Home Distiller

Hi guys,

Have done a long reading here before i knew what i wanted (and hopefully being able) to build.
Major goal: trying to make a perfectly drinkable Vodka whilst learning and enjoying the process of making it.
The Bokakob took my special interest because of the good neutral it can deliver and the simplicity of the design.
So off building one!

I started with the condenser coil for the Boka head with help of Hookline's great doc. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p6827432
The innercoil:
The final double coil condenser:
Knowing the lenght of the condenser, the Boka head was next, i used 54mm (2") copper pipe with a length of 36,5 cm (+/- 14,5") To be continued...

Here we are again...
It works good, only drawback, shuts itself off after 10 min. was not mentioned in the specs but keeps me active during the run

The following pics also shows the boiler, it's a "preservation boiler" correct word?? has a build in (no direct contact with wash) 1800W heating element, it holds about 29 liter
The column is a piece of 2" copper pipe with a length of 115 cm (45") on the top i've soldered a coupler where the Boka head slides in, sealed with flour paste.
The bottom of the pipe slides in a 2" endcap, connected on the lid as described in Pikluk's Bokakob's mini still post.
The SS lid was not included with the boiler, i bought it at Ikea http://www.ikea.com/nl/nl/catalog/products/10018325 fits good In it's full glory: Insulated: Cleaned it with column and condenser attached (no packing) with 8 liter 50/50 vinigar/water mix for a few hours on full power.
After the cleaning run the mix turned a bit translucent green, secondly 10 liter old wine in the boiler for a final cleaning run.

Very happy with the neutral it's producing, i make 22 liter batches of Rad's All Bran recipe (fermenter is 25 liter) i use 5,5 kg sugar so that gives me about 11,2 potential alc. with a starting SG of 1.088
After 4/5 days the wash is ready, (ending SG 0.997) siphon in carboys, place in fridge for a day or 2 and than through the Bok in pot still/stripper mode...
The boiler takes 1,5 hour to heat up, strip till alc. perc. is 20% (98C on thermometer) total time (incl. heat-up) for stripping 22 liter wash with 11/11,5% ABV takes about 4 hours.

After 3 stripping runs i run a spirit run with column attached filled with SS scrubbers, dilute low wines till about 40%, collect in small jars (300 ml) first 600ml saved for firing up the BBQ,
let it air for full day before doing the cuts, i noticed that by pouring a jar with the ethanol in a larger glass bowl (i use a glass coffee can) and slowly turn the can around, smell with nose and the mouth a bit open, the detection of heads is easier than by smelling straight out of the small jar...

Totally collected about 600ml Foreshots, 1,25L heads, 3,5L hearts and 1,2L tails, diluted the hearts to 38%ABV which gave me 11 0,75L bottles of very good Vodka!
The knowledge and especially the field proven stills made by the members found here on this forum gave me the drive to start this endeavour....

Many Thanks!
Pooyan

Looks like a well thought out and very well executed rig. Congratulations.

Welcome to HD Pooyan...

Congrats on building your rig... Now you have the copper building bug, you'll be back with the solder in your hand soon...

You gotta luvva Boka...

Well done...

Welcome to HD. Nice Rig.

Pretty soon you will start looking for old copper in your friends houses and using phrases like "What are you gonna do with three feet of 2 inch copper pipe? You want me to get rid of that for yah?"

Then the sickness begins...

Fondling copper pots...
Stealing copper scrubbers from your buddies kitchen...
inspecting copper lamps for usable pieces...
Making deals so that when they replace your furnace, they leave the copper scrap...
and the downward spiral continues until they find you in a closet one day, clenching a can of Copper Polish in your hand and furiously polishing your cookware.

Sorry my friend, but you life, as you know it, is over.

ScottishBoy wrote:Welcome to HD. Nice Rig.

Pretty soon you will start looking for old copper in your friends houses and using phrases like "What are you gonna do with three feet of 2 inch copper pipe? You want me to get rid of that for yah?"

Then the sickness begins...

Fondling copper pots...
Stealing copper scrubbers from your buddies kitchen...
inspecting copper lamps for usable pieces...
Making deals so that when they replace your furnace, they leave the copper scrap...
and the downward spiral continues until they find you in a closet one day, clenching a can of Copper Polish in your hand and furiously polishing your cookware.

Sorry my friend, but you life, as you know it, is over.

+1 SB, you know you've got the bug when you carry a good strong magnet on your keychain...
I really dont think its curable.... Now where's that copper polish.....

Thanks guys,

Definitely cought by the copper bug , have scavenged scrap yards of whom i never knew they existed in my neighbourhood!!
Really interesting stuff to be found there, stripped copper boilers, SS kegs and even large dia. copper pipes!
They know me by now, if i'm on the lookout for something they will save it for me....
Handy for future still projects....

As for the shiny copper part, i have to disappoint you guys, the only shiny copper was hidden in the Boka head, the condenser
hell, i like a little patina on my rig! now it looks like it's already in use for some years

But for the real copper porn lovers i will show something shiny soon, it will be a Graham condenser/parrot beak combo.

To be continued.....

ScottishBoy wrote:Stealing copper scrubbers from your buddies kitchen...

Good work Pooyan! Nice job on the coil too!
Can I ask how much space you put between the plate's?

Hoody

great job man. congrats.
KS

Thanks guys,

@Hoody, for the plates i used the template also found in Pikluk's ministill post, like him i didn't used the 1/4" spacing between the plates but went for 3/4" (2cm)
the gap between the end of the condenser and the top slanted plate measures 1/4" (0,6cm) edit: correct size

@ KS, mighty nice piece of "musical instrument" constructed btw, saw you video(s).... impressive!

Pooyan

Good work, Pooyan... Nice pictures of your rig... Sounds like a stable performer too...

Pooyan wrote:Thanks guys,

Definitely cought by the copper bug , have scavenged scrap yards of whom i never knew they existed in my neighbourhood!!
Really interesting stuff to be found there, stripped copper boilers, SS kegs and even large dia. copper pipes!
They know me by now, if i'm on the lookout for something they will save it for me....
Handy for future still projects....

As for the shiny copper part, i have to disappoint you guys, the only shiny copper was hidden in the Boka head, the condenser
hell, i like a little patina on my rig! now it looks like it's already in use for some years

But for the real copper porn lovers i will show something shiny soon, it will be a Graham condenser/parrot beak combo.

To be continued.....

Stopped the welcome center on I-24 today headed to Nashville as my wife and I were walking in suddenly I said wait and grabbed her arm. I said to you realize all there guttering and downspouts are all copper? My wife is like damn you scared the hell out of me.. Your not getting any of that copper

Sweet, another to back up my theory then!

Hoody