Low wines into a thumper keg

[Notstupid]

I accidentally made a 12 gallon rum mash for a 13 gallon boiler without thinking about the headspace, so I decided to split it up into two batches. And I was thinking, I'm making a thumper for my still, so how would it sound if I were to strip half the mash without the thumper keg, then distill the other half with the thump keg attatched, and putting the low wines in it? I usually like my liquor to have a strong flavor, so I thought it might be a better idea than doing a strip and spirit run for the entire run.

As a side note, my thump keg is a repurposed container for pickles, anyone know the best way to get the smell out of it? I don't want my friends to be off put by the smell or taste of dill.

[Berserk]

Depending on the size of your thumper you could run some wash in the boiler and some in the thumper when you strip it and then do a regular spirit run, or do it the way you described, either way will work out fine.

I do get a bit concerned when you say that your thumper is a repurposed pickle container. Is it made from glass? If that is the case I'd strongly urge you to use something else due to safety concerns.

[Saltbush Bill]

12 gallon rum mash

It isn't a mash because you didn't mash anything.... it's a wash. You mash grains to make whisky.
If you don't use the right terms for things life starts to get very confusing here.
I'm also worried about the pickle container, safety is number one priority on this forum.
Might be an idea to look through the forum rules.

app.php/rules

[Notstupid]

Depending on the size of your thumper you could run some wash in the boiler and some in the thumper when you strip it and then do a regular spirit run, or do it the way you described, either way will work out fine.

I do get a bit concerned when you say that your thumper is a repurposed pickle container. Is it made from glass? If that is the case I'd strongly urge you to use something else due to safety concerns.

aha, I know people will probably rail me for this, but I'm having a hard time finding many other options. I'm just using those 5 gallon buckets you see everywhere, I got a bunch for free since my dad owns a restaurant, and because of that I know they're food safe atleast. Its not optimal and I'll change it out whenever I can find a better option, but as long as I don't apply direct heat to it I don't believe there will be any issues with the plastic melting, and I really don't think the plastic could do anything unless you left pure ethanol in it for months. I'm running a sugar wash before my main run to see if it'll turn out fine, and I believe it will, and if it doesn't, all I've wasted is the bucket lid I modified since the setup is modular enough to switch to not using the thumper.

[Notstupid]

Also, I apologize, I mostly make beer and wine so I usually say mash instead of wash

[NormandieStill]

aha, I know people will probably rail me for this, but I'm having a hard time finding many other options. I'm just using those 5 gallon buckets you see everywhere, I got a bunch for free since my dad owns a restaurant, and because of that I know they're food safe atleast. Its not optimal and I'll change it out whenever I can find a better option, but as long as I don't apply direct heat to it I don't believe there will be any issues with the plastic melting, and I really don't think the plastic could do anything unless you left pure ethanol in it for months.

Hope you're wearing a fireproof suit!

You "don't think" the plastic will react but your username is looking a little inappropriate right now. If you actually did some research you'd find that your food safe plastic is not rated for any contact time with the alcohol levels you'll be putting in it at any temperature. A thumper is not a static setup, even if the low wines start in the boiler you'll be flooding it with high proof alcohol as soon as you start running. Not to mention that your bucket is going to be full of boiling liquid for 6 hours or more when you run this. You're relying on the lid seal to remain vapour tight. And how are you attaching your Lyne arm to the bucket? Bathroom silicone?

Ditch this idea right now. It is stupid and dangerous. If you can't afford an appropriate container to use as a thumper then you don't have a thumper!

[Yummyrum]

Notstupid, I have moved this topic to “not what to use/do” section of forum.

You may feel it is OK , but it is absolutely not, and we can’t condone using plastic buckets as Thumpers or boilers on this forum .

Ethanol is a solvent , and even if your food grade bucket has a mild resistance to it , it won't to the other solvent's that are present during the distillation process .

I work as a Lab assistant , yes Ethanol is often supplied and stored in HDPE containers , but all other alcohols and Organics are supplied and stored in glass as they destroy the plastic bottles.

