Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi,

I have the opportunity to pick up a fair bit of 6 inch copper pipe for a good price, and I have already collected enough 4 inch to make a bubbler...I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about which size to go....pro's /Con's???.
I have noticed that if I step it up to 6 inch...then the cost of clamps and associated parts to put it all together seems to skyrocket fairly quickly compared to the cost of 4 inch clamps etc...Just after a bit of advice

Cheers,
Crispy

my 4 inch makes more booze than even i can drink, and i only have to run her every month or so.
(but now that ive got that 225L oak barrel to fill...)

6"=faster and more spirits, needs larger boiler, costs more to make, storage and fermenters need to be larger.


4"=slower, less expensive, 50ltr keg boiler, smaller storage spaces for ferments and spirits

The other questions are... how much booze do you need? Will you be wanting to do experiments?
How much room do you have for storage? :think: :think:

If you can get 6" now...... will you be able to get it later as well. If not is it worth storing it for later?

Build a 6" inline thumper for your 4" bubbler and get the best of both worlds :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Get the 6" now while you can, could always sell it to a member here or worse comes to worse scrap it.

Im with scythe you can always onsell but you may not get a better chance to buy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

ok, to answer the other questions.....

I don't need any more booze than I can make with my 3 inch V/M but that's not the point :-)....I want to build a cool looking shiny Bubbler as a project...it's not about how much I can make.......I probably wont be able to get the 6 inch again.......Experiments???? Such as????? tell me more..
As far as storage space go's....will be putting in a new 6mx3m "Toolshed" soon.

Zak, I know nothing about Thumper's, but I am interested, So I will have to do some research on that topic.
Scythe and Bluc....Yup, I am tending to agree, think I will grab it anyway...just in case....probably stick with the 4 inch Bubbler idea ..and then look at building the 6 inch inline Thumper.....once I work out how that will benefit me...lol

I have picked up heaps of stuff this week to get me started (Kegs, SS Storage tank, Copper pipe, Milk Can etc...) so I'll post a few pic's of the haul tomoz

Cheers for the replies and advice :text-thankyoublue:
Crispy

Have you ever run a pot and done strip and spirit runs? Having a thumper will strip alcohol(strip run) fast then do spirit run in one go.

So rather than the bubbler being feed low proof wash it gets feed much higher proof alcohol. Also it holds some of the refluxed alcohol and acts like a buffer if that makes sense.
I think a 6" would rock but i reakon you would need to feed it with 200l boiler .

I have done strip runs with the V/M detuned...but so far I have really only made neutral. I am very interested to try to make whiskeys as I already have a complete all grain beer setup. Will the thumper/bubbler combo retain flavour to achieve this?

Crispy wrote:ok, to answer the other questions.....

I don't need any more booze than I can make with my 3 inch V/M but that's not the point :-)....I want to build a cool looking shiny Bubbler as a project...it's not about how much I can make.......I probably wont be able to get the 6 inch again
Soooo are you willing to lose the opportunity?

.......Experiments???? Such as????? tell me more..
Experiments.. such as different recipes in rums, whiskys, vodka, fruit washes... ffs work it out for yourself miles of recipes to choose from... try a few

As far as storage space go's....will be putting in a new 6mx3m "Toolshed" soon.
So you have room ... great. If you have any more booze than a 3" can make... why the question on 4 or 6? A shiney new bubbler will look good as either!

Zak, I know nothing about Thumper's, but I am interested, So I will have to do some research on that topic.
Scythe and Bluc....Yup, I am tending to agree, think I will grab it anyway...just in case....probably stick with the 4 inch Bubbler idea ..and then look at building the 6 inch inline Thumper.....once I work out how that will benefit me...lol

I have picked up heaps of stuff this week to get me started (Kegs, SS Storage tank, Copper pipe, Milk Can etc...) so I'll post a few pic's of the haul tomoz

Cheers for the replies and advice :text-thankyoublue:
Crispy

My advice...
Grab the 6" and if you don't use it, there are plenty of blokes out there that can.
It is harder to get than 4".

A little more time distilling will sort out most of your questions.

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sorry if my question was stupid or didn't make sense, DBV

When you asked if I wanted to experiment...I was trying to work out how the still size affected that....thought I was missing something...soz.

Anyway, think I will go ahead and grab it, so I have it ready for a future upgrade :-)

Thx for your advice

No worries....
Now I get your train of thought.
If you want to do experiments with recipies a 4" is better as you don't need to have as much wash.
As it is likely you will run a 4 on a 50ltr keg and a 6" on something much larger.

And if the experiments end up being a right pigs ear, you haven't wasted as much time energy or materials making that recipe.

:handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Ahhh, ..

Of course, that makes sense...exactly the type of info that I was after...thx for all the replies...definitely helped me make some decisions.

Will grab the 6 inch but stick with my original idea of knocking up a 4" Bubbler, and play around with making a 6" Thumper, :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers,
Crispy

There's also the power requirements. 4" will happily run on a single 10 amp circuit, you need 15 amp power, or multiple 10amp circuits, for 6".

Thx Zak,

I'm using gas at the moment, not sure if I want to go to electric or not yet.....although there is the appeal of it being a lot quieter than my NASA burner. I just picked up a couple of spare kegs so maybe....

I haven't run electric yet myself, but I have run another member's FSD bubbler on electricity and all you can hear is the bubbles popping and jars filling :happy-partydance:

:text-goodpost:
You need two seperate curcuits.
I run a 10amp and a 15amp which is just enough for the 6" on an 80ltre boiler.

Zak Griffin wrote:Build a 6" inline thumper for your 4" bubbler and get the best of both worlds :handgestures-thumbupleft:

What's the advantage of a thumper for a bubbler?

Speed, flavour, capacity, different run strategies. Have a search and all will be answered.

Ok, so I went and picked up the 6" today and this is the rest of what I have scrounged and collected over the last 2 weeks...

just over 2m of 6", 3m of 4", couple meters of 2", some short lengths of various other sizes and 2 kegs and an 80 Litre SS Gas tank ,

and dropped into a second hand store and picked up the Milk can for $25.00....I couldn't get out of there quick enough :-D


I could have picked up a few short lengths of 8" (looked like about 400 - 500mm) , so if you need 8"....msg me.

Cheers,
Crispy