Hi! Intro + I have a plan!

[guerd87]

Hi everyone,

Im new around here. Damn there is some good info on this site! From Hervey Bay QLD and just about to embark on building a still.

Bit of background: Have done beer brewing in the past and was pretty happy with my results. Never went all the way with AG though. Over the last year or so I have really stopped drinking beer and much prefer a nice bourbon or vodka in the evenings. I have 2 friends with stills who make Rum and Bourbon but to speak truthfully I was never really overly impressed with their product. They both have Turbo500 Stills and do turbo washes with carbon filtering. First 200ml gets discarded and then everything after that is free game.

Recently I tried some whiskey and butterscotch schnapps from a friend of a friend and is absolutely amazing! when inquiring about the process she pointed me in the direction of this site and told me to visit and start reading! Now I have spent probably 2 days non stop reading! She was a bit hesitant to show me her still as I dont really know here at all except for dropping a friend at her house. Maybe one day I will get closer to figure this out.

Now Im hooked on trying to produce something at least half as good as these 2 drinks were. I have a 50L Carlton style keg here with the 2" flange on the top ready to go. I was looking at a 2" Boka style still but have seen some info saying that for a 40L low wines spirit run will be a loong time on a 2". Should I be looking to increase this to a 3" tower? Will this increase output time or actually increase quality?

I have a few other questions here too:

If I do decide to go with a 3" tower what size heating element would I be looking at to get it running fine?

If I remove the packing can a boka be used under wide open to do a decent stripping run?

I have access to town water but get charged for any excess so im looking to do a recirculating coolant system. How big a reservoir should I be looking at having and size of pump?

I have a lot of fermenting gear here still from brewing beer which will carry over so no need to buy much more there really. I am looking to put down 2 x 30L washes and then run a stripping run of these. Collect what comes out and dilute to 40% and store inside another 50L keg until I reach the 30-40l mark which then I will set aside a whole day to do a spirit run. From here I will move onto learning the cuts and getting a decent product. Some will be designated to vodkas and most for bourbons. I know this will take time, and time I have. I really want to learn the correct way to do this and come out with a good drink at the end of the process. With cutting on the cautious side I should not have to carbon filter anything as long as I use a good wash recipe like the TPW?

Cheers,
John

[dogbreath vodka]

Hi everyone,

Im new around here. Damn there is some good info on this site! From Hervey Bay QLD and just about to embark on building a still.

Welcome guerd87 you will find heaps of info here... and a great spirit... (pun intended)


I have a 50L Carlton style keg here with the 2" flange on the top ready to go. I was looking at a 2" Boka style still but have seen some info saying that for a 40L low wines spirit run will be a loong time on a 2". Should I be looking to increase this to a 3" tower? Will this increase output time or actually increase quality?

Start with the 3" pot still and you will be off to a great start. It'll increase quantity per hour not quality :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I have a few other questions here too:

If I do decide to go with a 3" tower what size heating element would I be looking at to get it running fine?

If I remove the packing can a boka be used under wide open to do a decent stripping run?

I have access to town water but get charged for any excess so im looking to do a recirculating coolant system. How big a reservoir should I be looking at having and size of pump?

Mine is just a submersible fountain pump - Bunnings will have something to suit
A 200 ltr drum would be more than ample.
Bit more reading and you will find plenty of different options.



Collect what comes out and dilute to 40% and store inside another 50L keg until I reach the 30-40l mark which then I will set aside a whole day to do a spirit run.
Make sure your cap is air tight or you will loose lots of booze.



With cutting on the cautious side I should not have to carbon filter anything as long as I use a good wash recipe like the TPW?

Any of the tried and true recipes will do the job and you won't need carbon.
Cheers,
John

All the best on your quest. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Keep the reading up and then get into the practical :D ;-)
I'll leave your other questions to more knowledgeable folk
Cheers
DBV

[Urrazeb]

200L wont be big enough if you plan to do a few runs in a row.

Get yourself an IBC.

xu1 have good sub pumps at bunnings, $50 one works for me.

Welcome to the forum 8-)

[dogbreath vodka]

With a pot still 200ltr is overkill
I'm in the tropics and use an old 70ltr copper and fountain pump.
It gets warm but has done the job for about two years.

