HbPs' double retort potstill build.

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jessespa
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by jessespa »

I really enjoyed reading about this build. Turned out really nice. It would be great to hear how she runs out for you.
And the different combinations on what goes in each of them. Very interesting possibilities.
Thanks for sharing so far.
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by HDNB »

finally repaired the network in the stillin' shack, so i'm catching up on my reading while the whisky is on the make.

top notch build, looks awesome!

i read twice here that the second retort is filled with heads? why? do you cut them again?

i can see re-doing the tails, but why the heads?

whats the still look like inside now that it made a run? i did a moleass rum wash in my whiskey still and really regretted it, took me forever to get back to clean for whiskey (made the next AG taste like moleass....) so i spent about 4 hours getting the staining out....question being, do ya suppose you'll do whiskey too? maybe panela is not so bad?
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Hillbilly Popstar
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by Hillbilly Popstar »

HDNB wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:01 pm finally repaired the network in the stillin' shack, so i'm catching up on my reading while the whisky is on the make.

top notch build, looks awesome!

i read twice here that the second retort is filled with heads? why? do you cut them again?

i can see re-doing the tails, but why the heads?

whats the still look like inside now that it made a run? i did a moleass rum wash in my whiskey still and really regretted it, took me forever to get back to clean for whiskey (made the next AG taste like moleass....) so i spent about 4 hours getting the staining out....question being, do ya suppose you'll do whiskey too? maybe panela is not so bad?
So I'm new to the rum game, but from my understanding the alcohols in the heads mix with the acids to promote esterification.

I still have a lot more reading, experimenting and learning to do.
I'm sure I'll lock down some techniques that I like for the product I'm trying to make.

For now, I'm kinda just reading a lot and throwing shit at the wall.


As for cleanliness... Its not something I've ever really had a problem with. I have never noticed any more or less mess in the boiler after a molasses wash, as opposed to a corn mash.
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by matjans »

One word. Beautiful!

If it's high ester rum you're after, try searching for the H. Cousins high ester rum process. Supercharges the ester content of the thumper.
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rubberduck71
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by rubberduck71 »

Hillbilly Popstar wrote: Sat Feb 19, 2022 12:44 pm 15 gallon boiler with two 5 gallon retorts.
Hillbilly: been a while since this thread was discussed.

Have you done any whiskey recipes with it recently, & how have they turned out?

Thanks!
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by juana_b »

I've gotten inspiration from this build, so I'm making one. All 2 inch connections. Here's where I'm starting. Had to trim the reducing bushing and the short radius 90. Still need some 1 inch pipe and awaiting 2 relief/vacuum breakers.
20230709_120444.jpg
20230709_120418.jpg
Edit: Just want to give HbP props for getting me going on this. I'll start another thread when I've made more progress.
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Wildcats
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by Wildcats »

juana_b wrote: Sun Jul 09, 2023 2:59 pm I've gotten inspiration from this build, so I'm making one. All 2 inch connections. Here's where I'm starting. Had to trim the reducing bushing and the short radius 90. Still need some 1 inch pipe and awaiting 2 relief/vacuum breakers.
20230709_120444.jpg20230709_120418.jpg
Edit: Just want to give HbP props for getting me going on this. I'll start another thread when I've made more progress.
Nice. I will definitely be following this when you start your build thread. Thumper's is all I been reading about for the last few days. Won't be long now till I'm ready to put the flame to some copper. Good luck with your build man.
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by Yummyrum »

Any feedback HbPs ?

I come across that graphic of the 50:50 Low wines , 75:25 High wines again today and it thinking again about if its 50:50 Wash and Low wines or is it Dunder and Low wines ? And how much charge is in those Thumpers .
Same question on the High wines .

Then of cause the old question of what is High wines , heads or Feints above 35% ?

So it got me thinking about your setup and if you had come to any conclusions yet?
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by Bolverk »

Yummyrum wrote: Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:32 pm Any feedback HbPs ?

I come across that graphic of the 50:50 Low wines , 75:25 High wines again today and it thinking again about if its 50:50 Wash and Low wines or is it Dunder and Low wines ? And how much charge is in those Thumpers .
Same question on the High wines .

Then of cause the old question of what is High wines , heads or Feints above 35% ?
Grim found it

https://www.stilldragon.org/discussion/ ... w-wines/p1
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Yummyrum
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by Yummyrum »

Thanks Bolverk. Think I may have heard about that some time ago but hadn’t actually seen the wording .That kind of makes sense but it still doesn’t explain what the other portion of 50:50 or 75:25 is . Could be wash , Dunder or even water of combos of any . How full they charge the Thumpers is also a mystery.

Getting back to that drawing , it does kinda imply that the High wines are heads by virtue of the order of the tanks . However , I suspect there is no heads cut done at all , and all the fruity heads go straight into the barrel for aging . It otherwise makes no sense to go through all the palaver of creating esters if only to cut them out .
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by MooseMan »

Yummy et al I have been trying to educate myself as much as possible on Rum and listened to a podcast a while back that went into detail about how the double retort setups came about for rum distilling and what they did with them.

There was also a discussion about what they called high (Heads) and low (Tails) wines and what they did with them, and of course dunder and muck etc along with the horror stories about human excrement being put into the muck pits to stop the workers drinking it... 🤢

Not 100% on this as it was a while ago, but either this one:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cH ... MzJi?ep=14

Or this one maybe?
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cH ... hZTI?ep=14
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Re: HbPs' double retort potstill build.

Post by Bolverk »

Yummyrum wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 9:21 pm Thanks Bolverk. Think I may have heard about that some time ago but hadn’t actually seen the wording .That kind of makes sense but it still doesn’t explain what the other portion of 50:50 or 75:25 is . Could be wash , Dunder or even water of combos of any . How full they charge the Thumpers is also a mystery.

Getting back to that drawing , it does kinda imply that the High wines are heads by virtue of the order of the tanks . However , I suspect there is no heads cut done at all , and all the fruity heads go straight into the barrel for aging . It otherwise makes no sense to go through all the palaver of creating esters if only to cut them out .
In all the reading I've done, that drawing is the only place I've seen or heard reference to those specific ratios. I'm not saying it's wrong. I just dont know the source. Without more info I'd go off what we do know and that's what's in the 1905 sugar plantation report and what's in the HH Cousins manual; ie high tails collected from 40-60% and low tails collected from 20-40%.

I've not seen any mention of how much to fill the retorts (that i recall). I've used 10-25% of the retort volume as a baseline and had very good experiences.

I believe (and im prepared to be wrong) in HH Cousins guide to high ester rums it says heads are recycled into the boiler. Doing this allows the aldehydes to further break down and gives you more alcohol diversity for more than just ethanol based esters.
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