A few questions before I begin

[nosmokingbandit]

I'm just starting out, and after some fruitless searching I have a few questions before I get going.

I built a pot still out of an old 1/4 keg. I'll be running 5gal batches through this. What kind of tower should I put on this, if any? Theres very little clear info on tower diameter and height that I could find. Should my tower be packed with copper, or will I be fine with a plain, hollow tower? I'm also trying to come up with a good way to mount a thermometer. So far the best way I can think of is to wedge a meat thermometer in a T fitting. Will natural cork hold up in the heat/moisture? I'm worried about it getting soft, falling apart, and clogging up the line. I might try drilling a hole in a nylon plug and seeing how tight the thermo will fit in.


I plan on making rum for my first run. Is it recommended to use molasses for all of the sugar, or should I mix molasses with white or brown sugar? Or go with all brown sugar (dark brown, even?)? I'm familiar with fermenting difficult sugar like molasses (I've made many beers, wines, meads, etc), so the process doesn't worry me, I'm only concerned about the final flavor.


It seems as though most still result in abv ~75-80%, but then it is diluted down to ~40%. Some people say to dilute with distilled water, but it seems to me that a more flavorful result would be to dilute it with the leftovers in the still. Does that make any sense or am I asking for trouble?

What rate of collection can I expect? Do I need to dedicate a full day to running my still, or can I go through 5 gals in an afternoon? If I'm only doing one batch, should I do a stripping run or just go straight for a spirit run? I understand the idea of condensing it down in steps to make one super-efficient run, but I only want to make one batch for now.


My apologies if these are annoying questions, I know noobs aren't fun, but after searching for a few days I couldn't find any adequate answers.

Thanks!

[frozenthunderbolt]

use the HD Google Search function at the top right of every page.

Based on what you have said so far you haven't done enough general bacground reading; start with everything (and i do mean everything) in the new distillers reading lounge.
THen look up
Samohan pot still
A beginners guide to cuts
And also check out 'the rules we live by' to see why the nylon thermo port is no good.

[Truckinbutch]

+1 on frozenthunderbolt .

[F6Hawk]

Meaning no offense, bandit, but you joined 3 days ago, and have been "searching fruitlessly"? Some have lurked on here for months or a year, just reading and reading and reading. It took me about a week in the new distillers lounge and on the parent site, before I decided on a keg and a boka for my setup. SO many variables in deciding what to build. I went with 2", because it is readily accessible and a LOT cheaper than 3", but I may make the step up to increase my production one day.

Lots of help on here, but 90% of the help you will give yourself by reading. After you're read the site for a month or two, come back to this post and see why everyone knows you haven't done any research at all. Not only will you answer the questions you asked, but about a hundred more you don't even know enough to ask yet.

Best of luck!

[Daznz]

Yea mate sit back relax and read I haven't been around here long and was quick to ask questions that all the answers were in the forum. The boys get a bit pissed answering the same old questions
and watch out if there been sipping All said and done a great family here enjoy the ride there's a heap to learn..

Daza

[nosmokingbandit]

Meaning no offense, bandit, but you joined 3 days ago, and have been "searching fruitlessly"?

Yeah, the search button works whether you are a member or not. Crazy world we live in... I joined specifically to ask these questions seeing as nothing I found over the last month of reading was conclusive. Most posts are guys saying "lol search it" and other people bickering without coming to an answer and everyone just wanting to do things their own way 'just because'.

I don't want to do things my way 'just because'; I've been making wines, beers, and ciders for years now, I know how to read, and I like to be precise. I have yet to have a single batch end up being less than stellar due to the amount of research I do before starting. I suppose I'm learning that distilling isn't near as refined a practice as making non-distilled alcohol.


I would have never read 'the rules we live by', so thanks, T-bolt. I just assumed that was generic forum rules, I was unaware that it was actually useful (it could be named more appropriately, but whatevs). The Samohan still is a very well written set of plans, but I guess I'm just missing the science behind it. I'm seeing a lot of what, but not a lot of why.
I know all about cuts, I don't think anything I said implied that I was confused about that...?

So thanks I guess.

No worries, I'll keep searching, but at least I know I'm on my own.

[Dnderhead]

as making a pot still,,the answers are mostly no no no.
thight of tower/riser,,to your convenience.(makes a very small difference)
size of riser what you can fiend.(2 in fits most kegs)
no packing is needed in a pot still.
no thermometer is needed in a pot still,it will give you something to "play with" if you want

making rum is more of the "technique " rather than ingredients.
5 gallon still? probably 4 hours.