With the bubbler am looking to upgrade and use a radiator and fan... less need for large volumes of water sitting around.
EG had one ..... dunno where the thread is though.
DBV

[Cane Toad]

Hi,welcome to the forum :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bt1]

Howdy,

Sure got the planning bit done..

If I do decide to go with a 3" tower what size heating element would I be looking at to get it running fine?

4"/100mm is more frequently available, generally cheaper at scrappies as a result. It offers a faster take off rate...why not!

If I remove the packing can a boka be used under wide open to do a decent stripping run?

There's plenty of opinions, but consensus would say a Boka is dead slow on a good day. If your going to this trouble then a modular plate seems like a good solution.

I have access to town water but get charged for any excess so im looking to do a recirculating coolant system. How big a reservoir should I be looking at having and size of pump?

Most would say min is boiler volume x4. That's ok with a cooling system to post run cool return but in all honesty more is better. I use 1100lt rain water tank, ok it's way over what's needed but on a 45c Adelaide day I don't have to piss about with constant adjustment with volumes. This in a bubbler run as fast as it will.

Bare min for low stress, easy run, x8 boiler volume and at that level you may need cooling, depending on ambient and location...again more tweaking for coolant temp you don't need.

A good wash doesn't need filtering...It's just good straight off the condenser tip...if it ain't there's something wrong.

bt1

[guerd87]

Thank you everyone for the welcome!

4"/100mm is more frequently available, generally cheaper at scrappies as a result. It offers a faster take off rate...why not!

I spoke to my plumber mate today. He has around 1.5m of both 4"and 3" in his shed he is willing to get rid of easily. So that sort of helps out a bit

There's plenty of opinions, but consensus would say a Boka is dead slow on a good day. If your going to this trouble then a modular plate seems like a good solution.

Are there any other designs that are as simple to build as a boka or pot still but produce quicker? I really dont want the added trouble of going out on a plated still to start with. Maybe I should just stick to a pot still and forget vodkas for the moment.

Most would say min is boiler volume x4. That's ok with a cooling system to post run cool return but in all honesty more is better. I use 1100lt rain water tank, ok it's way over what's needed but on a 45c Adelaide day I don't have to piss about with constant adjustment with volumes. This in a bubbler run as fast as it will.

I have a few IBC's at my old mans house I could grab. I just didnt worry about them before because I thought they would be a bit overkill. Ill go bring one up next time im there. At least I shouldnt have to worry about my water temp rising too much with 1000L there.

Bare min for low stress, easy run, x8 boiler volume and at that level you may need cooling, depending on ambient and location...again more tweaking for coolant temp you don't need.

A good wash doesn't need filtering...It's just good straight off the condenser tip...if it ain't there's something wrong.

Thats good to hear then. No wonder my friend says that his spirits are still expensive to make with all the different clearing agents and filtering he has to do.

Start with the 3" pot still and you will be off to a great start. It'll increase quantity per hour not quality :handgestures-thumbupleft:

As mentioned before I am wondering if I should just start here. Will need to do some more reading on the subject. I just really want some good quality spirits. Pot stills are still ok if you do your cuts right?

Make sure your cap is air tight or you will loose lots of booze.

Haha yes. Thanks for the heads up :)

Cheers,
John

[SBB]

Maybe I should just stick to a pot still and forget vodkas for the moment.

Way to go I think. A pot will teach you the basics very well, It can always be utilized later for stripping washes if you decide you want a reflux still for neutrals at a later stage. The pot will teach you a lot about heat input - product output, how to make good cuts and many other useful things. On top of that they are the cheapest still to build, Two things that I would be sure to do if building a pot are 1: use a stainless union to make the condenser angle adjustable, this is useful in more ways than one. 2: make sure you crimp the inner tube of the lieburg to aid in condensing the ethanol vapours.
Also have a think about what size condenser you want, If using gas you don't want the end product exiting the condenser right next to your heat source, in that case a longer condenser can be useful.

[Urrazeb]

As mentioned before I am wondering if I should just start here. Will need to do some more reading on the subject. I just really want some good quality spirits. Pot stills are still ok if you do your cuts right?

Yes you do your cuts right and ya can get some real nice stuff, as long as you can manage to age it long enough :laughing-rolling: :shifty:

[Camikaze]

Hi and welcome mate. :handgestures-thumbupleft: