Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Something like this with a feral/triclamp attachment :handgestures-thumbupleft:

bayshine wrote:Something like this with a feral/triclamp attachment :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I've seen them in 2 and 3inch :handgestures-thumbupleft: seem to be $1200 to $1400 usd + postage for the small 1's.. I'd prefer something from oz tho if possible.

I would have thought you would want bigger blades?

Wobblyboot wrote:

bayshine wrote:Something like this with a feral/triclamp attachment :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I've seen them in 2 and 3inch :handgestures-thumbupleft: seem to be $1200 to $1400 usd + postage for the small 1's.. I'd prefer something from oz tho if possible.

I found some similar a couple of months back for about $700 but buggered if I can find them now :angry-banghead:

Sam. wrote:I would have thought you would want bigger blades?

Mine will b offset so I was thinking blades would want to be 150-200 mm in diameter :think:

id think a horizontal paddle and shaft would be better as a vertical paddle can create a vortex which actually sucks solids down.
plus if it entered the boiler below liquid height, youd never have a chance of vapour leaking. only a potential for a bit of wash to leak out. not as problematic or flammable

Doubleuj wrote:id think a horizontal paddle and shaft would be better as a vertical paddle can create a vortex which actually sucks solids down.
plus if it entered the boiler below liquid height, youd never have a chance of vapour leaking. only a potential for a bit of wash to leak out. not as problematic or flammable

I did see some of them but none I saw were triclamp or easy to install.

I understand the aim, however a 700 cost could be redirected toward a filtration strategy? Seal integrity in boiling wash would be my main concern. I just changed one on my washing machine and that did my head in.Sorry, not very positive....just seems like a lot of loot not to filter something.

wobbly, just did a bit of quick reading and it says you cant cook a wash with husks in it coz it causes a lot of off flavours, so that is prob why it is removed beforehand.
My understanding of yr post was not to remove any of the components, yeah? (sorry if i am on completely the wrong tram)

Kenster wrote:wobbly, just did a bit of quick reading and it says you cant cook a wash with husks in it coz it causes a lot of off flavours, so that is prob why it is removed beforehand.
My understanding of yr post was not to remove any of the components, yeah? (sorry if i am on completely the wrong tram)

Dunno where u read that :handgestures-thumbdown: but this post is really aimed for the fellas that use gas. From when I strained my 1st all grain bourbon and realized that straining was far too time consuming and there gotta be easy way, its agitator or steam....and steam doesn't suit where I live so that's why I think this is way to go :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Have you considered a steam still like a traditional pot/thumper setup for corn or other thick mashs? Strip it than cleanup with a spirit run or even put a bubbler atop the thumper instead of the pot still :-B

What about a high temperature food grade pump that draws wash from the top of the boiler (through a mesh to filter solids) and pushes it out through a series of jets in ring shaped tubing at the bottom of the boiler? Could be plumbed externally. Should keep solids moving? :think:

bluc wrote:Have you considered a steam still like a traditional pot/thumper setup for corn or other thick mashs? Strip it than cleanup with a spirit run or even put a bubbler atop the thumper instead of the pot still :-B

Look at my last post, yes. If I had no neighbors then I'd probably do that. All the big boys do steam or agitating from what I've seen. That could be another option db but it would have to pump solids too..

Something ALL of our recipes have other than the odd gin is to 'allow to clear' before running.
Why do we say that? Because uncleared washes produce off flavours. All the trub and grain and mollasses bits and pieces when boiled create horrible esters and other undesirables in the spirit. If you're doing a 3000 gallon batch like the big boys do and there's a few floaties in there it probably wont hurt much but I doubt even the big boys ferment and distill in the same pot. Even siphoning the liquid off the top of the grain has to produce better results than giving it a stir while you're boiling the lot of it.
It seems like a very expensive waste of time trying to boil the entire mash.
Having said that, experimentation is the name of the game and you may find other uses for it like mashing corn so I recommend keeping it as cheap as possible. If it works a dream you haven't spent much and can upgrade to a better setup. If it doesn't work you haven't wasted too much money.

Don't worry wobbly, I know from my experience how much work AG corn mash is and how mashing and distilling on the grain is done widely and also will give great flavour to the final product :handgestures-thumbupleft:

It would be great if everyone could keep this thread on track to the original post.
From what I've researched even with a steam jacket boiler many still use an agitator to stop scorching.
I'm with wobbly, I wanna do it in one vessel to save handling and I don't wanna go down the steam path either, so an agitator and gas burner is what I have set my mind on aswell :handgestures-thumbupleft:
The machinists at work recons he can make me up a mechanical seal so watch this space hopefully


Oh by the way to all the doubters, check out bushies all in one double boiler/corn mash tun combo :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Just chiming in my $0.02, I recently upgraded my boiler to a jacketed BM (with build in agitator) setup. I mash, ferment and distill all on the grain. I also do rum ferment/distill in the same vessel. I get no bad esters of yeast flavour carry over. There is no need no allow your ferment to clear and rack it off, unless of course you are making neutral, gin etc.

vqstatesman wrote:Just chiming in my $0.02, I recently upgraded my boiler to a jacketed BM (with build in agitator) setup. I mash, ferment and distill all on the grain. I also do rum ferment/distill in the same vessel. I get no bad esters of yeast flavour carry over. There is no need no allow your ferment to clear and rack it off, unless of course you are making neutral, gin etc.

Got any pics :D

Apparatus fitted inside a copper pot still, consisting of four rotating arms that carry a copper chain mesh. The rummager prevents solid particles in the wash ...

bayshine wrote:

vqstatesman wrote:Just chiming in my $0.02, I recently upgraded my boiler to a jacketed BM (with build in agitator) setup. I mash, ferment and distill all on the grain. I also do rum ferment/distill in the same vessel. I get no bad esters of yeast flavour carry over. There is no need no allow your ferment to clear and rack it off, unless of course you are making neutral, gin etc.

Got any pics :D

Not the best picture to show off the agitator but here you go. I have attached a copy of the build schematic too. The original agitator blade (as per second pic) ended up being too small, I had it enlarged by about 100%

wynnum1 wrote:Apparatus fitted inside a copper pot still, consisting of four rotating arms that carry a copper chain mesh. The rummager prevents solid particles in the wash ...

And the rest of that sentence.
Apparatus fitted inside a copper pot still, consisting of four rotating arms that carry a copper chain mesh. The rummager prevents solid particles in the wash sticking to the bottom of the still when stills are directly fired, but with most stills now steam-heated, rummagers are comparatively rare.
That is a rummager, different to a agitator, which u obviously found here
.http://www.whisky-pages.com/glossary/glossary_a_z.htm
Discussion and different opinions are good but please start another thread for them, this is about ideas on making a working agitator and not whether people think they any good or not.

Awesome still vq :handgestures-thumbupleft: is ur agitator on a triclamp or permanently fixed?