Tin foil in the bottom of a copper distiller

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:45 pm

I am new to distilling and had an issue in the past. I had a pretty thick mash that I ran through my 2.5 gallon distiller a couple of years back and it crusted to the bottom and burned a little bit. It was nearly impossible to clean. I would like to avoid this in the future. I was thinking about a solution and was considering lining the inside base of the pot with aluminum foil. I figure it could withstand the heat and not cause any issues with the flavor as well as protect me from the disastrous cake on the bottom. I also will try to heat the mash slower. The last stripping run that caked the mash to the bottom took about 10 hours and I still burned it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **Bushman** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:50 pm

Welcome to HD, the welcome center is for introductions so before I answer any of your questions I ask you to give a brief introduction so members can get to know you a bit better. Thanks.

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:30 pm

Absolutely. I am out here in Colorado and have a deep interest in distilling...have had it for a couple of years but burned some mash and had a hell of a time getting back into it. Well, I'm back into it. I own a small 2.5 gallon still and have a nice little setup. Right now I am just testing some new methods trying to improve my skills as well as my knowledge of the art. Would love to hear from experienced vets that have made the mistakes...though I plan on making plenty myself. Glad I found the forum and look forward to all the knowledge it presents.

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:32 pm

I am new to distilling and had an issue in the past. I had a pretty thick mash that I ran through my 2.5 gallon distiller a couple of years back and it crusted to the bottom and burned a little bit. It was nearly impossible to clean. I would like to avoid this in the future. I was thinking about a solution and was considering lining the inside base of the pot with aluminum foil. I figure it could withstand the heat and not cause any issues with the flavor as well as protect me from the disastrous cake on the bottom. I also will try to heat the mash slower. The last stripping run that caked the mash to the bottom took about 10 hours and I still burned it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

J0hnni3 · Post by **J0hnni3** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:18 pm

I think a better approach might be to heat more slowly., though it sounds like you've tried that... ouch! 10 hours!!!!

My understanding, is that there can be issues with aluminum in a boil... particularly if there's any acidity to the boil. (Where I'm at now, the water is very base, but where I lived previously, the water was quite acidic) Dunno how it is for you.

Have you considered draining the liquid off the solids and distilling that?

goose eye · Post by **goose eye** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:58 pm

Defuser

So I'm tole

Post by **moosemilk** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:55 am

Like goose said, consider something to diffuse the heat. You can always put a light coat of butter on the bottom of your boiler before filling if you can access it. Of course if you're using a keg that would be difficult.

OBX Phantom · Post by **OBX Phantom** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:16 am

No foil. the acidity of the wash will dissolve it. Be sure to strain all of the solids out of your wash, so all you have is liquid. Heat slowly, and as goose said use something to defuse the heat, such as a thick metal plate between the boiler and the flame, also maybe cover the bottom of the boiler with something like small pieces of copper pipe.

Post by **S-Cackalacky** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:07 am

Could be that you're just not clearing your wash well enough. After fermenting to dry, let the wash sit for a couple of days for the solids to settle to the bottom. Rack (siphon) the liquid into your boiler - avoiding the solids that have settled to the bottom.

Post by **Bushman** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:19 am

We here put safety first and what I have to say will probably sound negative but over time I think you will come to the same conclusion. First you can make alcohol as you know with your still but cuts on a still smaller than 5 gallon still are very difficult which means you can but it is very hard to get a great quality drink. Most folks here use a keg boiler or something between 10-20 gallons. To prevent scorching you might want to start out with a Recipe from our Tried & True Recipe section or if you think your recipe is a good one but it is thick because you are dumping the whole thing into the pot instead of racking it first. I syphon mine into the keg and run it through a paint straining cloth so as not to get the thick bottom dunder into the still as mine is electric and I don't want to scorch the element.
Last we recommend copper or stainless steel touching the vapor and alcohol with the exception of collecting the cooler alcohol in glass jars. We do not recomment aluminum.

On a positive copper stills I find very beautiful can you post a picture?

hidalgo · Post by **hidalgo** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:26 am

Without seeing you still, could you just line the bottom with copper mesh? That should suspend the solids.

Just a thought.

Post by **MoonBreath** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:29 am

Welcome to HD!
I've never made that mistake ..Hope you enjoy and learn the Parent site and forums ..
I would also love to see pics ..Don't hardly ever get to see a 2.5 gal copper still.
Good luck to ya.

