New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
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I've been a beer brewer for ages but the distillation process is one that has always fascinated me.
The first run was reasonably successful (I think) and was the product of 7# of boiled cracked corn and 10# of white sugar watered down in cooling to make 9 gallons of wort. I use knee high nylon stockings for brew bags, btw. Makes filtering unnecessary. The finished wort was only 3% due to a stuck ferment because I didn't use enough yeast corrected by adding two more 7g packets of baker's yeast and stirring vigorously. I could have waited longer for the ferment to finish probably. I'm used to bottling as soon as it quits bubbling and the airlock drops to a once every two minutes perk. The run produced three pints of 50% that is actually consumable.
I acquired an old copper hot water heater lining from an acquaintance and set to work with a Sawzall and torch.
This is what resulted after a bit of work. I'm pleased that it works!
Attachments
Last edited by T-Pee on Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
If it was truly the first run do not drink it. You should have done a cleaning run and sacrificial run first. Where did you get that still design, was it here?
GA Flatwoods
The hardest item to add to a bottle of shine is patience!
I am still kicking.
Ga Flatwoods
Save that cleaning run for more cleaning runs only . Please don't drink it or add it to the next run . Nice looking build . You are raising concerns for your own safety in the way you have started .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
3peaks I thought I had seen a still similar both in the past and recently. I will past to you what I did to BigBird moments ago.
Bigbird that is what I thought. It is a pisspoor reflux still but a very good pot still. Remove the coil, the valve, the packing, and relocate the male and female hose connectors by exchanging places. You need not feed it with a garden hose due to weight but would recommend reducing down from the hose to 3/8" by adapter, I use 1/4 and is enough. Additionally the build site does not recommend a copper coil in either the liebig nor the 1/2" through tube to add some turbulence and aid in condensation of the vapors. You can make a boka head for this setup by leaving the connection for the liebig and discharge u soldered and wrap with teflon tape when pot stilling and put a plug there with a boka head in place. The boka will sit where the cap is now and could be made interchangeable with sanitary clamps or copper fittings.
Talking from experience, I built my pot still from this but modified as described above.
GA Flatwoods
The hardest item to add to a bottle of shine is patience!
I am still kicking.
Ga Flatwoods
Just to let you guys know, I've called an all-stop and stepped back to square 1 in my foray into this hobby. I've gotten some darn good commentary on this forum and realize that although this is great fun and something immensely interesting to add to my personal knowledge base, it can also be dangerous to the unlearned. This forum has become my place to just read when I'm sitting still. You can't have too much smarts about this stuff.
I also understand now why The Show is so universally disliked.
Welcome to the boards. Smart men have to be humble. Good job
A thread came up maybe a week ago where mr. Flatwoods helped a feller with this same poorly designed still. Im pretty sure he chose to make it a bokakob slant plate. You might wanna go through the last couple weeks and look for it. Would save you making this thread a rerun.
Read the novice reading center (full of goodies). Make sure you understand the difference between pot, cm, vm, and lm designs.
I wouldn't say its a piss pore design. It's not the best cm still out there. But would make a nice drop. And at least its not the world class crap design.
This still can ne worked with. So I wouldn't be chopping up anything yet.
What kind of spirits are you interested in making? This is the first question you need to answer.
Prairiepiss wrote:This still can ne worked with. So I wouldn't be chopping up anything yet.
Whew! That's good to know. I spent some $$ and effort on this albeit before doing my due diligence.
What kind of spirits are you interested in making? This is the first question you need to answer.
I'm not too picky really. Anything palatable between 80p corn whiskey and 98% ethanol fuel I'll consider a win.
I like to give myself a large target. It's easier to hit.
Thanks, OMD!
Love the Olympics, btw! Worked for PSNS in Bummertown for 30 years. Camped the Upper Dosewallips for years before they lost the road.
tp
Last edited by T-Pee on Tue Dec 17, 2013 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Its easier to pick something you know you like, and keep your tasks orientated twards that end. Pick anything but tequila. Seriously, no tequila.
