Hi and thanks

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Hi and thanks

Postby maxw » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:09 pm

Gday

I'm Max, the not-so-proud owner of a Keggomax CM. It was secondhand, it has 'max' in the name, the price was right, it came with a heap of extras like a 50L electric keg boiler, pump and carboys, and having spent the last few weeks browsing this site it's probably not what I want or need at all. I figured I could remove the column packing to run the unit as a pot (I'm primarily interested in American moonshine and corn whiskeys) but apparently that's not a great way to go. I'm determined to make the best of my uninformed impulse buy, though, and for now that means getting some decent neutral for diy bitters, macerations and liqueurs. It's probably better to crawl with neutral for a while before I learn to walk with whiskey anyway.

I'm an experienced all-grain brewer so I'm comfortable with yeast ranching. I'm about to do a 20L FFV for my first wash. Temps are low down here so might have to get the aquarium heater out. I've got plenty of commercial nutrient blend on hand but will run with the DAP / Epsom / multivitamin combo as written to minimise variables.

I gave the still a test run yesterday to check the pump operation and look for leaks. Not sure what element is in the boiler but I assume it's a certain retailer's standard 2200W unit. It got 20L of water from around 13oC up to a boil in under an hour which seems fine. Turning on the coolant dropped the temp at the top of the column from 99.99oC to about 26oC in under a minute. The pump (a Rio 1700 submersible, which I just dropped in the bath) seems to do about 8L a minute, which might be a bit much when combined with our icy tap water but we'll see. From there it took an hour to get back 34oC, another hour to 47oC, and after another 45 minutes it'd hit 60oC. No leaks or pump issues so I shut it all down. The water in the bath had risen from 13oC to 41oC over this time. I have no idea whether that's good, bad or indifferent (if it's bad, no real drama to open the plug for a bit and top up with cold), or whether I'll need a controller to get the pump flow down. I'm rarely in any sort of rush so as long as it gets to temp eventually it should be fine.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the forum - it's been informative and entertaining reading over the past month or so. I'll post some updates and pics in the other bits of the forum as I get going.

Cheers
Max
maxw
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 8:32 pm
Location: SE NSW
equipment: Keggomax CM Reflux

Re: Hi and thanks

Postby Lowie » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:12 pm

G'day Max and welcome. Doesn't matter what you start with mate, it's the journey that matters! :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Lowie
 
Posts: 712
Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 1:32 pm
Location: Crow eater
equipment: 4", 4 plate "Frankenfurter" copper bubbler and blockhead on a 50L 3000W electric boiler, 10000W controller - don't even know why I need that much, all grain HERMS system through 18G HLT keg and 50L mash tun.

Re: Hi and thanks

Postby tassiespirit » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:21 pm

Welcome, I am learnin' too bro. Just have fun..........
tassiespirit
 
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:16 pm
Location: Tasmania
equipment: Got a small reflux, need to sort things out for a Pot style as well.

Re: Hi and thanks

Postby j0sh2008 » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:41 pm

:greetings-waveyellow: welcome mate
j0sh2008
 
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 1:07 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: 4" 5star still - 4 plates + 500mm packed section
100L milk can boiler - 2400W & 3600W FSD elements.
2 X 1000L IBC - Recirculating water

Re: Hi and thanks

Postby Plumby » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:46 pm

Welcome aboard Max, a pot still is a good place to start if you like flavoured spirits. Plenty of build threads here viewforum.php?f=7
Plumby
 
Posts: 1175
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:19 am
Location: South East Queensland
equipment: 50 litre keg boiler with a 2200watt element and a 2 inch pot still called Shaniqua with a 32mm over 19mm 800mm long liebig condenser attached.

Re: Hi and thanks

Postby Doubleuj » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:10 pm

Welcome here mate
Doubleuj
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 3630
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:15 pm
Location: rockhampton qld
equipment: 4" stainless glasser

Re: Hi and thanks

Postby Donny » Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:45 pm

Hay max
I have the same kego max as u and have just done my first run with my new 4 plated blockhead that I have had fun building . There is a few threads on here how to improve the kego .. the biggest tip I can give u is to get a piece of 2" copper or stainless about 900 long and extend ur riser height .. I took out the scrubbers and filled both with copper coils.. I used green earth cable stripped and got each individual wire and on a drill used a tapered screw about 10 mm and wound wires around .. hard to explain but there is a thread around here somewhere that shows how to do it then cut my coils to about 15mm.get or make yourself a parrot is a must.also get yourself a digital thermometer. Once I'm up to temp I'm getting 95-96% constantly at 78/79deg and as soon as it goes above 79deg flow stops for a min or so this is where wet cardboard smell comes in which I don't bother to keep .then let it air over night and do cuts next day or day after .i find the longer you air it the better it is.
Donny
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:03 am
equipment: Super reflux


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