First build 2"pot

[bluc]

Hey all thought I would post a few pics of my current build a 2" pot. Will be used on a t500 boiler. specs 2" pot leiberg condenser 700mm cooling jacket 1" over 3/4- T500 boiler will also be used for making beer...

Inner condenser tube crimped and ready to go



The end of the condenser where the cooling pipes attach



leiberg almost complete



Shot of my messy soldering on the pot head



assembled



2" head



My parrot with vent tube attached



citric bath



will get it fired up with vinegar to check for leaks and do a cleaning run sometime soon then just got to get my controller box organised :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

What a difference a bath in citric acid makes after just a couple hours. Will leave overnight then turn it over to do the condenser.

[Mcatac]

Good work, its come together nicely. What are you looking at running first after your cleaning runs?

[bluc]

Rum first( being my drink of choice) mac rum to be exact :handgestures-thumbupleft: and will get enough to age and some to drink.

Then i wanna try kimbos nutrigrain and zaks corn flake wash, not a burbon or whiskey drinker but will have a couple to be sociable.

By then i should have my fermentation reticulation pump liquid lines etc setup and i am going to do the authentic moonshine recipe, always wondered what it was like :happy-partydance:

after that i want to experiment with using some palm sugar in mac rum, in different percentages to see what i can work out. Have read it can add some nice vanilla and buterscotch ish flavours :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

Ok so finally had a play with my new toy hear are some details of my first two proper strip runs of some mac'rum two 25l ferments...

53mins from switch on till foreshots running out
Ditched first 400mls out of still as the fores
collected down to 20%
after fores first 500mls took 7mins
in 1 hour I collected 3.5l low wines.
ended up with 5l in just over two hours from cold
collection details in lots of 500mls:
1:65%abv
2:60% abv
3:55% abv
4:50%
5:49% abv
6:40% abv
7: 35% abv
8:30% abv
9:25% abv was last one was on 20% after this lot of 500mls.
lots one through four were as I expected, than it puked, so lots 5-9 looked like apple juice and smelled like beer. Lucky im double distilling and this should rectify in round two. Second lot was very similar except I only had a very mild puke which only effected lots 8-9. Going to have to either run in smaller amounts or sort out some sort of defoamer. See here for a pic http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8534 . Really dont want the hassle of having to split the two 30l fermenters into 3 runs and I also really need to get a couple of pumps to move liquid around. But all in all happy with my build and will get to the spirit run asap.

[bluc]

Stats from spirit run
Half charge 10l low wines = shorter run till I get a better solution for cooling water sorted.
30 mins from cold to foreshots
Start abv 78%
Roughly 500ml per 15minutes collection speed thin stream like toothpick, 150v on my voltage controller box.
Collecting in 250ml lots.
1250 ml at 78%abv
250ml at 77% abv
500ml at 76% abv
250ml at 75% abv
250ml at 74% abv
250ml at 73% abv
250ml at 72% abv
500ml at 70% abv
500ml at 60% abv
250ml start at 60% abv down to 54% abv by end tails start wet cardboard
Collected further 500ml for feints run switch off 45% abv.
4750ml total collected
2l in 55mins
3l 82mins
4l 2hours
2hours 50 minutes from cold.

Next few days will get round to the blending very happy with the performance of my new toy. Will give people an idea on what to expect from this setup cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

Forgot to mention i ditched 200ml fores from spirit run also. So 200mls from each strip run ( two 25l ferments) and 200mls from combined spirit run from 10l low wines. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

I ended up with exactly 3l at 70% which i watered back to 65% 3.231l and put in 15g/l french oak(3 of macs dominoes). Out of 17glasses 1/2/14/15/16 went into feints jar 17 had the very smallest weakest tails taste but with lovely flavour so it made the cut. this lot aired for two days and i found it harder to define cuts then my previous which just aired overnight.Not bad at all. :D

[Mad]

Looking great i'm curious u did 2 25ltr ferments both just first gen or did u run the first then create a 2nd gen from the left overs? I havent put my first macrum down yet but hoping to within a month or so.

[bluc]

Not doing gens yet I like first gen heaps. I'm going to do small batch, 4 gens 25l all up and see if i like it before trying on full size batchs :handgestures-thumbupleft: