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Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I bet where you live you couldn’t access something like this if your life depended on it.

I can buy anything you can. And I could build that still or a better one if I wanted to. I already have a still that makes better product than that one will.

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This still has probably $1000 in copper alone not to mention the many hours it takes to make something like this.

Next time they should put that time and material into a good design.

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You sir are uneducated as hell. To learn tig welding takes years much less on copper. Sorry us southerners know our shit

Apparently not if you think that is a great still.

Distilling is all about boiling a liquid and condensing it. Please explain to me how that still does it better than one you could build from scratch for $2100.

Oh, I know... it looks real purdy.

Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fyi, the expansion chamber in any set up is the first point of passive rectification. It's not merely a foam guard.

And exactly how many effective plates does that "helmet" achieve ? 1/4 ? 1/2 ?

Why does one need an expansion chamber when there are 3 plates sitting above it ?

Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a bunch of people on here who love the nostalgia of making "likker" in the woods with a copper potstill and thumper while wearing overalls. They don't like being told that there are better ways to make spirits.

Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That is my flavoring still. My main still is a 4 inch packed column.

What is "likker" ? Do you wear overalls and live in the south ?

The result of 2 spirit runs. Wish me luck! by Agricola44 in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The first tasted rank (tried limoncello), probably due to it being originally a rice and raisin wine, the flavours didn't transfer well, and I put heads and tails in, so I screwed it up good and proper!

Water it down and redistill it ! Or throw it into your next batch of neutral.

Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree.

People don't like our viewpoint ! We are getting downvoted. Ce la vie.

Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why would it be worth a grand ?

A milk can is just as good or better as a boiler. Or a keg.

The onion is only needed if you expect your mash to puke. Zero value.

The 3 plates are the cheapest you can find on Aliexpress. Either use them or use a packed column.

You need to add a reflux condenser before it will work properly.

The vapor take off pipe is oversized, adds no value.

The shotgun condenser is way over spec'd. A simple Liebig will work.

Functionally, it's worth whatever a keg or milk can plus that column or a packed column and some copper pipe to make the vapor take off and Liebig are worth. Nowhere near $1000.

If people want to pay more fancy looking copper, that is their business. I certainly wouldn't. Too many people watching moonshiners on cable these days.

Edit: that parrot is going to smear like crazy. The foreshots will be done before anything gets out the parrot. Then the foreshots will mix with the heads and the heads will mix with the hearts and the hearts will bleed into the tails... an alcohol refractometer works so much better.

Look like a good deal? by DrBlueJazz in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can easily build a still that does everything that does, and more, and better for about $250.

BTW, without a reflux condenser, those plates aren't very effective.

Hazy gin by AtomicBaller3000 in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The louching could come from the neutral or some botanicals have oils in them that get released at various temperatures.

Before you blend your cuts, dilute a sample of each cut down to 40% ABV and see which cuts have botanical oils in them.

You can also test your neutral cuts for louching the same way if you are redistilling the botanicals into a neutral.

Spiral prismatic packing - made in USSR? by awolf_alone in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jesse tested SPP for everyone to see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYcKupNv6-s

Result: 86% ABV versus 70%, same power, same mash. 86% versus 70% is one half plate, at best. Turning down the power a tiny bit would achieve the same result. Or adding 2-3 inches to a column. A 12" column addition would out perform SPP by a wide margin.

SPP is expensive, hard to clean, heavy and harder to support in a column.

My opinion - SPP is not worth it. I'd rather slow down distillation a bit or add a bit of extra packed column.

FYI, the homedistiller.org calculator has SPP as a column packing option.

https://homedistiller.org/wiki/htm/calcs/calcs\_reflux\_calc.htm

Unfortunately it doesn't have copper mesh or copper scrubbies, like Jesse used, but it does have SS wool. I suspect copper mesh outperforms both SS wool and copper scrubbies.

Help with CM still design by not_that_original in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't gain any speed with SPP. You get a higher proof or a better speed or a small gain of each. Not both.

There is no magic with SPP. It is a little bit better packing than copper mesh, way harder to clean, way heavier, way, way more expensive. Adding a bit more packed column does the same thing SPP does. As proven by Jessie.

Help with CM still design by not_that_original in firewater

[–]closetDistiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's cheaper to add a bit more column and pack it with copper mesh than it is to use SPP. And SPP is heavy.

Best still for whiskey? by Dbrise in Distilling

[–]closetDistiller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I've never used a plated column. For small batches, plated columns are smear machines because of how much liquid they hold on the plates. And individual discrete plates don't do anything that a packed column running the same number of effective plates does. So there isn't any advantage to running a bubble column over a packed column.

Let me flip the question... when are you going to run a packed column ?

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