YAY Went Great ! ( as far as I know lol )

[Coilface]

I did er. With my firend who encouraged me to get intoit again ! Good times. I just used Turbo yeast because I was impatiant. But it sure came out Nice. Made it out of a pressure cooker. ( no thermometer though unfortunatly but plan on soon adding one. It proofed an average of 55 percent after a complete run through a pot. I put it on max and afte it started going left it at 2. 2 works. ( on the oven ) Thats ok for a pot still eh ? Although I saw on the Do not use caregory presure cookers. I didnt read it, but I saw it there. I will read it though.
-Coilface

[thatguy1313]

Yep. Read. A lot. If that was the first alcohol through the still, throw it out. Or use it for charcoal starter. Then go sit in the safety section and the new distillers lounge until your eyes bleed. Then come ask questions and read some more! Safety and quality are #1 and #2 here. You have neither with your description.

[S-Cackalacky]

Sometimes the cold hard truth is difficult to swallow, but we want you to be safe. Don't be discouraged by what's being said here. Let your still rest and do the reading. A good start would be the links in my signature. They will get you up to speed on the fundamentals of distillations and give you some insight into how things work here on the forums. Stay positive and move forward.

Good luck to you and stay safe.

[Coilface]

Ok And Actually I Apreciate cold hard truth. Last hting I want to do is Noob it too hard. And Yes I just use probly what is a 2 gallon pressure cooker. I through away about 50 mls ever run. thats pretty safe isnt it ? its my understanding you want to throw away 60 mls per 20 litres. so I thought I was being generous with that. I have a questipon Ive yet to find though. I used 3/8s pipe. because it was recomended not to go smaller thenthat and it was cheaper then half inch. although Ive recently discovered some poeple measure 3 / 8s on the inside, and some on the outside. So which one do we go by ? ( I tink im giong to upgrade to half inch within time, )_ where I get the 3/8 from it looked much biugger then the 3/8 im using. I thouight it was half inch at first glance. so how do we measure our pipes, Inside or outsiode diameter ?

[jedneck]

Most will say that 3/8ths inside is the smallest to use, but would recommend 1/2 inside.

[Coilface]

ok. And I just also want to point out I made sure It was a stailness pressre cooker I used, NOT ALUMINUM . and I ran a tone of vinnager through my coils. then water. a Craptone. till I was happy with the taste of distilled water. Only then did I use it. Oh and as far as cleaning goes. Some lady at the brew store says to run this pinkl powder bleach through it because thats for comercial coffee cleaners and such. I understand its a bd thing to use and she said not to use citric acid. Which I was originally going to buy and use. and try. And before I try out anyhitng I put a sample of corroded copper in buckets and wait a while. So far the vinnager kicked the crap out of the pink stuff. Ive yet to try citric acid.

[thatguy1313]

That's a fine amount to toss, but on your next run. First alcohol run is sacrificial for cleaning purposes. Put the brakes on and hit the new distillers lounge.

I wouldn't go smaller than 3/8" id anywhere on a still.

That bleach stuff will turn your stainless steel into not stainless steel. There are recomened cleaning instructions in the new distillers lounge.

[Coilface]

Yes Actually lastnight I was reading that and Luckilly I only put a bit in but hadnt actually turned it on yet. I was letting it soak a bit. it was only in there for about 5 mons, 10 tops and it wasnt running. oh. I read that too I think but I noobed it thre. I thought it was just a substiturte for vinager or what what have you. I think this is a great forum.

[moosemilk]

On a pot still, I toss 200-250 mls per 5 gallon (20 liter) charge. Typical charge for me is 9 or 10 gallons and I toss the first pint (500ml). There's more than just methanol to worry about and that first pint isn't drinkable anyways. A little more in the name of quality.

The 60ml per 20 liters is more for reflux columns. You want to toss a bit more for pot stills because they smear more. You should be fine though. Read up on making cuts as well. While not impossible on that small a rig (my first before coming here was much like yours, but stock pot not pressure cooker), making cuts is difficult. Collect in small quantities, I'd go 100-150ml at most. There's a great thread called kiwis guide to making cuts.

Next, ditch the turbo. Regular bread yeast works just fine, and cheaper. If you think what you got now is good, wait til you ditch the turbo and make good cuts.

Get a bigger pot. Walmart and Canadian Tire have ss stock pots in the five gallon range for cheap. Or check out thrift/second hand stores.

And if you are using an electric stove for heat, search up on how they cycle and see why they aren't great.

Bit of spoon feeding...but I'm in the Christmas spirit.

Oh, make sure that pressure cooker has no rubber or synthetic gaskets. Look up "everlasting gasket" or good ol flour paste.

Best of luck, eh.

[Coilface]

Hey Thx Moosemilk. Ya Ill look at the gasket hting. I read the pressure cooker still thing earlier today ( wwell most of it.) I thought I could prob;ly find a good way to make my own seal. Its my understanding thats the main prob about them. Theres an ss cooker at a thrift store they want 80.00 for. But its HUGE. That I think has potential to be an awesome one. But I want to read a bit more into it as I understand there not recomended. If I had the money Id get a milk can. I just like how the look lol. I had a keg I bought for the purpose of making a noxon stonehead about 12 years ago. I had to sell it on a rainy day. I still have most ofthe copper for it though. I also see u can get fittings for adapting pipes. First improvement im going to look into the gasket possibly change it. second. Bigger coils. Oh ya A relative came by today I showed him my goods. He said He use to do it. and He cleaned his coi;ls with ketchup. Dosent it have both vinnager AND Citric acid in it ? and is thck too . I though I might get some of your opinions on the ketchup Idea. He said to sqirt it in with a squeezy bottle till it coomes out the other side then Cap it for given time. then u can Blow it out. then clean it with a run. Opinions ? I ran vionnager through Ole Betsy lastnight and capped it. (very gentley on though. It blew off after about 5 - ten mins
so I through er back on lol.

