Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

We have all read that copper in the vapour path removes sulphides from the vapour by depositing it on the copper. i just saw Crows Ebay post and was reading the the add .

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Home-Brew-Sp ... 185&_uhb=1

Got me thinking what about the stainless steel stills , bubblers have x number of copper plates is that enought to do the job and what about ssteel pot stills do you need to add any copper ? And what difference do the sulphides make to the final product ? :-B

Will the plates go black after time :think:

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

well you will get a sulfide (rotten egg gas) taste and smell to your product that will that a lot more airing to get rid of. yes copper in the vapor path is always a good idea and I guess the copper may need to be cleaned after prolonged use but compounds in the vapor are continually doing that to a degree anyhow ;-)

Good question :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would recommend some copper in the vapour path for sure, the copper plates and bubble caps in a SS rig do a fine job of getting rid of any sulphides & seems to be more than adequate.

Even a full copper still will go black inside from doing it's thing with sulphides, crows bubbler was used at least 100 times before he got it and all I used to do was hose it out and occasionally soak the plates in a bath of citric acid to get them looking new again.

With all the SS stills out there these days I would think that if there were issues we would've been hearing about it by now, however I'm yet to have heard of any complaints.

I guess the real question is how much sulphides are produced during the course of a run, and how much copper is really needed to remove them.

Mac.

MacStill wrote:Good question :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would recommend some copper in the vapour path for sure, the copper plates and bubble caps in a SS rig do a fine job of getting rid of any sulphides & seems to be more than adequate.

Even a full copper still will go black inside from doing it's thing with sulphides, crows bubbler was used at least 100 times before he got it and all I used to do was hose it out and occasionally soak the plates in a bath of citric acid to get them looking new again.

With all the SS stills out there these days I would think that if there were issues we would've been hearing about it by now, however I'm yet to have heard of any complaints.

I guess the real question is how much sulphides are produced during the course of a run, and how much copper is really needed to remove them.

Mac.

Thanks Crow ,Mac i think you have answered my question , I havn't heard anything either and as for amount of sulphide and copper , well who knows it sounds like a non issue "interesting".
thanks fellas :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Here's a quote on this very subject from an extremely knowledgeable still builder in the USA

mash rookie wrote:

Lets clear up a few other things. You dont need a lot of copper! I own several stills. My stainless packed column makes better whiskey that my four plate flute. It uses a copper reflux condenser and product condenser. There is no copper in the column and there are NEVER off flavors.

;-)

That is worrying that his packed reflux still makes better whisky than a 4 plate bubbler though... :wtf:

Brendan wrote:That is worrying that his packed reflux still makes better whisky than a 4 plate bubbler though... :wtf:

Yeah sounds a bit weird but i think he was just trying to get the point across that the amount of copper doesn't need to be excessive or the fact he was using a packed reflux columb that runs twice as slow as the bubbler maybe the time made the differance he was talking about.

I'd only be guessing but I reckon it wouldn't be your average boka he's talking about ;-)

Nup its like a plated column but uses Scotia instead of plates, its where I got my idea for lava stone packed sections from. He's one smart cookie :handgestures-thumbupleft: PS Scott AKA mash rookie is pretty unwell ATM , hope he comes good as his posts are about the best non mod posts over there

Thanks crow that helps , I was a little confused but i have got it now after a couple of reads, seem as that you realy don't need that much copper after all . Thanks for you help :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If you have some low wines that are high in sulphides, you can always do what winemakers do. ie you can add copper sulphate to the low wines, stir well and then use in your still. The amount depends on the sulphide level, however a maximum of 2ppm is recommended in wine. 2ppm is 2mg/litre.

Good read here :handgestures-thumbupleft: