Home Distiller

I am from Gloucester County, Virginia. I've been all grain beer brewing for many years. I started lurking on this site a few weeks ago. I like what I see.

My still is almost completed. It is a converted Sankey keg. I have a Blichman Brew Easy for malt extraction from whole grains. I have access to a farmer who grows malting barley and rye. He sells to micro-breweries and distilleries. I am learning the malting process.

I have done some distilling in the past on an amateur basis. I am eager to learn a more professional approach to the hobby. Obviously, I have found the right forum for continuing my education.

Looking forward to learning from you guys and can hopefully add to the wealth of knowledge already present on this forum.

Thanks,
Reb

Welcome rebnavy1862, if you haven't already, please read crankys post in novice distillers called "a little spoon feeding for new distillers". This will answer a lot of questions you might have. By the way , most of us are amateurs. There are a few professionals with small legal distillerys, but the rest of us are not selling! Enjoy the forums

Welcome. What are you attaching to the keg? Going with reflux or just starting with simple pot still? What about product condenser? Electric or propane burner to heat? answering a few of these questions, many here can help you decide the most effective route that will save time and money. Best of luck and welcome.

Rebnavy,

Bigbob's suggestion to check out Cranky's post was a great one. It should answer a ton of questions. Sounds like you're off to a great start with your brewing experience. I'm a little jealous. Welcome!

moosemilk wrote:Welcome. What are you attaching to the keg? Going with reflux or just starting with simple pot still? What about product condenser? Electric or propane burner to heat? answering a few of these questions, many here can help you decide the most effective route that will save time and money. Best of luck and welcome.

Simple pot still. Bought the copper short column and attachment lock ring from Olympic Distillers. A friend made the condensing coil out of SS which I will enclose in a PVC cooling jacket.

I have a brewhouse on my farm which has an electric stove and houses my Blichman Brew Easy. I also have the propane fired Blichman burner and control tower that works great with my malt mash tun and boiler. I have many 17 gallon malt kegs that I want to use for fermentation and a number of 6 gallon glass carboys that I use for beer, wine, and cider.

Malting barley, wheat, and rye from a farmer who supplies breweries and distilleries is available close by. I only pay $10 a 50 lb. bag. I have malted grains a couple of times with some success. I am putting together a malting and drying device so that I can do 50 to 100 lbs at a time. I also grow my own hops for brewing beer.
And my grape vines finally started producing this past year. I have an apple grinder and press for my wines and ciders.

Life is good!
Reb

Moosemilk, Thanks for the welcome. Did you know that Moosemilk is slang for a black powder solvent used for cleaning muskets?
Reb

rebnavy1862 wrote:Moosemilk, Thanks for the welcome. Did you know that Moosemilk is slang for a black powder solvent used for cleaning muskets?
Reb

No, I did not. But interesting. Also found out recently that it is a drink consisting of whiskey, rum, kaluha, egg yolks, maple syrup, milk,heavy whipping cream, and sugar.

Sounds like you have everything together and then some. Keep us posted with your malting adventures as well. There's a few appropriate threads and a lot of interest in it. Thinking of trying it myself this summer with corn.

moosemilk wrote:

rebnavy1862 wrote:Moosemilk, Thanks for the welcome. Did you know that Moosemilk is slang for a black powder solvent used for cleaning muskets?
Reb

No, I did not. But interesting. Also found out recently that it is a drink consisting of whiskey, rum, kaluha, egg yolks, maple syrup, milk,heavy whipping cream, and sugar.

Sounds like you have everything together and then some. Keep us posted with your malting adventures as well. There's a few appropriate threads and a lot of interest in it. Thinking of trying it myself this summer with corn.

Didn't think you were trying to milk one of those critters. They are dumb, but I don't think they would hold still long enough.

My Yankee wife is from Maine, so I know a little about moose,... mooses?
Reb

I'd hardly call them dumb. I'm in Northern Ontario, Canada and an avid moose hunter all my life. They can slip into heavy brush and disappear without leaving a trace or making a sound. Amazing animals. And you NEVER Want to get between a cow and her calf. She is more fierce than getting between a sow and her cubs (no, I'm not exaggerating). Even the slightest sound can spook them off. I have seen them run from the sound of the safety being taken off 100 yards away. They are known to double back when being tracked, and will position themselves so they can keep your scent depending on wind direction. They often travel at night, especially during full moon, and bed down much of the day, and night hunting is illegal. I have watched a cow for over an hour grazing in a swamp before feeling confident enough to call her calf out to do the same.

Big and clumsy LOOKING, maybe. But far from dumb.

Not meaning to hijack or go off topic.

With that, what is your drink of choice? Some fantastic recipes in T&T. I recommend Booners since you have brewing experience. UJSSM is a good one to get some aging stock started. Not a rum fan, but I do like Hookrum recipe. And for apples, Jimbo and Bushman have some fantastic apple brandy threads around.

rebnavy1862 wrote: Simple pot still. Bought the copper short column and attachment lock ring from Olympic Distillers. A friend made the condensing coil out of SS which I will enclose in a PVC cooling jacket.
Reb

What size coil?

Welcome Reb. Pretty place you live. Done lots of changing in last 10-15 yrs. Read lots, be safe, have fun and make good drop

Tokoroa_Shiner wrote:

rebnavy1862 wrote: Simple pot still. Bought the copper short column and attachment lock ring from Olympic Distillers. A friend made the condensing coil out of SS which I will enclose in a PVC cooling jacket.
Reb

What size coil?

