Mash tun / stripping still

[Bolverk]

Success!



She's been running for 30 mins at 100% and everything has stabilized.

[Bolverk]

Getting there Bolverk . Hey I wonder if all that water is just the steam condensing in the piping ? Maybe if you wait until the Pipes get up to temp , the water issue might stop or slow .
Do you reckon lagging it would help ?

It's possible especially in the beginning but that piping comes up to temp really quick.

That a good idea, start it slow so there not a lot of boiling until everything comes up to temp.

Not sure what you mean by lagging it?

[NormandieStill]

Not sure what you mean by lagging it?

"Lagging" is insulation in the world of plumbing. Never looked up why they choose to name it differently but there it is.

[Bolverk]

"Lagging" is insulation in the world of plumbing. Never looked up why they choose to name it differently but there it is.

Ah lol, I hadn't planned on it since it such a short path, but it would probably be a good idea.

[Tōtōchtin]

Perseverance is a good trait.
I was thinking earlier that the 3" sight glasses I bought for 3 of my kegs was a waste of money. Looking at yours I believe once it's sealed up I'll be able to see something going on in there. If not I'll have a fill port
abit smaller then I would want for a fill port. If they turn out to be useless I'll cut them out and add a 4" ferrule.
Tōtō

[Bolverk]

Haha I'm a relentless MF'er

I think a 3" or 4" tube would be much easier to get dialed in.
I firmly believe I only needed that much headspace because the bubbles generated by the element displaced so much water, if there was more water in that tube it would have gone a lot smoother

[Bolverk]

I am still going to move forward with the 4" self supporting version, because this is going to be hell to service.

[tjsc5f]

Congrats on getting some good steam!
When I get around to putting mine together, I think I'm going to mount it to the wall behind the still with something like these https://a.co/d/fzvSaJE

[Bolverk]

Congrats on getting some good steam!
When I get around to putting mine together, I think I'm going to mount it to the wall behind the still with something like these https://a.co/d/fzvSaJE

Thanks, I was starting to get a little frustrated with it so I'm glad I was finally able to get it.

I've seen those pipe supports used in a lot of distilleries, I think that's probably a better idea than I went with haha.

[tjsc5f]

I just saw this on amazon https://a.co/d/bCThuCm
I think I'm gonna have to run 100amp service out to my new still shed...

[Bolverk]

Gonna need bigger than a 3" tube for that

[Bolverk]

Educator doesn't work worth a damn with a thick rye mash (85% rye, 15% 6 row distillers malt) but it works for mashing



Edit to add: this was the easiest mash I've ever done.
Following Dr. Pat Heists advice of mashing up and down.

I brought the water temp up to 135, added my grain, the temp dropped of course (125), and I used the steam to heat back up to 150 while stirring every few minutes. I cut power at 150 and let it mash. 30 min later at 145 I added glucoamylase. At the 1 hour mark I was sitting at 1.055 exactly where I predicted based on my DP... yes this is a little low, but I'm going for pre-prohibition style rye, so it's intentionally left some uncoverted starches.

Not having to screw around with lautering or squeezing bags is a freaking game changer!

[tjsc5f]

nice. Are you going to ferment in there and then steam strip?

[Bolverk]

That was the plan... but during my cleaning runs I took on a lot of water bring it up to temp, probably too much to run this as is.

I'll let it ferment in the tun, but i'm going to drain half of it off before I run it.

[Bolverk]

Well fermenting in the tun is a bust with 12g...

I transferred it to a different fermtor....

Next recipe will only be 10g and I'll try it again

[Bolverk]

So parts are trickling in for the 4" tube build and I hit a bit of a snag... I'm hoping you guys can help with a creative solution.

So the plan was to use a 4" tower flange with all thread down to 12"x12" plate for the foot.

The TC side of the flange would be a 4" blank plate with a bulkhead 2" to TC so I could insert the element through the center.

But there's no room for the triclamp clamp inside of the back of the flange fitting.... you guys got any ideas?

I've tried regular triclamp and the low-profile high pressure triclamps.

[NormandieStill]

Not a helpful answer in terms of using what you've got, but if you really want your element inside another tube then you'd be better with a threaded element and a bulkhead fitting or welding a threaded section to your blanking plate.

