Home Distiller

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:53 pm**

I think there should be a just venting thread

I have no marks inside my boiler to let me know how many gallons are in there. I took out my electric engraver and started filling and marking my pot one gallon at a time. I also took a measurement from the top for each gallon. I get to gallon 4 and take my measurement and it's 3"!@

In my book that came with my still it says to leave 4" space at the top.

I CAN'T EVEN DO A 4 GALLON RUN IN MY 5 GALLON POT!!

done venting...

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:57 pm**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:53 pm I think there should be a just venting thread

I have no marks inside my boiler to let me know how many gallons are in there. I took out my electric engraver and started filling and marking my pot one gallon at a time. I also took a measurement from the top for each gallon. I get to gallon 4 and take my measurement and it's 3"!@ In my book that came with my still it says to leave 4" space at the top.

I CAN'T EVEN DO A 4 GALLON RUN IN MY 5 GALLON POT!!

done venting...

Somebody didn't do their homework. Is the capacity in liters?

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:58 pm**

I need to rant because this site only allows 4 smileys! Rant over. LMAO

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 5:43 pm**

Welcome to the real world.. marketer's are there to take your dollars by any means they can.. duping people left and right.. not just in stilling but in every other thing..

Enjoy the journey.. lesson learned and move on..

Mars

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:16 pm**

Well-that sucks. But on a positive note, it suddenly lets in a tremendous amount of fresh air and sunlight to put you on the enlightened path of a 15 gallon keg boiler.

Have no worries my son. The path ahead will be long and hard and expensive, but we shall help guide you with your dollars from afar.

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:23 pm**

Electricity is stupid.
There. I said it.

Not electric stills, just electricity in general.

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:40 pm**

bcook608 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:23 pm Electricity is stupid.
There. I said it.

Not electric stills, just electricity in general.

Talk about electricity. I built a nice variable power supply and I quit using it because it quit in the middle of a run. I switched back to my old reliable. I pulled the non working one out last night and plugged it in. It works perfect. (bang head)

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:44 pm**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:53 pm I think there should be a just venting thread

I have no marks inside my boiler to let me know how many gallons are in there. I took out my electric engraver and started filling and marking my pot one gallon at a time. I also took a measurement from the top for each gallon. I get to gallon 4 and take my measurement and it's 3"!@ In my book that came with my still it says to leave 4" space at the top.

I CAN'T EVEN DO A 4 GALLON RUN IN MY 5 GALLON POT!!

done venting...

For now, focus on fermentation, running that little still, and cuts. As you do that, do some homework and consider how much you consume in a year, and how much you have to make to get ahead of what you drink annually so that you always have some on the shelf getting older. That should determine the right size boiler for you and your drinkin' buddies.
I saw you post earlier that you and your husband can both weld and solder, so a keg is probably in your near future if you decide to stick with it and master the craft. Just remember, bigger stills require bigger fermenters to feed them. All of that requires more space, and a way to get rid of the spent grains.
You CAN make really good spirits once you get the hang of it, and before you know it, you're only limited by how much space and glass you have to store your hooch. (that's my current dilemma

)

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:17 pm**

This is all great venting!!

I didn't buy this still, it was a present form my husband. I am having a blast learning (though sometimes it is frustrating) and I think it is a good still to learn on. It was cheap and you get what you pay for.

I am looking into building an 8 gal one so I can fit a 5 gal run in it! I will NEVER go bigger then that unless I really start building some muscle. I am only 5' 2". You should see me trying to carry a 6.5 fermenting bucket with 5 gal of H2O, 7 lbs of cracked corn and 7 lbs of sugar! (can you guess what mash I made last night?)

It's all good. I just think if they say it's a 5 gal pot still, you should be able to distill 5 gal.

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:18 pm**

6 Row Joe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:58 pm I need to rant because this site only allows 4 smileys! Rant over. LMAO

I did not know that. That is terrible. Some things just deserve 5 smileys!

Hey wait, I got 6!

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:44 pm**

You can run 5 gallons in a 15 gallon boiler just as well as you can an 8 gallon. Why lift anything at all? Thats what pumps are for.
I dont lift shit other that bags of dry grain, and 5 gall buckets of cleared wort on occasion.
Put a ball valve drain on the boiler to empty it, and use a pond pump to transfer the cleared wash from the fermenter into the boiler.
I drain my boiler into a 3 gallon pail, and dump the hot backset down the kitchen sink as many times as needed until the still is empty.
Two 10 gallon stripping runs will get you 5 or 6 gallons of low wines for a spirit run. From that you should get about 1.5 gallons of around 60% for aging after cuts.

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:58 pm**

Hot backset and plumbing.

viewtopic.php?t=88610

Posted: **Sun Jan 22, 2023 8:26 pm**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:18 pm
6 Row Joe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:58 pm I need to rant because this site only allows 4 smileys! Rant over. LMAO
I did not know that. That is terrible. Some things just deserve 5 smileys! Hey wait, I got 6!

