King Browns Pot Still Build

[KingBrown]

Hey guys, first time posting on here, but I have been lurking for months.......

Started my distilling adventures with an off the shelf alembic dome pot still, and cut my teeth on it, but soon realised its limitations.

I have since decided to spec out and build my own.

Specs:

60 L boiler
2 x 2400W elements
1 of the elements controlled by a voltage limiter
Fill port
Bottom drain
40cm 4 inch copper riser (for height and for a bit of copper in the upward vapor trail)
2 inch shotgun condeser
Distillers parrot

Now if I can get these photos to work I can take you guys on my journey.

Any and all feedback appreciated, whether good or bad, I have broad shoulders and I can take it :).

Started with this



And this

[thefuzz]

What was the boiler in a previous life?

[KingBrown]

A beer keg. 60L, so quite rare in Oz.

[KingBrown]

Boiler mods, got a stainless mate of mine to help me out, does some really clean work. Cheers Joshy!

[Zak Griffin]

Awesome boiler :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[hillzabilly]

A vent would be a good idear between your shotty and the parrot.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

[KingBrown]

There is a small hole at the back of the reducer before the parrot, hillz is that what you mean or does it need more?

[KingBrown]

All cleaned up.



Assembled with a quick shine.



The boiler in its mount



1 Inch bottom drain with ball valve and barb

[Andy]

What was the boiler in a previous life?

a space ship :laughing-rolling: its unlike any keg i have seen!

All cleaned up.

im glad you gave that copper a polish. the still now not only will work fantastically but also will make other envious! always nice seeing a new shiny still. There isn't one thing I would change about that set-up. Consider altering the angle of the shotgun during the run for different flavour profile :-)

[hillzabilly]

She's allmost ready for the ball f-yeh ,at least a 5-6 mm hole should be fine but if your cranking it and your alcometer starts danceing like a pro on meth you may have to add a couple more,a huffing condenser will also cause danceing this can be caused by exessive coolant flow ,so try adjusting that a little befor breaking out the drill ,it's surprizeing how little water a shotty needs .cheers hillzabilly

[KingBrown]

Spent a bit of time on it last night putting it all together.

[Zak Griffin]

I like that stand, too :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Andy, what do you mean by 'Consider altering the angle of the shotgun during the run for different flavour profile'?

How does PC angle change the flavour? I understand how lyne arm angle can affect flavour through passive reflux, but I can't see how PC angle does?

[hillzabilly]

Clean and solid unit ,job well done :clap: your effort deserves a Darwin stubby ! Mr Brown.cheers hillzabilly

[KingBrown]

And with the wooden top locked in and boiler screwed into place.









Now to sort out the electrics side of things so I can fire it up this weekend!

Anyone got any feedback so far?

[hillzabilly]

The only thing's I would add are ,thermo on top of the boiler ,removeable collection table .cheers hillzabilly

[KingBrown]

So like a T-Piece between the 2 90 degree bends with a thermowell in it? Analog or digital you reckon? Analogue would be easier and wouldnt mess with my control panel too much, and a big stainless dial up the top could look pretty cool as well.... Please advise Hillz, and thanks for the input.

[Zak Griffin]

No real need for a thermometer at the top of the column, although they do look cool...

He means on top of the keg, so you can see when the wash is getting up to boiling temp. Mac has cool 3" dial thermometers in the 5 Star store :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[KingBrown]

Ahh ok, where would I mount it given that you can see my rig?

[hillzabilly]

The dial thermo I would mount to your filler cap 1/2 inch thread on the one's I use ,it will confirm heating is on,how far away you are from flow and when your run is near done as the temp will be close to 100 `c ,it's not needed in the pot still go by the parrot and your senses,I have seen some mounted on the side of the boiler wich for me is harder to look at and is more likely to be damaged.cheers hillzabilly

[KingBrown]

Hillz, great idea mate, and will be very little stuffing around, just a 2 inch thermo cap for the ferule? and a big dial thermometre?

But that wont be measuring the temp of the liquid, as I dont think I would fill it that high, will that matter? Or am I measuring the vapour (air) temp inside?

I might check out that 5 star to purchase, thanks Zac.