your hands atm and we can guide the built for you?

It's really not difficult, especially the bok.

[mrhooch]

Exotica:

See if you can find a scrap metal dealer near you and check what kind of copper they have. Cheapest place to find the stuff to build stills from. While some stills are true works of copper art, even the ones ugly as sin will still do the job.

If I might be so bold as to suggest to start with making a good neutral, you can make all sorts of tasty blends of liquors. You can also vapour infuse botanicals into neutrals, something I'd like to get around to try.

It is a fun hobby but it does require a bit of patience.

Hooch.

[exotica59]

thanks Rad and Mr Hooch. both of you have a good idea.
I will check out the scrap metal place here in town, and gather up what I have laying around right now and take some photos. May take me a bit of time.
Today I started reading A professional guide for amateur and mcro distillers. The 12 gal hot water still is very intersting-but all thehot water heaters that I can find are rather expensive. Seems like a pretty neat idea though... At least I now understand what a Liebig condenser is.Every day I am learning something new
I think I do want to build a still for making neutral spirits first, so I'll try to focus more energy in that direction.

[mrhooch]

Well I use a water heater for my boiler and I love it for clear washes. Look for the used one, if you want to save $$$, must have pipes on top or at least a place to attach a pipe to its. They are lined with enamel. May look ugly, and need a new element, but take the junk off, and with a dentist mirror you can inspect the inside. Should look like the old gray turkey roaster, shouldn't be cracked, shouldn't see rust blooms. Cleanup is dishawasher detergent one in a while.

Ask more if you your interested.
Hooch

[waterford]

exotica, where in the great lakes region are you? I'm in southeast michigan, and i've been distilling for a few months now. I've got a revenoor 5 gallon still, and i've been told it's the rolls royce of stills. If you like, I can send you plans for a very easy to build pot still, seeing as a reflux or fractioning column is probably out of both of our realms of expertise.

[LWTCS]

Dog gone better be for 2k.

However, It is beautiful. Very nice peice.

Do those swing locks get you tight enough to exclude a seal for your boiler?

[exotica59]

Wow, it's a smaller world than I thought...
This morning I'm chatting up the maintenance guy trying to see if he might be willing to do the cuts and the soldering for me, if I ever decide on a decent still. So I launch into this stupid story about wanting to try and make my own ethanol for fuel. and the guy is smirking almost to the point of giggling.
Finally I say, "come on, you have a still don't you?" and the guy burst out laughing. He's been distilling for 4 years now.
Thankfully I have read just enough so far to be able to hold my own in a conversation about distilling with him. He gets so tickled, that we talked for almost an hour. He's happy to have someone to share an interest in his hobby. He's gonna loan me all the info he has, and have me come over next time he does a run, so I can see his still in action.
I have worked with this guy for 14 years and never knew.
So I much better knowing that I can actually see a still in action, have someone I can just ring up and ask a question if I have one, and end up with a decent still. We're trading product tomorrow so we can both taste what each of us has made through our hobbies

[Whitedog]

Congrats on finding a hobby buddy! Don't forget about us! Introduce him to the forum! I hope your hubby can understand as well, I don't know if my wifey would understand me having a female stillin' bud... Good Luck and keep us posted!! WD

[Kentucky shinner]

Welcome Exotica59, sounds like your doing your homework. I am sure many on here will be interested in your recipe's. Good luck and I think you will find all your answers here on this forum.
Kentucky Shinner

[mrhooch]

Yes, finding someone that has done it, and you can see and touch it, goes a long way. Start up a batch or two of the tried and true recipes. Birdwatchers, Rad's Gerber, they all work. And yes, if you have a few recipes of what we can do with a good neutral, I'd love to see them!

Hooch.

[waterford]

Dog gone better be for 2k.

However, It is beautiful. Very nice peice.

Do those swing locks get you tight enough to exclude a seal for your boiler?

Yep, it's very beautiful. This is an old one from 1979, so it doesn't have the swinglocks. the boiler does not detach from the column. it's kind of a hassle to fill and drain through the boilerdrain style setup we've got on it. I keep meaning to get some pictures and put them up but i'm constantly running around right now. and i've talked to people who own newer revenoor models and they have no problems with those swing locks you're talking about.

[LWTCS]

I wanted to build (or purchase) a system like that for my "Humper Thumper", but they were spendy to buy and a bit too sophisticated (for me) to build so I opted for the poormans version.

I was hoping for a "no seal needed" solution. But alas, the lid leaked
No matter, flour paste is a snap and works every time.

