Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

My coach is an understanding girl. She understands that if I make good grog, she gets to drink it on me.

Birdman85 wrote:Hows the boss feel about the lounge room being overran by hoses, cords and the smell of cooking liquor?

:text-+1:
Not sure id get away with that... prob wouldnt even try :laughing-rolling:
In seriousness I'm glad shes going well for you Les.
It takes a few goes to find the running sweet spot but when you do... :happy-partydance:

Birdman85 wrote:Hows the boss feel about the lounge room being overran by hoses, cords and the smell of cooking liquor?

That's not a lounge room, it's a nano-distillery :laughing-rolling:

My standard responses to that question are:

"How's that <insert SWMBO's favourite drink name> tasting today? Another batch of the same?"
"Pretty soon we will have saved enough money from home distilling to buy that pretty dress/new pair of shoes/new phone that you've been wanting"
"Isn't it great that I stay home and make this stuff, instead of hanging out at the pub with my mates?"
"Hey, at least I'm not growing weed!"

If I don't run fast enough I usually get a :violence-smack: or a few of :violence-stickwhack: , or occasionally a :teasing-nutkick:

Like your style Tesla. A man with obvious experience in this field.

All done. I ended up quickly replacing a seal that kept on leaking. When I inspected it, I found that there was a bit of a groove across the seal that was causing the leak. I obviously cut too deep when trimming the ridge off with a Stanley knife. Apart from that, the run went well. Maintained 95% @ 18.5 degrees for most of the run until I hit tails.

Took off a couple of litres of tails and then shut down. I will now look at a parrot for the CCVM. Wanted to run the still without one so that I could get my head around how I would do it to work in with the adjustable table.

Good going mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Parrot would be cool, the thermometer you have should give you warnings of transitions pretty well though

Good looking still mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

From the pic looks like you built in social distancing as well, you obviously don't have small children in your house :laughing-rolling:

Thanks guys. Yep, it’s a pretty quiet household these days. Only. Couple of grandkids to stir things up from time to time. Just looking through the bits and pieces to see if I can scrounge most of the material I need for the parrot. Will get onto that in a day or so.

Made a bit of a start on the parrot. Got a couple of reducers and soldered them together with an easy flange attached.

Went to buy a 1” end cap but the plumbing suppliers didn’t have any in stock. Decided to cut a disc of flat and solder it into the end of the tube. Could have butted it to the end of the 1” but........... sometimes the brain is a bit slow. Before doing that, I silvered soldered a fitting into the centre of the disc. From what I’ve read, stainless to copper can be a bit of a pain. Made sure the fitting was wiped down with some foreshots and then scuffed the soldering area with abrasive. Cleaned the copper and fluxed the joint. Applied some heat and watched the silver solder flow nicely around the fitting. Ended up being just as easy as joining copper. I think the secret was in the prep and making sure the heat was right.

I had a spare 1/4” ball valve to use as a drain.

Cut the 1” tube to the minimum length for the alcometer and then tested it to see how quickly it would drain. Was happy with how quickly the parrot emptied. Should finish the rest of the build today or tomorrow. I know 1/2” tube is a bit of overkill and will increase the parrot volume but it is what I have available. 1/4” tube is a bit small for a stripping run and has no margin for error.

Finished the parrot and That’s the end of the build.

It was a custom job to suit the still and the custom table. It should now make life a little easier when running all sorts of goodies.


Now it’s time to bring out the fermenters for a play. Seams a bit silly but have already put feelers out for some 3 and 4” for a future project.

Never too early to look at building a bubbler.

:text-+1: doubt you would even break a sweat lesgold :handgestures-thumbupleft:

May need a bigger shed with all the sh#t that I’m accumulating. What do I do with my small reflux and boiler? Gee, I’ll take a hit if I sell it. Breaks my heart but it may have to go. And you blokes want me to go again....... you’re killing me. Corona Virus is pretty bad but I think this hobby is an additive disease with no known cure. Hopefully we’ll have a needle for one of these problems in twelve months time. Pretty sad state of affairs really. Already contacted a scrappy with a wish list and have a plan in my small brain for a compact pot still. There is seriously something wrong with me. :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :D

Its a curse comes in the night awakening from deep slumber. Only know cure is ethanol in your fav form...

Lesgold wrote:Already contacted a scrappy with a wish list and have a plan in my small brain for a compact pot still. There is seriously something wrong with me. :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :D

Nothing wrong mate... just caught the very contagious bug thats all!
Nice looking parrot to btw, the extra long spout is a good idea. I made mine too short and its a pain getting a demi under it.

Thanks gentlemen. Yes Dan. Didn’t want to build the parrot until I ran the toy. If I made it with what I thought would be needed, there would have been a major stuff up. The longer spout and the unusual angles allow me to raise the table to just about any height I need and still be able to purge the parrot as required.

Decided I was not going to be pressured by you lot to build a bubbler. Peer group pressure can sway the average person but I’ve decided that I’m better than that. THERE WILL BE NO BUBBLER BUILD. :teasing-neener: :teasing-neener: :teasing-neener: There, it’s be said. Well............ almost.

Got a message from a scrappy two days ago. No, no, no. I will not weaken. But I did. How could you knock this back?

1.5m x DN100
1.5m x DN50
.75m x DN20
.5m x DN40
.5m x DN32

Might cut the 100mm into short lengths and solder some bases on it and turn it into flower pots.

Lesgold wrote:Might cut the 100mm into short lengths and solder some bases on it and turn it into flower pots.

Good plan you dont want to go making a bubbler and flashing it round on a forum like this :teasing-tease:

:handgestures-thumbupleft: snails hate copper
:teasing-neener:

We only want what’s best for you mate....truly.... :D