Home Distiller

I got a new copper pot still for Christmas from my wife. I followed the instructions to do the initial cleaning (hot soapy water, thoroughly rinse). I then moved on to the cleaning run, 50% water, 50% vinegar. All was going well. The first run, the liquid was clear, but there was some sediment. So I decided to do a second run. All was good, liquid was clear and by about half way through, the sediment had disappeared. I decided to let the run finish...

...and lost track of time. I left it alone for about 15 minutes, and when I came back to check it, it had run dry and was just being heated. The copper on the outside is discolored, but my biggest concern is the inside. The bottom is all black, and the inside smells really burnt. I'm letting it soak now in hot water and dish soap, but I feel like that's not going to be enough. Though I'm sure most are not as absent minded as I am, perhaps you have some suggestions on how to clean scorched copper. Please let me know. I hate to think I ruined my still before I have a chance to use it...

Thanks,
Orpheus123

With out pics to view I'd say its fine.
Anything get warped?
Does it hold water?

Btw, dont ever do that again.
It's a terrible habit to get into by (ever) walking away from your still when you're putting heat to it.

If you already knew that then you've come to be flogged?

A picture of your still would help .

You can’t damage your copper . The worst that you did was perhaps get it hot enough to anneal it . It just means it will dent more easily .

Most black will come off copper with an acid soak . I hate Vinegar . My First choice is Sulphuric acid diluted around 10:1 .( Always add the acid to the water , never the otherway unless you like exploded acid in your face . So pour a litre of acid into 10 litres of water )
That will clean copper really quickly .

Second choice is Citric acid . A lot slower but safer and will get there in the end .
Read 2 hours verses 2 days

What ever acid you use be sure to give it a little baking soda wash after or you will be doing it again. Rinse well.

LWTCS wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 3:20 pm With out pics to view I'd say its fine.
Anything get warped?
Does it hold water?

Btw, dont ever do that again.
It's a terrible habit to get into by (ever) walking away from your still when you're putting heat to it.

If you already knew that then you've come to be flogged?

I'll post pics when I get home.
It is not warped, and it does seem to hold water so far. I ended up soaking it in hot soapy water and rubbing it down with steel wool, which took up the burns on the bottom pretty well. I'm going to also try some of the other methods mentioned in this thread.

Yeah, I'm here to be flogged. It's one of those things, because I have never done this before, I was super fastidious about what I was doing, then in an epic brain fart moment I stepped away for dinner, thinking I'd be back in time. I learned...I'll never do that again.

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 4:31 pm A picture of your still would help .

You can’t damage your copper . The worst that you did was perhaps get it hot enough to anneal it . It just means it will dent more easily .

Most black will come off copper with an acid soak . I hate Vinegar . My First choice is Sulphuric acid diluted around 10:1 .( Always add the acid to the water , never the otherway unless you like exploded acid in your face . So pour a litre of acid into 10 litres of water )
That will clean copper really quickly .

Second choice is Citric acid . A lot slower but safer and will get there in the end .
Read 2 hours verses 2 days

So, would you suggest then to just fill the still with the water\acid mixture and let it sit? Or just wear gloves, soak a rag and rub it on the burns?

acfixer69 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 5:20 pm What ever acid you use be sure to give it a little baking soda wash after or you will be doing it again. Rinse well.

OK. Water and baking soda mix, then rinse it all off right? Thanks!

Orpheus123 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 4:10 am

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 4:31 pm A picture of your still would help .

You can’t damage your copper . The worst that you did was perhaps get it hot enough to anneal it . It just means it will dent more easily .

Most black will come off copper with an acid soak . I hate Vinegar . My First choice is Sulphuric acid diluted around 10:1 .( Always add the acid to the water , never the otherway unless you like exploded acid in your face . So pour a litre of acid into 10 litres of water )
That will clean copper really quickly .

Second choice is Citric acid . A lot slower but safer and will get there in the end .
Read 2 hours verses 2 days

So, would you suggest then to just fill the still with the water\acid mixture and let it sit? Or just wear gloves, soak a rag and rub it on the burns?

Fill it and let it sit .

Oh I just realised , you have the Copper Alambic still .