The coil is 4 feet or so of quarter inch SS tubing wound down to about 18 inches long and 2 inch diameter. I'm putting it in a 3 inch diameter PVC jacket with garden hose fittings at each end for cooling water. My well water runs 54 degrees all year round.

I have a plate chiller that cools my five gallons of boiling beer wort as it is pumped to the fermentation carboy. It gets it down to 70 degs in under 7 minutes.

Reb

moosemilk wrote:I'd hardly call them dumb. I'm in Northern Ontario, Canada and an avid moose hunter all my life. They can slip into heavy brush and disappear without leaving a trace or making a sound. Amazing animals. And you NEVER Want to get between a cow and her calf. She is more fierce than getting between a sow and her cubs (no, I'm not exaggerating). Even the slightest sound can spook them off. I have seen them run from the sound of the safety being taken off 100 yards away. They are known to double back when being tracked, and will position themselves so they can keep your scent depending on wind direction. They often travel at night, especially during full moon, and bed down much of the day, and night hunting is illegal. I have watched a cow for over an hour grazing in a swamp before feeling confident enough to call her calf out to do the same.

Big and clumsy LOOKING, maybe. But far from dumb.

Not meaning to hijack or go off topic.

With that, what is your drink of choice? Some fantastic recipes in T&T. I recommend Booners since you have brewing experience. UJSSM is a good one to get some aging stock started. Not a rum fan, but I do like Hookrum recipe. And for apples, Jimbo and Bushman have some fantastic apple brandy threads around.

My only experience with moose is a few trips to Maine. I've encountered them standing in the road and refusing to move. I always defer to them

My drink of choice is beer. But I like liquors also. Rum, bourbon, gin and single malts. When I bought the malting barley from the farmer, he gave me a bottle of Wasmund's Single Malt, one of his customers. It is produced by Copper Fox Distillery in Sayersville, Virginia. On the drive home, I was wondering just how good a Virginia scotch could be. I got home and tried it. Pretty good was the answer. The single malt was only 14 months old. He ages it by suspending toasted oak chips in the barrel. It seems to work well, at least to my palate which may be questionable.

We got snow last night and a snowstorm later today, so I'll have lots of computer time to check out the threads you cited.

My thanks to all for the warm welcome. I'm so glad I found this forum.

Reb

Reb, I would rethink the 1/4" tubing. Copper tubing is usually measured by the OD (outside diameter) which means it probably has an even smaller ID (inside diameter). Most here would recommend no less than 1/2" in the vapor path. It's a safety issue. A small diameter can become clogged with stray grain or a heavy puke. Consider building a liebig condenser which is a straight copper pipe inside a larger pipe (water jacket). These are usually made with 1/2" pipe inside 3/4" pipe about 24 ot 36 inches long with water inlet/outlet at each end. It's similar to what you described for your PVC condenser - basically the same principle.

Good luck with it and stay safe.

Halfbaked wrote:Welcome Reb. Pretty place you live. Done lots of changing in last 10-15 yrs. Read lots, be safe, have fun and make good drop

Thanks. I retired and moved here from Norfolk, Virginia, "where the sewer meets the sea". I've been in Gloucester 6 years and just love the laid back, low stress, living. I live in the very rural northern part of the county, below Saluda. Where I have my farm, very little has changed, nor is it likely to change in my lifetime.
I would never consider moving back to the city.

It sounds like you are familiar with the area.

Reb

S-Cackalacky wrote:Reb, I would rethink the 1/4" tubing. Copper tubing is usually measured by the OD (outside diameter) which means it probably has an even smaller ID (inside diameter). Most here would recommend no less than 1/2" in the vapor path. It's a safety issue. A small diameter can become clogged with stray grain or a heavy puke. Consider building a liebig condenser which is a straight copper pipe inside a larger pipe (water jacket). These are usually made with 1/2" pipe inside 3/4" pipe about 24 ot 36 inches long with water inlet/outlet at each end. It's similar to what you described for your PVC condenser - basically the same principle.

Good luck with it and stay safe.

Thanks for the advice, Cackalacky. I don't have the coil in front of me. It was made by a friend who is a metal worker. It may be half inch. What you said makes sense. What if I used a flexible silicone hose from the tower to the condenser, a snug but not clamped fitting? If a clog occurred, it would blow off, releasing the pressure.

I can always get my friend to make a larger diameter coil for me. He's going to share in the end product

Thanks
Reb

Absolutely not on the silcone hose. You should never have any kind of synthetic material in the vapor path. The only approved synthetic here is PTFE (Teflon).

S-Cackalacky wrote:Absolutely not on the silcone hose. You should never have any kind of synthetic material in the vapor path. The only approved synthetic here is PTFE (Teflon).

Silicone hose came with my Blichman Breweasy. It is the Cadillac of mash tuns for beer. It is exposed to 212 degs during the mashing and sparging process. It is just the average silicone hose.

Who sells Teflon hose? I would only need a short length.

Back to the drawing boards.
Reb

Distillation is a whole different animal. The hose will be exposed to high proof alcohol and other caustic chemicals. There's reference to unsafe materials all over the forum. Do the required reading and you'll understand. Use copper pipe or tubing or stainless steel pipe for your still build. If you need to reposition things, put some union fitting in strategic locations. We mostly use PTFE in the form of gaskets or tape for sealing against leaks.

The first link under my signature contains information about synthetic materials. The other link will get you to the information you need to read to get a good understanding of the fundamentals.

Will do Cackalacky. Thanks for your patience.
Reb

Looks like the guys got you all lined out & pointed in the right direction, welcome aboard. I love Va, beautiful state.