Looking for feed back on planned pot thumper/steam strip setup

Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper.

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Birder4life

Looking for feed back on planned pot thumper/steam strip setup

Post by Birder4life »

Hello all, I would love some feedback on my planned build here

First off, my goals: I am mostly interested in flavored spirits, bourbon, trying out odd grains/ fruits. And I haven't made any but I want to make some grappa and apple grappa. I am not a vodka person at all, but I do want to be able to make a light flavored stuff for drinking white/ making gins and infusion.
so priorities are 1) good pot distillation set up, 2) stripping on the grain 3) some neutral/pseudo neutral production

Limitations: I am limited to 120v for now, only 240 outlet is for the dryer and not in a convenient location. I am also very limited on space (apartment with 5 kids, very crowded!), so trying to maximize multiple uses of equipment.
I have a Brewers Edge Mash & Boil (one of those all in one electric breweries) and have used that with a liebig condenser as a pot still but want upgrade from that.

What I have so far:
7.75 slim keg with 9" cutout on top, 1/2" drain and 1650W element in the side (this is my home brewing kettle)
7.75 slim keg, unmodified
24" 3/4 over 1/2 leibig condenser on 2" tri clamp.

plan is to use the cut keg as a boiler with lid from another keg bolted to the top with small SS bolts soldered into the keg top and wing nuts to pull the lid down tight. this will be the spirit run boiler with a 2" X 36" riser, reduced to 1.5" then two 1.5" 90s to a 24" X 1.5" shotgun condenser. rise could be packed and a deflag added to facilitate neutral to facilitate neutral or light flavored stuff in a 'detuned' mode.

for stripping on grain/fruit I was planning to use the un molested keg as a thumper and the boiler as a steam source.

so questions:
- anyone see a problem with using 3/4" for the vapor from the boiler to the thumper?
- anything you think I'm missing, I have read the site for the past 5 years, but still pretty green.

alternate approach I have thought about would be to move the heating elements to the new keg, add a 4 inch access point and a drain to that keg, to make an easier to seal up boiler, ditch the cut keg and wait for another intact keg to use fr the thumper/stripper. would that be worth not having to deal with a home made lid/gasket?

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