Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi Scythe,

Im at the point of just needing the welding done.

From research a plane jane 50l Milk Can boiler is $500ish? No elements etc. from Australia and thats if you can find someone with stock :)

Im still ahead on price even with all the ferrules, end caps, drain and fittings. Plus dont mind the ability to build it any way you like.

Too much invested to go back now even if I wanted to, but I did consider a Milk Can boiler at one stage.

Cheers

Keg is with the welder being finished.

Had a delivery this week..... Getting close to turfing the T500 :)

Very nice. I wish one of those would show up on my doorstep.

:text-+1: would be awesome will get there eventually :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I wont totally turf the T500..... thinking of keeping the boiler at least for heating ingredients for ferments, saves me buying a $100 crock pot to throw on the stove....

Anxious to get this all up and running. To be complete still need a packed section and another Bubble plate and t section... Then Ill be content :)

Mate, you won't know yourself when you get that bit of kit running!

One step closer. Bottom ports are leak free after leaving it overnight half full of water.

Should be set for a cleaning run on the weekend.

Looks awesome :handgestures-thumbupleft: Good job.

Thumbs up mate ,have ya done anything about a drain port,I had a piece of 3/4inch with a 90' bend TIGed to a 2inch blanking plate that I drilled a hole thru,then had a 1/2inch bsp fitting welded to the other end to suit a 1/2inch stainless drain valve.cheers hillzabilly

Not yet but I will. At the moment just a end cap triclamped over the original keg opening to get it operational :)

Its alive... if only a vinegar run :)

Haha. Now the excitement starts!

Just note, the vinegar run is NOTHING like any other run!! So just do it and clean up afterwards. Read and reread "How to run a big bled" in the newbie section (helped me no ends!) then when you do your Sac run THATs when you first learn about your still.

Go forth and still!

Did a sac run this morning with some cheap watered down goon. Ran 93% down to 20% after keeping it in full reflux for 20 minutes.

Loving the heat up time with 4800w vs 2000w. Turned one element off after it got to temp and adjusted the water flow to have a pencil stream coming out.

The cuts between fractions are definitely more defined. Loving it so far.

Putting a 200l WBAB ferment down as I type this :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Welcome to the bubble club mate! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Can anyone tell me why the need for a temp gauge at the top?

Is there a breather hole or tube between ya PC and the parrot,otherwise ya alcometer in the parrot may jump around a lot.I would also give the inside of the boiler a good scrub with stainless scrubies when ya rinsing and cleaning up.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Lowie wrote:Can anyone tell me why the need for a temp gauge at the top?

:laughing-rolling: to measure the temp! Haha, sorry, couldn't resist.

There's lot of data about temps at the top of your still (vapour) and how it correlates to ABV. Just another tool to use (if desired) to manage your hobby. I haven't quite figured out if I need it, but I'm doing OK without it at the mo.

I believe, some use it to know 'when the distillate is about to come...?!?!

Hi hilzabilly,

Yep there is a vent tube :)

You can use the vapour temp to predict ABV. A thermometer at the top will tell you when you're about to start seeing product in the parrot, or if you're in full reflux or not.

It is by no means necessary.

I've got a thermometer in my boiler, through practice it tells me when I'm about to start collecting, and when tails are about to start coming through.