[moosemilk]

I wouldn't worry about ketchup. A couple runs of hot vinegar/water followed by the mandatory sacrificial alcohol run (sacrificial because you don't drink it...hang onto it for bbq starter cleaning solvent future cleaning runs if you want but clearly mark it as "poison". that'll be all you need. A good rinse with hot water after every run following and that's it. If it sits for long enough to go green, then do another cleaning run.

Vinegar works fine. I've only used citric to shine up my pot once. You want the inside clean, but not shiny clean. Shiny clean can actually carry over copper flavor. You have a stainless pot, so no worry there. Just flush all copper with hot water after a run.

You mentioned Nixon stone. There are much better designs now, as you'll find, after looking around here. More efficient, easier (many) to build and run. If you get a milk can (many have), take a look around the site for electric conversion. Cranky and Jimbo have great write ups on theirs. That's my next step as soon as I find a ss 15 gallon keg (found 1/4 barrel, but decided to use that as thumper). Take it slow and read read read before you buy or build. Post your ideas as well before buying anything because 1. Any concerns can be met. 2. Most likely somebody will have advice to make your build easier or cheaper.

I took my time on my first build. Almost a month for a simple all copper. While I did that, I kept reading here every day, posting progress, reading about how to run, make cuts, and probably most important to a good drink is the fermentation process. Stick to tried and true section for recipes at first. I did and even my first run went absolutely amazing. In less than a year I have (I can't believe it myself) well over 60 runs.

Slow n steady...be the turtle.

[Coilface]

Word Moose. I havent found the cleaning run thng yet why the first run is poison. Is ther a link u can hook me up with ?. I noobed that one pretty hard. Does it have to be a full pot ? or hakf a pot ? does the link explain that ? lol
-I found it nder the cleaning one. Glad to seeI can just use some wine. or whatevers cheap from th store. Is there a specific amount required ? why is it poison ?

[hamshine]

You throw out the first run because it will still have nasties in it from the building of your still. The water and vinegar runs do a good job part but the final step is the sac run. The first part of my last sac run was slightly blue.

You can run wine or cheap likker through for this but i would imagine that making a wash would be cheaper then store bought wine. If you are excite to get going just ferment more so you can do your sac run and then give your rig a quick water run then do your first keeper run. I didn't do a full pot for my sac run but my pot is 15 gallons.

I would say personally probably wouldn't want to drink anything out of it till you run about 3 to 5 gallons of wash/wine through it. I collected about 6 quarts on mine before I got to tails and poured it out on an ant hill "cool" and called it good.

I also as a precaution didn't save any heads out of the first keeper run for the feints jar. After this I felt good about drinking what came out of my still. If i didn't though I would have tossed my first keeper run just to be safe. Just think it of seasoning if you do that. In this hobby you will have plenty of likker down the road that won't be hazardous. So if you prefer to think if it as a sacrifice to the alcihol gods for getting started.

It's not completely black and white like that it depends on what kind of flux you used, how many soldier joints you have, how good a job you do with said joints, and how clean of copper you had in the first place i.e. new, scrap, shitter pipe or whatever. Iv red other members doing up to 4 sac runs before they felt good about drinking their product form a new still.

You chose where you set your own standard of quality control and I don't consider mine to even be that high... just don't set your too low NAH MEEN

[Coilface]

Ok. Actually there Is No Solder so lucky me. I drank a bunch of it on the first run lol. Before I posted here. and I gues I didnt research enogh on the cleaning. Anyway I didnt use any solder at all anywhere. or ay kind of glue brass food grade compression conectors. and SS ones. Aint no solder anywhwere, and Nope. she dont leek. Ill stillk sac run it thogh. I can use it as fuel for my alcohol stove

[jedneck]

Just because you didn't use solder don't mean you can skip the cleaning runs. There are impurities and oils used in the manufacturing process that need removed.

[thatguy1313]

Start here:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=52975

[moosemilk]

Copper and other metals also often have a coating on them to keep them from oxidizing before sale. Now you may think they use some of this tubing in water lines and there's no heavy cleaning done there, but they aren't dealing with high ABV at high (vapor) temps either. Always better to go safe route. My brass compression fitting I use at my worm is "lead free" but I still pickled it anyways.

[liquid therapy]

You can pick up a 40 ltr. Ss pot on flee bay for around 80.00, free shipping if you look around. I got my balling ton there. Pretty good quality too.

[thatguy1313]

Can get a keg for way less than that.

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

I built my boka from scratch for that

[Coilface]

Haa ha m already hinking about a new one, Or at minimum improvements on myn. Its not bad as is. But definatly room for improvement. I got a new phone recently but ill post some pics. Before and afters. as far as a potstill ( aside from noobin it ) isnt a bad desighn. I want to upgrade to stainless fittings thogh, not brass. its lead free and all, Id just feel better if it were stainless.