Draco_Aster Posted July 15, 2006 Posted July 15, 2006 As you may have read in the random thread I have begun (with the help of my dad) construction of a high purity reflux still. Its gonna be a 14L stainless boiler with a 1.5m column leading to copper fittings and a 3m* of 4mm ID coil condensor. Should spit out around 95% purity vodka (have a shot.....just one....I dare ya!) I first found Info for distillation on http://homedistiller.org . One of the most informative sites (other than here ) I've come across. Just go there to learn everthing (In theory). I will have pics of different parts soon. In the meantime, ask questions and talk about ethanol. I'm using mine for cleaning, fuel, synths and mixing
_DB_ Posted July 15, 2006 Posted July 15, 2006 Wow, your dad is helping you make a distill worthy of producing high purity alcohol? That's crazy! Or maybe he just likes booze.
hst45 Posted July 15, 2006 Posted July 15, 2006 Draco Aster, check out the information at http://www.amphora-society.com . I run a small distillation rig myself. I don't call it a "still', because that might be considered a technical violation of the law. NATURALLY I don't do this for beverage alcohol, but purely to produce a solvent. And WOW, what a solvent! . A couple of ounces of this, diluted with some bitter lemon will dissovle you into tranquility. With a pretty efficient reflux condensor you'll actually be around the 80% realm. You can then up the proof by running a double-batch back through to re-distill, but personally i find the gains to be negliable for the time and trouble. Actually, the parts of the run that produce the unwanted effects make a wonderful solvent to corn BP and roll stars. By "unwanted effects", try a shot of the first couple of ounces that come thrrough the condenser (ouch.)
Draco_Aster Posted July 16, 2006 Author Posted July 16, 2006 My dad only drinks small amounts of port and wine. Nobody in my family drinks excessively, my mum has never been drunk in her life. I have used my little distillation set, which holds a 400ml wash, along with my mouth to add a small vacuum and got 50ml of distillate. Not really enough to test with a hydrometer so I just burned it. Heres a pic of the setup I used with a 500ml round bottom flash and no condensor on the end.
Draco_Aster Posted July 20, 2006 Author Posted July 20, 2006 Hokay! I'm gonna gradually upload pics in this post for you pleasure. MY LITTLE LABRATORY STILL USING A 100ML WHITE WASH with 13% CONTENT. (sorry I blanked out so much but It was on my dest) http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/iamgribbs/ethanol.jpg CONDENSOR FOR THE BIG STILL http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/iamgribbs/condensor.jpg
_DB_ Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 I don't really know if this is the right place to post this, but since it pertains to alcohol production, I guess I will. I've had a few attempts at making balloon wine with bad results. The end product was always very strong and not like wine at all. I think it was the yeast that I used seeing as I just used normal bread yeast. I figure if I was to order some proper wine yeast the product would be better. Has anyone else made wine this way?
Draco_Aster Posted July 20, 2006 Author Posted July 20, 2006 Theres a little more to it when making wine, IMHO the trick is to use as little yeast as possible. I made a small amount (glass?) and it tasted like crap because I used the usual amount of yeast I use in spirits. So I shook the whole thing up (there was yeast settled on the bottom) and put about 2ml in another glass and let that sit for 3 days. The results were MUCH better and even drinkable, I didn't use any extra sugar, that would make a dessert wine with higher alcohol content. According to my hydrometer when I finished the second batch I had table wine. *Port can be made in same manner as wine only using excess amounts of brown sugar.
_DB_ Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 The times that I tried making wine I used one packet of yeast, which according to the packet is 1/4 ounce or 7 grams. I may have to try again with less yeast. There was tons of settlement on the bottom of the jug last time. Actually I think I still have a bottle of the product in my room for some reason. It's completely undrinkable IMO. I've tried mixing it with various citrus sodas but it still retains that shitty taste. I'll take a picture of it later. Distilling alcohol seems like it would be a fun project, but I am lacking a still. I was looking on the internet and found a picture of a very small still made from a coffee pot, condensor, and some rubber tubing. The condensor looked like it was copper, so I am assuming it was homemade. If I had a condesor I'm sure the rest would be easily setup.
Mephistos Minion Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Hahah I pwn you all. We have about 8,000 litres of dessert wine fermenting at the moment at our wine makers (we own a vineyard )
Draco_Aster Posted July 20, 2006 Author Posted July 20, 2006 Easy enough for ya? Just get 2 sizes of poly pipe and silicone seal the ends, fittings for water hoses are cheap as chips. That still shown below will only give drinking quality alcohol and but depending on the angle the 'stillhead' is placed and how many times you redistill you can increase the percentage. You don't need copper pipe but its easy to work with and supposedly gives some kind of ''essance''. EDIT: Make sure you throw out the first few mls that comes out of the still, especilly in a basic pot still. for every ml of wash you have throw out around .005ml. So if you have a 20L wash distilling throw out the first 100ml. It may be a bit of overkill but its best to make sure theres no voliatiles.
