Hey Y'all!!

New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
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short bus
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Location: The Great Sunshine State!

Hey Y'all!!

Post by short bus »

New to this forum. I have been distilling off and on for years. But I still consider myself a rank amatuer. I consider distilling a family tradition. I have already learned much from the HD site and the forums. Thank you all for the wealth of information. Any hints on cleaning an old reflux column that has been setting around 5 years?

Yours Truly,
SB
Living the dream!!
rad14701
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Re: Hey Y'all!!

Post by rad14701 »

Vinegar and salt works well...
short bus
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Re: Hey Y'all!!

Post by short bus »

Hey Rad thanks for the reply. Salt and vinegar aint cutting it. What do you think about sodium hydroxide? Maybe it just needs a bit of elbow grease. I am making a batch of Gerber wash tonight (thanks for that too!) so I figure I got about a 5 days to figure out. By the way for the record I currently live in Florida. I am originally from SE Tennessee.

SB
Living the dream!!
rad14701
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Re: Hey Y'all!!

Post by rad14701 »

If the copper is tarnished really bad then the vinegar and salt may not cut it with a single try... If you have something stronger, give it a go...

As for the Gerber, if you want a speedier ferment than the basic recipe provides, try some of the tweaks listed in the Gerber thread... I have two basic washes going now for testing purposes but they're not finishing as quickly as I had planned... I'll be doing duplicate batches once these are done, with inverted sugar and boiled cereal to see how much quicker they ferment... And after that I'll do additional batches with boiled yeast and 20-20-20... I'm looking for accurate incrementals so I know what works best... Waiting to pitch yeast into an All-Bran wash as I type this...

Good luck...
olddog
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Re: Hey Y'all!!

Post by olddog »

If its the outside you want to clean, try some automotive cutting compound. wear rubber gloves when you do it or your hands will end up black which is hard to wash off.
OLD DOG LEARNING NEW TRICKS ......
e2e4
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Re: Hey Y'all!!

Post by e2e4 »

I wash the outer side of my still for making brandy with the hot fermented plum (komina in my language) which is just cooked in it.
I do this by wearing a pair of thick leather gloves and using a rough cloth with which I rub the copper plate.
Having finished cleaning the still with the just coocked fermented plum I wash it up with a lot of hot water which I take from the cask in which is the big condenser which converts the alcohol steam to brandy.
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