Otherwise you could try drilling out some creatively placed holes to allow the overshooting parts of the triclamp to fit.

[Bolverk]

Thanks, that's not a bad idea. If the following fails may have to go that route.

I did have a nut that fit where the wing nut went, so I swapped them out and trimmed the bolt down... that saved some space. I'm going to try to trim off some of the high points off the clamp, and it just might fit... barely lol.

[Bolverk]

Just found this on Ali... the extended distance from the bulkhead flange to the triclamp should be enough to get the clearance for the modified clamp.... hopefully.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ms78TOS

[Tōtōchtin]

Just found this on Ali... the extended distance from the bulkhead flange to the triclamp should be enough to get the clearance for the modified clamp.... hopefully.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ms78TOS

4 of those just arrived yesterday, but I have 2"x1 1/4". Hoping the 1 1/4" will make it easier to add steam wand to keg. I got the idea from another one of your posts. Thanks
Tōtō

[Bolverk]

Nice! Hope it works.

A part on my order a few weeks ago was canceled (the 4" 2" tee) , so I'm about 2 weeks behind on this project because of that, and this new piece should be right in the same timeframe.
So I'm on hold until those arrive.

In the meantime, I'll be doing my first stripping run tonight on the current 2" setup.

[Bolverk]

Well she's running like a top. Running at 100% and collecting low wines at 88ml per minute

[Bolverk]

Did my spirit run with the 2.5gl gal low wines from half the batch yesterday in the thumper and the remaining 7 gal beer in the boiler/tun. Ran it at 100% until the thumper started thumping and i turned it down to 75% power, the whole run tonight including heat up was 2:10.

Overall I'm pretty happy, it was definitely worth the effort to go to steam for all grain.

Notes: mashing in the tun with a 6" opening is not as convenient as in a pot with a big open lid, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend a mash tun/stripping still, I'd do them as separate vessels if I were to do this again. I'd also make sure I could fit a 5 gal bucket under the tun drain without the need to hold it at an angle (stupid over sight on my part).

The steam 2" generator works great, although I'm still going to pursue the 4" as I think it can be better.

Thanks to all that followed along!

[jessespa]

I really enjoyed this build, Bolverk. If you do go on to build the 4" please post your results very interested and still following
I love seeing all the build options out there for running steam.

Thanks for posting this build, I as well as others I'm sure, appreciate seeing these builds. I especially like that you included things that didn't quite work out and what had to be done to fix the problem.
You have me thinking about switching from my keg boiler steam set up to one of these. It would sure have a smaller footprint to what I have now.

Working in a small room the smaller footprint of a 2-4" tube sure beats a keg sitting there. Could open up more room for activities lol.

One of the things I love about this forum is how everyone seems to pitch in with ideas when things don't go as planned.
Thanks again Bolverk and everyone that pitched in to bring this build together.

[Bolverk]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Yes, I'll post on the progress of the 4" steamer build, but I'll probably start a new thread... it'll be a few weeks as I'm waiting for parts to arrive.

This whole reason I did the combo tun/boiler was, like you said, limited space. I'm sure you all noticed I'm working out of my laundry room . So for me finding that right balance of size is still an important factor.

I'll likely be moving cross country soon, so hopefully, when that happens, I can set up a more purpose driven space... with more room for activities.

Future projects I'm still contemplating: a true steam jacketed boiler, small 4" coffey/patient still, and a small 3 chamber still... all of which require a solid steam steam source.

[Bolverk]

I decided not to start a new thread...

Here's the plan:

All the parts are in and I just need to go down to the metal supply shop for a 12"x12" plate for the base and some all-thread.

Here's where I'm at now:

The new loner ferrule bulkhead fitting has an issue. The threads on the fitting are NPT and the nut is IP so the nut will not seat all the way down.

So I went back to my original bulkhead and filed/grinded down the high points on the triclamp fitting so it will fit inside the of the flange (this flange is one side of a 4" sight glass setup)

The element will come up from the bottom and through here.

[Bolverk]

Got her all assembled... 59" much taller than I anticipated

And here it is all plumbed... I'm sure I'll change up this configuration... I'm not happy where it's currently sitting but this'll work for now.

Trial video coming shortly... gonna go grab a bite first.

[Bolverk]

4" test 1

[Bolverk]

4" test 2

[Bolverk]

4" test 3