[MaStiKa45]

I plan on making rum for my first run. Is it recommended to use molasses for all of the sugar, or should I mix molasses with white or brown sugar? Or go with all brown sugar (dark brown, even?)? I'm familiar with fermenting difficult sugar like molasses (I've made many beers, wines, meads, etc), so the process doesn't worry me, I'm only concerned about the final flavor.


It seems as though most still result in abv ~75-80%, but then it is diluted down to ~40%. Some people say to dilute with distilled water, but it seems to me that a more flavorful result would be to dilute it with the leftovers in the still. Does that make any sense or am I asking for trouble?

My apologies if these are annoying questions, I know noobs aren't fun, but after searching for a few days I couldn't find any adequate answers.

Thanks!

Never apologise for wanting to be educated. In fact keep asking the same questions over & over again until it makes sense to you.
Pretend it is a woman and keep asking until you get into her pants. The rewards are worth it!!!

There is a lot of flavour in the tails so when you make your cuts you can use some of that. Make your cuts of the tails in smaller quantities as there are some vile flavours also ( ask me how i know) which will ruin the taste of your distillate. I've only ever distilled grapes/wine and i would never use what's left in the still for obvious reasons, not sure with rum

No worries, I'll keep searching, but at least I know I'm on my own.

Take a deep breath, relax and understand that there is so much to learn and it takes time.
Read , read & read some more.
Paint the picture in your mind & join the dots so you understand the whole process.
Keep asking questions.
Nobody on this site who is a regular will avoid answering your questions.

And Welcome to HD

Soon enough you will be a SMOKINNNN' bandit .

[frozenthunderbolt]

No worries, I'll keep searching, but at least I know I'm on my own.

here's a little prod in the right direction then
On the parent site:
http://homedistiller.org/theory

[F6Hawk]

Bandit, as stated, never apologize for wanting to learn more. This site (in general) is more about you reading than spoon-feeding. It is well established, with probably hundreds of years of brewing experience (myself excluded, I have less experience than you do). That being said, I have devoured many, many, many threads in my quest to be the best distiller I can be. And I am sure most on here want the same thing.

Since you have a keg as your still, add some tri-clamps and two pieces of "tower"... the lower one with packing, the upper one with just boka take-off plates. This hybrid design allows you the best of BOTH worlds. You can run as a pot or as a reflux still. But in my very short time distilling, I have already decided I won't be using the pot mode very much. Why? Cuz I (might) get a little more flavor in pot mode, but only about 55-60% ABV for the average wash. With reflux, I get enough flavor for me, a product that is drinkable in days instead of weeks or months, and I pull 85-93% ABV. Something a pot still can't do without a thumper or multiple distillations. Each of which probably reduce flavor.

OTOH, a pot still will do a strip run MUCH faster than reflux, and even a spirit run will be faster than a reflux run. It's all in what you want the end product to be. What makes YOU happy to drink. But the nice thing about a hybrid still is that you get to try both ways easily, without a lot of added expense.

It's not that folks here are trying to be mean, not by a long shot. But your questions have been asked. I have seen them a few times since I joined. Now imagine how many times someone like Rad or Dnderhead or Myles has seen them. I'm sure it's a lot more than they want to. It's not that people won't be willing to help you. Sorry if my post offended you, I didn't mean to.

[Dnderhead]

don really know what you want,Odin is working on a proses of using a reflux still
to make "whiskey" sounds promising,because as Iv said before running once threw a reflux does not make a neutral. his proses could be promising for rum. when making any product you need to do some research into ingredient availability.
you cant pay retail prices for base ingredients and expect to make a "cheaper" product than you buy at a package store.feed molasses is a possibility,id be looking into a drum.but then this should be "clearafide" the proses can git messy.not something id want to do in my kitchen.so as you see there is much more to making a product than just mixing.same goes for other products.there is a big difference between buying malt for .20 a lb and 2.00$ at a brew shop.(or making your own)

[Black Eye]

Bandit,

Don't get discouraged that easy, you're not on your own here. I lurked here for months before I decided to join. I did A LOT of reading and I assure you all your questions DO have an answer here already. There are some very smart guys here and even if they give you some attitude once in a while, they're all here to help one another. Best advice I could offer you would be.... don't rush into things. If you're interested in Rum... Read every one of the Tried and True Rum Recipes and the experiental ones too. If the thread is 100 pages read it all... then maybe read it again even if you don't think it will help. You might find only 1 post on a page that's helpful, but in the end you've just learned from everyone else's experience. In most cases that's years of experience. You might find that 1 recipe isn't all to appealing to you, but the next one is. Read them all anyway, just when you think you know it all, you'll learn something new.

I hope your adventures in rum are fruitful.