Using what i have to make 10 gallons of neutral.

[Chauncey]

Aight. I have a very close friend who makes herbal bath products. Not talking weed im talking spiritual baths etc. This requires 95 percent clean neutral. He pays out the ass for GNS. and has been a good friend for over 20 years so i told him id make him ten gallons - for free im not selling hooch and neither is he. Im not trying to invest in too much more equipment but work with what I have.


I have a 3" 4 bubble plate column. Ita under a 2" ccvm tee and 2" shotgun pc on the backend.

That aint gonna make neutral. So ill need to add a packed section. I have a 24inch 2" stainless spool i can pack and add. Id reckon over the plates better? The bottom of my plated section reduces to 2 inch to connect to a standard sankey so i could put it under as well.

Packing would be copper mesh, ss scrubbers, or i could look for ceramic rings like the ones in shadys thread or lava rock.

Im thinking use my normal double keg and thump(both 15.5s) to strip about 24 gallons of sugar wash twice. 48 gallons of sugar wash(shadys prolly or bw or wineos) total thru both strips So thatd be lets say ten gallons of low wines or so at 40 abv or so after both strips.

Using the packed section and 4 plate ccvm do you think i could get a good clean neutral? I can pull 93 abv off the plates full flavor.

Now without dropping more dough i could solder up a longer copper 2 inch segment to add to the packed length. What says you about this? I could take the plates put and pack the whole 3 inch section too but its sightwindows and all... i also have 3 inch blanks i could make perfs out of....but thats alot more work.

What would ya do? This is a friend ive known for almost 20 years and he has blessed me so generously i wanna get this done.

Ferm Protocol, equip ideas, whatever you got lemme have it.

And i realize ill probably have to do the whole thing twicr at least.to get the total ten gallons of clean neutral hearts.

Dropping the plates and making a longer 2 inch packed section seems like an option but money money on my end. I love the guy but i aint rich. Lol

[shadylane]

Just guessing
To get 10 gallons of 95% neutral alcohol
Will take at least 200ish gallons of 10% wash.
Figuring less than half of the fermented alcohol will make the cut for neutral.

I'd use the thumper/plates/packed column to strip
Dilute and run it again.

[dukethebeagle120]

I use wineos
About as neutral as you can get
Imo,you should be good with the tools you got
The rest i agree with shady

[WithOrWithoutU2]

Get your 2" column to a to a minimum height of 48". Pack with the ceramic rings (probably 3/8" for 2" column). Use the CCVM Tee to control reflux out to your shotgun condenser.

I just used this same set up except I had 3" column, 1/2" rings packed in a 36" column, used a gate valve and got 95% no problem. If memory serves me, I charged the boiler with around 30% ABV. It was a sacrificial cleaning run so I can't speak to the quality. I ran fairly fast and again no problem getting 95%. I would have to believe 2" column with 48" height and a 40% charge would get you there. You seem familiar with shady sugar wash and that is probably the cheapest / easiest. And if you aren't tasting it you don't have to worry about the sugar bite.

EDIT: I assume nobody is tasting it. But I have no idea how it will be used in a spiritual bath. I assume it is somehow used to make bath additives by stripping oils from flowers/herbs.

[jonnys_spirit]

Well if you’re going through all that for a buddy then he must be good people. maybe plan to make 11 gallons and keep one for yer troubles?

Cheers,
Jonny

[Oldvine Zin]

I agree with Shady, time to get those fermenters rocking and rolling.

Stay safe
OVZ

[Chauncey]

Well if you’re going through all that for a buddy then he must be good people. maybe plan to make 11 gallons and keep one for yer troubles?

Cheers,
Jonny

Youve met me, im loud but my word means alot.


Shady, hard to run my plates over my thump(pc out is to the side not the top. Im thinking use my.normal strip protocol(main 15.5 w 13.8 gallons of wash; thumper w 11.5 gal wash) and do that 4 to 6 times. Then two or three reflux runs of the low wines w the packed section and plates. Feints i have(alot) all added in the strips.

What i really wanna know is, should the packed section go over the plates or under.

And to jonny' im gonna aim for 11, but this is my friend who has blessed me with thousands of dollars in bar business etc. Even if i land 9 and give him 8 he will be happy. Ill have the experience and am fine with that.

I have like 200 gallons fermenter space easily in brutes and kegs. Probably 150 in bsg buckets and carboys.

[Chauncey]

Also cane sugar costs me 14 to 17 bucks for 50lbs here. Gonna get fermenting first thing. Thinking about using low wine cleanup w sodium bicarb to clean the low wine too but that takea a lil research. None of this will be consumed by humans' a 100ml bottle macerated with herbs will go.into an entire bathtub of water.


