BCook's Setup

[bcook608]

I've posted in several different areas about what I'm working on with my setup, but I thought I'd post here so I had something to link to if I wanted to show people what I'm working with.

I'll use this as a running timeline of the evolution of my home setup.

When I first started my journey, like many others I thought I could just get a cheap still from Amazon and dive in. Boy was that a learning experience!
This is what I started with:

Still setup.jpg

As you can see, there were many design flaws with this setup. The flake stand and worm were way undersized for any meaningful, not to mention that when filled, it tilted to the side and threw off the slope of the worm. Additionally, the coils of the worm weren't evenly spaced or coiled at an adequate slope for collection. And on top of all that, it had a 1.5" tri-clamp fitting that transitioned directly into 1/2" copper.

To remedy this, I removed the flake stand and worm and build a liebig condenser.

20220212_121247.jpg

For now, this will have to do. I thought about redoing the lid with a 1.5" tri-clamp and attaching a 1.5" x 12" riser before transitioning into the liebig, but then I saw this for sale on my local marketplace. And for $350, I couldn't pass it up as most kegs in my area are around $100 each and I still would have had to put in all the work! This one has everything I need to upgrade and increase my production.

20220212_113436.jpg

This still has a 26 gallon boiler (2x13 gallon kegs welded together) and a 2" VM column (with a RC coil that is the height of the column) transitioning into a 7/8" lyne arm and then to a liebig condenser that is 7/8" inside of a 1-1/4" jacket. As of now, I won't be using the VM coil, I'll be using it in pot still mode. It also came equipped to be run as an electric still, but as I don't have the money or knowledge to run it on electricity yet I'll be plugging the element mounts and running it on propane. This led me to my next issue. Since it was set up for electric elements, the output of the Liebig would be too close to the open flame of the burner. I decided to use the pieces that I had and re-plumbed the lyne arm.

20220216_113628.jpg

Now the distillate will be collected further away from the flame and I don't have to worry so much about stray drips or the collection vessel being too close to the burner. It's not fully operational as I need to order parts to plug the element ports and attach a 2" butterfly drain valve, but she's coming along nicely. She is affectionately known as "Ugly Betty" in our house but that will change. I picked up some sanding wheels and wire wheels and the boiler will be getting a good polish. Might even go crazy and buff it to a mirror finish on everything for shits and giggles.

I will keep this thread updated as I grow