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:49 am**

oh great, now I'm gonna get in trouble. I thought you meant the COMPUTER wouldn't let you do more than 4!

I'm gonna get banned form this site before I do my first spirit run.

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:54 am**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:53 pm I CAN'T EVEN DO A 4 GALLON RUN IN MY 5 GALLON POT!!

done venting...

You normally want to fill it to 75% for about 25% headspace. I fill mine more and have a tall riser plus whiskey helmet to mitigate any foaming

If you fill it too close to the top be careful - the liquid expands as it heats and might overflow...

Your still should always be vented to the atmosphere as far as venting goes - never sealed!

Cheers!
-j

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:06 am**

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 6:54 am
sadie33 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:53 pm I CAN'T EVEN DO A 4 GALLON RUN IN MY 5 GALLON POT!!

done venting...
You normally want to fill it to 75% for about 25% headspace. I fill mine more and have a tall riser plus whiskey helmet to mitigate any foaming

If you fill it too close to the top be careful - the liquid expands as it heats and might overflow...

Your still should always be vented to the atmosphere as far as venting goes - never sealed!

Cheers!
-j

Got to love a onion head.

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:01 pm**

DANG IT!! I forgot to take an OG reading AGAIN!!!!

I am gong to tatoo OG in BIG, BOLD, letters on BOTH my hands. I just did UJSSM. My first one...and I didn't take an OG.

I just rewrote the whole recipe and actually put in the recipe and highlighted it. Made sure I put it BEFORE pitching yeast.

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:08 pm**

Deplorable wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:44 pm You can run 5 gallons in a 15 gallon boiler just as well as you can an 8 gallon. Why lift anything at all? Thats what pumps are for.
I dont lift shit other that bags of dry grain, and 5 gall buckets of cleared wort on occasion.
Put a ball valve drain on the boiler to empty it, and use a pond pump to transfer the cleared wash from the fermenter into the boiler.
I drain my boiler into a 3 gallon pail, and dump the hot backset down the kitchen sink as many times as needed until the still is empty.
Two 10 gallon stripping runs will get you 5 or 6 gallons of low wines for a spirit run. From that you should get about 1.5 gallons of around 60% for aging after cuts.

I make my mash in the kitchen, then carry the bucket to the living room to ferment; where our wood stove is. Keeps it a nice 76-77*F. that's why I carry them.

Posted: **Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:45 pm**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:01 pm I just did UJSSM. My first one...and I didn't take an OG.

I've been continually making UJSSM for ten years.....I've never taken a gravity reading yet......follow the recipe exactly and you shouldn't need one.
Learn to use your senses.....taste it now while it still sweet.....taste again once the Cap drops.....watch it....listen to it.......you will soon learn to know when and if it's done.

Posted: **Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:15 am**

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:45 pm
sadie33 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:01 pm I just did UJSSM. My first one...and I didn't take an OG.
I've been continually making UJSSM for ten years.....I've never taken a gravity reading yet......follow the recipe exactly and you shouldn't need one.
Learn to use your senses.....taste it now while it still sweet.....taste again once the Cap drops.....watch it....listen to it.......you will soon learn to know when and if it's done.

this is good to know. I am on page 15 of the UJSSM threads and I had a feeling it might not be a big deal for this recipe, but it's something I want to get in the habit of doing. I have only remembered ONCE in 4 mashes!

I don't usually open my fermenters until the airlock stops bubbling. I figure if it's bubbling, it's working. When that stops, I will open it and see how active it is. I do the iodine test to see if it's done (mostly because I forget to take OG), of course if it's the same reading a few days I guess that would tell me too.

I will start doing what you suggest. I guess it would be good to know what it looks like at each stage so if I do have a problem, I will know sooner than later.

thanks!

Posted: **Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:35 am**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:15 am
Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:45 pm
sadie33 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:01 pm I just did UJSSM. My first one...and I didn't take an OG.
I've been continually making UJSSM for ten years.....I've never taken a gravity reading yet......follow the recipe exactly and you shouldn't need one.
Learn to use your senses.....taste it now while it still sweet.....taste again once the Cap drops.....watch it....listen to it.......you will soon learn to know when and if it's done.
this is good to know. I am on page 15 of the UJSSM threads and I had a feeling it might not be a big deal for this recipe, but it's something I want to get in the habit of doing. I have only remembered ONCE in 4 mashes!

I don't usually open my fermenters until the airlock stops bubbling. I figure if it's bubbling, it's working. When that stops, I will open it and see how active it is. I do the iodine test to see if it's done (mostly because I forget to take OG), of course if it's the same reading a few days I guess that would tell me too.

I will start doing what you suggest. I guess it would be good to know what it looks like at each stage so if I do have a problem, I will know sooner than later.

thanks!

I have gotten pretty lazy with UJ. I skim out a Cool Whip container of weak colored corn and replace it with as much. Pour in a couple gallons of cold water followed by the sugar water and top off with clear water as needed. Stir it up with a paint mixer on a cordless drill. No measuring (marks on the bucket), no SG, no finish Measurement. I just set the lid on with no airlock. It is what it is, it will be done when it's done. Siphon it out into a clean bucket with a spigot on it to clarify it and Bingo! The recipe is the same and it works.

