After 6 years using a 34 quart SS pot for a still, I built a new one. This is a 60 quart SS pot with standard worm and flake stand. I went through the full clean and break-in protocol and now I’m stripping a 10-gallon wash for gin. I upgraded from 3/8” copper to 1/2” but it doesn’t seem to have increased the flow. Once it starts producing, it takes about 2 1/2 hours to strip 10 gallons.
I forgot to photograph the underside of the lid but it’s pure copper. I used a female screw-on fitting with a PTFE gasket. Had to make a copper washer about 3/16” to bridge the gap between the stop point with the fittings and the gasket.
Increasing the diameter of the copper tubing will not increase take-off rate at all. The amount of heat/power determines take-off rate. The more heat, the faster it will strip.
I agree with what Salt says, in that bigger tubing will not make it run faster, but seeing as you've upgraded to a much bigger boiler, I think if you went to a 1" or bigger riser off the lid, then put a nice sized Liebig on it instead of the worm, you could whack the gas up a bit and get your strips done way quicker.
Thanks, Mooseman. I’m thinking of getting a larger propane burner, although I don’t really care how long it takes to strip. I used to make 3 5-gallon washes and strip all 3 separately. Now I can make 20 gallons of wash and it only takes 2 runs to strip it.
Is there any reason not to use the larger still for the spirit run?
Thanks, all. In terms of clips, this thing is airtight. I only had 4 clips on my smaller still (permanently attached with SS screws and PTFE gaskets). Now I have twice the clips and I haven’t come close to having a leak.
