Home Distiller

Well folks, Ive recently moved into an apartment and have someone living on 2 sides of me....... I currently own a keg still as that's what ive used in the past. Well I have a full basement and I guess what I'm asking is has anyone got any experience running in an apartment, do you think the neighbors would smell?? the basements are completely blocked off and sealed just like a full basement of a house is... any input would be helpful here thanks!!!!

I don't know - my distils only have any smell at all, if I have a leak somewhere. If you get smells I suggest you look to your condenser and improve it's "Knock down".

If smell is getting out, it must be carried on a gas of some sort - and the only gasses are distillate, except for air expanding during the heat up phase.

Others may have a different experience of course, but I cannot explain why that should be.

hey thanks for your input sir......

Yep. Check for leaks. My wife smells "something" when she goes downstairs where the still is, but it's not the ammonia METH smell.

ok, I'm not saying I have any leaks.... just paranoid about running in the apartment lmao

You're running on electric ?

no sir..... I wish, propane lol

If you have 220 volts available in the basement like a dryer outlet, I would highly suggest converting your keg to electric. Not
very hard to do and much safer in the basement.

Shawnr0517 wrote:no sir..... I wish, propane lol

HOLY SCHEISSE! Now I see the dilemma. Ben Stiller has the solution.
Be Careful!

fizzix wrote:

Shawnr0517 wrote:no sir..... I wish, propane lol

HOLY SCHEISSE! Now I see the dilemma. Ben Stiller has the solution.
Be Careful!

No kidding! Using gas in an enclosed space is a death wish.

I'd imagine its also HELLA loud...

No shit Sherlock!! Carbon monoxide will kill you quicker than bad liquor DO NO USE AN OPEN GAS FLAME IN AN ENCLOSED ROOM!! Unfortunately there are at least several accidental deaths every year because someone thought it was safe to use a flame driven heater in their home during Winter.

The fermenter gives off more aroma then any distill I have ever done. The mashing day is even more aroma good but noticeable. I was distilling in my basement one afternoon and was about 2hrs into the run and celler was getting warm it was summer and though I'll open the bulkhead and let the heat out. Well I have very bad hearing and didn't hear the alarm going off up stairs. So the police were called to the house to do a look around by my monitor. Cop shows up at the bulkhead in my back yard and is yelling down into the basement I freaked out at the voice and ran to look saw the officer and zipped up the stairs to the backyard. Up there I kept walking to the front of the house away from the bulkhead. He asked the norm stuff but I had no keys on me, all the access doors were locked, he asked for ID's they were in the house. Told him forgot to turn off the monitor and I still didn't hear it and I didn't. I was able to show him a hidden key I had for the sheds and at that point he backed off of me and understood. So all that said the distilling hours are less to smell then the ferment.

Sounds more like a liars bench then here but is true. Morel is keep a secondary bucket under the collection jug.

There was a news story posted a couple months back where a rental house was found burned down with a propane powered still in the basement.

Don't do it!

Hell, I'm paranoid about running in a 24x32 barn with the both doors up and windows open, looks like you need to take a break until you convert to electric elements.
Please don't become a statistic and end up on the news or a morgue.

Don't use a propane burner in an enclosed space.

An electric conversion should be in your future.

my reflux still doesn't produce any smell whatsoever during distilling.
Also, fermenter gasses are a non-issue.

cdd wrote:my reflux still doesn't produce any smell whatsoever during distilling.
Also, fermenter gasses are a non-issue.

That's pretty cool, cdd. Very innovative in close quarters.
My wife kids me about fermenter smells in the basement. It doesn't bother her, but she'll always chide me with
"are you cooking rice? Or mice?" or "you're not fermenting your underwear are you?"

Ditto. And mine thinks mashing barley smells like green beans.

I think you guys have gone nose blind. It does have a smell when stillin indoors, that's why I have been on hiatus. Have you ever had to poop mid run? I have, I killed the heat and increased the rc flow, left did my business and came back with a fresh nose to the smell of a distillery. Maybe it's more pronounced to me because I quit smoking but I can definitely smell the distillation. It's not leaks because I am insanely careful after an incident with an ostrich. The smell can be mitigated through good ventilation and time when you do the run, usually before the ass crack of dawn.

sltm1 wrote:No shit Sherlock!! Carbon monoxide will kill you quicker than bad liquor DO NO USE AN OPEN GAS FLAME IN AN ENCLOSED ROOM!! Unfortunately there are at least several accidental deaths every year because someone thought it was safe to use a flame driven heater in their home during Winter.

+1 convert your still to electric. It's not an expensive upgrade and you'll be much safer and happier

Aside from the obvious safety issue, It's true there is a smell. A bit can be mitigated. Noncondensable gasses come off first, and can be caught. Run a tube from your condenser and/or vent if a reflux still, submerge the tube in a cup of water, or into a container of activated carbon until product starts. Some noncondensables will keep coming for a bit after distillate starts to flow, a carbon filter/water trap on a reflux vent will catch them from a LM rig (or partially from a VM), but I dont know how to catch them from a pot still.
Running so your distillate is extra cool helps cut down on smells as well. So will narrow necked collection vessels, small volume vessels, and capping the already collected ones (you can air them for cuts later).
I think most people will be able to smell something. I think very few would recognize it barring active large sour mash fermenters in conjunction with a running still as those are the most distinctive odors to me, and the most stereotypical at least in the US.

What is the "smelliest distil" that is known to those who maintain there IS a smell ?

As I said before - "If I smell ANYTHING at all - I go looking for a leak" (Invariably I find it) - However, I would like to try a "super smelly" and see if that holds true for all distils.

For my wife it's everything. For me it's most pronounced on runs with backset. It levels out after the third gen. My usual ferment is AG bourbon and high rye whiskey. I make the original ferment, take the backset from that and add some to the piggyback with sugar and water. I then take the rest of the backset and start a new ag mash while it's still hot. That's the most odiferous of runs that I do but I still smell them all.

pfshine wrote:
I am insanely careful after an incident with an ostrich.

That sounds "interesting." Do tell.

Yaaaayy, ostrich story...we once had an emu

A long long time ago in a forum far far away..... Wait... It was this forum, anyway. I think it was rubber duck that first said the boka looked like an ostrich. The boka was my first still, run on propane and hooked up to a recirc tank with evaporative cooler. One very very bad morning I got up early to do a run. Filled my keg attached the ostrich and cooling lines and turned everything on. About ten minutes later the burner stand collapsed and got stuck in the chime of the keg. Scared the piss out of me. Bad start to the day. I cut off the legs and grabbed some bricks for support. About two long and painful hours later I was up and running again. About an hour or so after that I was sloooowly pulling heads off and heard a funny noise like the column was flooded. I start to inspect things and all of a sudden vapor and distilate start shooting out the vent hole on the top. I couldn't shut the gas off fast enough, dang near had to change my grundies. Turns out that the sump pump I was using died and I didn't notice due to the loud burner and fan running. Scared me enough to switch to city water and went electric. I ripped apart the ostrich to make a plated column and never looked back. I never liked the boka anyhow, waaaaaaaay too slow for my liking.