Home Distiller

Hi there y'all my name is Lucent I'm from down here in Texas or over yonder to the UK.

I got into a mighty accident in early Sept and have been in the hospital since. I 've spent the times educating myself on this fine craft and finally registered last week when I thought I knew enough to ask a question. I decided to wait after all

I've picked my still as a pot still with a keg I picked up yesterday and a tower and liebig condenser as Samohon set out here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=17101

I'm not lookin to be talked out of this still I've spent months reading and studying what I want and I'm thinkin this is just right for my needs

I'm wondering bein down here my water temp is around 70f so I was planning to use an old fish tank 5 gallons and that water pump to feed ice cold water that I actually ice through my liewig is that a bad idea? Will it cause too much cooling too fast I'm concerned about vapor loss since my garage is not chilly at all it's a good 80 in there during the winter and 100 plus during the summer. I'm figuring to run a fan at my setup to keep any vapor from sneaking back to my burners

I've been telling myself till now that I was on a mission to produce the finest banana brandy ever made. And had planned to follow a recipe from here to make this first but after much reading I'm thinking I should run some UJSM first to learn and get that on oak asap. Wouldn't all agree this is a good starter mash?

Heading up to Home Depot for all the parts this afternoon I have my own arc welder and know how to sweat copper just fine I had planned to do a worm in a bucket instead but after seeing Sohomon s postfix likin the liewig

I thank you all for your time reading this and any opinions I especially thank y'all for the last 4 months I've spent reading this site as well as others I'm all like all that's left is to do it

Lucent

Hey Lucent.. I had thought about this too when first started building Cornellius.. Actually building a pot still right now too

But on the water cooling for the condensor.. I went with a shower head bought at a wholesale distributor- the kind that's got adjustment for massage and stuff.. It was like 8 bucks

That hangs up over the cooling reservoir on the return and sprays down a tile I had laying around, back into the reservoir.. The tile acts like a cooling fin and it ends up looking like a sauna.. Works better than just spraying back in noticed.. Even a few hours in, I can stick my finger into the water on stripping runs (you'll be running it full out for pot) and it's fine.. It's still hot but not scalding so eliminates the need for ice.. I wanted the least amount of distractions as I run outdoors and have that contraption cooling the condenser from the garage..

You'll want to do some cleaning runs too.. The still will be hell of dirty even if you don't see it.. It wasn't till my first spirit run on the boka I really noticed how much stuff came off and dropped down into the boiler.. Pot still there's not much to it but still good to clean it well.. Otherwise nothing but taste will be exactly what you get and like it too!

Hahaha Thanks Boka I was going to follow the cleaning instructions found here and do that first then just run a full pot of water through playing with the condenser to make sure everything is right first. I don't want to waste wash. Or end up with just crap in a jar I can buy that cheap enough at the liquor store.

I like your idea I have a couple old shower heads like that and even some tile. I want to keep it simple the whole point to choosing the Liebig was its simplicity over a worm and trash can condenser.

Wow the waters really going to get that hot. I remember reading something about it being bad to cool too fast, but I'm not sure if I'm remembering wrong. Is yours just a 5 gallon tank as well? I'm wondering if I should use a trash can as my water tank instead?

It's actually a work sink.. Around 20 gallons I'm guessing with a condensate pump

Yeah the water will get pretty hot without some kind of active cooling running.. When running low wines through the fractionating still you almost need nothing to cool it down and can slow the flow down quite a bit (keeps the condenser warm).. But pot and stripping it gets pretty darn hot

Bok, I picked up a heavy fury 30 gallon tank that I can use as a live well too(had to sell it to the wife) I'm thinking that fish tank my shatter its real glass. Goin with your shower head idea and a sump pump shooting onto tile with a fan blowing on it. I spent so long at Home Depot it's funny I was just sitting on the floor surrounded by copper. Pretty much assbled the whole still right there to make sure I didn't forget nothing. Made a buddy too local officer comes over and asks me what type of still in building!!

Nice fellow got his name and address he's going to come over and help with the cleaning run and first cuts on my first spirit run hahaha that's just great. Good to be a Texan!

Yes officer it's a water distiller

Try the local mom and pops hardware stores too.. Some reason I always get the feeling there's some guy rubbing his hands together in China when in Home Depot or Lowes

I didn't think of that but your probably right about the glass- better to avoid a mess.. The trick is too to get the wife to think you know exactly what your doing!