Home Distiller

My first still is 13" long, 2" wide and will easily strip 1500 watts. I used it to do a spirit run on vodka and got approximately 1/3 heads, 1/3 hearts, and 1/3 tails. During the beginning of the hearts I measured 160 proof. The upper two tubes on the left are for cooling water. The tube on the right has a SS valve to bleed off the foreshots.

During stripping the distillate was warm, not hot, to the touch.

cool! shes pretty!

That looks like a tidy little concentric design......a pocket still.

I used the vodka to make raspberry cordials for Christmas gifts.

Here are the bottle and the label that is affixed to the bottle. I included a picture of Popcorn Sutton with the label.

That's amazing! Any details on the build?

My goal was to make a cheap, small stripping still that cooled the distillate. If it worked as a pot still, that would be an extra bonus.

I used many tricks to keep the still small.

First, I trimmed the adaptors --- since the still is small it doesn't need the strength provided by long adapters.

Also, most dephlagmators only condense part of the vapor. My dephlagmator knocks down 2000 watts, entirely. The injection port directs the vapor to the inner wall of the dephlagmator; and I put a copper scrubber into the dephlagmator to condense any vapor that might drift into the center. I think I could have made the dephlagmator even shorter.

The top of the dephlagmator is open to the atmosphere and at no time did I see condensation on a mirror.

I used a DIY power controller for the spirit run.

Another goal was to build my first still as a simple (which is not to say simplistic) stripper/pot still as training wheels to learn distilling. Now on to mastering the VM, for which I have some tricks I'd like to try.

lampshade, I got here from your post in the concentric still thread. I like your pocket condenser! I wouldn't mind giving that a try for my first build, if only to improve my copper crafting skills and general knowledge.... if I could only figure the durn thing out....

You don't happen to have plans or anything you could share to get me started?

WineDawg wrote:lampshade, ... You don't happen to have plans or anything you could share to get me started?

I will PM you the plans. It's not up to date, as I lost use of the Visio application, but it does give you a good idea of the design.

Lampshade, mind fwd the plans to me as well? I love the size and with a growing household and a new hobby size is very important.

Thanks again
-152dbs

152dbs wrote:Lampshade, mind fwd the plans to me as well?

Done.

One update I added which is not in the plans is an outlet valve to purge the pooled distillate. I do mention it in the original post. The drawback of my design is the pooling, You don't want the fores to collect because they can taint the later heads. So the SS valve I added allows you to purge the distillate in the cooling reservoir. The plans do not show this, but the picture in the original post does.

Pooling was deliberately added to cool the output. That is why the output tube is bent upwards. If you don't want this pooling, just eliminate the upward bend. The still allows the condensed vapor to pool before it exits so the condensate can receive further cooling from the water bath. This was done instead of adding an external Liebig. Otherwise the output will be extremely hot.

BTW, if this design works for you, please mention that, and also mention any shortcomings.

This still is not great, but it is easy to build and cheap and is a nice training still to help the newbie understand distilling principles, including the issue of pooling. And it is a convenient stripping and pot still.

Important Note: Like any still, power management is a must. Check the power controller treads in this site. Start here:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3342

Edit: In red.

Just got back from 4 days camping/boating in the islands with my grown kids and grandkids (they camped my wife and I stayed on the boat). Late chiming in on this but it is nice looking. I also have plans drawn up for a small stripping still with a different design than yours using a double walled condenser to replace the liebig condenser which could be much smaller. I was thinking I had to go 18" but if yours works good I may have to do some more calculations.

A real nice piece of equipment

I saw some of the others asking you for building plans...would you mind sharing them with me?

Thanks a lot..

Bushman wrote:\I also have plans drawn up for a small stripping still with a different design than yours using a double walled condenser to replace the liebig condenser which could be much smaller.

I don't have a liebig condenser.

That is a fantastic little design. I too would love to see the plans if you wouldn't mind. How do you cool it? Recirculating or municipal?

Future Shiner, First post. Been reading / researching for a few weeks now; as with all new comers I have questions. Yes, related to this post on Lampshade's compact head. No still yet, scored a like new beer keg for my boiler, will use a propane heating source.

I thought I had my still type decided until reading this post; so maybe too much reading not a good thing? I was going to build Pikluk's Boka design per plans from this board and WiKi, but after reading all the positive reviews of this design, quotes like "out performs a boka", "easy", "low build cost" my question is should this be my first still?

I want to do infused spirits so generating neutral product is the initial goal. I read I can add a column and some scrubbers to this still to accomplish that.

Lampshade, any pics of this still in action? Would you discourage me from building this as my first still? Any detailed build plans available?

Thanks in advance for your patience and guidance. Now back to the NewBee's section of the board.