Patina color in cotton filter

[cornsqueezer]

Ok here goes I've read alot trying to get my answer and haven't found it so far. My question: is normal to see patina color in your filter? I use cotton to filter my alcohol with and it gets a slight patina color during the run. I didn't filter the foreshots(2 oz. or alittle more @ 2 gal beer) cause I was going to trash them anyway. what goes in the jar is clear as a bell. I do clean and scrub evetything except the coil but I flush it with water and then soak it with baking soda and water mix( thought maybe that it was acid that was causing it) I did read where Rad1407 said not to clean and scrub cause it would just patina again so from now on I'll just flush out with water if that is good enough. just so ya'll know I am running a 12qt ss pot with 1" collumn 24" tall, 1/2" arm 24" long and 10 ' of 1/2"o.d coil in 5gal bucket its small and takes a while to run but it will have to do for now ( still learning) any info will help

[cornsqueezer]

Well I did a bit more reading and I guess I jumped the gun in asking this question . I believe my problem was trying to be too clean with my still scrubbing it shiny instead of letting it form a patina and making sure everything is fully dry before storing it.In the future i'll do a few more days of investigating before asking a stupid question .

[Husker]

Not a stupid question at all.

However, patina is your FRIEND. Do not remove it. You have found that when you remove the patina, that it will regrow. One of the problems you have found, is when you remove it, it will regrow quickly. However, before it is fully formed, the raw copper is exposed, and will sluff off, the patina itself 'protects' the raw copper. This sluffed off material is microscopic particles of copper. These will be caught in your filter, and will oxidize almost instantly. That is the patina color you are seeing. This is also one of the reasons why it takes a couple of runs on a still, usually, before it really starts to produce the 'good' stuff. The first run or 2 are totally sacrificial, and clean out the copper. Those clean out runs, also start building patina. It continues to build over the next few runs. This is called the 'seasoning' of the still. When you scrub off the patina, you are pretty much back at the starting run each time. There may not be any flux residue, in your cleaned copper, but it will leach out other copper material, much like that first run or 2.

When you do clean, you do want to remove any oils (such as tails). Boiling water will do the job fine.

From your post, it 'sounds' like you might be running a pot still with a column, I am not 100% sure. If it is a simple pot still, and you can separate the parts, then simply separate them, and use a boiling or near boiling water to flush them out.

[cornsqueezer]

Thanks Husker, from now on I'll just use hot water to clean . I guess I've got a few more runs before I can get to the good stuff . If anything maybe this post will help some of the other newbies.

[Tater]

I clean my worm and from still to end with a vinegar soak with good rinse at beginning of stilling season . Then rinse out with water before each use rest of season .

[cornsqueezer]

Thanks Tater I'll keep this in mind . So far my still hasn't set more than week since I've made it (still learning the hobby), but i'll be sure to do a vinegar soak if it sets long enough to cool off.

[cornsqueezer]

Everything has cleared up after six stripping runs, no more patina in cotton filter!!! Thanks Husker & Tater!!! Just thought I would follow up with everyone. I'm sure glad, now I'm ready for that spirit run!!!!

[Husker]

Good to hear that this discoloration has fixed itself up for you.

Yes, we hear LOVE to preach the use of copper. It has been used over the centuries, and has many good properties for stills (easy to build, helps flavor, good heat transfer, stands up to distillation well, etc).

However, one of the things we may need to do a little better, is to preach the 'PROPER' way to use copper. That patina IS the key to good operation. Without it, the copper will quickly try to regrow the patina. During that time, The copper is not as stable as it is after the patina is there.

H.