Completely agree with what George is saying regarding ease of hauling stuff around in smaller batches. Once you jump from 25L /5 Gallon batches to something bigger there are a whole lot of extra work and logistics presented just in moving around the volumes and weights involved. I've been running a 50L still in various configurations for about 1-2 years now and anything over 50L and you are moving brew barrels around with sack barrows and decanting stuff in smaller containers or with a large pump/siphon.
Right on. I live in an apartment with limited space. I have a couple of 40-liter fermenters (over 10 US gallons) and moving those buggers around is a major pain. I'd love to have more space so I could just put them in a basement and forget about them, but I don't. I tend to use my 19l (5 US gal) ones more often since I have to move them every so often.
Heck-fire....I have access to a 35x75 shop, and I don't want to haul around anything! Could I use my forklift? Sure, but I'm not gonna!!! Ain't no way I'm fermenting in those 1250L totes!
I would agree with you George about the 15gal vs the 8gal. 8gal are a lot easier to manage than a 15 gal and I can still use all the buckets I have for making beer. If you get a 15gal you really are going to have to spend a lot more over the 8gal. So get an 8gal and make life easier for yourself... LOL
can you determine a goldielock temperature for the water coming out of the reflux hose? just curios.. sounds like the pot needs a pop off valve. Thinking about getting my son a still for xmas. I live on Disability and need to get the best bang for the buck..
Hi George, I got a 13 gallon 3” column reflux still with a shotgun condenser . I’ve been stilling 5.5 gallon batches of rum and it’s take 5:20 min..My question is this normal? Seems like a very long time. Please advise. Thanks in advance! Bret
Yes, more heat will speed it up but make sure you are careful. Too much heat will cause the spirits to come off with tails mixed in earlier than you expect. This can ruin your run. Also, the proof will suffer dramatically after you surpass the optimum production temperature since more water will come out as well as spirits. George
Hi George, I think I found the sweet spot, H2O flow control a must to keep optimum temp . Need to get electrical heating element and a PID from you. Pls advise Thx Mr. Duncan!
Great. The sweet spot is important and different for each still. Once it is found it opens up a whole new world for the operator. So glad you got there. Only good things come from that. By the way, electric is easier to control with some sort of controller but propane works well too (if you figure out the flow sweet spot of the propane ) George
Great vid as always George , I note in the vid you make a reference to the copper dome / condenser in the background now what are the supposed benefits of using one of these , how about a vid covering this ? If you have already done one of those then I apologise , I must have missed it !
Okay so I will ask the question that some here are too skittish to ask. What type of license is required to bud stills and sell them, or just build columns.
man your videos have helped me immensely im getting ready to put my thrid run though and your advice and tutorials have been paramount thanks for your help much love from New Brunswick Canada
Hi George. love the video. only question is, why does the 3" have to be so much taller? Is it to allow the vapors to have more cooling/condensing space? ( I tried calling) Thanks
Hi George, Puking is when the liquid in the pot is boiling over up the column and coming out the condenser. Huffing is when the column fills with liquid from too much reflux and fills the column. This happens especially when the packing is placed in the lower column tube and inhibits drainback of the reflux. The best cure for this is to lower the pot temperature. If you try to reduce the reflux coolant flow the head temp goes up too high. A huffing still can produce high alcohol but you get pressure release out of the condenser and the distillate surges. OK for stripping but not ideal for high-purity single distillation, and probably the packing is not properly helping vapor production. A sight glass between the column sections will show this. If your still is puking the liquid visible in the glass won't be clear. To get one of these to puke you'd have to be running a burner on very high flame. In either case the pot temperature is too high.
Yes George I was talking about the beginning where you showed the still running in a 1 gallon carboy. You show this in a previous video and I was wondering would give you better quality or higher proof? Also do you run both a reflux still and a pot still like this? Keep up the great work I love your videos.
Okay. Got it. This is only an indication that everything is operating at it optimum. The quality and quantity are still your responsibility. The demonstration here is an example of a properly running still. George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing hey George I'm getting the 8 gallon kettle I was wanting an all copper column and condenser tho. Any suggestions on where to get that in a 3 inch
If you are taking about the beginning where we show a running stream, the answer is yes. We found this to be the best indicator that everything else inside the still is working at its optimum capacity and capability.
David, don't apologize for correcting mis-information. I do not take any offense to corrections. In fact, I appreciate it more than you realize. Too often people will not speak up or ask questions or even check information someone offers and this can lead to a series of issues and misinformation getting out. I've had the pleasure of answering posts like yours several times where I made a mistake. Even a small one can cause problems so I like to get them corrected as quickly as I can. Some videos had to be re-shot where others have been left with the hope that people will understand that a slip of the tongue using centigrade instead of Fahrenheit in an explanation is obvious or stating a figure that is reversed. You see what I mean. I take no offense so please continue to watch and critique as we continue to post and explain. George
15 Gallon still; "... I'm not gonna say it - I'm not gonna say it, ... yeah, ... you know what I'm talking about ..."
LOL!!!
You should be nicknamed the godfather of distilling lol. or at least that's what I'm going to call you
in my country we drive on the left, should i put the cold water on top now?
Thanks 4 schooling me at 55 yrs... Wished YOU was my Cadre SGT
Completely agree with what George is saying regarding ease of hauling stuff around in smaller batches.
Once you jump from 25L /5 Gallon batches to something bigger there are a whole lot of extra work and logistics presented just in moving around the volumes and weights involved.
I've been running a 50L still in various configurations for about 1-2 years now and anything over 50L and you are moving brew barrels around with sack barrows and decanting stuff in smaller containers or with a large pump/siphon.
Right on. I live in an apartment with limited space. I have a couple of 40-liter fermenters (over 10 US gallons) and moving those buggers around is a major pain. I'd love to have more space so I could just put them in a basement and forget about them, but I don't.
I tend to use my 19l (5 US gal) ones more often since I have to move them every so often.
Heck-fire....I have access to a 35x75 shop, and I don't want to haul around anything! Could I use my forklift? Sure, but I'm not gonna!!! Ain't no way I'm fermenting in those 1250L totes!
I would agree with you George about the 15gal vs the 8gal. 8gal are a lot easier to manage than a 15 gal and I can still use all the buckets I have for making beer. If you get a 15gal you really are going to have to spend a lot more over the 8gal. So get an 8gal and make life easier for yourself... LOL
Hello George missed you trying to keep up
can you determine a goldielock temperature for the water coming out of the reflux hose? just curios.. sounds like the pot needs a pop off valve. Thinking about getting my son a still for xmas. I live on Disability and need to get the best bang for the buck..
Gorge you a boss...
your a boss
your a boss
Hi George, thanks for your videos they've been really good help. Could you please send me the PDF of the still.
Hi George,
I got a 13 gallon 3” column reflux still with a shotgun condenser . I’ve been stilling 5.5 gallon batches of rum and it’s take 5:20 min..My question is this normal? Seems like a very long time. Please advise. Thanks in advance! Bret
That sounds reasonable to me
is there any way to speed it up.. more heat perhaps
Yes, more heat will speed it up but make sure you are careful. Too much heat will cause the spirits to come off with tails mixed in earlier than you expect. This can ruin your run. Also, the proof will suffer dramatically after you surpass the optimum production temperature since more water will come out as well as spirits.
George
Hi George,
I think I found the sweet spot, H2O flow control a must to keep optimum temp . Need to get electrical heating element and a PID from you. Pls advise Thx Mr. Duncan!
Great. The sweet spot is important and different for each still. Once it is found it opens up a whole new world for the operator.
So glad you got there. Only good things come from that.
By the way, electric is easier to control with some sort of controller but propane works well too (if you figure out the flow sweet spot of the propane )
George
Great vid as always George , I note in the vid you make a reference to the copper dome / condenser in the background now what are the supposed benefits of using one of these , how about a vid covering this ?
If you have already done one of those then I apologise , I must have missed it !
george thank you so much for your help today with my cider. I really appreciate it very much so again thank you
Okay so I will ask the question that some here are too skittish to ask.
What type of license is required to bud stills and sell them, or just build columns.
I have a 15.5 gallon SS beer keg and I want to run 3 separate 2000 watt heating elements.
Hi George will you send where i can buy a stil 8 gal model and cost above the 49 th parallel
not if you put a camera in front of the thermomata and send the picture to a computa screen. then ya wont need a ladda.
Got a 3 gallon pressure cooker...hahah
1/2 or 3/8 th... GOD Love YA GEORGE
man your videos have helped me immensely im getting ready to put my thrid run though and your advice and tutorials have been paramount thanks for your help much love from New Brunswick Canada
Hi George. love the video. only question is, why does the 3" have to be so much taller? Is it to allow the vapors to have more cooling/condensing space? ( I tried calling)
Thanks
make and model and where to buy would be very helpful . . R
Hi George do you guys sale 8 gallon reflux stills
How does this compare to the Turbo 500?
Hi George,
Puking is when the liquid in the pot is boiling over up the column and coming out the condenser. Huffing is when the column fills with liquid from too much reflux and fills the column. This happens especially when the packing is placed in the lower column tube and inhibits drainback of the reflux. The best cure for this is to lower the pot temperature. If you try to reduce the reflux coolant flow the head temp goes up too high.
A huffing still can produce high alcohol but you get pressure release out of the condenser and the distillate surges. OK for stripping but not ideal for high-purity single distillation, and probably the packing is not properly helping vapor production. A sight glass between the column sections will show this. If your still is puking the liquid visible in the glass won't be clear. To get one of these to puke you'd have to be running a burner on very high flame. In either case the pot temperature is too high.
Thanks for the information I am sure others will also find this very helpful.
George
Do you run a pot still and a reflux still with this method?
Which method are you referring to? This is a long video with a lot of information throughout. Can you help me narrow it down a little?
So it's not a good idea to run a 3" column (28" tall) on 15 gallon keg with a 2000w element?
Ooo, absolutely. You will have great results and much quicker than the 2 inch column,
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing but 2000w watts is enough power for a 15 gallon keg?
Yes George I was talking about the beginning where you showed the still running in a 1 gallon carboy. You show this in a previous video and I was wondering would give you better quality or higher proof? Also do you run both a reflux still and a pot still like this? Keep up the great work I love your videos.
Okay. Got it. This is only an indication that everything is operating at it optimum. The quality and quantity are still your responsibility. The demonstration here is an example of a properly running still.
George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing hey George I'm getting the 8 gallon kettle I was wanting an all copper column and condenser tho. Any suggestions on where to get that in a 3 inch
Videos that this is the best way to run a still. I you Never said why. Will this give you better proof? Or better quality?
Please elaborate just a little more so I know what you are referring to specifically.
If you are taking about the beginning where we show a running stream, the answer is yes. We found this to be the best indicator that everything else inside the still is working at its optimum capacity and capability.
You're sayin cubic inches over and over but you mean square inches, in case anyone is confused.
You are correct. I did mis-state that . Hope everyone can overlook a little confusion on my part.
Many thanks
George
I apologize for sounding critical and/or mean spirited. Your videos are great, very informative.
David, don't apologize for correcting mis-information. I do not take any offense to corrections. In fact, I appreciate it more than you realize. Too often people will not speak up or ask questions or even check information someone offers and this can lead to a series of issues and misinformation getting out. I've had the pleasure of answering posts like yours several times where I made a mistake. Even a small one can cause problems so I like to get them corrected as quickly as I can. Some videos had to be re-shot where others have been left with the hope that people will understand that a slip of the tongue using centigrade instead of Fahrenheit in an explanation is obvious or stating a figure that is reversed. You see what I mean.
I take no offense so please continue to watch and critique as we continue to post and explain.
George