Love Brewing 25L Boiler & T500 Reflux column - Doing a Spirit Run with Still Spirits Turbo Yeast.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ธ.ค. 2021
- This video shows you how to use a T500 Reflux Colum from Still Spirits & the 25 Litre Love Brewing (Spiritworks) boiler. I will be running a Still Spirits Turbo Yeast through it as a Spirit Run. Also at the end I explain how to clean down after use of the Column and your boiler.
As a new T500 user this video was so helpful. There is so much conflicting advice it is nice to finally find a video which gives a comprehensive guide to running the T500 as well as cleaning and storing it. Thank you.
Thank you Heather, that is very kind of you. I am very happy that you found it helpful.
I congratulate you sir in providing both a clear and comprehensive guide of a hobby many now enjoy!
Thank you very much for that, it means a great deal to me.
Great, at last in-depth tutorial. I like the part adjusting the temp. 🙏Bri
Well thank you.
I realy love your boiler and I will try to find one for my self, thank for your video
Thank you Alberto. I am currently working on a system that will turn a T500 boiler to a digitally controlled boiler that also have a Power Controller (SCR) built in.
Great video, seen a few of yours, thought I'd subscribe. I do small batches in multiple runs thru my air still from vevor but my stepdad has a t500 and I've learned a fair bit about it but what I couldn't work out at first was how that distance from the boiler up how much the heat changed, because when the boiler of my air still is at 95° c it's basically coming out at that temp, of course there is a greater distance for that vapour to travel on the t500, and I've only learned that recently, I've alot more to learn. I find it fascinating. And fascinating that you can make a birdwatchers wash from store bought ingredients ie table sugar, citric acid, tomato paste, spring water and bread yeast and forgo the Epsom and eventually, hypothetically distill that wash or wine and get, with the t500 a fairly neutral spirit, my old man only runs his thru once, thinks that it's pure enough. From a 25lt batch of birdwatchers he gets approx 3lt of 90% ethanol, he makes cuts but as you'd know with a reflux still your heart cuts are larger and more distinguishable to heads than say a small batch from a pot still. I just ran a VERY small batch of demerara rum, I can only get demerara 345g at a time so I did a 4.5lt batch, in a carboy just for me, I used 3x 345g pk csr demerara and 1x 550g jar of black strap molasses inverted those sugars in a pot with boiling spring water and citric acid I used fermaid O instead of tomato paste for nutrition and omit the Epsom, i also used ec1118 and Got an original gravity of 1.09 and reached 1.005 in just a few days and couldn't get it to drop any lower, added a tsp of gelatin to some boiling water and once it was cooler I added it to the wash to clear, alas it didn't clear completely but enough to syphon it off into the boiler of the air still without sediment following over, at first for initial foreshot cuts I had it set to 98 c but when heads came along I dropped it back to 90 c and soon after collected hearts, about 600ml of 61% abv And that's all I wanted to really keep, I filtered that small amount using a britta filter jug and added it all back to the collection jar that had been cleaned and placed in roughly 35g of ex bourbon oak cubes from staves. Now the waiting game, should be a nice spirit to have neat on occasion. I'm going to a 100lt batch of birdwatchers too so a bit of a larger batch than the demerara wash, for gin mostly, say I got from 100lt of 12% wash thru my old man's t500 I'd roughly collect 10lt probably more if I wanted a less pure product, so say 10lt of 90% pure ethanol, I'd keep that in 2x 5lt carboys and when I need to make a bottle of gin I'd measure out x amount of 90% ethanol and x amount of spring water and run it thru my air still with a gin basket with my proprietary blend of gunpowder tea and citrus zest and macerate the crushed botanicals in the gin that comes out, in a carboy for a few days and then strain and filter the particles out and have gin, that 10lt of 90% ethanol would last me years. I wouldn't have to make any in a long time.
It is lovely how everybody does it so differently. I love a Birdwatchers wash, but to be honest I tend to only do Kale washes as find them much cleaner.
I love my Air Still. While the T500 is a great system, to make gin, you can't beat the Air Still.
Reading loads of the comments, think like others in the UK are looking fwd to an in-depth stripping run & one I’ve been interested for years a temp controller whist stripping runs. I’ve already a old G30 & fancy the boiler for specially fermentation and sparging. Bri
H Brian, I do have a list of videos that I want to make, but sadly it is hard to get the time.
Hello just subscribe and clicked the bell👍 loved your video as it was clear as iv just got the t500 and wasn’t sure on temp settings,but you’ve helped a lot. Any chance on a video on your stripping runs?
Hi Paul, thank you very much for your comment. I do want to do a couple of videos showing how to do a stripping run using the T500 Reflux column as well as the Alembic Pot & Column. Sadly having the time is a big issue for me!
great video again sir. Where did the bubling stones that you put in go?😂
Hi Henk. No air stone was used. I only use ceramic saddles (or boil enhancers as they call them) in the boiler to help keep things moving and to reduce anything scotching on the bottom.
Love the video, I'm learning a lot from your video's thanks. Great idea with the Quick Release Valves. Could you give me some details, size of barb etc. and where I could buy them. Many thanks.
Hi, can you please drop me an email to info@BrewingAdvice.uk I will happily send you links and info on the parts you need.
Hi your video amazing and so educational and video such amazing quality. Got same condenser brass one turbo 500 and boiler from love brewing and Wanted to ask I'm from uk and was wondering if you could tell me what quick fittings are you using for all of your pipes? They awesome if you can send me the site and measurement per pipe fittings would be appreciated. So much easier with them clever man 😜😂🤣 also have you tried using boiler for fermentation yet because I haven't if so do it work well? Sounds got that you can set temperature without heat belt or etc. Also that heating element you drop down in your brew is it work for temperature properly might order on from love brewing my favourite cheap site
Hi. Thank you so much for your kind words. I would be more than happy to tell you what fittings I used and where I got them from. It will be difficult to try to explain it though in the TH-cam comments section, so can you drop me an email to info@BrewingAdvice.cyou I can then reply to your email with photos and links.
Great video and clear instructions!! Thank you! Quick question: Did you keep the water output temperature at around 50C during the entire run, or was it increased at some point?
Hi Boris, 50c is a good temperature to keep it at. If you are able to go lower I would as the lower the temperature, the more refluxing will happen. I now tend to keep it between 42c - 46c. I have heard from some though that when they do 45c nothing comes out as the column is too cold for them. Have a bit of a play with the different temps and see what works best for you. Try 50c first, then do 45c and see if you get much of a difference. Have fun!
@@brewingadvice Awesome, I’ll try that. Thank you so much for your prompt response and Happy distilling!
What modifications did you do to your spiritworks boiler? I have the same boiler and am looking to make it more useable. While its good at the moment, I'd like to be able to go for a mid range power input.
Hi Andy H, sorry for the late response. I haven't made any alterations to my boiler, it is as I bought it. I am though looking to integrate a SCR between the boiler's computer and the heating elements. That way I can dial down the heat for spirit runs.
Hi there. Awesome video, really helpfull, THANKS alot.
Did you chance the boiler temp. during the run or just staying at 105⁰C?
Hi Rasmus, thank you for your comment, glad my video helped. As to the temperature, I set it and left it. With the Spirit Works Boiler, there is no need to alter the temperature during the run if you are using just the T500 Reflux column.
@@brewingadvice Ok, thank you very much. I have the Digiboil wich i presume can be controlled the same way, thanks.
Good luck@@Rasmusbardino, I hope it works as well.
Hi from Australia. Thanks for a great video. Just wondered why you chose to dispose of 200ml instead of the 100ml suggested by Still?
Hi Ardnfast. Really it is personal preference. As you know the reason why we dispose of the first bit is due to the potential Methanol that is in it. There is no way to know how much is there, no test that we can do. A sugar wash produces a lot less methanol compared to a fruit wash. Many dispose of the first 50ml, some do 100ml, I do 150ml or 200ml, depending on what I am making. Yes, I may be doing too much, but I would rather throw more than I need than less.
@brewingadvice A sugar wash produces negligible methanol because pectin is required yo make methanol. If there is trace amounts of methanol, it must be coming from any pectin present in tomato paste or kale (if kale has any).
He mentioned "sediments" in the bottle that held the contents of the stripping run. He also used boil enhancers, and mentioned "sediments." Once again, the stripped distillate should be clear, albiet containing more water and cogeners than what the final spirit will contain.
Hi @MrGregrice,
First off I would like to apologise for the video. When I started creating videos for TH-cam I really didn't know how to present myself as this is not something that I do, so I was very boring! Hopefully I have got better in my later videos.
As to your comments, I have watched my video again and I didn't hear anywhere where I commented about sediment in my distillate from the stripping run. I did comment about sediment when I talked about the boil enhancers, but I said that I should not have any sediment at all as it has already been distilled once. This was in reference like the Distilling Conditioner to when you do your first run, so the stripping run. When you do the stripping run you will have some sediment and you will need the conditioner or some oil/butter. I am sorry if I did not explain that properly.
