Newbie From Vic

[Banga81]

G'day Everyone,
Brand new to distilling and looking forward to my first batch.
So it turns out im one of the people who bought from my local brew shop and got suckered in to buying an overpriced piece of crap. Yes i bought the T500 column copper condenser. I mainly want to produce clean neutral alcohol of high percentage 90% plus. After much reading on this forum it turns out that i shouldn't even use the T500 for a stripping run.
I bought the whole kit and so far have only opened the Fermented tub and made my first wash (which im throwing out tomorrow and making a TPW).
Anyway my question is should i take back the T500 boiler and condenser and swap it out for a pure distilling still? Can the pure distilling still do stripping runs? Is there another still i should swap it for perhaps?
I looked into buying another lid and making a pot still for the boiler, purely for stripping runs, but its more money and i don't have the tools to do it. I would prefer to swap if possible. Or buy a cheap pot stil for the boiler?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Cheers

[Rolls912]

You could buy the alembic dome and use that for stripping. About $300 from memory. You can also use this for flavouring.

T5’s are great for learning and getting you into the hobby.

If you run the T5;
- put a few pieces of copper pipe at the bottom of the urn
- buy a voltage controller from Andrew for $40 odd. Run it slowly for the spirt run.
- consider a water controller at a later stage $100 or so
- rinse the column after every run
- clean throughly after 3 - 5 runs
- learn to pack it correctly. Makes a huge difference
- consider packing with copper mesh
- learn to cut and be ruthless
- buy a comfy deck chair

And, have fun !

[Professor Green]

Welcome to AD Banga.

The T500's are not that bad if you run it properly, it's just that most people outgrow their capabilities fairly quickly.

Chuck out the instructions that came with it and have a read of this thread along with the threads linked therein, they'll help you get the most out of it.

I would not recommend the T500 alembic pot and dome, they're overpriced for what they are. A 5 star pot still would serve you better and is much better value for money. Alternatively, you wait for a pot still to pop up in the for sale section here. Having said that you could always run your spirits through the T500 twice without removing the packing - it will take longer but you will end up with some excellent neutral.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[Banga81]

Thanks lads, much appreciated, i've already read through all the newbie reads and T500 proper way. Can't wait to put it to some prac.
Where do i find a 5 star pot still? Google doesn't seem to give me any definitive hits. Will it fit on top of my boiler?

[Lowie]

G'day Banga, welcome. :text-+1: :razz: on what they said. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Professor Green]

Thanks lads, much appreciated, i've already read through all the newbie reads and T500 proper way. Can't wait to put it to some prac.
Where do i find a 5 star pot still? Google doesn't seem to give me any definitive hits. Will it fit on top of my boiler?

5 Star are our gracious forum hosts. There's a "5 Star Store" link below the forum banner on the left hand side. They offer a 2" pot and a 4" pot still. Both of them can be affixed to the T500 boiler with the use of an adapter.

[Banga81]

So for now until i spend cash on upgrades and a 5 star still, im going to ferment 2xTPW @ 25L each (fermenting now). Run this once through the T500, Discard the foreshot(2x150ml). Then dilute it all down to 40%, run through t500 again, discard foreshot and make my cuts at 200ml. What do you lads reckon?
Do i need to discard the foreshot on the second run?
Also how do i know when fermentation is complete?
I have an airlock on one drum, so im assuming its done when it stops bubbling, but how do i know when the other drum is done? It only has gladwrap over the top
cheers fellas

[Banga81]

In regards to the TPW, what does self clearing mean? does it mean everything sinks to the top or bottom?
If it sinks to the bottom, do i need to siphon the top off and discard the bottom?
cheers

[ZEROINSTINCT]

Hey banga,
Looks like we both are at the same stage and purchased same stills.
Sent you a pm. Maybe we can bounce info off each other :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[woodduck]

So for now until i spend cash on upgrades and a 5 star still, im going to ferment 2xTPW @ 25L each (fermenting now). Run this once through the T500, Discard the foreshot(2x150ml). Then dilute it all down to 40%, run through t500 again, discard foreshot and make my cuts at 200ml. What do you lads reckon?
Do i need to discard the foreshot on the second run?
Also how do i know when fermentation is complete?
I have an airlock on one drum, so im assuming its done when it stops bubbling, but how do i know when the other drum is done? It only has gladwrap over the top
cheers fellas

Hi mate and welcome :greetings-waveyellow:

What you have written there is spot on mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would throw fore on second run too, they're only fores and you don't want them any way, get rid of them.

Get yourself a hydrometer and test your specific gravity every day when you think it's finished (when you can'tsee or hear fizzing or bubbling). If you get the same reading 3 days in a row it's finished.

Good luck :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Ravvin]

Hi Banga.
I've got the same kit you have and have now run the original Turbowash batch, as well as 5 TPW batches through my T500.
This is how I do mine:
The TPW sediment settles to the bottom, but you usually get a small amount get sucked out the tap when you first open it to transfer into your boiler, so I crack the tap, take the first cupful and discard it.
Once the boiler if filled to the 25L line, I fit the lid and start the water. As it starts to heat up, I clean out the fermenter and start the next batch. I add 10L of hot water from the shower head, to help aerate and hopefully dissipate some of the clorine from the town water, then dissolve the 5kg sugar and the citric acid. I found the easiest way to get the tomato paste in without having big chunks to try to dissolve, was to add half the bottle of paste to a larger empty bottle, add hot water and shake like hell. It thins it out enough to pour in as a thinner liquid, no chunks.
I fill it to just over the 25L mark with cooler water from the shower, which drops the temp of the wash to 30° or so. Then I put 70gm of Lowans baking Yeast in an empty tomato paste bottle, add some water and shake. It pours straight into the mix, without sitting in clumps on the surface that take ages to get stirred in.
I have found that it usually starts bubbling within an hour of sealing.
This procedure only takes about 15 mins, so plenty of time to get it done before going back to sit in front of your still for the next 4 hours. :))

I'm in Tassy, and my ferments seem to run about 26°, or 2° warmer than the room it is in. Bubbling stops around day 5 or 6, but it takes a few more days to settle, so I actually leave it until the following week. I run 2 fermenters at a time, so I have one batch to distill each Friday, as I only work a half-day on Fridays, and my washes are always super clear, having that extra time to settle.

