HELP! Huge problem.

[vance71975]

I am very very new to distilling, i have read a lot on it and watched a ton of videos, none of which help solve my problem. I am dirt poor, i cant afford a proper distillation unit, i am instead forced to use a "counter top type water distiller" to do my distillation, and here is the problem, no matter what i try, no matter how low i fill the machine, i get massive boil over. I am a home brewer, and i am trying to distill my home brewed beer. No worries i do not plan to drink it, i plan to use it, in the legal fashion as a fuel source for my lawnmower, just to save a few bucks on gas.

Any ideas how to prevent boil over? Its a Kennmore water distiller that i picked up at a garage sale for 2 bucks.

[Washashore]

Please don't drink anything you're making with that thing. I don't know the unit, but probably wouldn't use it for making fuel either. If its boiling over, maybe you're filling it too much. It's really hard to say with what little information you provided.

[rad14701]

Beer isn't the best option for distillation practice... Unless it is flat and light on hops you could have problems... The same goes for any remaining sugars and starches...

The short answer is to use a better wash, or wine, to test your air still...

[vance71975]

Beer isn't the best option for distillation practice... Unless it is flat and light on hops you could have problems... The same goes for any remaining sugars and starches...

The short answer is to use a better wash, or wine, to test your air still...

Thanks ill give it a test run with a bottle of wine and see if it works any better without the boil over problem. I was wondering if maybe it is just because the unit i have is designed to distill water if maybe it simply gets too hot to distill from beer,wine,wash, etc?

[Dnderhead]

if your going to distill beer degas first..

[MitchyBourbon]

Beer has a lot of sugar in it, unfermentable sugar. The presents of this sugar may be causing the boil over problem.

[CuWhistle]

I am a home brewer, and i am trying to distill my home brewed beer. No worries i do not plan to drink it, i plan to use it, in the legal fashion as a fuel source for my lawnmower, just to save a few bucks on gas.

You must be paying a hell of a lot of money for your gas if you can produce cheaper fuel for your lawnmower by distilling beer. 25 litre BW wash is $6.00 for 6 kg of sugar, $1.50 for yeast, 50c for tomato paste and at least $3.00 worth of heat energy to distill it. That's $11.00 for possibly 3 litres of ethanol which still contains water. I can buy E10 gas for $1.30 / litre.

[vance71975]

I am a home brewer, and i am trying to distill my home brewed beer. No worries i do not plan to drink it, i plan to use it, in the legal fashion as a fuel source for my lawnmower, just to save a few bucks on gas.

You must be paying a hell of a lot of money for your gas if you can produce cheaper fuel for your lawnmower by distilling beer. 25 litre BW wash is $6.00 for 6 kg of sugar, $1.50 for yeast, 50c for tomato paste and at least $3.00 worth of heat energy to distill it. That's $11.00 for possibly 3 litres of ethanol which still contains water. I can buy E10 gas for $1.30 / litre.

Around 3.50 to 4.00 per gallon. I also get bored to its something new to do lol and what the heck do you use tomato paste for?

[Coyote]

Time to spend some time reading in the New Distiller lounge...

I will tell you, you cannot make high enough proof hooch to run
in an internal combustion engine for the price of 3.50 to 4.00 a gallon.

Here it is .64 cents a pound for sugar 10 pounds = $ 6.40
Here yeast is 3.50 a pound for bakers yeast 3 Oz cost = .66
Tomato paste for nutrients .99 per 6 oz can 2 cans needed cost = 1.98
About $ 4.00 Electric Power = 4.00

Total Cost 13.04

After double distilling you should end up with 1/2 gallon at 80 % making cost per gallon $ 26.08

Gosh I want to buy a gasoline replacement for that much!!
Just saying

Coyote

[Prairiepiss]

I am dirt poor, i cant afford a proper distillation unit, i am instead forced to use a "counter top type water distiller" to do my distillation,

Ain't we all. At least I know I am. Now how much did the counter top unit cost you? A good pot still can be built cheap. You wouldn't get fuel quality out of it. But you pretty much have a pot still now.

[Oxbo Rene]

Back to the books ! ! ! = more reading .................................

[vance71975]

I am dirt poor, i cant afford a proper distillation unit, i am instead forced to use a "counter top type water distiller" to do my distillation,

Ain't we all. At least I know I am. Now how much did the counter top unit cost you? A good pot still can be built cheap. You wouldn't get fuel quality out of it. But you pretty much have a pot still now.

2 dollars at a garage sale!

[vance71975]

Time to spend some time reading in the New Distiller lounge...

I will tell you, you cannot make high enough proof hooch to run
in an internal combustion engine for the price of 3.50 to 4.00 a gallon.

Here it is .64 cents a pound for sugar 10 pounds = $ 6.40
Here yeast is 3.50 a pound for bakers yeast 3 Oz cost = .66
Tomato paste for nutrients .99 per 6 oz can 2 cans needed cost = 1.98
About $ 4.00 Electric Power = 4.00

Total Cost 13.04

After double distilling you should end up with 1/2 gallon at 80 % making cost per gallon $ 26.08

Gosh I want to buy a gasoline replacement for that much!!
Just saying

Coyote

Look up the cost of Malted Grain. 50 lbs 36 bucks, which is enough to do 10 5 gallon batches of "wash" no nutrient needed.

[Prairiepiss]

Look up the cost of Malted Grain. 50 lbs 36 bucks, which is enough to do 10 5 gallon batches of "wash" no nutrient needed.

That would be approx 6% if finished at 1.000. 6% of 50 gal is 3 gal of 100% alcohol. $36 divided by 3 is $12 a gal.

