Putting older posts here. Going to try to keep the novice forum pruned about 90 days work. The 'good' old stuff is going to be put into appropriate forums.
Couldn't locate the answers to these questions. I did look, tho. That ought to count for something...
1) How does one determine the amount of water to cool a reflux still? I'm looking for an estimation in gallons per hour or gallons per minute... for one of the smaller, say 8 gallon or so stills that "milehi" sells. (metric measurements are fine, I can do simple math).
I've seen discussions where the pump "height" is preferred over volume/time, so assume the water level is close to the where it'd be used...
2) Cornie Kegs: Can they be used to store product, or will the gaskets get eaten by the finished product.
As far as the cooling water, the bigger the container the better. As long as it's at least twice the size of your boiler, you should be ok. But I would get as big a container, such as a new trash can, drum or something like that ... as you can fit in your space. I'm in the process of reorganizing and getting a bigger container.
Cornie kegs should be fine to store in as long as the spirit is below 50%. I don't think any spirit would come into contact with the rubber gasket at the top.
I wouldn't put full strength spirit in there though, it just might eat away at the gasket.
~r~
"If it weren't for the alcohol, beer would be a healthfood."
My reflux coil condenser uses about 600 ml per minute, with a coolant in temperature of about 26-27ºC and coolant out of about 45ºC, to knock down about 800 w of power. If you can get your coolant in temp down lower you can run a slower coolant rate.
It also depends if your reflux still is a liquid management or vapour management still. If you build a Bokakob style inline your takeoff is governed by a needle valve, so the flow of cooling water just has to be enough to knock down all the vapours. If the still doesn't have a needle valve, the take off is governed by the flow of water through the condenser. Of course all this is moot if you build a reflux tower with a leiberg condensor as your heating source will control the speed in which your vapour travels. This is only my understanding, I could be wrong....I only use my pot still.
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
Thanks a bunch, folks. Just trying to get my ducks in a row... getting a list together... Added fire extinguisher, and dropped turbo yeast from the list.
No valve in the still at all. The condenser looks to be (approximately) a 1 inch jacket around a 1/2 inch inner pipe. Water input about a foot away from the output...
Was looking at a Harbor Freight catalog which lists a pump capable of 190 gallons/hour with roughly a 5 foot lift. I'm thinking that would be more than adequate if I got the water source to within a couple feet of where it's needed. Comments/suggestions? Stronger pump? Screw Harbor Freight?
Thanks again. Your collective comments have given me more direction in what to search for, tho it's exceedingly difficult to get away from this forum to return to the main site.
As a beer geek, I understand fermentation really well, so I probably won't have to pester y'all again, until some procedural question slips thru the cracks. What a great web site!
BeerGuy wrote:
No valve in the still at all. The condenser looks to be (approximately) a 1 inch jacket around a 1/2 inch inner pipe. Water input about a foot away from the output...
As a beer geek, I understand fermentation really well, so I probably won't have to pester y'all again, until some procedural question slips thru the cracks. What a great web site!
I built my first still with a 1 inch jacket around a 1/2 inch pipe. It was way too heavy and it used up so much water that I built a new still. It may seem like it's too close a fit but you should definitely go for a 3/4 inch jacket around a 1/2 inch pipe, this size works perfect for me now. (P.S. I had a hard time finding parts at Home Depot, search around on this site http://www.mcmaster.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow they have just about everything)
I'm somewhat of a beer geek myself. I just tried my second all-grain brew, a Chimay Red clone that's only two weeks old. I thought it was ok; may be a bit too yeasty or maybe I need to pour more carefully. Getting off topic, I need to stop typing and start drinking.
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud
standard gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining rivers,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave!
I made those comments earlier based on the two reflux stills that I have owned, the first one was a still spirits super reflux.....the take off on that still was in fact governed by the water input, it was advised (from memory) to run 400 to 500mls a minute. I ended up selling it and building a Bokakob, now that sits in the corner taking up space.
I'm gonna have to go and do some research now, one of two things can happen 1. I'll eat humble pie or 2. I copy and paste a whole lot of shit from the internet
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
Hey coop,I have a nixon/stone just taking up space also.I may turn it into a 36 inch column with no reflux cooling,and a 4 ft leibig condencer.Then I might use it.
Yep, after all my experimenting I'm happy with what I've got. I've been doing a UJSM style with 60% corn, 20% rye and 20% barley. I use 4kg's of raw sugar in a 30 litre fermenter (I only fill to about 26 litres), just enough backset to dissolve the sugar and bakers yeast. I collect from about 68% down to 53% (taste generally dictates), put it on medium toast oak chips and pump air into it for 24 hours. I take out the air pump and let it sit on the oak for another 2 weeks, then I dilute to 40% using cheap store bought spring water, bottle it in 1 litre bottles and add 9mls of real maple syrup and 3 drops of real vanilla extract per bottle. I put the lids on loosely and store until I'm ready to drink. I have saved all heads for a while but really have little inclination to put them through the reflux as I don't like drinking vodka, in any case....I only managed to make one truly neutral, all the rest, although smooth, did have some flavour to it.
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
Im with coop on this one.I dont see the need to use my reflux anymore.
I like the potstill/hybred column,and run everything in it.I can put some scrubbers in it,and clean things up some,or run it with none for full flavor.
I would rather make 2 or 3 runs with the potstill,rather than do much longer runs with a reflux.My potstill runs last for 4 hours,and an hour of that is heatup time.I will turn that reflux into a tall regular column with no reflux cooling for a vodka column.It will still get some natural reflux but should run almost as fast as my potstill.If I had to do it all over again,I would have just built the potstill.
I think it all depends on what you like to make. I too prefer the pot mode. But if I were a vodka drinker, I may prefer the full reflux.
/shrug
I don't drink vodka or really have a need for the neutral alcohol. I do like the fact that I can change my still around to do both though (ps2), although it has other flaws.
/cheers
~r~
"If it weren't for the alcohol, beer would be a healthfood."