Now I can hear "even though I shouldn't have any" when talking about the boil enhancers. Likewise, when you rinsed the bottle you referred to it being "a little bit dirty," which I assumed was a continued reference to sediments, but now think you referring to the cogeners from the stripped product. So you don't need to apologize, it's me who didn't hear that. @@brewingadvice
Hi @@MrGregrice , thank you for your comment. I should have been clearer, but in my early days of creating videos, I was struggling a bit being in front of the camera.
Excellent. In the start of the video you say that it is 6.7 litres of wash. Is that already watered down to 50% or is it 6.7 litres of 90+%? Curious as to what percentage? What was the total time of run from start to finish?
Hi Peter. Thank you for your comment. The original 6.7 Litres was at 93% ABV and was extracted from two separate stripping runs. What I usually do is make two washes, then do two stripping runs. Then I put them both in the boiler (with about 10 Litres of filtered water) to do a single spirit run. I do this so my boiler runs for 3 times for 2 washes rather than 4 times. Usually my spirit runs last around 4 hours. I have not timed a stripping run, but it will be around 3 hours 30 mins I would expect.
@@brewingadvice If that's the case, I believe you should be getting much more final product that the 3 litres. I thought it would be closer to original 6.7 than you put in? Do you know why it is so much lower volume?
Hi @@peterleonard5947. When running the Still Spirits Turbo Yeast, you are looking to collect around 3.5 Litres at 92% ABV. Once watered down to 40% ABV you will get between 7.5 - 8 Litres. Yes, you can get more than 3.5 Litres on the stripping run if you leave it to collect everything. I do not drink much so run very tight cuts. While this does make my cost per litre much higher, I am not worried as I am more interested in quality over quantity. I accept that I am throwing away more than I need to.
I would love to have one of those boilers for North America. 120 volts.
I would be lovely if everybody could get them.
How do you get so much production at such a low temp? Mine only gives a drop every 2 min when I’m running near 60 degrees C!! I didn’t do a stripping run, too lazy to unpack my column, and wanted to see how it turned out. I got excellent ABV - but lots of off-flavour (typical home still flavour. I ran at 65, because it would have taken 24h to run at 60, and at 55, NOTHING. I checked my thermometer against 2 others - seems to be on (or at least not THAT far off) . I’m wondering if it’s my water temp… the way the column is designed, there is a pretty touchy equilibrium between the column and the condenser and the output water temp. My water comes out at near zero C so wondering if that’s a bit to cold and condensing things too much in the reflux/fractional column? Maybe I’ll try a tiny bit of hot water, though I don’t know if that can be controlled at the tap with the needle valve as the cold water tap position makes little to no difference in water flow when using needle valve.
Hi @patrickandkennafenwick3958,
Every column runs a little differently and is something you need to learn, how your still like it. Are you running with the T500 column? I assume you are. So, my copper T500 likes it a fair bit hotter than my steel one. The type of packing and how tight the packing also can alter how well it works. Generally though, if you pack it too tightly you will have more chance of a puke than it running slowly. My ground water is around 12c normally. If yours is 0c, then that is very cold indeed. I am not sure if it would cause a problem though. The water going through the product condenser doesn't care if it is 0c or 40c, as long as it is able to condense all of the vapours going through it. The coil inside the reflux condenser will be affected greatly by the temperature. The lower the temperature, the more refluxing and the less product that will be able to get to the product condenser. If though you say the output water temperature is 60c, that is in a good range, so is not too cold at all. You must though have the water going through at a very slow rate for it to go from 0c to 60c. While I am sure you don't want to, I think it would be a good idea to get all of the packing out of the column and then re-pack it again. When was the last time you cleaned the packing, how many runs has it been since the last clean? Good clean packing will help greatly in the quality of the product coming out. When you re-pack, don't tap, knock or hit the side of the T500 to try to get more packing in. You want it nice and loose. Often you will have some spare that doesn't want to go back in. This is perfectly normal, you never know, the next time you re-pack it, it might go back in again!
Give that a try, then do let me know how you go.
Hi, thank you for a good lesson of home brewing, could you advise where you can buy this whole setup in UK, please. Thank you.
Hi Jacek, sorry for my late reply. You can buy it all from Love Brewing. The Boiler is here www.lovebrewing.co.uk/sw-boiler/ The T500 reflux Colum is here: www.lovebrewing.co.uk/t500-condenser/ (you can buy them both as a package and save money). The water regulator is here: www.lovebrewing.co.uk/t500-water-flow-regulator/ The quick release valves I bought from Amazon, but I am currently moving over to plastic Air Line hoses that are cheaper and lighter. I hope that helps.