So approx $12 a gallon when all said and done.

And I wish I could find malted grains for $36 a 50# bag. More like $50 to $60 around here.

[vance71975]

Look up the cost of Malted Grain. 50 lbs 36 bucks, which is enough to do 10 5 gallon batches of "wash" no nutrient needed.

That would be approx 6% if finished at 1.000. 6% of 50 gal is 3 gal of 100% alcohol. $36 divided by 3 is $12 a gal.

So approx $12 a gallon when all said and done.

And I wish I could find malted grains for $36 a 50# bag. More like $50 to $60 around here.

Midwest Brewing Online, they have AWESOME prices and the shipping is actually reasonable! That Price is for Rahr two row. I have shopped around, and their prices are hard to beat. That Price is for the grain Pre Crushed, if you don't get it crushed its even cheaper.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/american-2-row-rahr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[CuWhistle]

Cheap grain or not vance, your still not going to make fuel cheaper than you can buy gasoline (petrol out here). My grain bill for a 23 litre wash of Aussie Lager is 2.5kg or 6lb. This will make 4.9% ABV if I add 1kg of cane sugar giving a SG of 1.040 and FG of 1.005. Cost to me in batch amount, without hops, is about $15.00 which is good cheap beer. If I were to distill it ? I could possibly get 1.2 litres of Ethanol. Expensive fuel by a factor of about 1000%. And the stuff you produce will not be suitable to run an ICE.

I don't believe you are seriously considering this as an option even with the grain prices you are getting. Fuel grade ethanol out here is made from sugar cane and added to petrol as a supposed "GREEN" alternative. Called E10 (10% Ethanol) it sells for a couple of cents per litre less than standard fuel but, it delivers worse fuel - distance consumption, is harmful to engines, and the biggest con of it all is that it isn't GREEN. The energy used to produce it leaves a bigger carbon footprint than it offsets in combustion. Not that I believe CO2 to be a harmful gas anyway because it isn't.

It is a con job the politicians and bureaucrats have used to hoodwink the gullible community of tree-hugging, leftist greenies and other clueless sheep, into believing that they are doing something to prevent Climate Change (aka Global Warming) and give them a warm and fuzzy feeling all over, believing that they are saving the planet. Not his exact words but Joseph Goebells said "if you tell a big enough lie, often enough, to enough people, it becomes the truth".

[Coyote]

Ethanol is EXTREMELY harmful to small engine carburetors, I have replaced 6 so far this year on Onan generators for customers who have run E10 fuel, By the way the carbs are $ 260 each in the US.
Small engines like lawn mowers and weed eaters have aluminum carbs and we don't put high test ethanol in them for the same
reason we don't use aluminum pots in this hobby.

Coyote

[vance71975]

Found the Solution, Castor Oil added to the Pot keeps it from boiling over!

[Dnderhead]

you can remove alcohol from the gas if that is what you want.
but its easier to use a additive and rotate your stock,the best way
to store gas is in a pillow tank.

[King Of Hearts]

I am very very new to distilling, i have read a lot on it and watched a ton of videos, none of which help solve my problem. I am dirt poor, i cant afford a proper distillation unit, i am instead forced to use a "counter top type water distiller" to do my distillation, and here is the problem, no matter what i try, no matter how low i fill the machine, i get massive boil over. I am a home brewer, and i am trying to distill my home brewed beer. No worries i do not plan to drink it, i plan to use it, in the legal fashion as a fuel source for my lawnmower, just to save a few bucks on gas.

Any ideas how to prevent boil over? Its a Kennmore water distiller that i picked up at a garage sale for 2 bucks.

Stop yourself. Sell it for $4, go buy something else, sell it for more, keep doing it untill you have enough to go to a scrap yard and get some copper.

[Dnderhead]

alcohol is not going to work in a lawn mower or at least not for long.it will cost more for a new mower.
if your going to try anyway Id suggest getting a old one that was all cast iron.
with a pot still your going to need to run your mash threw several time ,this id suggest do this out in the middle of yard.
where any fires/explosions etc. wont harm any thing.

[vance71975]

alcohol is not going to work in a lawn mower or at least not for long.it will cost more for a new mower.
if your going to try anyway Id suggest getting a old one that was all cast iron.
with a pot still your going to need to run your mash threw several time ,this id suggest do this out in the middle of yard.
where any fires/explosions etc. wont harm any thing.

You are aware that they make Alcohol Carburetors for small engines right? I know a lot of people that run go carts on Alcohol and it is basically the same motor as is on a lawnmower.

[Dnderhead]

i used ethanol in a aluminum block small engine,,it swelled the block ,,when i tore it down it looked like it had mumps.
i dont thank it whould happen to cast iron.

the race carts etc run on methanol not ethanol. they also drain after each use.and some spray with marvel mystery oil .like storing a boat engine.

[onthekeg]

I pick up my malt at Midwest also. Its only used as enzymes for my mashed corn or wheat wash though.
I prefer beer, but sometimes something stronger is needed.

[onthekeg]

alcohol is not going to work in a lawn mower or at least not for long.it will cost more for a new mower.
if your going to try anyway Id suggest getting a old one that was all cast iron.
with a pot still your going to need to run your mash threw several time ,this id suggest do this out in the middle of yard.
where any fires/explosions etc. wont harm any thing.

You are aware that they make Alcohol Carburetors for small engines right? I know a lot of people that run go carts on Alcohol and it is basically the same motor as is on a lawnmower.

They do extensive motor work to the before they run on alky though. Although I do run e-10 on my lawnmower all the time. No worries.