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blogfast25
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Quote: Originally posted by Magpie  | | A moonshiner doesn't stop with just one batch. That scenario would be inefficient in the long run as there's the next batch to consider, IMO.
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He's only referring to the enrichment aspect, I think. Double distillation. On that point he's right, regardless of practicalities.
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by blogfast25]
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Zombie
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Here's a Pict of a pot / thumper I designed for a friend. This is set up on his kitchen stove.
Beside the pot / thump. it also has a 3' tall packed media column in a Boka still configuration. This rig puts out about one gallon of azeotrope in
2-3 hours running time.
The second pict. is the same rig without the Boka, and a Liebig condenser.
These are just small scale home type rigs. I've built Much larger stills in the past.
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Zombie]
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Zombie]
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Zombie]
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Magpie
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| Quote: Originally posted by Zombie |
Re: Nutrients - Epson Salts
Postby olddog » Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:06 pm
Making a good wash is a bit like baking a cake, you need food for the yeast: sugar, Neutrients to keep the yeast healthy, and a healthy enviroment for
the yeast to multiply and ferment: the PH level. The acid: lemon juice etc, and the alkaline: epson salts, baking soda etc, provide the correct
enviroment for the yeast to live in (PH 4.5 - 5). ...
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Epsom salt (MgSO4) is a salt of a weak base and a strong acid. It can't be alkaline.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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aga
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Amazing how "Getting Very Drunk" has produced so many interesting designs and methods.
The Computer/Internet is the one human artefact with the most man-hours put into it so far.
I bet Making Booze comes a close second.
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Zombie
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| Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25 | | Quote: Originally posted by Magpie | | A moonshiner doesn't stop with just one batch. That scenario would be inefficient in the long run as there's the next batch to consider, IMO.
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He's only referring to the enrichment aspect, I think. Double distillation. On that point he's right, regardless of practicalities.
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by blogfast25] |
Truth of the matter is, there is no need to move anything. The heat from the water vapor in the Alch. depleted boiler is now coming over at or near
210 - 212 * f, and the BP in the thump is at or near 185 - 190 *f.
No need to move anything
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
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Zombie
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| Quote: Originally posted by aga | Amazing how "Getting Very Drunk" has produced so many interesting designs and methods.
The Computer/Internet is the one human artefact with the most man-hours put into it so far.
I bet Making Booze comes a close second. |
I would imagine Hootch production has most everything beat in the amount of time invested.
If making liquor were legal in the US I venture to guess we never would have become a nation. Hell we would most likely collapse from the loss of Tax
Dollars.
George Washington himself made liquor production illegal, and opened the nations first distillery. He produced over 100,000 gallons of Taxed liquor
per year.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
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blogfast25
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| Quote: Originally posted by Zombie | Here's a Pict of a pot / thumper I designed for a friend. This is set up on his kitchen stove.
Beside the pot / thump. it also has a 3' tall packed media column in a Boka still configuration. This rig puts out about one gallon of azeotrope in
2-3 hours running time.
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Where is the likker outlet in that top design?
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by blogfast25]
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Magpie
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All this talk has made me thirsty.  Ahhhh!
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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aga
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The refractometer arrived !
I confess i've never seen one before, and will need to play with it to get to grips with it.
The procedure is very simple: put a few drops of the liquid on the glass, close the flap, ensuring no air bubbles, wait 30 secs for the temeratures to
equalise, then look through the lens.
Where the Blue meets the White background, you read off the scale your %.
Apologies for the terrible photos taken thru the eyepiece with a crappy webcam.
When you Look into the eyepiece, it is very clear and you see all of the scale.
The highest reading is from a bottle of bacardi labelled 37.5%
I diluted it down for the other two readings.
   
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Zombie
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| Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25 | | Quote: Originally posted by Zombie | Here's a Pict of a pot / thumper I designed for a friend. This is set up on his kitchen stove.
Beside the pot / thump. it also has a 3' tall packed media column in a Boka still configuration. This rig puts out about one gallon of azeotrope in
2-3 hours running time.
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Where is the likker outlet in that top design?
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by blogfast25] |
Here is a small pict, and the link to a decent build thread.
the vapor is condensed at the top of the column using a "cold finger" coil, and the condensate drips onto a slant plate for collection.
It is a Very slow running still but reaches azeo. when combined with a thumper.
Without a thumper it will produce approx 80 - 85 ABV from start to finish.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36050
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Zombie]
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Zombie]
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Zombie
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I'm a FireBall Whiskey guy myself. Made my mouth water just posting the pict.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
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blogfast25
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I see. That part wasn't shown.
How do you create a safe seal between these cooking pots and their lids?
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Zombie
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| Quote: Originally posted by aga | The refractometer arrived !
I confess i've never seen one before, and will need to play with it to get to grips with it.
The procedure is very simple: put a few drops of the liquid on the glass, close the flap, ensuring no air bubbles, wait 30 secs for the temeratures to
equalise, then look through the lens.