[waterford]

yeah that's what i love about the one piece construction. I don't have to mess around with flour paste. It cost a ton of cash but i figured i'd buy the best instead of messing around. I'd rather spend time making whiskey than troubleshooting still problems ya know. That is a genius idea that you've come up with though. Gotta love backwoods engineering

[exotica59]

Congrats on finding a hobby buddy! Don't forget about us! Introduce him to the forum! I hope your hubby can understand as well, I don't know if my wifey would understand me having a female stillin' bud... Good Luck and keep us posted!! WD

I hope to get my new stillin' buddy to join the website. I know he's love to share what he has learned and would love the recipes listed here. Today he just gave me a bottle of homemade apple pie. OH man! that was the smoothest drink I have ever drank. I have a bottle of comercially made apple pie, and there is NO comparison to a truly home made product.
ya, I never thought about how odd it is that I would like this hobby, not really a girly thing I guess. I guess I've spent too much of my life around guys. You guys just seen to have cooler hobbies than women. Now I loves me some shopping for pretty clothes, and shoes, and getting all gussied up for a night on the town-but I'm just as happy in dirty jeans, and a T-shirt with a fishin pole in one hand and a drink in the other.
bringing my hubby along with me when I go over to my friends house, I've learned long ago not to rile up the the women folk.

[exotica59]

oh, I keep forgetting to ask this question.
My friends are always looking for 151 rum for some of the cocktails that we make. Some times, it's just for making a little fire inside a empty lime shell floating on top of the cocktail for visual effect, but other times it's used as a actual ingredient in the drink. My question is with that sort of high alcohol, is it still a rum? or is it more of a neutral, or is it considered a rum because of what the wash was made from.
I'm sure that when used just for a flame effect, any high proof would work ( I sometimes use Lemon extract in a pinch) But is there a actual flavor that is adding to the over all taste of the cocktail?

[kiwistiller]

yup it's still a rum. I think it's 80% that's the cutoff for calling something neutral... but then again calling something a name doesn't make it so.I've run off rum at 90% and it's still definately rum.

[Dnderhead]

I fiend Making up recipes for spirits is much like cooking, with both I like to thank I'm sort of creative. from making "squash soup" to a shot of apple pie,peach schnapps,or a nightcap of Irish whisky, and always open for more ideas.just take a recipe try it then change to suit you.
others know more but rum is made of molasses, white rum is aged in glass or stanless steel. most rums to day are made in reflux stills "tuned" to the proof that they want.

[exotica59]

well, it won't be long now, Turbo Stompers just emailed me tracking notice. I'm not holding my breath that the still will be that great after what I have read here. I just hope it can be turned into a decent pot still with a little work.
mean time I'm learning from my friend. I put together a mash with him a couple of days ago. I'll tend it up to the point of actually distilling it, then if I don't have my reflux still ready,or able to rebuild the turbo still into something useful, I'll take the wash over to his house and run it off there.-

[mrhooch]

So what kind of mash did you make?

Hooch.

[exotica59]

It was a odd recipe to me since I had not read this one before. Almost a total sugar wash. He's been distilling for 4 years and his end product is very smooth and mellow tasting after he ages it with toasted oak, so I did just as he instructed. I thought that his recipe should of had more corn in it, but I didn't want to question someone who has more experience than I do. Anyway here is what he had me use.

8 lbs of sugar
1 Tb. 5.2 pH STABILIZER ( it's a mix from our local brew shop)
8 KG turbo yeast
and 1 lb malted corn.
2 gals of water in a pot heated, added sugar, corn, stabilizer heated till sugar dissolved. Poured into sanitized fermentation bucket then topped up with cold water to the 5.5 gal. mark. When the temp in the fermentation bucket dropped down to around 78 degrees added the 8 KG Turbo Yeast. Stirred it in and then place the lid on and the lock.
I know how you guys feel about using Turbo yeasts, but as I say it was only polite to just follow his instructions.
I mainly want to see him work his still. I bummed when he called to say that he was ready to do a run, and both my husband and I were stuck over time and had to miss it. He may be doing one more run before my wash is ready to go, so hopefully one more chance.

[rad14701]

8 KG turbo yeast

I'm hoping that it wasn't really 8 kilograms of turbo yeast... Perhaps an 8 gram, or 80 gram, or even a huge 800 gram, sachet would be more accurate... 8 kilos of turbo yeast would be over a half bucket...

[kiwistiller]

I think it's a turbo designed for 8kg of sugar wash rad. They sell 6kg ones here.