Yeah this is something related to "voodun" or voodoo btw. I am from.new orleans.

[SassyFrass]

Kudos to you Chauncy. My hats off to folks who still remember to take care of their friends. And whose word actually means something.
I know very little about reflux and neutral, just what I been studying on here. So i cant help you with that part.
Only thing is to let you know you got folks here rooting for your success in your endeavor.
SF

[WithOrWithoutU2]

Just guessing
To get 10 gallons of 95% neutral alcohol
Will take at least 200ish gallons of 10% wash.
Figuring less than half of the fermented alcohol will make the cut for neutral.

From my rough estimates, 200 gallons of Shady's Sugar Shine wash @10% would cost about $200. That assumes $0.50/lb for sugar, $10/lb for yeast, $7/lb for DAP, $0.06 per vitamin, and $0.03 per pinch of epsom salt. So 10 gallons @ 95% abv is $200. With that kind of cash for ingredients, plus cost to upgrade equipment, and time/effort I sure hope your buddy appreciate it.

[shadylane]

Im thinking use my.normal strip protocol(main 15.5 w 13.8 gallons of wash; thumper w 11.5 gal wash) and do that 4 to 6 times.

Numbers don't add up brother
It's going to take awhile to strip 200 gallons wash with the rig you have.
I'd figure on having to make 9 or10 stripping runs

[Chauncey]

Youre definitely right there, but if its 9 or 10 strips of abt 25 gallons each then so be it. My concern is the equipment setup. Plates over 24 inches packed òr vice versa or just packing the plate segment or just adding 36 inches of spool to the 24in 2 inch and packing that.

[jonnys_spirit]

Well if you’re going through all that for a buddy then he must be good people. maybe plan to make 11 gallons and keep one for yer troubles?

Cheers,
Jonny

Youve met me, im loud but my word means alot.

I can vouch for your Gumbo and will be back for more at some future date also bearing gifts for y'all Chauncey!

If it's for voodoo bath infusions still it under a full moon because I read that you like stillin at night too.

Cheers,
jonny

[Corsaire]

My research says packed column over plates

[shadylane]

Youre definitely right there, but if its 9 or 10 strips of abt 25 gallons each then so be it. My concern is the equipment setup. Plates over 24 inches packed òr vice versa or just packing the plate segment or just adding 36 inches of spool to the 24in 2 inch and packing that.

Might as well up date the column. I'd go with 3" all the way
Having 24inch x 2" on top the 36" X 3" will only run at the 2" speed.
The rule of thump is for the packed column to be 20X taller than the diameter.
It doesn't have to be that tall, but it helps

[Saltbush Bill]

Packed section on top of plates.

[Chauncey]

My research says packed column over plates

Packed section on top of plates.

Thanks gents.

Youre definitely right there, but if its 9 or 10 strips of abt 25 gallons each then so be it. My concern is the equipment setup. Plates over 24 inches packed òr vice versa or just packing the plate segment or just adding 36 inches of spool to the 24in 2 inch and packing that.

Might as well up date the column. I'd go with 3" all the way
Having 24inch x 2" on top the 36" X 3" will only run at the 2" speed.
The rule of thump is for the packed column to be 20X taller than the diameter.
It doesn't have to be that tall, but it helps

I think this is the plan im gonna roll with. Update to a full 3 inch setup. Both spool and ccvm tee then reduce to my 2 inch shotty and run that over a thumper. Pricing out some parts now. I opened the bar at noon today and im here till midnight at least so i figure these first few hours ima sketch it out and see what i need to order.

Whats your recommendation for max charge sizes for a 15.5 keg boiler and 15.5 keg thumper with a ccvm column over the thump? I know what i can strip with those sizes pot stillin but i was thinking reflux over the thump may require a smaller charge size in one or the other.

Ive pushed 13.5 gal primary and 12 gal in thump easily on pot strips.

Thanks shady and everyone else your knowledge is always appreciated.

[shadylane]

Whats your recommendation for max charge sizes for a 15.5 keg boiler and 15.5 keg thumper with a ccvm column over the thump? I know what i can strip with those sizes pot stillin but i was thinking reflux over the thump may require a smaller charge size in one or the other.

Ive pushed 13.5 gal primary and 12 gal in thump easily on pot strips.

