Reflux still build up

by **bt1** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 7:38 am

Oops almost forgot!

Check your tank if you can ..syphon hose will do it...make sure you ain't got an inch or two of crud in the tank bottom and the pump is sucking through that.
I clean my small tank out every winter start to be sure.

If it's an issue plop a couple of house brick s in to sit the pump on, like make a stand or easier tie off the water feed pipe above the bottom of the tank height to suspend the pump.

bt1

by **cuz** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:03 pm

So, its been quite a while between updates for me, I've been quite bust at work lately and then have been given a extra long weekend!! :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
So, I have finally got my still all ready to go for its 1st TPW run tomorrow.

With the help of a good mate (Plumber) I have made the following:

Car rim burner.

Made this lil beauty from an old spare, the burner out of an old hot water service and a bit of copper.
I then hooked it up to a 9kg bbq bottle

So I fired it up!!!

Here are a couple of vids of it in action, on a cleaning run

All ready for 40 odd litres of TPW starting 1st thing tomorrow.

Wish me luck

Cuz

by **googe** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:36 pm

Good stuff mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: bet your excited about tomorrow :D . Looks like a really good setup with the radiator, hope it all goes well for ya.

by **Jonno** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:41 pm

good to see you got that extra gas bottle incase the other runs out :laughing-rolling:

by **cuz** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:46 pm

googe wrote:Good stuff mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: bet your excited about tomorrow :D . Looks like a really good setup with the radiator, hope it all goes well for ya.

Chompin at the bit mate, thanks

Jonno wrote:good to see you got that extra gas bottle incase the other runs out :laughing-rolling:

Haha... yep. As soon as I lit that burner for the 1st time, I knew it was gonna chew thru some gas, so I got prepared...

by **DrunkASAskunk** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:54 pm

10 out 10 mate good stuff

by **Sam.** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 9:48 pm

What you planning on doing with the results of your run tomorrow?

And why did you get that gas bottle so smashed? poor fucker can't even stand up :laughing-rolling:

by **cuz** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 6:26 am

sam_and_liv wrote:What you planning on doing with the results of your run tomorrow?

And why did you get that gas bottle so smashed? poor fucker can't even stand up :laughing-rolling:

Hehe... he got a fright when the burner got lit and fainted!!!! Wicked sound!!!! Might need to make a 747 burner and compare....

I'm going to let the hearts breathe for a couple o days and then store it up.
Will definately be trying out some of the infused recipes on most of it tho... I really like the sounds of lemoncello and the expresso vodka! Yum...

Quick question: What kind of yeild should I be looking at from approx 45 litres of TPW that was around .990 when finished??
About 3 litres of hearts??? or am I way off??

by **bt1** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:56 am

Howdy,

Cuz good to get underway its a great feeling.

Wondering if you might want to consider moving the collection point a bit further away from the gas heat source if you can.

bt1

by **Sam.** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:58 am

If its the first run through a pot still on a TPW I wouldn't be expecting it to be tasting all that flash, these sugar washes are designed to make nuetrel though a reflux still.

You will need to run it through the pot a few times before it cleans it up, as for how many times it actually takes someone who has done it will need to pipe up cos I have never done it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your pot would be more suited to doing a UJSM or BWKO recipe

It will still be a good experience for you to do the run though, I would be seeing how fast I could strip it personally

by **cuz** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:33 am

bt1 wrote:Howdy,

Cuz good to get underway its a great feeling.

Wondering if you might want to consider moving the collection point a bit further away from the gas heat source if you can.

bt1

Way ahead of you there bt1, I cut that hootie big product condensor off last night.
I have just made a hardwood shelf to sit on top of the keg and will refine from there. Thanks for looking out for me tho mate!

sam_and_liv wrote:If its the first run through a pot still on a TPW I wouldn't be expecting it to be tasting all that flash, these sugar washes are designed to make nuetrel though a reflux still.

You will need to run it through the pot a few times before it cleans it up, as for how many times it actually takes someone who has done it will need to pipe up cos I have never done it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your pot would be more suited to doing a UJSM or BWKO recipe

It will still be a good experience for you to do the run though, I would be seeing how fast I could strip it personally

Thanks dude but its a reflux still and I am running it slow to make a good neutral.

Pot still in the works....

by **Sam.** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 12:37 pm

Oops my bad it looked like a pot on my phone, maybe I should read the title of the thread hey?

by **cuz** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:58 am

WHAT A DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Started out at 7am, bustling with excitement.
45+ litres of TPW into the keg, all hooked up and burner on.
Old HWS burner works a treat and soon the temp comes up, I can hear movement in the keg, so on goes the cooling.

Nek minnit - :scared-eek: :scared-eek: :scared-eek: - FOLY HUCK!!!! Wash is bubbling out thru the small relief hole in the top of the still!!! See vid below

PANIC and turn the burner off.
Quick thread on in the beginners questions and MACSTILL and JayD sort me out quick smart.

Burner back on (heat way way down!!) and everything is cool again.
Let it get up to temp again and then set it into full reflux for about 60+ mins.

10:15 - Start collecting fores at about 2 drops per sec... this is great!!! :dance: Making my own booze!!! :dance: ... Geez... this takes ages...

see vid below

12 noon - 250ml of fores collected and set aside.

Noon to 6pm - Slowly collect product, cut into glass jars of varying sizes( Around 250mls) at a rate of around 750 - 1000mls per hour.
Watching everything like a chipmunk on speed.
Temps go from constant 80's to spikes of 92+. This mostly happens by itself but also spikes when I get impatient and turn up the output rate.
Mostly just sits at or around the low-mid 80's tho.

