New Member - Celtman

[Celtman]

Slainte;

just joined yesterday, great forum.
I'm probably two to three months away from my first run. I'm reading and gathering info and have been for some time.
I have a friend in Ireland who ran a pot still several years ago. Compared to what I'm reading on this forum he was flying by the seat of his pants
or should I say distilling by the seat of his pants, for equipment three 55gal steel drums, one used for a boiler the second one full of water to hold
the condensor(copper worm) and the third full of water as a spare to switch the worm to when needed- dont believe the guy had a thermometer,
a few collecting jugs and bottles and dried peat to fire it up, that was about it.
I remember hearing my friend explain how they guaged the proof, by shaking a half full clear bottle and observing beads (bubbles) by size, densiy and
distribution. On trips back to visit my family I've tasted some good stuff and some nasty oily and smelly poitin. I hope with your help i can do better.
I'm planning on building a reflux still, which i can easily do myself, and have it narrowed down to one of the following;

http://www.stilltutorial.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.moonshine-still.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
hoping somebody out there has knowledge of these stills. would love to hear some comments before i start buying supplies.

Question 1, why is the boiling point of ethanol at one atm reportrd at 73.12C and sometimes at 78.4C?
" 2, Member "Photonic" reports that lab analysis of his distillate shows alcohols of a higher boiling point than ethanol showed up in the foreshots, why?
" 3, For arguments sake assume the optimum temp range to capture ethanol is 70 to 80C, why not fire the boiler to that range as quickly as you can and
hold it there untill the capture fizzles out?. Since you are going to throw the Heads,methanol etc away, why not leave it in the boiler?
I apologise if my questions are sub-basic and ask for your patience.

Celtman,
will be back

[wildrover]

Slainte;

just joined yesterday, great forum.
I'm probably two to three months away from my first run. I'm reading and gathering info and have been for some time.
I have a friend in Ireland who ran a pot still several years ago. Compared to what I'm reading on this forum he was flying by the seat of his pants
or should I say distilling by the seat of his pants, for equipment three 55gal steel drums, one used for a boiler the second one full of water to hold
the condensor(copper worm) and the third full of water as a spare to switch the worm to when needed- dont believe the guy had a thermometer,
a few collecting jugs and bottles and dried peat to fire it up, that was about it.
I remember hearing my friend explain how they guaged the proof, by shaking a half full clear bottle and observing beads (bubbles) by size, densiy and
distribution. On trips back to visit my family I've tasted some good stuff and some nasty oily and smelly poitin. I hope with your help i can do better.
I'm planning on building a reflux still, which i can easily do myself, and have it narrowed down to one of the following;

http://www.stilltutorial.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.moonshine-still.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
hoping somebody out there has knowledge of these stills. would love to hear some comments before i start buying supplies.

Question 1, why is the boiling point of ethanol at one atm reportrd at 73.12C and sometimes at 78.4C?
" 2, Member "Photonic" reports that lab analysis of his distillate shows alcohols of a higher boiling point than ethanol showed up in the foreshots, why?
" 3, For arguments sake assume the optimum temp range to capture ethanol is 70 to 80C, why not fire the boiler to that range as quickly as you can and
hold it there untill the capture fizzles out?. Since you are going to throw the Heads,methanol etc away, why not leave it in the boiler?
I apologise if my questions are sub-basic and ask for your patience.

Celtman,
will be back

Welcome Celtman! I think that second link ( http://www.moonshine-still.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow) is more familiar looking, but I personally would build a bokabob slant plate reflux still. It's reportedly the easiest to build. Check http://homedistiller.org/image/mini_explained.jpg and also search on the forums for bokabob.

Based on your questions you're missing one point and that is the mix of alcohol and water in the boiler will start to boil and evaporate at different temperatures depending on the mix of alcohol to water. If you had 100% ethanol in there then it would start to evaporate at exactly what the charts say, but in your mix of alcohol and water, the temperature of what's in the boiler will change as the run goes, gradually getting higher and higher as the alcohol boils off and leaves mainly water. That's why for pot stills thermometers don't help much. Now for reflux someone else will have to chime in on how they use the thermometers.

Good luck!
Wildrover

[LWTCS]

Can't leave heads in the boiler as heads will have the lowest boiling point. And as such will be the first material to be liberated from the bulk amount of liquid within your boiler

[Odin]

Welcome Celtman,

Great, your story about your friend's way of distilling. Making Poitín, no?

I would not build either of these designs. First question should be: what drinks are you after? Based on that a more appropriate advice can be given, I think!

Also I would recomend you do a lot of reading in the "new to distilling" department. Some great posts there on cuts, on designs. All things you should know before starting making decisions, I would advice.

Anyhow, have fun here!

Odin.

[Prairiepiss]

Slow down. Read some more before you decided on what still to build. All good info already given.
Start here. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13360

Then this one. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=14972

Then this one. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=16635

This is q good one. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13294

This is a must read. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13261

Then work your way through the rest of the new distiller reading lounge and the novice distiller sections.

After that you should be better equipped to make the final decision of what to build.
Good luck have fun take your time.

[Bushman]

Welcome to the forum, all good info given so far, after you check out what has been said you will be ready to ask another question or get started....Good Luck it's a great hobby.