Home Distiller

Does anybody know how the alcoholmeter and hydrometer are from Mile High Distilling?

http://milehidistilling.900footalien.com/fermenters.htm[/url]

The alcohol hydrometer looks just like the one I use at work. Can't really tell much more about it.

They are fine. I use them and they have always been accurate when checked against a known. However; as discussed elsewhere on this forum alchometers are not very accurate on the low end, like 20% abv and lower.
He is a fine feller as I have met with him to get supplies. Hope to meet the hottie on his web page some day.

look good to me

i cant recall the manufacturer of my alcoholometers. if i remember or find it i will post...

The Widder brand from West Germany is the best I've found so far, I finally got one that reads both proof and temp at the same time and that's a big help.

GP's got it.

I ordered the Widder from Brewhaus out of Texas. 1st one broke. very delicate. they split the price on my next one. Got the 30%-60% version for cuts etc.

BR..

My alcoholmeter has not arrived yet and I have been doing stripping runs without it, ready to reflux tomorrow. For the stripping I have been stopping once the dripping went from smelling like alcohol to smelling like stinky sock water... Someone had mentioned that alcohol >50% will burn but <50% will not... would putting a few drips in a shot glass and checking to see if it burns be a viable way to see when my alcohol is getting below 50% as a point of reference?

If you have a local brewery supply store near you they should carry both. I have had mine for several years without any problem. As mentioned they will break if you don't handle them carefully.

I heat with propnae. During a run I will periodically capture a few drips in my tasting spoon and throw it into the flame.
It gives me a rough idea of proof.

Thanks Bushman! I do have a Wine supply store nearby, but I was concerned that if I went in and asked for something that could measure high-proof distilled spirits I'd get some questions. I'll swing by tonight and pick one up.

Buteo wrote:I heat with propnae. During a run I will periodically capture a few drips in my tasting spoon and throw it into the flame.
It gives me a rough idea of proof.

I was using a little lighter and lighting within the shot glass... hoping it was a "safe" way to do it... from your experience was it fairly accurate that 50%+ would burn and anything else would not?

at what point alcohol ignites depends on temperature."hot" off the still is going to ignite
at lower proof than some that is cold.even wine will ignite if hot enough.

I found some data on this:

10% — 120 °F (49 °C)
20% — 97 °F (36 °C)
30% — 84 °F (29 °C)
40% — 79 °F (26 °C)
50% — 75 °F (24 °C)
60% — 72 °F (22 °C)
70% — 70 °F (21 °C)
80% — 68 °F (20 °C)
90% — 63 °F (17 °C)
96% — 63 °F (17 °C)

so... if I had a very tight temperature control, and many shot glasses, I could spend enough time and waste enough likker doing this and getting wrong results that I would be better off paying for overnight shipping on a $10 Proof & Traille Hydrometer/alcoholmeter.

I do my test burns in a small disc fashioned from the bottom of an aluminum can... I can hold it under the output to catch as many drops as needed and set it on a bottle cap as a steadying pedestal... Once the burn is done I either give it a quick rinse in the coolant water or wipe it with a damp rag and dry it and it's good to go again... A shot glass with build up and retain too much heat... The aluminum cools back to room temperature after burning or rinsing in seconds... I usually have lots of can bottoms kicking around from making alcohol stoves out of aluminum cans as discussed in another topic...