6pm - Temps start to rise, as does the product output flow. By 7:30pm it is at a constant 96.1 and output is up to 1000mls per hour.

8pm - Temp still at 96 but product flow is way way down now.

NOTE: I have not touched the product flow valve setting since 4pm

8:30pm - Shut still down. Pack everything away, cover the jarred up booze and store it to breathe.

PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All up, I collected a touch over 6 litres of product. I will throw the 1st 600 odd mls of fores, let the rest breathe for a bit and the bottle it all up into heads/hearts/tails. I checked jars 4/5/6 and they were at about 83% ABV. Jar 9 was at 80% ABV and I was too tired to check much else after that.
I was smelling the difference between the jars for about the 1st 4 hours but by about 3pm, I couldn't smell anything!!! Will try again soon!! Haha...

I must say that my cooling set-up has worked a treat. The water in the tub stayed at a constant temp all day and when I finished, I measured the water temp at a chilly 17 deg C !!! It was 8:30 pm by then mind you and quite chilly here in Melbourne but still very impressed.

I have alot to work on and tweak before my next run, but for a 1st effort, I'm pretty happy.
I didn't hurt or blow myself up and I got a heap of booze to boot!!

Thanks must go out to JayD and Mac. Both of who were patient and very very helpful yesterday, while I jumped from imaginery crisis to crisis.

Also thanks to everyone who has posted here with advice and/or support. Its very nice to know there is a wall of support to lean on here, if needed.

Thanks for reading all my dribble

Happy brewing
Cuz

by **JayD** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:13 am

cuz wrote:45+ litres of TPW into the keg,

this is main reason why you blew distillate past your condenser as it surged by boiling from the over filled boiler, we only fill ours to 40 lts. It was a steep learning curve for you but you did it, survived your first warning and recovered from a very dangerous situation. Good luck. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
J

by **googe** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 12:02 pm

Good stuff mate, next run should be alot nicer for you :smile: . That bubbling out the top was unreal, no wonder you shit!!, so.lucky you didn't have a.fire, glad. Was.interesting watching you go through the process and the fellas helping you :handgestures-thumbupleft: . Well done.

by **cuz** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 7:02 pm

JayD wrote:
cuz wrote:45+ litres of TPW into the keg,

this is main reason why you blew distillate past your condenser as it surged by boiling from the over filled boiler, we only fill ours to 40 lts. It was a steep learning curve for you but you did it, survived your first warning and recovered from a very dangerous situation. Good luck. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
J

Oh...Oops!!! Well, live and learn. I will leave it closer to 40 litres on the next one.
Thanks JayD

googe wrote:Good stuff mate, next run should be alot nicer for you :smile: . That bubbling out the top was unreal, no wonder you shit!!, so.lucky you didn't have a.fire, glad. Was.interesting watching you go through the process and the fellas helping you :handgestures-thumbupleft: . Well done.

Thanks Googe. It was an experience I tells ya!!!

I have made some infusions today, I couldn't wait mate!!!
Put down 1 litre of limoncello and also 1 litre of Espresso.
I am currently taste testing Jar 7 of my run. 250mls of 85% watered down to 39%, with some tonic and a squeeze of lemon... very nice!!! :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

by **SBB** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:01 pm

Cuz its really good to see such a comprehensive run down of your run and the problems you had, It gives those who can help you a much better understanding of what you have learned and what you might be doing wrong :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
In my book you've made the odd mistake.......but your post shows you want to learn and will if you continue that way

by **cuz** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:55 pm

SBB wrote:Cuz its really good to see such a comprehensive run down of your run and the problems you had, It gives those who can help you a much better understanding of what you have learned and what you might be doing wrong :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
In my book you've made the odd mistake.......but your post shows you want to learn and will if you continue that way

Thanks SBB.
Yes I most certainly have made mistakes but I'll learn from them and hopefully get better.

I have just gotten around to bottling up last weekends run and I am quite surprised with the end results.
I have jut over 4.5 litres of 80%+ abv (With 750 mls of that at 90% !!)
I bottled up the 1st 750 mls as feints and have 750 mls of tails for the next wash :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I have already turned some of it into 1 litre espresso vodka ( Smells and tastes beaut already!! ) and also have approx 750mls of limoncello going

Thanks for all your comments and advice guys, its a big help

Laters
Cuz

Ps Lest we forget...

by **cuz** » Thu May 02, 2013 8:01 pm

So I have got another run under my belt and this time, incident free :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I only ran a 25l TPW in my boiler, to beat the overflowing problem and I also added a mixture of boiling chips to see if they helped.
I can vouch for the use of these boiling chips now. They are great.
I used a mix of 6-7 broken glass marbles and some off cuts of copper pipe, cut length ways and then into inch long pieces.

They have the added bonus of making a mice clinking sound that helps you tell how much the wash is boiling.
Therefore, I was able to keep a even, rolling boil thru out the entire run and this alone made for an excellent day.

I ended up with about 4.5 litres of product all up, mainly because I let it run well into the tails.
I bottled it up tonight after airing and was surprised to get 2 litres of 85% abv. The rest has been set aside/discarded in the usual manner.

In all, a very pleasing result. Thanks mainly to all the help and advice I have recieved from the blokes on this forum over the last few weeks.
Special thanks to JayD, Mac, WineGlass, SBB and bt1 ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^

I have scored a 220 litre plastic food drum, which I am going to put to great use this weekend.

Thanks again

Cuz