What I Did Today

[Anavrin]

Looks like you've had a good day in the office

Interesting about the position of your cooling coil for heads collection, do you have it in the path of the VM takeoff while collecting heads?

[Anavrin]

I run my modified still today, only had half a day so decided just to collect fores / heads and have a play with the cooling, I started with 38 litres at 30%, after warming up with full power I dropped to 1.2KW and adjusted the cooling of the boka coil until the output temp was around 29°c (input water 9.6°c), I could feel only the top 10cm of the column was cold.

So I was running with a lot less power than I've used before and reduced cooling flow to the reflux coil, managed to take off fores / Heads at 3 drops per second, seemed painfully slow but collected 1.8 litres at 95%+

First time I've hit the magical azeotrope :-)

I then let it stabilise a little before I increased the power a little and opened the VM takeoff half way, I was running out of time and tried to adjust the cooling to get product at 20°c, didn't quite manage it though, also my ABV dropped to around 92%

Shut down after that, I'm going to have another go tomorrow to collect the remaining heads and hearts, think I'm going to have to keep the power low again to get azeotrope on the VM takeoff, I just hope the collection rate will be quicker as I've still got 10 litres to alcohol to collect!

[Almanac]

.......Interesting about the position of your cooling coil for heads collection, do you have it in the path of the VM takeoff while collecting heads?

Actually, the coil is never in the vapour path. The bottom of the twin coil sits a little above the take-off all the time, on top of a SS scrubber that sits directly on the take-off pipe. Part of the take-off branch protrudes into the main riser and acts as a scoop to guide vapour out.

At the start of the run, once the initial heat up was complete, the power was reduced to 490W and the Fores were taken off very slowly, drip by drip. When I was satisfied I'd cleared the Fores I increased power to 800W and drew off the Heads until I could no longer detect the strong/bad elements in fly testing. By that point I had collected 1.2Lt. I then backed off the coolant flow and turned the power up to 1400W to produce vigorous activity on the plates and a thin flow that amounted to 2.25LPH. The coil was very effective in controlling distillate flow on it's own.

Hope you have a great Christmas with your new arrival. Happy Christmas.

AM

[Anavrin]

>:D

[Easydrinker]

I made lots and lots of Apple Pie,as gifts for Xmas.
Of course,it all needed tasting,to check it was up to the usual standard.
I am now wasted,but merely have to bottle and label the stuff tomorrow,make that later today....
Along with several hundred other petty tasks.
Am I prepared for the festive season?
Ask me in 24 hours.
Ho Ho Ho
Robert.

[Phantom]

What's yer apple pie recipe Robert ? Cos I've asked a few on FB, and so far only one has posted something I could (feasibly) convert to what we can get this side of the pond.......

S'gonna have to be in small quantities anyway, cos until I can get my finger out and mod my guttering, I don't have condenser water for the T5 tonne.....

Luckily my air still is doing the trick with my usual technique or double distill with RO water, albeit somewhat slower than usual......

[Easydrinker]

I simmer a litre of Lidl's best apple juice(not from concentrate) with a single clove and a third of a cinnamon stick,till reduced by half,Filter,(this can take ages and involve several changes of paper)stir in a dessert spoon of sugar while warm and top up to a litre with 45% spirit from the essencia.
Robert.

[Phantom]

I simmer a litre of Lidl's best apple juice(not from concentrate) with a single clove and a third of a cinnamon stick,till reduced by half,Filter,(this can take ages and involve several changes of paper)stir in a dessert spoon of sugar while warm and top up to a litre with 45% spirit from the essencia.
Robert.

Cheers Robert, I'll give that a go.......

[Easydrinker]

Something different.
Today,(yesterday now),I watched an aged,family pony die of old age.
It picked a good day for it,- the sun shone on it all afternoon.
It stood at the top of the hill and maybe saw the valley for the last time,I brought it into a stable,it tottered around for a short while,rather like a drunkard might,and then it fell.Dead.
Not a bad way to go methinks.
Not my Pony,not my family,not really a sentimentalist.
Not quite ready for bed.
Probably due to watching the girls,now young women,who had known him,come and grieve.
The knacker wagon won't be here until Monday,thankfully it is very cold.
Nothing to do with stilling,other than a reason for it,maybe.

Robert.

[Easydrinker]

Moving along.
Flu virus.
In particular,the one in my part of the world,at the moment.
Hit me two days ago,possibly the worst I have experienced so far,I think that I may rise above it tomorrow,as I no longer think that death is imminent.
A neighbour spent two days in bed,I got away with a few catnaps.
If you have had it,you know what I mean,if you haven't yet,expect to come through it,but you will feel awful for a few days.
Truly bloody awful.
That that doesn't kill you,may indeed make you stronger.
Robert.

[alan]

Made some distiller caramel now my home smells like the local toffee factory.
alan

[Almanac]

Ha! Ha! I have to make mine outdoors because of the strong smell/aroma That's why I only make it in the summer now

AM

[Anavrin]

I went trough my cuts from my latest spirit run, ended up with 9 litres of good quality 40% neutral for the Essencia, I'm still a bit mythed about the amount of jars I'm getting where I can detect heads, just over a third of my collection goes into the feints cornie keg because it's "heady" if that's the word

I'm getting a very clean cut between hearts and tails which I'm very happy with but I feel far too much good alcohol is being smeared with heads.

It's almost hacksaw and soldering time again time, I want to fit a CM coil below my VM takeoff, hopefully I've got a plan in my head that will help compress and isolate heads.

Then I had to keep the other half happy and have a go at fixing the hover!!!!!


Success on this front is not guaranteed!!!!!

[Almanac]

I routinely toss between 2 - 3 litres into the Heads keg. When assessing the cuts I nuke the jars with only a faint taste of Heads and leave to air for at least 24 hrs and I've found it does make at least one clear of Heads as the nuking process seems to evaporate the offending chemicals.

Also, if you're using an Essencia you should be able to filter weak Heads from the later jars - worth a try

AM

[Blue_Duck]

Well what i done today is compiled my wishlist for StillDragon when they open after the Hols.


1x 2x4x2 sgk torpedo
2x 2" tri-clamps
1x 2" tri-clamp weldless bulkhead fitting
4x 2" gaskets
500grms American/oak no'3
1x 2" ez copper flange, Thinking that i could cut the sanitary flange off the bottom of my pothead column then its just a tri-clamp fitting.


and the possibility of adding another bulkhead if it threads into the T500 column, and another three ez flanges and couple of 2" filter discs, as i have a half length of 54m copper pipe left over from my pothead build, my school of thought is i could cut maybes 4-6" off the pipe and solder flanges on and use filter discs to make a botanical basket and try vapour infusion, instead of making strong gin essence for diluting. I may even make a shorter column just for the Gin, to use the left over 54m pipe.

Well thats my plan...if nothing unforseeable happens before mid January. (there normally is..Dad,Granda,can you............. you know what i mean)


Cheers B_D