55 gallon Stainless Steel Drum

[filmtech]

Hey Guys!! I've been looking at re-doing my still and have a friend with a 55 gallon Stainless Steel Drum previously used for maple syrup. I have a 1.5" copper pot still setup sitting on top of a 10 gallon brew kettle. I'm doing multiple 5 gallon runs in the current still and would love to combine them to on bigger run. I also want something that's a little easier/quicker to setup and run... ie, leave the still built and just fill the drum from the top 3/4" NTP and empty the backset from a drain on the bottom/side. No more dealing with setup/tear down or flour paste.

First question: If I'm only filling the drum up with 15 or so gallons of mash, is that a bad thing. I know headroom is a good thing, but is there such thing as too much?

Second question: 1.5" copper seems to be fine for my 10 gallon still, but would it be ok on the 55 gallon drum? Cheap 2" is not easy to find in the South East! I know it would speed up the runs, but I don't mind taking my time and waiting for a good sittin/sippin drink.

[heartcut]

15 gallons in a 55 gal drum would give you a large gas space that would be stoichiometric for a time and explosive before and after it too. Also would have a kinda light bottom if you were heating with flame. Sure would make a kick a$$ fermenter to feed a keg boiler.

[filmtech]

That's kinda what I was thinking too. I'd probably have to put 35-40 gallons in and that's a lot more product than I need at once!! On the other hand, I'd only have to do a few runs a year!!! I'd love to find a 35 gallon SS Drum, but I've only seen them new for like $450!!! I had a keg, but while experimenting with my first still I cut the top off of it. If only I'd known about Tri-clover fittings!!!!

[emptyglass]

Yeah, ok dude, back step a bit.
Sounds like you got the gear to do some stuff, but get the horse before the cart.
First, what do you want to make? What do you enjoy drinking, or see your self making on such a scale? Neutral or flavored stuff?
2nd, How fast do you want to make it?

If you dont mind sitting there for, I dunno, 2 or 3 days, while your 1.5incher does its thing on a 55 gallon drum, should all be good.
Maybe only a few hours to do your 5 gallons, but you are going to increase your waiting time from heating up to making product with all that head room, and mix your cuts too much. Too much for a 1.5" head to deal with.

Cut to the chase, you're going to need 3" plus diameter still to make a 55G worth it. And a good bit of heat up its bum too.

Now you know about triclovers, dont butcher the drum till you sqizz arround a bit. There are a few guys got drums as stills here, look around a bit. You will see they all are 3inch or bigger. If there is a smaller one, I havn't seen it. But I'm tipping if its smaller, they complain about the time taken.
It would be well worth your interests to investigate it further. Do the math, even if you only run it once a year. Copper is cheaper than store bought stuff.
Oh yeah, most drums come with a 2" bsp/gas fitting. If you buy a SS 2" nipple, it will screw in and give you a starting platform to weld a head to.

Sorry mate, you caught me an a typein kinda mood.

[rad14701]

<RANT>filmtech, don't be biting off more than you can chew... We consider anything much larger than a ~15 gallon/~50 liter beer keg to be creeping beyond hobby scale... It may seem like a grand idea now to just do a couple big runs per year but many who have started out with that idea originally have realized that multiple more manageable runs is a better option... Think long and hard before jumping up to what could be considered "production" scale... I know some folks here may not see it that way but we do need to take size into consideration because, contrary to what some believe, Johnny Law does look at size... If we want to have our hobby decriminalized we need to portray ourselves as making small quantities for personal consumption and the excuse that we need to fill a barrel for aging doesn't quite pass the litmus test...
</RANT>

[baron4406]

Thank you Rad! Great post.