Where the Blue meets the White background, you read off the scale your %.
Apologies for the terrible photos taken thru the eyepiece with a crappy webcam.
When you Look into the eyepiece, it is very clear and you see all of the scale.
The highest reading is from a bottle of bacardi labelled 37.5%
I diluted it down for the other two readings.
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That is Lovely. The 20% reading is the lowest you want to see for this experiment.
We are trying to replicate the actual running conditions.
I guess it's blind luck there was a bottle of Bacardi lying around.
I'm digging this chemistry stuff!
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Magpie
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Nice! If you make a scale of refractive index vs %ABV you might have an instrument that can be used for other liquids as well.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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blogfast25
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Lookin' good. I'll have to get one too. 
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blogfast25
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| Quote: Originally posted by Magpie | | Nice! If you make a scale of refractive index vs %ABV you might have an instrument that can be used for other liquids as well.
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That's probably not gonna work: it's very alcohol specific. Have a look at this:
http://www.refractometer.pl/refraction-datasheet-ethanol
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by blogfast25]
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Zombie
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I use EPTFE. Expanded Teflon sheet material, and those spring type clamps that you use to hold bundles of stationary together.
The sheet material comes in any size square you need, and you simply cut a gasket. NO other material is usable due to the temp, and EtOh vapor.
The "Old School" Billies use flour / oatmeal, and water to make a paste to seal up stills.
I'm a little ahead of them. Not much but enough.
the cold finger, and top cap were not in place in that photo. That's why you didn't see them. It's a separate unit, with a couple-r. I use those thick
rubber bands like you see on Lobster Claws to seal those parts. between the condenser on the top, and a 1/16" vent hole in the cap, there is no chance
of positive pressure inside the still.
The only potential danger is if you loose cooling water, and then raw vapor will fall down the outside of the column, and whoosh!
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
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Zombie
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That is correct. I have one for Anti Freeze specific gravity. It shows nothing with alcohol.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
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blogfast25
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Zomb:
The 'Boka' looks a bit oversized to me.
In the second design, I'd incline the Liebig a bit more.
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Magpie
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Yes, sadly (range1.3330-1.3614). It is hardly an Abbè (range: 1.3000-1.710).
http://www.atago.net/USA/products_abbe.php
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Magpie]
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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Zombie
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Look who's gone Billie on us!!!
The Boke is 2" x 36", and it is actually a hybrid. It's media packed (scorcia) to act as a full reflux column, and the Boka portion is simply there
for a product take off.
For the second design you will notice the abrupt reduction from 2" pipe to 1/2" pipe. This creates a very high vapor speed that actually will fall out
of a condenser with a higher angle.
Believe it or not I actually studied for more than a year on the principles of distillation. I have designed, and built the ONLY concentric / mixed
media ethanol column know to exist at the hobby level.
Those pot stills were just to prove out certain math assumptions, and to have some fun.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Magpie
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I've been looking at the ethanol-water VLE chart in my textbook (Foust) in regard to the enthalpy. It is presented as BTU/lb-mole. What's amazing is
that the enthalpies for both the liquid and the vapor stay almost the same as the streams (liquid and vapor) increase in ethanol content. I interpret
this to mean that once the thumper reaches maximum ethanol concentration it's not only going to put out a richer vapor but it's going to come over
like gangbusters. My conclusion is based on the fact that a lb-mole of water weights 18 lbs whereas a lb-mole of ethanol weighs 46 lbs.
Zombie: Does your experience support this?
Edit: This is likely due to the fact that on a per mole basis water and ethanol heats of vaporization are very close, ie, for water it is 40.65
kJ/mol and for ethanol it is 42.3 kJ/mole. So 14 g of condensing water should evaporate 44 g of ethanol.
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by Magpie]
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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aga
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| Quote: Originally posted by Zombie | I guess it's blind luck there was a bottle of Bacardi lying around.
I'm digging this chemistry stuff! |
Usually there's a lot of beer cans lying around.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=30497
Search for 'Candenser'.
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deltaH
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| Quote: Originally posted by Zombie | | Quote: Originally posted by blogfast25 |
Completely second that. A controlled refluxer/tray would be far more efficient and demonstrably effective.
Even simpler: a decent fractionating column. Easy peasy and highly effective.
[Edited on 20-2-2015 by blogfast25] |
That's where all this comes full circle back to the nature of the builders, and operators of thumpers.
For the most part they were back woods Tennessee hill folk.
The most they understood was basic trading math, and how to fit a lid on a bucket.
If you think about the origin, it's actually quite a leap in evolution for them. |
I included some old looking rum still setups a while back in this thread that appeared to be using thumpers, so I'm not so sure these 'billies
invented them. I think it's much more likely that this knowledge was imported from rum making methodology and that in itself might be very old, who
knows?
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blogfast25
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I saw a thumper on The Flintstones once! 
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