1" Column 36 qt Potstill

[Bro-sephus]

I've been running this rig for about 4 or 5 months now, had to finally upgrade from my little pressure cooker to something that could actually produce! I got the stock pot and banjo burner from a local home brew store and built the column, lyne arm and coil from copper I bought at the hardware store. It's a 1" column that goes up about 2 ft, then reduces to the 3/4" at the elbow for another 6 inches or so, then down to 1/2" on the lyne arm and stays the same diameter down through the coil. My lyne arm is removeable, from the column and the coil, I didn't solder the two straight couplings so that I could break it down real well and stash it in my garage out of sight. I just seal up the couplings with some flour paste and harden it with my little torch before I get running.

Up and running in my garage.

Typical amount of good whiskey I can make with a half charged still.

I drilled out the lid with a 1 1/8" multi-metal hole bit and used threaded male and female 1" couplings to attach the column to the lid. I screwed up a bit the first time around by not removing the handle from the lid, which made it leak like a sieve during my first trial run (50/50 vinegar and water) so when I popped the handle off by drilling into the tack welds, the hole was a bit exccentric and I couldn't get threaded coupling to screw all the way down to make a tight sea. I ended up wrapping the male part, which sits under the lid with some large gauge copper wire and soldered the piss out of it! It works pretty darn good actually, lets the lid spin a bit when I set it up so I can get the right orientation to connect the lyne arm and coil and I seal it up with a bit of flour paste. The seal around the lid is one of Samohan's PTFE and cardboard jobbies held down with a couple of vise grips and carpenter's clamps.

First time assembled, using a 5 gallon bucket to cool my coil in.

I'm pretty pleased with this setup, I can make about 2 to 3 quarts of product in a couple of hours now with a half charged still, I still haven't put more than 4 1/2 gallons of so in it yet, got to improve the cooling system on my coil. I'm thinking about just running my garden hose down to the bottom of hte bucket and putting a simple collar around the top that I can use to redirect water away from the where I'm collecting so I can get a little better efficiency out of this joker. Probably also need to get me a thermometer to go in the still.

Running at night by the light of the moon (and some incadescent bulbs...)

Make shine!

Cuts from the first run

[whiskeytripping]

Looks like your getting er done there. Eventually if you want a little better boiler use a keg, they are pretty heavy duty and you can use internal element one day, or keep using propane with it for now. I had a boiler like yours at first and got tired of the sealing off process each time. In fact I had a 1" column as well, I went with a simple 2" pot still later too. It's addictive to build one, then another, next thing you know, your wife leaves you and all that good luck and be safe

[Bro-sephus]

I'd love to move up to a keg, but all in good time being the old lady still supports my hooby! Frankly I'm pretty sure she likes that fact that I've finally settled on one hobby and have stopped littering her house with my various "projects"

Thanks for the post!

[Richard7]

I'd love to move up to a keg, but all in good time being the old lady still supports my hooby! Frankly I'm pretty sure she likes that fact that I've finally settled on one hobby and have stopped littering her house with my various "projects"

Thanks for the post!

You should see my wife's kitchen right now. Cooked up a batch to ferment last night and the kitchen looks like a brewers shop. BOP in the sink, Sticky spoons by the stove, racking cane on the table, empty packages by the trash, tri beam scales for yeast measure, oxygen concentrator by the fermenter, hydrometer and thermometer, the list goes on..... Looks like I need to get off the computer and start cleaning up!
Good luck to ya!

[whiskeytripping]

Now that's funny. I'm like you, I have to get purchase orders from the wife for EVERYTHING. Did I mention I'm the only one working

[Bro-sephus]

Yeah brother, I got permission to brew and still ONLY as long as I "clean as you go!!"

[PitSmoker]

How is the 1" riser working for you? I just bought materials for a 1"x20" riser today. Plan to 90 off then start reducing down to 3/8 ID coil. Thanks, Mike

[Bro-sephus]

Pitsmoker, I like the 1" column alot, I can make about 3.5 quarts in an hour and a half stripping run before I overload my coil and it stops knocking the steamdown. One thing I did that I like alot is I used straight couplings to slip fit the column, lyne arm, and coil together (seal with flour paste). It lets me adjust the heights when I set up and be able to break it down into small enough parts that I can stash it in my basement.

What sized boiler are you using?

Cheers,
Brosephus

[PitSmoker]

I have a ss stock pot I plan to use. Haven't checked the exact size yetbut I'm guessing in the 30 qt range.

[Bro-sephus]

That'll do! I gotta upgrade my worm bucket tho, it has trouble keeping up with a full run, needs a nipple on the bottom I can add cool water during the run to.

Cheers,
Brosephus

[Bro-sephus]

Upgraded my worm bucket finally with some Ozark Ingenuity. I drilled out a hole large enuf to fit a 3ft length of clear PVC tubing I had laying around about an inch below the top of the bucket then I stuffed my hose down the side between the coil and bucket. When the water started to warm up, I turned the hose on really low and the cool water introduced to the bottom of the bucket pushed the hot water off the top thru the tube and down into another bucket I put at a lower level. Once it started going, it worked alot like a siphon. Ended up getting another half quart of product on my last run. And it was a heck of alot easier than trying to find a nozzle I could put into the bucket bottom.

Cheers
Brosephus

[WalkingWolf]

A rig like that will get the job done. I made a lot of good liquor with a couple rigs similar to that. My first was in 3/4" and then 1". I eventually ended up with a 2" potstill on a keg running on electric. I found a post with all three rigs in it. The top pic was the first still in 3/4". The middle pic is what I currently run and the last pic was the 1" upgrade with a 7.5 gallon pot. Good liquor is not as much about your rig as it is your ability to run it. Great liquor can be made with some pretty humble setups if in the right hands.

potstill evolution

[Bro-sephus]

Walkingwolf, thanks for the kind words! It's getting her done for sure and making a goodly amount of taste product to keep me in the life style I've grown accustomed to.

Next updgrade I'm thinking of doing is to get a second smaller pot (same diameter as the boiler) to out fit with an electrical heating element and make me a double boiler, maybe add a thumper on a hotplate too. I'm fixing to move and I'm not sure how discreet I'll be able to be with running this joker in the garage with the door open for ventilation at our new place (whereever it may end up bein) and would liek to move away from propane. May go back to stovetop, I do like that third setup you got with the large fairly flat pot. Do you get any problems with foam or puking?

Cheers
Brosephus

[WalkingWolf]

May go back to stovetop, I do like that third setup you got with the large fairly flat pot. Do you get any problems with foam or puking?

You need to stay away from foaming washes for sure. I've never had it puke but I'm sure it would if you pushed it. The UJSSM will do fine as long as you do not put any wheat (or wheat germ). Rum washes will tend to foam up as well. That pot is a 7.5 gallon and it would hold a 5 gallon ferment and the feints from the previous run. It didn't have much head room so heat up was gradual and it'd talk to all the way till boiling then it'd settle right in. That made a great stove-top rig once I went to the 2" rig. For someone limited in stillin options this one could be comfortably used for the long haul. For water I had a 25 gallon plastic tub on the counter top for recirculation.