Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper
Ive moved to the uk and have decided to set up a still over here.
In new zealand i had a t500
Here i went with something small from china it is a 12ltr boiler with a 1.5" column
Then i got a keg so that i can do stripping runs over a fire
This is my shed where i do my spirit runs and where my brew barrels are i run 2x 20ltr buckets and 2x 30ltr buckets
Im running my 12ltr boiler on a induction hob which seems to run realy well which i wasnt expecting as it is made of 304 stainless steel and a magnet wont stick to it.
Ive just finnished a spirit run on a rum using feed molasses which ive put chared stave fingers into at a rate of 1 finger per litre
Also ive finished a run of apple brandy from an apple tree that we found on the side of the road which is aged the same
I only have a small 1.5 inch condensor and dephlegmator which was finding a bit inefficient but read about putting copper through them which realy made a diffrence
I also put a small amount of copper in the column for pot still runs just to have copper contact in the system
With this pot still setup im getting about 70% finished product after cuts on my spirti run which is great and im pretty happy with the flavour so far
Im still working on my reflux system at the moment im looking at a glass column which hasnt arived yet which will be packed with lava rock
The cooling system im working on ive attached a flow meter and temprature guage to water out of the shotgun dephlegmator which will be a little like the t500 as i will be able to guage the take off by the out put flow and temp
I too am intrigued by the copper in the condenser. If you say the difference is noticeable, I'm eager to give it a go on my plated column/reflux setup once I have a good stock of whiskey heads and all feint tails to run.
Wish I had me some barrels like those - just wood inside glass for me at the moment, put in an open outbuilding in a Lowe's bucket so to not attract attention from nosey neighbors or get overlooked in the off chance someone in my area gets bold enough to burglarize (my mower should distract them from rummaging through plastic buckets).
"I am a man. And I can change. If I want to. I guess." ~Red Green
With regard to the keg im wanting to make a super efficient way of using wood to do all my stripping as it saves a lot on power and i get the wood for free from work
In nz i had a problem with people taking my product from the shed so i started writing poison on everything which did a great job of putting people off
doing a stripping run over a fire is interesting to me as it could be handy as a backup and I'd like to save money and butane . how long does it take to do a run ? and are you using a heat shield/diffuser on the bottom of the keg?
icrazy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 5:54 am
Im still working on my reflux system at the moment im looking at a glass column which hasnt arived yet which will be packed with lava rock
I use a glass column with lava rock , it works well , its so good being able to see what happens inside the column when you change water flow , coil position or heat input . I got my lava rock from a website called specialist aggregates if you are looking for some , it seemed to be the only place in the UK I could buy any from at the time
Glad to know it works well im having problems getting the column at the moment but aliexpress has steoed in so i will be getting it from a diffrent supplier
Running on a fire is about the same speed as my 2.2kw element but ive got a diffrent design comming from a 44g drum which i will post pics of
That should give me way more heat and make for a fast strip
It is a nice feeling though sitting in front of a fire sipping hooch while the the still runs
Finaly got all my parts for my column finished
First run im getting almost 94% (93.7) im thinking of replacing the scrubbies with prismatic springs to see if i can get any higher
The heads where verry minimal but there was still a bit of tails so im thinking of putting a double 4" bubble plate at the bottom to try suppress the tails a bit.
Compared to the turbo 500 i have in nz though this thing gives verry clean neutral
Still running the smallest boiler but it is fine for now
Im thinking of making my keg electric to as its a pain doing distilling outside at this time of year.
Ive got a mate in ireland with a tig welder so might take it over there and weld some parts into it
Hi Crazy
Welcome to the Uk , sorry the UK is shut today due to bad weather but will re open shortly (thats normal here in the UK bit of snow and everything stops hope no bad guys work this out and buy a couple of snow makers they would take over the UK in a week )
but anyway nice set up , i run a t500 and just putting together a keg set up to go in my brewing shed when i work out how do photos will put some pics up
enjoy
and stay stilling
I may have to give that a try.
, very organized shed + setup , 
but it is fine for now