Home Distiller

First timer here, i've been brewin beer for the last 3 years, now im ready for some good ole moonshine. Anyways i have this good size aluminum pressure cooker , and Ive been told that its no good for distillin in, but it looks as tho its made for it. Any thoughts on this thing? Or should i just go right to stainless??

Thanks alot

You can git some life out of it. But it will quickly pit and become more degraded with each successive run.
It will prove to be an upgrade waiting to happen. Save your energy and git it right the first time IMO.

Aluminum is a poor choice for a still boiler. Stainless or copper.


Bull

Welcome to the forum, I live just south of you across the border about 1 hour. +1 on using only SS or copper!

Welcome to the boards... All good advice on the pressure cooker... Try and get an SS stock pot or rejected SS 50L keg, makes great boilers...

Stay safe and have fun... See you around...

Thanks for all the info. I'll have to keep my eyes open for SS pot.

My brother just started his second mash and he was thinkin of letting it sit in a glass carboy till it cleared. His last batch was milky when he ran it through and it ended up having a kinda perfume smell to it. Also we used a water distiller for the run. Wat do you think caused the off smell ?

iwannamakeitall wrote:His last batch was milky when he ran it through and it ended up having a kinda perfume smell to it. Also we used a water distiller for the run. Wat do you think caused the off smell ?

Seems like he washed the FB (Fermenting Bin) with some sort of washing liquid/soap or other detergent...
I wash my FB's, lids, traps, paddles with hot water then sterilise with a ½ capfull of bleach to 1 gallon of water for 5 mins...
I then rinse the FB's and utensils thoroughly with cold water...

Hope it helps...

Welcome aboard. If it came off cloudy. Sumtins wrong. What was the ferment recipe? Sam has a good thought though. Dishsoap is a pain to get completely out of things. I've gotten where we buy the unsented stuff. Because you can't get it out and I don't like drinking a glass of water that smells like someones version of spring. And I don't use it for my hobby.

iwannamakeitall wrote:My brother just started his second mash and he was thinkin of letting it sit in a glass carboy till it cleared. His last batch was milky when he ran it through and it ended up having a kinda perfume smell to it. Also we used a water distiller for the run. Wat do you think caused the off smell ?

Did he do cuts? How's a water distiller work? Can you control the heat input? Could be heads throughout ...

@ Prairie - I think he meant that the wash was cloudy when it was run. That's how I read it ...

You mite be right? It could be read both ways? But there is still something wrong with the process either way. Unless he's making perfume.

You could be right, I just reread it again and it sounded like you said it did. Ambiguous. Perfume

Bottle it up and give it to your wives or significant others for a present? Here honey see what I made for you.

All kidding aside perfume is not a good sign in my book.

It was milky cloudy when it was done fermenting. The smell didn't come till after distillin. Its a polar bear water distiller ,it has a heat controll, so when its at the right temp it starts running through the stainless tubing which circles around a fan which cools it off. I.ve heard its not good to use this kinda distiller but its all we had. Plans on a reflux are on the way

Oh yeah, he didn't use any kind of soap, he used a no rinse steriliser, an iodine base.

Sounds like you're running what is commonly called an air still, which is a simple pot still, iwannamakeitall...

If the wash was milky then you didn't let it clear and then rack it into another container or into the boiler... You need to let the wash sit and clear for two days or so, letting the yeast and other suspended solids settle, before racking (siphoning) the clear wash off the trub on the bottom of the fermenter...

Plenty of great information here for the reading... No matter how small or large the still you still need a thorough understanding of the basic theories surrounding the overall process...

if it came out of the still cloudy the it was ran way to fast.

It came out of the still crystal clear, but had that off smell.
And yeah will diffinately rack it next time for a few days. Should the mash be clear before goin through the still ?

Thanks again for the info

I would say for that little still thing. You should get your wash a clear as you can before running it.

I'm going to say it could be a combination of things. The wash not cleared and the suspended solids may have burned in the boiler causing a smell. And the fact it is so small that proper cuts weren't made. But then again I've never ran one of these little jems.

Definitely run it clear ...

The wash not cleared and the suspended solids may have burned in the boiler causing a smell.

So that's the secret to making perfume

Yeah that sounds like it could be the problem, thanks . And as for the little jem, its distined for the recycle bin. Talk to ya guys later

Thanks again

Hey guys hows it goin? Me and my bro are almost done our valve reflux still. Just gotta get the keg ready for the top end.

How hard is it to clean the keg after the job is done? Should i cut a hole big enough so that we can get in there? Or just attach it to the keg as is, if i can find a fitting to do so that is. We'er doing a white sugar mash if that helps. Thanks alot

Rick

Don't cut the keg. Find a fitting to make the connection.


Bull.

So not to bad to clean up? Even with a sugar wash?

Just rince and go. The hot alcohol wash does a good job of cleaning it. You just need to rince it out when your done. And don't cover the hole so it can dry.

As far as the column connection to the keg. Do a search for easy flange. Search box upper right hand corner of the page. You can't beat an easy flange.

Glad to see you getting away from the little jem.

Thanks for the info, that will save me alot of work. Hopfully in a couple of weeks we'll give her a run for the first time, Thanks again.

Rick

iwannamakeitall, you don't really think there is sugar left in the wash after it has fermented, do you...??? All fermentation is done on sugars, whether converted from the starches in grains or processed sugar...

Now I hate to have to reiterate what I've already stated earlier but based on the context of this topic as it has progressed it's worth noting again...

Plenty of great information here for the reading... No matter how small or large the still you still need a thorough understanding of the basic theories surrounding the overall process...

Don't get ahead of yourself... We don't want to end up reading about you inthe news...

Also, this has progressed beyond a Welcome Center topic and any further discussion should be done in the appropriate forums... Keep at it and you'll get there...