Posted: **Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:23 am**

I have gotten pretty lazy with UJ. I skim out a Cool Whip container of weak colored corn and replace it with as much. Pour in a couple gallons of cold water followed by the sugar water and top off with clear water as needed. Stir it up with a paint mixer on a cordless drill. No measuring (marks on the bucket), no SG, no finish Measurement. I just set the lid on with no airlock. It is what it is, it will be done when it's done. Siphon it out into a clean bucket with a spigot on it to clarify it and Bingo! The recipe is the same and it works.

I am like that with my fish tank now. (salt water) when I first stated it 23 yrs ago, I tested EVERY morning (PH, calcium, SG, No2 and No3). I couldn't tell when something was off. Now I test maybe 1x a month. I can tell just by looking at my coral when something is off.

I know eventually I will be like that with distilling, I just don't know it well enough yet. It hasn't even been a month!!

Posted: **Tue Jan 24, 2023 7:00 am**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:15 am I do the iodine test to see if it's done (mostly because I forget to take OG), of course if it's the same reading a few days I guess that would tell me too.

Iodine tests for the presence of starch, not sugar or alcohol, so it’s not going to tell you anything useful here. Even without an OG, if your hydrometer is floating very close to 1.00, it’s probably about done. And if it doesn’t move after a day or two, then it’s done.

Posted: **Tue Jan 24, 2023 8:28 am**

You can also just put the hydrometer in if you forgot to take OG and monitor it as it drops to keep an eye on it. Better late than never

Cheers,
j

Posted: **Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:02 pm**

sadie33 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:23 am I am like that with my fish tank now. (salt water) when I first stated it 23 yrs ago, I tested EVERY morning (PH, calcium, SG, No2 and No3). I couldn't tell when something was off. Now I test maybe 1x a month. I can tell just by looking at my coral when something is off.

Not many that I have met stick at that game for 23 years........if you can do that you will do OK here in this hobby.
99% of fermenter lids eventually leak......don't trust the airlock bubbling to know what's going on. Learn to " watch the coral" when your fermenting.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:40 am**

Dang it...Just got my new 7.9 gal buckets in. I was so excited to do a double SBBs all molasses ferment (I have one that just finished, but wanted to use up the rest of my molasses).

Yup, I ordered the drilled ones...nope, I don't have any spigots!

I also didn't order any covers as I have a bunch of them...mine won't fit the 7.9 gal buckets. I thought they were just taller, like the 6.5 gal buckets. I guess I'm kinda glad they aren't as my arm wouldn't reach to the bottom.

So I just ordered the lids, the spigots and I ordered another triple scale hydrometer as a back up in case the one I have breaks.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:47 am**

sadie33, previously you mentioned how difficult it is to carry around heavy buckets, etc... I have swiveling casters/wheels on all of my boilers, fermenters and anything heavy. You can easily make a wood base with swiveling casters to set things on and push them around very easily. Some people can't do this if they have to move them over carpeted floors so it's not a solution for everyone. Luckily I only work in my garage with a concrete floor and it's easy to move around even a 55 gal drum full. As Deplorable said, pond pumps are really handy for transferring especially with larger fermenters.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2023 3:09 pm**

Salt Must Flow wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 8:47 am sadie33, previously you mentioned how difficult it is to carry around heavy buckets, etc... I have swiveling casters/wheels on all of my boilers, fermenters and anything heavy. You can easily make a wood base with swiveling casters to set things on and push them around very easily. Some people can't do this if they have to move them over carpeted floors so it's not a solution for everyone. Luckily I only work in my garage with a concrete floor and it's easy to move around even a 55 gal drum full. As Deplorable said, pond pumps are really handy for transferring especially with larger fermenters.

LOL, I never thought about having to carry them!!

My kitchen floor is lenolium( I know I spelt that wrong), then I have to go across the rug in kinda the dinning room, over a big bump to our hard wood floor in the living room. I could make something like that, or make my husband carry it

Though I do like to be self-sufficient.

Thanks for the tip, I'm gonna try to make something like that. It might be tricky, but I could probably make it work.

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:06 pm**

NZChris wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:58 pm Hot backset and plumbing.

viewtopic.php?t=88610

Just now saw this…. Hahaha! Problem solved now!

Cheers!

Posted: **Thu Mar 23, 2023 5:55 pm**

6 Row Joe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 8:26 pm
sadie33 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:18 pm
6 Row Joe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:58 pm I need to rant because this site only allows 4 smileys! Rant over. LMAO
I did not know that. That is terrible. Some things just deserve 5 smileys! Hey wait, I got 6!

there's a $5 charge for every smiley over 4.

you guys can use one of mine.

i never even think of putting a lid on the fermenter...but it's out in the shop not in the house.

wheels, pumps, gravity...if you got the space invest in some LSD.

(labour saving devices)

Home Distiller

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