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Thanks for your inputs everyone, and the sideline debates. I am sure there will be more questions to followYup, the plan was to use the tupperware, but just for the first run, but now, maybe a pressure cooker route. Noted about the ice use. I imagine though that that means even a coil in a bucket of ice/ ice water would warm up quickly too?.Let me keep it on a query number basis still.
-- I recirc water for cooling, most economical in the long run. That ice bucket still effort....eish....
1. You cant really make beer/ wash without methanol, can you? Sorry my questions autocorrect made my question confusing. I have seen thermometers placed all over stills. Because temperature is important in terms of what is being distilled at a given time, I assume its important where you measure (ie. the vapour going into the angled pipe/ coil or the directl above the wash or the temp of the wash itself. ) The most common does seem right at the top of the vertical tube. So I will go with putting a little thermowell up there..
Nope, every alcoholic drink has a fraction of methanol in place, even the beer we brew. do check out the difference between pot and column stills, its neat info to know. you can pack a column with copper for reflux
2. okay so potstill (of some form) it is. Copper is definaltely not an option for me. Best case I can put the piece of copper tube in the pressure cooker. Is aluminium okay for the 'pot'?From the comments, it seems the majority of whisk(e)y flavour and colour comes from the barrel aging and minimal from the wash itself in the first place. Nope I am not trying to make neutral alcohol..
All my distilled ethanol is translucent - no color, I age them on woodchips in a sealed glass jar. Barrels do look and sound cool, but to hell with the angels share
3. Fair comment about a below average beer making a below average distillate. And an initial 'beer' not being worth the effort for the reward. Maybe in that case adding/dme or sugar and some other flavours plus possibly a more capable yeast would be worthwhile, and then distill from there. obviously better to just not make bad beer..
yeah could work, but it's effort well worth avoiding
4. Its not really about spending a bit of extra money, its about having to keep and store new and more equipment. I dont have much space. Also a refractometer is definately easier that a hydrometer/ alcoholmeter. I would imagine its a bit sucky using 100ml of your 500ml distillate just for a hydrometer reading. Having said that, I assume with high alcohol levels one can be more relaxed about sanitation, and you could probably just pour the test sample back?I think for my own interest, I am going to test a few other pure spirits (vodka, cane, brandy, whiskey)from the cabinet and see how consistent a results the refractometer gives..
interesting to see how you go with this one, the 3 in a box alcohol meters are around R300 and has a handy thermometer included, got mine from distilique. test sample emptied right back, at 93% it's safe to do so. i dilute in 3l consol jars and just carefully drop the alc meters in there
5. Excellent. Thats what I want is some beery/ malty character coming through in a whiskey..
So good !
6. Okay so with potstill some flavours do come through, so varying (within reason) grain bill will directly affect final product. Groen, You mention 'putting on french oak'. I assume you dont have a garage full of oak barrels. Whats the home scientist version? Charred oak shavings soaked in the distillate? a piece of oak sawn off the corner of aunt Suzies favourite dressing table, thrown in the mason jar? Hmmmm maybe a hint-of- cinnamon whiskey
Yeah, you can play here - things like cinnamon I'd reserve from fiddling around in a tot glass to not possibly spoil an entire batch
7. What does the size / width of the vertical copper tube actually do or matter?? What does the vapour do
Well the water flow on the lyne arm is reversed, inlet at the closest to the alc out and outlet at the top near the bend/head, so that would "shock" your vapor back into liquid format which runs out. Not sure if the size makes a huge difference, but I'm not knowledgeable enough on building a still. Jakes built his iirc
-- I recirc water for cooling, most economical in the long run. That ice bucket still effort....eish....
1. You cant really make beer/ wash without methanol, can you? Sorry my questions autocorrect made my question confusing. I have seen thermometers placed all over stills. Because temperature is important in terms of what is being distilled at a given time, I assume its important where you measure (ie. the vapour going into the angled pipe/ coil or the directl above the wash or the temp of the wash itself. ) The most common does seem right at the top of the vertical tube. So I will go with putting a little thermowell up there..
Nope, every alcoholic drink has a fraction of methanol in place, even the beer we brew. do check out the difference between pot and column stills, its neat info to know. you can pack a column with copper for reflux
2. okay so potstill (of some form) it is. Copper is definaltely not an option for me. Best case I can put the piece of copper tube in the pressure cooker. Is aluminium okay for the 'pot'?From the comments, it seems the majority of whisk(e)y flavour and colour comes from the barrel aging and minimal from the wash itself in the first place. Nope I am not trying to make neutral alcohol..
All my distilled ethanol is translucent - no color, I age them on woodchips in a sealed glass jar. Barrels do look and sound cool, but to hell with the angels share
3. Fair comment about a below average beer making a below average distillate. And an initial 'beer' not being worth the effort for the reward. Maybe in that case adding/dme or sugar and some other flavours plus possibly a more capable yeast would be worthwhile, and then distill from there. obviously better to just not make bad beer..
yeah could work, but it's effort well worth avoiding
4. Its not really about spending a bit of extra money, its about having to keep and store new and more equipment. I dont have much space. Also a refractometer is definately easier that a hydrometer/ alcoholmeter. I would imagine its a bit sucky using 100ml of your 500ml distillate just for a hydrometer reading. Having said that, I assume with high alcohol levels one can be more relaxed about sanitation, and you could probably just pour the test sample back?I think for my own interest, I am going to test a few other pure spirits (vodka, cane, brandy, whiskey)from the cabinet and see how consistent a results the refractometer gives..
interesting to see how you go with this one, the 3 in a box alcohol meters are around R300 and has a handy thermometer included, got mine from distilique. test sample emptied right back, at 93% it's safe to do so. i dilute in 3l consol jars and just carefully drop the alc meters in there
5. Excellent. Thats what I want is some beery/ malty character coming through in a whiskey..
So good !
6. Okay so with potstill some flavours do come through, so varying (within reason) grain bill will directly affect final product. Groen, You mention 'putting on french oak'. I assume you dont have a garage full of oak barrels. Whats the home scientist version? Charred oak shavings soaked in the distillate? a piece of oak sawn off the corner of aunt Suzies favourite dressing table, thrown in the mason jar? Hmmmm maybe a hint-of- cinnamon whiskey
Yeah, you can play here - things like cinnamon I'd reserve from fiddling around in a tot glass to not possibly spoil an entire batch
7. What does the size / width of the vertical copper tube actually do or matter?? What does the vapour do
Well the water flow on the lyne arm is reversed, inlet at the closest to the alc out and outlet at the top near the bend/head, so that would "shock" your vapor back into liquid format which runs out. Not sure if the size makes a huge difference, but I'm not knowledgeable enough on building a still. Jakes built his iirc
, it would be good to make fresh shavings before using? Maybe even freshly toasting/ charring would get more and faster flavour infusion?
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