On the first run, I'd try 13G in the pot and 5G in the thumper.
After the run, measure the thumper level and adjust accordingly for future runs

[Chauncey]

Sounds like a plan. Will report back as the project progresses. Thanks again

[Chauncey]

Theres a rough sketch

[Yummyrum]

I think the thumper under the column will get you into strife . On the few times I tried it ,I gained nothing .On two occasions , I boiled the Boiler dry and smoke came over and tainted the product ( I thought I was in hearts and was collecting in a big jar at the time ) .A level site glass on the boiler might have helped .

Problem is that the reflux still is running at about 10:1 reflux ratio typically . As you are therefore only taking off 1/10 of what is in the thumper , it will empty the boiler before the run has finished .

Only successful setups I’ve seen with a thumper under a reflux head had an overflow back to the boiler .

Just run strip in a boiler and don’t worry about the thumper .

What you are undertaking is pretty big .Just to give you an idea .

I have just made 20 litres of 95.5% . That was one 200litre fermenter of wash . That took me a whole day to strip .
I then run it through my 4” packed column still ( its over 3metres high .It took me 11 hours to run it .

3x 9kg gas bottles and after two days of running , my 2000litre coolant tank was so fried that after half the reflux run , I had to switch to the main household tank and dump the water ( luckily its pissing down raining here) .

[frunobulax]

Here's a run I made. alot of strippings and feints https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 17&t=61417
The column was packed with lava rock

[Chauncey]

I think the thumper under the column will get you into strife . On the few times I tried it ,I gained nothing .On two occasions , I boiled the Boiler dry and smoke came over and tainted the product ( I thought I was in hearts and was collecting in a big jar at the time ) .A level site glass on the boiler might have helped .

Problem is that the reflux still is running at about 10:1 reflux ratio typically . As you are therefore only taking off 1/10 of what is in the thumper , it will empty the boiler before the run has finished .

Only successful setups I’ve seen with a thumper under a reflux head had an overflow back to the boiler .

Just run strip in a boiler and don’t worry about the thumper .

What you are undertaking is pretty big .Just to give you an idea .

I have just made 20 litres of 95.5% . That was one 200litre fermenter of wash . That took me a whole day to strip .
I then run it through my 4” packed column still ( its over 3metres high .It took me 11 hours to run it .

3x 9kg gas bottles and after two days of running , my 2000litre coolant tank was so fried that after half the reflux run , I had to switch to the main household tank and dump the water ( luckily its pissing down raining here) .

Ok that was based on what shady suggested to me. Im thinking alot and deciding ima start with my double keg pot strip x2 and take the 12 gallons of 40 percent low wines to run in a single keg with a 36inch packed section over my 4 plates to the ccvm head in 3 inch.

[jake_jimmylegs]

Always a new way to skin a cat but a tried and true 3 meter 4" column probably the best option.

Not sure if this pic will make it, copied from another post. I used to call the bottom section an "inline thumper" It's 6.5" D x 12" H packed with SS scrubbers.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/downloa ... &mode=view
copied the pic from this post: https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 4#p7642904

Only successful setups I’ve seen with a thumper under a reflux head had an overflow back to the boiler .

Hmm, could that be called a 'flumper' LM?

[shadylane]

I think the thumper under the column will get you into strife.

Ok that was based on what shady suggested to me. Im thinking alot and deciding ima start with my double keg pot strip x2 and take the 12 gallons of 40 percent low wines to run in a single keg with a 36inch packed section over my 4 plates to the ccvm head in 3 inch.

After thinking about it, I'd take Yummy's advice, not mine

[jake_jimmylegs]

Not sure if this pic will make it, copied from another post. I used to call the bottom section an "inline thumper" It's 6.5" D x 12" H packed with SS scrubbers.

To add to my previous post... Aren't bubble plates basically just little inline thumpers?

[Yummyrum]

Aren't bubble plates basically just little inline thumpers?

Yes . With the advantage that they overflow back to the boiler .

If you removed the plates and packed it , the packed height will be more efficient than the plates .

[Chauncey]

8E4DE8AE-074E-43D9-ADF3-B1691F2B6D40.jpeg (25.68 KiB) Viewed 2182 times

Well shes getting there. Switched to a shorter top spool, wound the condenser. Tested the head over the 4 plates for some whiskey last night it did great. The 7.75 keg pictured is just for dry fitting inside. I have 13 foot ceilings btw.

130B7CCE-71C1-4983-BF48-43AD0C9FA5F6.jpeg (34.74 KiB) Viewed 2182 times

[Chauncey]

I shall dub it the staff, because the staff turns my pics on the reg.

Thanks yalls

[shadylane]

Aren't bubble plates basically just little inline thumpers?

Yes . With the advantage that they overflow back to the boiler .

If you removed the plates and packed it , the packed height will be more efficient than the plates .

+1 Yummy