My New Toy
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 3:26 pm
Look what turned up in the mail yesterday. :dance:
While the T500 makes nice neutral if run properly, it takes ages and is a bit limiting.
I want to be able to make my own rum, as well as neutral, and was looking at the 4" Eliminator, but Andrew explained that to make a really good neutral, I would be better off getting the Neutraliser and a couple of rolls of copper mesh.
So I did. I also got a voltage regulator. I got a free bottle opener and 2 chupachups, so that's a bonus. :D
I can still make rum by removing the 500mm packed section and dropping it back to 4 plates.
I still have to get the cooling lines set up and see about some sort of flow control. I have a 1000L cube to recirculate water from, so I also will look at the pumps people have tried.
My next problem is that my kitchen/distilling area has a peaked ceiling, 2.6m at the highest point. The still, as assembled above, is pretty much 2.5m, without any sort of insulated base under it. I was thinking I would just get a big ceramic tile or maybe a square paver to sit it on, but that leaves no room to lift the still section off the boiler.
I have 12' ceilings in the lounge and hallway, but those areas are carpeted and a still would look a bit odd there. At least I could watch tv while doing a run.
See the pic below of my first attempt to put it all together.
I couldn't work out why the parrot was so far off the ground. How were people reading the alchometer? Quick check of the pic on the FSD site and I realised I had the condenser on the wrong side of the elbow. :oops:
But hey, if you want to run it like this, it's just over 3m in height. :) Should get great refluxing, but may be hard to get anything out to actually drink.
I have a TPW down as well as a CFW and both are still bubbling, so will be finished and cleared by next weekend.
I'm tossing up whether I should use the TPW in a stripping run to clean the internals, or hold it back and run a feints run with stuff I have saved from the last 6 TPW runs. What do you all think? I also have about 20L of a failed ginger beer batch that I let ferment right out that I could add to up the volume. This stuff is so harsh that if I open a bottle of it, (2L softdrink bottles), when I close it again it somehow uses up all the air in the bottle and sucks the sides in. Should clean the internals right out.
I also have to clean up the 2 rolls of copper mesh. They still have the protective oil coating from manufacture, so I will first have a go at degreasing them with hot soapy water, then gently boil them in a vinegar and salt solution. I'll try getting some pics during the process and report how successful each process it.
I'd like to add that it was great to deal with Andrew at 5 Star Distilling, he really knows his products and explained a few things I had not understood. I'm looking forward to documenting my learning progress with this still.
Greg.
While the T500 makes nice neutral if run properly, it takes ages and is a bit limiting.
I want to be able to make my own rum, as well as neutral, and was looking at the 4" Eliminator, but Andrew explained that to make a really good neutral, I would be better off getting the Neutraliser and a couple of rolls of copper mesh.
So I did. I also got a voltage regulator. I got a free bottle opener and 2 chupachups, so that's a bonus. :D
I can still make rum by removing the 500mm packed section and dropping it back to 4 plates.
I still have to get the cooling lines set up and see about some sort of flow control. I have a 1000L cube to recirculate water from, so I also will look at the pumps people have tried.
My next problem is that my kitchen/distilling area has a peaked ceiling, 2.6m at the highest point. The still, as assembled above, is pretty much 2.5m, without any sort of insulated base under it. I was thinking I would just get a big ceramic tile or maybe a square paver to sit it on, but that leaves no room to lift the still section off the boiler.
I have 12' ceilings in the lounge and hallway, but those areas are carpeted and a still would look a bit odd there. At least I could watch tv while doing a run.
See the pic below of my first attempt to put it all together.
I couldn't work out why the parrot was so far off the ground. How were people reading the alchometer? Quick check of the pic on the FSD site and I realised I had the condenser on the wrong side of the elbow. :oops:
But hey, if you want to run it like this, it's just over 3m in height. :) Should get great refluxing, but may be hard to get anything out to actually drink.
I have a TPW down as well as a CFW and both are still bubbling, so will be finished and cleared by next weekend.
I'm tossing up whether I should use the TPW in a stripping run to clean the internals, or hold it back and run a feints run with stuff I have saved from the last 6 TPW runs. What do you all think? I also have about 20L of a failed ginger beer batch that I let ferment right out that I could add to up the volume. This stuff is so harsh that if I open a bottle of it, (2L softdrink bottles), when I close it again it somehow uses up all the air in the bottle and sucks the sides in. Should clean the internals right out.
I also have to clean up the 2 rolls of copper mesh. They still have the protective oil coating from manufacture, so I will first have a go at degreasing them with hot soapy water, then gently boil them in a vinegar and salt solution. I'll try getting some pics during the process and report how successful each process it.
I'd like to add that it was great to deal with Andrew at 5 Star Distilling, he really knows his products and explained a few things I had not understood. I'm looking forward to documenting my learning progress with this still.
Greg.