[Saltbush Bill]

Notstupid there are two ways in this hobby......the right way and the wrong way.......you are choosing a path that will lead you into trouble.
This is not Facebook or some stupid Youtube Channel, members here take distilling and safety seriously.
Suggest you have a good think about which path you really want to follow.
Hopefully you will decide to stay and learn the safe and proper ways to do things in this hobby......there is a lot to learn, it isn't as easy as just chucking something into a pot and boiling it up.
As Yummy said , some of the components of a wash that you want to boil in plastic buckets are the same or similar to the things used in Nail Polish Remover, Paint Thinners and Strippers......We are not dealing with "FOOD SAFE" here.
One simple question for you , would you feel comfortable about boiling gasoline in a plastic bucket?

[Swedish Pride]

Where are you located, maybe someone local can help point you it the right direction for finding safe containers.

An mentioned plastic isn't a good idea, not only because you may drinking plastic.
It could also melt from the heat, or get brittle and crack, neither would be a good day out.

[Wildcats]

I can't stress enough. Plastic is the last thing in the world you wanna use as a thumper. Even all the mason jars you see people using as thumper is a very bad idea. Other members have warned you. Please take their advice. There is no place for short cuts in this hobby. Copper or stainless steel are the only thing you want to make a thumper out of. This site and the members here will get you straightened out.

Have fun and stay safe

[Notstupid]

Darn, from everything I could find there was no information about using plastic in that part of the still.
I have a question about pressure though, often times you see people talking about using teflon tape or flour paste, I know the flour paste isn't always reliable but it made me unsure about the pressure involved. I was also thinking over the issue of plastic in my thumper keg, I didnt completely overlook the issue of plastics leaking into the liquor, so my question is, would it be possible to coat the inside of the bucket in a high temperature resin? Although the pressure issue would still remain

Where are you located, maybe someone local can help point you it the right direction for finding safe containers.

An mentioned plastic isn't a good idea, not only because you may drinking plastic.
It could also melt from the heat, or get brittle and crack, neither would be a good day out.

Wichita KS, if anyone nearby could help me out that'd be great

[Tōtōchtin]

Notstupid there are two ways in this hobby......the right way and the wrong way.......you are choosing a path that will lead you into trouble.
This is not Facebook or some stupid Youtube Channel, members here take distilling and safety seriously.
Suggest you have a good think about which path you really want to follow.
Hopefully you will decide to stay and learn the safe and proper ways to do things in this hobby......there is a lot to learn, it isn't as easy as just chucking something into a pot and boiling it up.
As Yummy said , some of the components of a wash that you want to boil in plastic buckets are the same or similar to the things used in Nail Polish Remover, Paint Thinners and Strippers......We are not dealing with "FOOD SAFE" here.
One simple question for you , would you feel comfortable about boiling gasoline in a plastic bucket?

SBB, that's the nicest critique I read from you, you're not getting soft on us,are you.
Tōtō

[Berserk]

First off: you don't need a thumper to be successful in home distilling. Just a pot still will serve you just fine, and depending on what you're looking to make a thumper may even be the entirely wrong tool for it.

If you want to make a safe and simple thumper, see if your father can hook you up with a stainless 5 gallon/20 quart(/god knows how many fl oz) stock pot with a lid. I use a 10 liter IKEA stock pot as a thumper. All you need is one/two holes in the lid, some teflon tape and a whole bunch of paper clamps and you've got a functioning thumper made with safe materials.

[Notstupid]

First off: you don't need a thumper to be successful in home distilling. Just a pot still will serve you just fine, and depending on what you're looking to make a thumper may even be the entirely wrong tool for it.

If you want to make a safe and simple thumper, see if your father can hook you up with a stainless 5 gallon/20 quart(/god knows how many fl oz) stock pot with a lid. I use a 10 liter IKEA stock pot as a thumper. All you need is one/two holes in the lid, some teflon tape and a whole bunch of paper clamps and you've got a functioning thumper made with safe materials.

Yea at the end of the day I was probably gonna avoid the whole mess of using a thumper keg, I figured I would just try to see if it'd work with the sacrificial run but its probably a better idea not to. Alternatively, I had the idea that I could get a refurbished beer keg and make an adapter for it, and since I brew beer aswell I'd be killing two birds with one stone.

[Berserk]

First off: you don't need a thumper to be successful in home distilling. Just a pot still will serve you just fine, and depending on what you're looking to make a thumper may even be the entirely wrong tool for it.