_DB_ Posted July 21, 2006 Posted July 21, 2006 I found and photographed the wine that was produced in my last fermentation. "Wine" I guess it wasn't done fermenting since the bottle was hard and some new settlement had formed on the bottom. Nasty! I took a sip and wow was it stronger than before! At first the taste is almost menthol-like and then it hits you. That terrible aftertaste, which makes it undrinkable.
Draco_Aster Posted July 21, 2006 Author Posted July 21, 2006 That is ALOT of yeast. By the looks of the bottle I would just use a pinch of yeast, not even half a teaspoon. I did use berri brand apple juice which has flavouring and wouldnt use that crap again. Also, when I made mine I covered the bottle with glad wrap and poked a few holes in it with a pin. What is the temperature it was fermenting at and for how long?
_DB_ Posted July 21, 2006 Posted July 21, 2006 That was just some of the wine that was made, I didn't bother collecting the rest because I was trying to avoid the yeast settled in the original jug. I used a recipe that was supposed to make a gallon of wine. It was left in my closet during the fermentation period, which lasted a week to a week and a half. So the temperature was probably somewhere in the 70s degree F. I can't remember exactly. I put a balloon on the opening of the jug with a few pinholes in it. When the balloon becomes limp again, that's when fermentation is done because no more CO2 is created. I followed that recipe precisely. Too bad it turned out to be crap! I was thinking though, if I was to setup a distill I could collect the alcohol from this garbage of a drink.
ICantThinkOfAName Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Hokay! I'm gonna gradually upload pics in this post for you pleasure. MY LITTLE LABRATORY STILL USING A 100ML WHITE WASH with 13% CONTENT. (sorry I blanked out so much but It was on my dest) http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/iamgribbs/ethanol.jpg CONDENSOR FOR THE BIG STILL http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/iamgribbs/condensor.jpg How did you coil the pipe?
hashashan Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 i dont think its such a good idea to use metal pipes at least if your going to use the alcohol for drinking. the copper pipes will leave a pretty nasty metallic flavour
Mr. Crackle Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 All the major distillers use copper coils, they say it adds "character" to the alcohol. I will add a picture of my tiny still when I can find my camera.
Mephistos Minion Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 I imagine Draco coiled his pipe around something long, hard and cylindrical. Nothing more needed really, you could use anything that fits that description with your desired diameter.
Draco_Aster Posted September 5, 2006 Author Posted September 5, 2006 Yah, as long as you annheil (sp?) it before hand to soften an avoid cripmling. Grrrr, all of my pyro/experimentation has come to a standstill. work/hobbies and other preoccupations Sorry about the lack of pics
rocket Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Just make sure if you use copper make sure it annealed or else it will split or kink. You can do it yourself by heating the copper till its red. Just don’t melt a hole in it.
Draco_Aster Posted September 5, 2006 Author Posted September 5, 2006 Trust you to know that. When I first tried annealing the pipe Half of it wasn't done properly. I advise doing it in a dark place with low wind. I will go out and get some pics of the pot Im using soon (tomorrow?). Oh yah! I think my father and I will be having a go at port tomorrow. Just have to get some wine nutrients. Sounds hard but I dunno. There arent many sources for it and the only recipe I found was quite brief. www.qbrew.com.au PORT 4 Litres of 100% Grape Juice l Kg Brown Sugar (Not Dark) 1 Teaspoon Yeast 1 Teaspoon Wine Nutrient Put into 5 litre bottle. Rack off after 10 days. Then rack off again after 24 days. Top up bottle with juice. Rack off after 3 more weeks. Rack off into 2 litre juice bottles. Let stand for 2 months. Bottle in wine bottles. Memphistos! you might know something about this!
Mephistos Minion Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 I will ask my dad when he get's home. I can probbably score some free yeast and nutrients from family friends, might get into it myself. Cheap piss is good shit.
maximusg Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Heay draco, check out my rig: http://www.themonkeymafia.net/uploads/post-24-1156651120.jpg Gave me 91%+ on my first run it's so awesome getting drunk off free booze. it's surprisingly smooth even if you dont water it down..... but its highly reccommended!
hashashan Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 holy mother of god ...... why such a huge rig? it can be done much more estetical. im planing to build a smaller version to make booze inside my room. its a nice thing for a party.
maximusg Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Well.... you have to remember the mash is only about 12 - 15 %. If you want any decent amount of distillate you have to use a fair bit. 25L wash gives ~ 9 bottles 40% spirit, once watered down the boiler on that is 30L
Mumbles Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Maxim, might you want to go into more detail about how you contstructed that? I have a half barrel sitting at home for this exact purpose. I am interested in how the column is attached to the keg. Did you make use of the sankey connection at the top? (The part the tap screws into) Is there a way you have to remove the top and clean? Are you using any scrubbers or plates for reflux? mmmmmmm, 18 bottles at once.
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