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:08 pm

I want to thank all of you for your well thought out answers, it is greatly appreciated. I will start digging around for something larger. I initially purchased it to keep my batches small as to not waste my ingredients on my own inexperience. I am thinking of making a custom one or purchasing a larger version of the one I have (see pic). I have been adding the entire mash, rather than just the wort, to the still. I have a couple of batches fermenting right now that are pretty thick, so hopefully I won't have any issues removing the liquid. Any recommendations on straining thick mash? I will also look around for some copper mesh that I might be able to suspend over the bottom of my existing still.

Post by **bearriver** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:50 pm

Run it through a paint strainer or pillow sack and into a secondary fermenter. Cold crash it for 24 hours then rack the good stuff off the trub/lees without disturbing it.

There are other ways such as : http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =3&t=53089 ...But that's my .02

Post by **moosemilk** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:01 am

Beautiful still you have. While on the small side, you can still make some good liquor. A few guys here have smaller stills like yours. If you look around you can get an idea of what volumes to collect in. Get yourself some smaller mason jars (the 250 ml ones) and collect half full til you get a better hand at making cuts. Thanks for the pic (aka copper porn).

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:18 am

I picked up a milk sack and am hoping it will do the trick. I will give it a shot. Thanks for the link bearriver.

moosemilk, thanks. I like it and am hoping to put some good mash in this Monday or Tuesday. At some point I will try and pull the six bills together for a 10 gallon of the same mfg. I put some moonshine mash through it a couple years back prior to burning the whiskey mash and it kept some good flavor. I'll keep you posted.

mixxer · Post by **mixxer** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:55 am

When cooking soup in large copper stock pots a handful of large steel ball bearings add an auto stirring function. Never tried that in a mash but can't see why it wouldn't work.

Post by **moosemilk** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:55 pm

tyger2420 wrote:I picked up a milk sack and am hoping it will do the trick. I will give it a shot. Thanks for the link bearriver.

moosemilk, thanks. I like it and am hoping to put some good mash in this Monday or Tuesday. At some point I will try and pull the six bills together for a 10 gallon of the same mfg. I put some moonshine mash through it a couple years back prior to burning the whiskey mash and it kept some good flavor. I'll keep you posted.

Skip the 6 bills and build yourself. Stainless beer keg is easy and cheap. If you want all copper traditional, making out of copper sheet is easy and cheaper than 6 bills also, including all the tools you'll need.

Plaincrazy · Post by **Plaincrazy** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:22 am

Wouldn't any kind of liner trap liquid and sediment between it and the bottom making the problem worse? Just thinking out loud here, anyone ever use one?
Myself I use a steel plate diffuser to keep direct heat off the thin bottom of my stock pot.

Post by **Bigbob** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:04 am

Hey tyger2420, I have the same still you do. When I'm putting my wash in I put a kitchen strainer on the kettle and siphon my wash avoiding the grain layer. The only scorching I've had is when I put suger into the backset. Burned a little but cleaned right up.

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:24 am

Moosemilk, that idea probably makes a lot more sense than dropping the cheddar on a pre-built. I will start looking around for a good design. With the keg design, do you still get the mash flavors during the distillation? What type of burner do you use?

Plaincrazy, yeah, it was kind of a random thought I had and it doesn't make a lot of sense

I used a milk sack to drain my mash the other day and it worked perfectly. Now I have other issues to work out of the process. The wort distilled quickly and without issue, but I am not happy with the final product. Probably a combination of the mashing process and maybe too high/low starting pH.

Bigbob, what size of still do you have? Is it the 2.5gal or the 5.0gal?

I have been working on mashes that are too small, I fear. I stripped the wort the other day and ended up with on 22oz. Pretty shabby. I ordered some larger pans and fermentation equipment and hope to have it by Thursday.

Post by **Bigbob** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 4:35 pm

Tyger2420 I have the 21/2 gal.

tyger2420 · Post by **tyger2420** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 8:50 pm

Bigbob, what type of mash do you distill? Is it whiskey? How is the final product?

Post by **Bigbob** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 9:07 pm

I've done mostly sweet feed, also tried a peach brandy. Going to do Booners corn sometime soon

Edit: forgot to add the sweet feed is great, the peach brandy so so, I blame my self for that, will try again.

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