We are happy to help ya. So, what do you really want to make, deep down in your soul, or stomach.....
Fair enuff. Right now I'm getting ready to try UJSSMM because it's, well, simple...which is a good thing for me at this point. I figger I can learn and produce some sippin' stuff for me and a few close amigos this way.
My ultimate goal is flavored vodkas (lotsa womenfolk) and fuel which from my studies tells me that both are closely related with just the dilution aspect separating them. Am I close?
Ok this cm still will make a good flavored spirit. Like your UJSSM attempt. It would be good for that recipe.
For a vodka that you are wanting its not going to be a good choice. For what you are wanting to make as far as flavored vodka. You would want to make as close to neutral as you can get. An LM or VM would be better for that.
Your cm still could make a good what I call an old school vodka. A vodka that has character. Hints of flavors and mouthfeel from the ingredients used in the ferment. A good drinking vodka. Which is what I like.
I would suggest. Using what you have. Get some generations of UJSSM under your belt. Learn how to drive that still and make cuts. Experimenting along the way. What happens when I use this much heat. What happens when I use this much coolant flow. What happens when I take the packing out. Or when I pack it different. Every still has a sweet spot. Finding it is fun. After those experiments. You will or should know what it will take to get a good high ABV clean spirit out of it. Don't worry its hard to mess up a UJSSM run. If you do dilute it and run it again.
In the end you may find that this still will produce a good clean vodka that you like. If not.vi still wouldn't cut this still up. Because it sounds like you would rather have a whiskey type drink for yourself. And since its really a modified pot still. You can use it for a stripper still for what ever other reflux still you chose to build.
If you haven't already. Check out the cm mod thread. Link in my signature.
Now get the cleaning runs done on this baby. And get to makein some good stuff.
Prairiepiss wrote:
If you haven't already. Check out the cm mod thread. Link in my signature.
I looked at your CM mod before but just a glance. Now I compared what I have to your mod and I can make the mod easily. I also understand how it will work by isolating the condenser cooling from the reflux coil cooling.
All I have to do is essentially swap the ball valve to where the top of the reflux coil is connected and put a needle valve in line with the lower part of the reflux coil where the ball valve came from. Look right to you?
Btw: I really do appreciate the time spent advising me. The irony of PP mentoring TP isn't lost on my sense of humor either.
tp
Last edited by T-Pee on Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The mods I mentioned are not without warrant and will enhace what you have coil around column and all. Not a good reflux. In time you will kniw but for now, as PP mentioned it will work fine for you. Kinda like a single shot rifle vs a pump, semi auto or fully automatic, you get out of it what is put into it and the performance is reflected. Although many a family been fed off of a single shot!
GA Flatwoods
The hardest item to add to a bottle of shine is patience!
I am still kicking.
Ga Flatwoods
ga flatwoods wrote:Kinda like a single shot rifle vs a pump, semi auto or fully automatic, you get out of it what is put into it and the performance is reflected. Although many a family been fed off of a single shot!
GA Flatwoods
Just put together 10 gallons of UJSSM in a fermenter that I made from a 10 gallon Igloo water cooler by simply installing an airlock in the screw-on lid.
In this thread (http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=43707) the ferment didn't only stall, it never got off the ground in the first place. I now understand where it went wrong. Temperature.
This is a double UJSSM batch with 14# cracked corn, 14# of white sugar for a starting SG of 1.070, 21 grams of dry active yeast with the temp in the fermenter at 90 degrees filled with tap water to within 2" of the top. The yeast was pre-dissolved at the same temp as the fermenter and then added to the wort. Two hours later it's bubbling along quite merrily. The whole thing is siting in the spare bathroom tub with a space heater to maintain room temp at 80 degrees. A thermometer is also installed in the fermenter lid to monitor the temp of the working wort.
Hi, all!
Good one.
