Home Distiller

All right Shady, where are you hiding?
I'm pretty sure I saw you in the boiler room, you can come out now. I know you're in there somewhere.

Either this project hasn't worked out as well as you were hoping.
OR
It works so well, you're sorry you let the genie out of the bottle.

So which one is it

Fart Vader wrote:So fellow mad scientist, do you recommend building this as a complete mash/ferment/strip appliance ?
Or is it not worth the trouble?
Is there anything you would change in your design?

Sorry just noticed your post
It was definitely worth the trouble. It even works as an alcohol reactor for fast aging/oaking.
If I were building it again I'd do the water seal a little different.
Instead of welding the outer lip on, I'd clamp it on.

Right on. I'm not sure I follow you the clamp on the outer lip thing.
Can you elaborate?
Also have you had any issues sucking back mash into the boiler from the steam wand?

When I forget to open the vent valve, it will suck a pint or 2 of mash into the boiler
That also causes the wand to fill up and plug
That's why I'm working on an automatic vacuum vent.
I'd post some drawings if I could.
Wish I still had windows 7 so I could use paint to draw with

Thanks Shady, if your using windoz 10, search for paint.net
Easy to use and free.

Hey, how about this for a vacuum vent?
If you look at the spec sheet it's rated for low pressure steam including jacketed kettles.

Relatively cheap too.
http://www.wattscanada.ca/pages/_produc ... sp?pid=815" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Watts-055603 ... lief-Valve" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

$16.95
Hells fire, I can built one that's bigger and uglier from scrap
All it would take is $25 - $30 worth of supplies and a couple days work

shadylane wrote:$16.95
Hells fire, I can built one that's bigger and uglier from scrap
All it would take is $25 - $30 worth of supplies and a couple days work

Don't sell yourself short sir. Labor in any reputable shop turns that equation into a different animal...

Brutal wrote:Well this thread just got interesting! Thank you for your input LWTCS. So, the picture you posted looks a lot like a manometer. I've never seen one that could hold 15 psi though. I'd love to hear more about how it could be built to do so. Also your opinion on its use vs a mechanical pressure valve.

Shady I don't know if I mentioned before how jealous I am of that sweet boiler. The more I think about it the more I like it.

27.7" water column per 1 psi. If you use Hg you can cut it to about 2" per

5-String wrote:If you use Hg you can cut it to about 2" per

You'd feel like a right dickhead if you sucked that into your still.

NZChris wrote:

5-String wrote:If you use Hg you can cut it to about 2" per

You'd feel like a right dickhead if you sucked that into your still.

I was just pointing out how tall a manometer would have to be if water was used. Hg should never be used for anything that would be consumed. I thought that would be obvious. I guess not.

So I read through your thread. Awesome concept of a multi-use boiler by using a large water-sealed lid allowing for cooking, mashing, fermenting, and boiling. Extra coolness for taking advantage of the bain marie and making a steam injected heater and cooling jacket.

Have you considered changing your recipe methods in order to allow simplification of the overall design yet still take advantage of the water-sealed lid concept? I my opinion, that is really the design aspect that makes this a jack of all trades boiler. And if you switched to brewing in a bag for the all grain washes, there should be no problem removing the solids from the wash and using direct electric heating and a simple SCR/PWM power controller. You could even get fancy and silver solder a permanent copper coil for rapid wort cooling.

Shadylane you used a sight glass to monitor the water level in the jacket, how much water did you fill, a quarter of the volume? did you ever had to shut it down due to running dry or do you have a way to refill?

Gerben wrote:Shadylane you used a sight glass to monitor the water level in the jacket, how much water did you fill, a quarter of the volume? did you ever had to shut it down due to running dry or do you have a way to refill?

I'd fill the jacket around 3/4 full and never had to add more water
The jacket could be refilled if needed

Just an update on this build.
It's still in use, but the majority of time used by someone into brewing.
It can do too good of a job at that. Ya got to "detune" the process for beer.






.

Just read this again. Start to finish. Good read. Wish I had one. Just saying.

LWTCS wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:36 pm

pfshine wrote:All the down sections have a cumulative negative effect on it. Just think siphon.

Totally makes sense.

I know this thread is old, but I was reading through this and had an idea if someone is willing to try it.
Would installing a vacuum releif at the top 180's help prevent the siphon effect? Or would that defeat the purpose?
We're probably overengineering at this point as it would be infinitely easier to just buy a PRV, but that's what this site is for, right?

bcook608 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2023 4:32 am
Would installing a vacuum releif at the top 180's help prevent the siphon effect? Or would that defeat the purpose?

Sounds like multiple vacuum leaks.
Connecting manometers in series doesn't increase its ability to measure a higher pressure.
If water is the fluid, the only way is to make the manometer taller.

fiery creations wrote: ↑Sat Jun 22, 2024 2:44 pm
AFAIK more distilleries use a steam jacket and not a wand directly into the mash?

Here Ya go fiery, a distillery that uses both a steam jacket and injector.
Did this to limit the amount of steam that could dilute the boiler charge.

shadylane wrote: ↑Sat Jun 22, 2024 3:48 pm

fiery creations wrote: ↑Sat Jun 22, 2024 2:44 pm
AFAIK more distilleries use a steam jacket and not a wand directly into the mash?

Here Ya go fiery, a distillery that uses both a steam jacket and injector.
Did this to limit the amount of steam that could dilute the boiler charge.

Thanks!

Accidently doing a sour mash with the rig.
I put in 30 pounds corn chops and 15 gallons of water, figured to let it soak overnight to see if that made the corn gell easier. Life got in the way and I forgot.

Ow shit, a nasty sour smelling mess had started to grow.
Thought about dumping it but decided to go ahead and cook it.
I added a double dose of HTL and tried to stir it in, not much luck with that, so I turned on the heat.
After an hour or so it had thinned down enough to stir with the drill.
Checked the pH and it was somewhere around 3.5 so I used pickling lime to bring it up.
Figured the HTL had been denatured, so I dropped the temp to 180ish and added some more HTL.
Kept the temp steady overnight, then cooled the mash to 140 before adding the Gluco.

The mash is currently bubbling away and smells a hell of a lot better than it did cooking.

Almost filled up a 5gal korny keg with good tasting low-wines.
Unfortunately, the proof and tralles had committed suicide. So I don't know the total or ending abv.
I kept running well after the point that low-wines dripped on the hot cap and vaporized could be ignited.

Did a potstill spirit run and the shine smells like buttery corn with a taste of barnyard dirt.
Most of it will be refluxed into neutral, I'll save some to give Bubba when he comes mooching.

shadylane wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 2:08 pm Did a potstill spirit run and the shine smells like buttery corn with a taste of barnyard dirt.
Most of it will be refluxed into neutral, I'll save some to give Bubba when he comes mooching.

I get the impression that bubba’s gonna be mighty happy with what he can be accommodated with as far as any runnings go.

Cheers,
Jonny

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 6:23 pm
I get the impression that bubba’s gonna be mighty happy with what he can be accommodated with as far as any runnings go.

Just to set the record straight and I'll never admit it to him.
During our barn and garage parties, I like to pick on Bubba because he deserves it.
Having said that Bubba makes better whisky and rum than I do.
Usually while using equipment and/or ideas borrowed from me.