If you want to make a safe and simple thumper, see if your father can hook you up with a stainless 5 gallon/20 quart(/god knows how many fl oz) stock pot with a lid. I use a 10 liter IKEA stock pot as a thumper. All you need is one/two holes in the lid, some teflon tape and a whole bunch of paper clamps and you've got a functioning thumper made with safe materials.

Yea at the end of the day I was probably gonna avoid the whole mess of using a thumper keg, I figured I would just try to see if it'd work with the sacrificial run but its probably a better idea not to. Alternatively, I had the idea that I could get a refurbished beer keg and make an adapter for it, and since I brew beer aswell I'd be killing two birds with one stone.

Absolutely, beer kegs are very popular both as boilers and as thumpers. And in the case of thumpers you don't even need to do anything with the keg that renders it useless for string beer

[NormandieStill]

Darn, from everything I could find there was no information about using plastic in that part of the still.
I have a question about pressure though, often times you see people talking about using teflon tape or flour paste, I know the flour paste isn't always reliable but it made me unsure about the pressure involved. I was also thinking over the issue of plastic in my thumper keg, I didnt completely overlook the issue of plastics leaking into the liquor, so my question is, would it be possible to coat the inside of the bucket in a high temperature resin? Although the pressure issue would still remain

"Safety first and foremost! These forums take a very strong negative view on the use of plastics and synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use these during any part of the distillation process with the exception of HPDE buckets which are acceptable for fermentation. There simply are too many types of plastics and a lack of reliable information for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus."

Taken from The Rules By Which We Live, which is required reading for all members of the forum. Emboldening is mine.

Resins are plastics, so adding more plastic to your plastic with even less control of chemical leaching is not a solution. Build out of the approved materials and nothing else and you'll have alcohol that is a safe to drink as a known carcinogen and neurotoxin can be!

[Notstupid]

before I do anything, is this style of thumper keg attachment safe? I'm wondering if there might be issues with pressure, but the bottom diameter of the tee coupler i got is a little larger at the base

[Yummyrum]

The Tee coupler idea is good , but I don’t like that particular one you pictured .

It looks like its got a 1/2” thump tube in a 3/4” Tee .
I agree with your potential pressure concerns , especially if run hard .

There are safer designs that use a 3/4” thump tube in a 2”tee with a reducer back to 3/4” on the Tee branch .

[Notstupid]

The Tee coupler idea is good , but I don’t like that particular one you pictured .

It looks like its got a 1/2” thump tube in a 3/4” Tee .
I agree with your potential pressure concerns , especially if run hard .

There are safer designs that use a 3/4” thump tube in a 2”tee with a reducer back to 3/4” on the Tee branch .

Well, heres the tee that I bought with the thump tube in it, and while it does seem a little tight, the keg i'm getting is 5 gallons which is a bit on the larger size for a 13 gallon still.
Another question related to using a 5 gallon thumper, if i were to do what I said in the OP, would there be too little wash for my keg to work?
and one more question, in order to do a smaller batch size, and I didnt have the ability to heat the keg directly, could i just fill the keg with the wash I'm intending to distill, and the boiler full of water so the heat of the water vapor causes the keg to heat up? I would only do this for really small batches that would be too small for my main boiler, around 3 gallons of wash

[Wildcats]

Are you talking about using a water bath to heat your keg. I guess it can be done. I have used an oil bath to heat another vessel before. Just remember that the oil will expand when heated. I assume that water will do likewise. Maybe some of the more experienced members will offer their wisdom.

Have fun and stay.

[NormandieStill]

I think he's talking about steam distilling.

NotStupid: If that's so... search the forum... there's a vast wealth of discussions on the subject and that way you can ask directed and specific questions based on your reading, rather than expecting to be spoonfed.

[Notstupid]

I think he's talking about steam distilling.

NotStupid: If that's so... search the forum... there's a vast wealth of discussions on the subject and that way you can ask directed and specific questions based on your reading, rather than expecting to be spoonfed.