Saying that though, I believe you can leave the wash for a few months, as long as its sealed, and still distill it safely.

Lastly, forget running the still by temperature. Go by the alcohol flow. Have your water running and when you see the first drip start coming out the pipe, crank the water flow up, as it will reflux the vapour, which separates the fores from the heads, getting rid of the nastier compounds. Keep it in reflux for at least 30 minutes, then gradually back off the water flow until you get a drip, drip, drip, trickle from the outlet.

Hope some of this helps. have fun. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[The Stig]

Hey banga, Sent you a pm. Maybe we can bounce info off each other :handgestures-thumbupleft:

He won’t get the pm till he has 10 posts :laughing-rolling:

[Banga81]

Hi Banga.
I've got the same kit you have and have now run the original Turbowash batch, as well as 5 TPW batches through my T500.
This is how I do mine:
The TPW sediment settles to the bottom, but you usually get a small amount get sucked out the tap when you first open it to transfer into your boiler, so I crack the tap, take the first cupful and discard it.
Once the boiler if filled to the 25L line, I fit the lid and start the water. As it starts to heat up, I clean out the fermenter and start the next batch. I add 10L of hot water from the shower head, to help aerate and hopefully dissipate some of the clorine from the town water, then dissolve the 5kg sugar and the citric acid. I found the easiest way to get the tomato paste in without having big chunks to try to dissolve, was to add half the bottle of paste to a larger empty bottle, add hot water and shake like hell. It thins it out enough to pour in as a thinner liquid, no chunks.
I fill it to just over the 25L mark with cooler water from the shower, which drops the temp of the wash to 30° or so. Then I put 70gm of Lowans baking Yeast in an empty tomato paste bottle, add some water and shake. It pours straight into the mix, without sitting in clumps on the surface that take ages to get stirred in.
I have found that it usually starts bubbling within an hour of sealing.
This procedure only takes about 15 mins, so plenty of time to get it done before going back to sit in front of your still for the next 4 hours. :))

I'm in Tassy, and my ferments seem to run about 26°, or 2° warmer than the room it is in. Bubbling stops around day 5 or 6, but it takes a few more days to settle, so I actually leave it until the following week. I run 2 fermenters at a time, so I have one batch to distill each Friday, as I only work a half-day on Fridays, and my washes are always super clear, having that extra time to settle.

Saying that though, I believe you can leave the wash for a few months, as long as its sealed, and still distill it safely.

Lastly, forget running the still by temperature. Go by the alcohol flow. Have your water running and when you see the first drip start coming out the pipe, crank the water flow up, as it will reflux the vapour, which separates the fores from the heads, getting rid of the nastier compounds. Keep it in reflux for at least 30 minutes, then gradually back off the water flow until you get a drip, drip, drip, trickle from the outlet.

Hope some of this helps. have fun. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

G'day Ravvin,
Thanks mate, i was really confused about the clearing. Thought it would all just piss out the tap.
Did you repack your T500 copper still? Mine looks as though its all packed with stainless steel.
Might empty it out tonight and take a squiz.
Thanks everyone for all the help
Cheers

[ZEROINSTINCT]

Hey Banga,

i think you'll find that it it is packed with stainless steel and will have copper at the top. also just keep an eye out for any leaks when you do your run.... i ran mine for the first time last week and is slightly leaking. :roll:

[Ravvin]

I rinse my column out with lots of hot water after every run, and after the first 3 washes I pulled the packing out and soaked it in a citric acid bath to get the tarnish and nasty TurboWash smell off. The citric acid bath sort of worked, but I could still see lots of discolouration, so I dumped in some vinegar and salt, which made it all nice and shiny in just a few minutes.
Be careful pulling the packing out. The stainless bits in mine had been really forced in, with many of them being squashed out of shape. They were stuck in and behind the cooling coils that you will see at the top of the column. With lots of shaking, I was able to get all but 2 out. The stainless bits look like little pierced tubes. The copper bits at the top, and there is only about a palmfull, are like sections of copper pipe, split in half to make small cupped rectangles. Once clean, I tipped all the copper in, then the stainless bits. They didn't all fit at first, but if you gently shake and jiggle the column a bit, they settle and you can get the rest in.

I'd really like to get copper versions of the stainless bits. There just doesn't seem to be much coper in there. I might get a roll of the copper mesh from 5 Star and repack it. If I put the original copper bits in first, then enough of the stainless bits to cover the cooling coils, I can slide the copper mesh in and out for cleaning without worrying about it hanging up on them. Then fill the rest of the column with the remaining stainless bits to take up the space and stop the copper mesh from sliding down. I'll just have to be careful I don't make it too restrictive.

[Banga81]

Now i'm definitely glad i fu$%ed off the turbo wash before putting through my still. Hopefully my TPW is done in a week or so. Can't wait to give this a crack