I was wondering when you first posted this why when you boiled it dry , why didn’t all the solder melt out of it as would surely happen when there is no longer any liquid in it to clamp the solder melt temp .

I was wondering why you did not post any pics when we suggested it might help .

So I am curious , is your alambic still soldered or brazed ?

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 2:31 pm Oh I just realised , you have the Copper Alambic still .

I was wondering when you first posted this why when you boiled it dry , why didn’t all the solder melt out of it as would surely happen when there is no longer any liquid in it to clamp the solder melt temp .

I was wondering why you did not post any pics when we suggested it might help .

So I am curious , is your alambic still soldered or brazed ?

I don't know for sure. Here is a picture of it. I meant to post, but I'm also working all day, so this is really the first chance I have had to do that: That was when it was new. Here is a picture of it soaking:
I was able to steel wool most of the burn on the bottom, but the sides still have some and it still has a burnt odor.

As you can see, it's discolored on the outside, but I'm more concerned with the inside. It's soaking in a mix of water, citric acid and baking soda. Probably should not have used the baking soda yet.

I swear in real life I'm not this dumb.

Edit: Also, it is not leaking, it holds water fine, so I hope I'm good to go there.

Yea the baking soda was for after the acid they are working against each other now.

edit after you: those are brazed joints, no melt down there.

Sigh...so tomorrow I will do the citric acid bath for the pot. I'll also have to do something about the inside of the onion head, as it is slightly charred and smells as well.

Live and learn...

Hot citric acid will work quicker. I keep a pound on the shelf. Pretty cheap from amazon.

Maybe you can plug the lyne arm and fill the onion while inverted? Or maybe it’ll fit into a bucket or brute can filled with citric acid solution?

Cheers!
-j

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Wed Dec 29, 2021 7:38 am Hot citric acid will work quicker. I keep a pound on the shelf. Pretty cheap from amazon.

Maybe you can plug the lyne arm and fill the onion while inverted? Or maybe it’ll fit into a bucket or brute can filled with citric acid solution?

Cheers!
-j

I have it inverted as we speak doing the hot soapy first. I put an elevated hose on the end of it so it doesn't leak all over. Is it a problem to soak in citric acid on the outside?

Not a problem at all. It’ll make it shiny. Steel wool and emory cloth with increasing degrees of grit will also shine it up while removing some copper.

Cheers!
-j

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Wed Dec 29, 2021 2:15 pm Not a problem at all. It’ll make it shiny. Steel wool and emory cloth with increasing degrees of grit will also shine it up while removing some copper.

Cheers!
-j

Holy crap, I tried it last night on the onion head, it looks brand new! Gonna get the pot done today and then do a cleaning run (watching it the whole time of course) and then I should be good to go. Thanks!

Good luck Orpheus! As you do runs you really only need to rinse it out (after first cleaning runs). Strip runs are hot and mildly acidic cleaning and seasoning - They help develop the patina and spirit runs provide plenty of hot ethanol vapor which does a pretty good job of cleaning it. A nice patina on the inside is preferred and I also prefer a long term patina on the outside instead of shiny copper but the outside doesn't really matter for running the spirit. A fresh shiny inside can give it a metallic taste so no need to make it shiny on the inside.

Cheers!
-j

Wow, your still sure is a beauty.

You’ll probably find you need to get a few runs through it for your spirits to taste right with a virgin copper surface.

I made the mistake of cleaning the patina off my bubble plates a while back and it made a big difference in the flavor. It took 3 or 4 more runs to get back to normal. I only do the water rinse these days to keep it clean.

OK, thanks all! I got it cleaned up with a vinegar and water soak on the pot, and a citric acid soak on the onion head. While at it, I hit the outside of the entire thing with citric acid, and it's (for the most part) shiny and pretty again. SO...today is another cleaning run and hopefully I'll get to making my mash as well. Long day! I'll let you all know how it comes out with my first (sac) run in a couple of weeks or whatever.

There is so much to this. I'm enjoying the learning though. I retire in about 11 years, hopefully by then I'll be really good at this so I can dedicate a bunch more time to it. 11 years...I better get good at it!