Ah thank you, I didn't know there was a name for it, I've searched for it in the past but due to a lack of right terms all I could get was essential oil distillation

[Twisted Brick]

and one more question, in order to do a smaller batch size, and I didnt have the ability to heat the keg directly, could i just fill the keg with the wash I'm intending to distill, and the boiler full of water so the heat of the water vapor causes the keg to heat up?

That's how thumpers work. Running with water in the boiler and wash in the thumper is but one mode covered in multiple threads under Pot Distillation/Thumper and Design.

It will take you numerous runs to streamline the variables of boiler/thumper charges and volume exchange as well as smearing between vessels. You will also need to reduce the starting wash volume in an already small thumper to accommodate the volume of incoming steam.

The size of your still charge begs for you to skip the thumper idea and go with a true double-distillation. Also, you just may end up with a higher-quality spirit.

[Notstupid]

The size of your still charge begs for you to skip the thumper idea and go with a true double-distillation. Also, you just may end up with a higher-quality spirit.

Alright, I was thinking using a thumper would improve the quality over just regular double distillation

[NormandieStill]

Alright, I was thinking using a thumper would improve the quality over just regular double distillation

What will improve the quality enormously is making enough wash to do at least 3 stripping runs, which you strip to an appropriate abv for the product you're making (whisky flavours are largely found in the tails for example, so don't stop too soon!) which should get you enough low wines to mostly fill your still. Then run them slowly (you should be expecting to spend at least 6 hours swapping containers, regardless of how big the charge is) collecting in lots (At least 20) small pots. Then take your time to analyse the flavours and make a blend which pleases you. This process will get you drinkable spirits more reliably than just adding more equipment. Until you have a baseline, you won't have any idea how to tweak your protocol with your thumper to make what you like. I would strongly suggest that you run at least a couple of Tried and True recipes through a properly made and cleaned pot still before you start getting too interested in ways you can make it more complicated. The wealth of information here makes it very easier to get Shiny Copper Envy(TM), but in general it's best to add things when you understand what you want them to do, rather than doing it because you that's what the cool kids are doing.

[Yummyrum]

NoStupid .
If you are intending on steam stripping , I would absolutely not use that small size Tee . The potential for a puke , plug and explosion are extremely high ,especially if you do anything other than a simple sugar wash .

Affording a 2” tee is much cheaper than dealing with the burns that you and anyone else in the room will suffer .

Also as was mentioned , your thumper should be about 1/2 the size of your boiler , but when steam stripping , you would be better off with them both being the same size.

Note also that I/we have used the term steam stripping . It is just that ….. a stripping run , and should be followed by a slow spirit run .

[Notstupid]

NoStupid .
If you are intending on steam stripping , I would absolutely not use that small size Tee . The potential for a puke , plug and explosion are extremely high ,especially if you do anything other than a simple sugar wash .

Affording a 2” tee is much cheaper than dealing with the burns that you and anyone else in the room will suffer .

Also as was mentioned , your thumper should be about 1/2 the size of your boiler , but when steam stripping , you would be better off with them both being the same size.

Note also that I/we have used the term steam stripping . It is just that ….. a stripping run , and should be followed by a slow spirit run .

Ok, thank you for the information. Even if I don't steam strip, I'm guessing its still a good idea to get a 1 inch tee instead of a 3/4, isnt it? Trouble is that it'd cost 3 times as much after shipping even though its just bumped up to an inch, but if I have to I have to. Also, I'm planning on replacing the vevor still altogether because theres just too many problems with it that makes it unsafe (small diameter condenser, brass fitings, shitty slobber box, pots arent magnetic, etc.) and I'll replace it with a 10 gallon stock pot that connects to the thumper, that feeds into a liebig condenser.

[kimbodious]

@NotStupid, check out sanitary or triclamp fittings, they are fairly inexpensive

[Notstupid]

@NotStupid, check out sanitary or triclamp fittings, they are fairly inexpensive

Yea I've been looking at those too, I'll use tri clamp fittings for the parts that mount to the boiler and keg, aswell as for a gin basket in the future

[jake_jimmylegs]

So, how's the project going?

People still use thumpers?

Personally, I'd go with an 'inline vertical thumper' A.K.A. a column. a 3-4 inch diameter by 36" long column stuffed with copper or stainless scrubbers should perform at least as well as a thumper, if not, better.