StillSmart

I like to keep an 8 gallon bucket free, one wide enough for the copper dome to fit inside. Do your stripping runs first. Before the spirit run, put the dome and copper arm (separated) in the bucket. Fill with water and a few teaspoons of citric acid and let it sit overnight. The next day, scrub the inside of the dome with an abrasive sponge. It will be clean shiny copper again with almost no effort.

It makes a difference in quality in the second distillation when everything is clean. You'll be surprised how black the copper gets after a few stripping runs.

m314,
For a new poster, I have to say that you post sage stuff. Respect.
Please keep it up and stick around.
Newcomers to this site are just as worthwhile as people that have posted ten times a day for the last few years.
Quality over quantity every time,spirit run or post count

Robert.

Thanks m314 Anything that saves effort is fantastic!

This is what I was talking about. The copper gets dirty after a few stripping runs.

http://imgur.com/9rZmjqd

This is what I've got after 5 stripping runs from my latest rum batch.

http://imgur.com/HcdHxWN

I might actually need to to do two spirit runs this time.

I have no clue why there was a clean coppery looking area in the first pic. This is what it looks like soaking in water and citric acid.

http://imgur.com/IY9ASr0

Where did the clean patch go? Is it still there but not visible now somehow? The world may never know the answer to this question.

What I struggle with here is that for me, anything copper comes from a strip run cleaner than it started, a boil piece or a glance up the column.
After a spirit run they are black and gunky.
I can sit boil pieces in citric acid and clean them up, and a spirit run will still make them as dirty as FCUK.
Are we at odds here?

Robert.

I don't have a full understanding of what happens to copper in the distillation process. This particular copper dome gets blackened and dirty after a few stripping runs with rum wash. It gets nice and shiny again after soaking in citric acid with some mild scrubbing the next day.

I clean it this way before and after the spirit runs. The results from a spirit run turn out better when you start with nice new looking shiny copper.

Not wishing to argue with you, but don't you find the copper dirtier after a spirit run than a strip?

Robert.

I'm actually not sure. I usually do 4 or 5 stripping runs in a row. The copper dome gets pretty dirty by that point. I soak and clean the dome at that point and after the spirit run.

It probably also depends on what you're running. Boiling 6 gallons of thick black rum wash (molasses and sugar) seems to make it dirtier than a light colored wheat germ / sugar wash.

It does sound to me like you are over cleaning. The only time the inside of the copper should be bright shiny 'raw' copper is from a deep clean after soldering.

This removes flux, solder residue etc and leaves a bright unoxidised raw copper surface. This is not good and the first alcohol run through this will taste metalic.

You do need to clean off deposits and residue but you WANT to leave an oxidised patina on the inner surfaces of the copper.

Most of the time I just steam clean my gear now and then. Possibly a weak acid wash but definitely no physical abrasion to get back to a raw copper surface.

What is the disadvantage of having clean copper? My spirit runs have turned out better when I start with clean copper. I never noticed metallic tastes in the final product.

Might be terminology.

Clean is good, but clean and oxidised is better.

Raw metal (pinkish colour) like you get after a deep clean with acid is not good, and can leave off tastes in the product. The copper oxide layer protects the surface of the copper and still allows it to do all the good work.

Try doing your usual clean then do a spirit run. Then just rinse and clean off the deposits over the next few runs and allow the copper to form a patina. Then do another spirit run and compare the products.

You will probably notice a difference.

Very nice, I'll be on the look out for one soon

I think the condenser is good value, but would struggle to justify the cost of the copper dome.

brewhunter wrote:Very nice, I'll be on the look out for one soon

Sranger than strange, I was looking at these just last week... must resit the temptation for more copper just yet lol