Copper mesh turned silver during distillation
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2020 1:10 am
Hi All,
I've never seen this before. About 10-12 distillations under my belt.
New type and source of copper mesh, and I suspect it's of course the cause, but sharing anyway just because I found it interesting (and timewasting doing the cleanup). Plus, someone might have some kind of interesting insight into why it's occurred, as I just can't figure it out.
Fresh copper mesh, soaked in vinegar, soak rinsed in boiling water, soak rinsed again in cold filtered water, then packed loosely into column once paper towel dried (dabbed).
Still run stank of burning metal and Sulfuric Acid for about half of the low wines run. Like smashed your nose, and just burned to smell, was awful, but no taste to it. Foreshots smelled the most poisonous I've ever smelled foreshots smell.
Half way through and the burning metal sulfuric acid smell vanished. All was good from then on.
Pulled the mesh out of the still and it was a combination of brown rust (not too weird), and silver. It looked like aluminium.
First photo is straight from the column, second photo is when I submerged it in fresh vinegar, and third photo is after I'd rinsed it, towel dried it, and left it overnight covered in towel.
Still is a 2" www.5stardistilling.com.au shotgun pot stili.
Thanks all, I hope someone has a clue on what this is. I suspect just cheap base metal under copper, but who knows, maybe it's something else. I'm dissolving some of the copper right now in high concentration star san to see if an alloy colour shows through, but so far just looks like copper.
Thank you!
A&B
I've never seen this before. About 10-12 distillations under my belt.
New type and source of copper mesh, and I suspect it's of course the cause, but sharing anyway just because I found it interesting (and timewasting doing the cleanup). Plus, someone might have some kind of interesting insight into why it's occurred, as I just can't figure it out.
Fresh copper mesh, soaked in vinegar, soak rinsed in boiling water, soak rinsed again in cold filtered water, then packed loosely into column once paper towel dried (dabbed).
Still run stank of burning metal and Sulfuric Acid for about half of the low wines run. Like smashed your nose, and just burned to smell, was awful, but no taste to it. Foreshots smelled the most poisonous I've ever smelled foreshots smell.
Half way through and the burning metal sulfuric acid smell vanished. All was good from then on.
Pulled the mesh out of the still and it was a combination of brown rust (not too weird), and silver. It looked like aluminium.
First photo is straight from the column, second photo is when I submerged it in fresh vinegar, and third photo is after I'd rinsed it, towel dried it, and left it overnight covered in towel.
Still is a 2" www.5stardistilling.com.au shotgun pot stili.
Thanks all, I hope someone has a clue on what this is. I suspect just cheap base metal under copper, but who knows, maybe it's something else. I'm dissolving some of the copper right now in high concentration star san to see if an alloy colour shows through, but so far just looks like copper.
Thank you!
A&B