@@brewingadvice Thank you!
Some other videos showing the t500 claim that when alcohol is exhausted nothing comes out of the output tube. Is that only assuming that you stay within the temp range that created the high proof?
I assume you’re watering down your strip run to 40% or lower before spirit run?
Hi, that I am. I would like to apologise though. This video is over 2 years old and it was when I was just starting out. Boy am I monotone and boring!
So yes, while I didn't explain it well, I had 6 odd litres of ethanol which was around 92% ABV. I then added around 14 litres of water so that it would be nice and diluted. You don't need to add that much water, as you mentioned, you just need to get it to or below 40% ABV.
Hi there (again). We are interested in the push fit connectors you have and wonder where you got them from. I have tried to email you on the email you supplied to another commenter but it has come back as failed.
Hi Heather, I am sorry that you have not been able to email me. My email address is: info@BrewingAdvice.uk . Could you please try that email address and let me know if it still fails for you.
As you're in the UK do you have any worries about Mr Plod landing on your doorstep one day??? knowing that distilling is illegal without a Gov licence, that is if you don't hold one already.
That is a good question. I spoke to somebody at HMRC some years ago about this very thing. They said that while it is illegal to distill in the UK without a licence, they are only interested in prosecuting people who are selling the alcohol that has been produced illegally.
That was the massive factor for least 10 years living in the UK. Prob why I haven’t bought or tried yet. I tried abroad where it was allowed in a big still, since then it got me hooked learning. Bri 👍
3 litres into one big jar.
No cuts....apart from the first 200ml as foreshots.
Everything else mixed in together.....WOW, some cocktail.
You ever heard of making 'CUTS'?
Might be a good idea to have a look at some of the distilling forums to learn something.
The whole point of the video was to show the Love Brewing boiler working with the T500 Reflux Column, for those who were interested in buying either or both. I took the forshots off due to habit, but the actual spirit was going to be used to make hand sanatiser. Normally I do take cuts in 200ml amounts, then smell and taste before blending.
Wow! Everyone's a critic.
You need to be making cuts, not collecting in one jar, should be collecting 250ml to 500nl at a time in different jars, this will be mixing heads, hearts and tails.
250 heads then parrot for hearts then when your tails kick in take parrot off and collect tails for next run.. even better do the same as I mentioned with a bubble plate get 96% instead of 92% that's what I do. Got same still. You only cuts you need is heads and tails and parrot do the rest for you. Soon as you see a sudden drop on your proof hydrometer then you collect tails. You don't need filter on bubble plate either it filters it out for you automatically 👍👍👍
I got 3" Bubble plate 4 floors.
Need X2 2" bulkheads one with nut for lid and the other without nut for condenser
Need need clamps and o rings and 2" to 3" reducers and voltage controller this going to give you 4% extra the highest for a home distillation 96% abv and automatic purity no filtering needed ever again 👍👍👍 want that message back I sort you out to get 96% like me using any reflux still. If you Chuck the 96% in again double distille it you get 99% abv
Hi Klatlap. Yes, it is always best to make cuts. This video was an introduction on using the T500. Many new distillers who have only just bought the T500 column findi making cuts very confusing. This is why I did not do cuts. There are also some drinks that I make that I don't do cuts for as I don't mind certain flavours getting through.
Hi @@DripdropBrewing. Thank you for your comment. Personally I don't like parrots as they do too much smearing and they can never show you truly what is coming out unless you keep emptying it.
I do not own a bubble plate, but would like to try one. I have instead a few extra 2" pipes, thermowell and a sight glass. Using different Copper SPP, Steel SPP and the standard Steel packing that comes with the T500, I am able to produce 95.5% ABV which is the purest you can get.
I hate to say, but your comment that you get 99% ABV is impossible. The maximum any of us can produce is 95.5% because alcohol forms an azeotrope at 95.5%. While the spirit hydrometers do show up to 100%, any readings above 95.5% will be wrong due to atmospheric pressures. You can read more about azeotrope here: www.quora.com/Why-can-we-not-obtain-more-than-96-alcohol?fbclid=IwAR3qbvbSylJJ5mpTkyMm5zjxEdeBEEI0oEfBwvAaUQKx556SXoQXuA--zwA
@@brewingadvice I never said I get it from 1st run. But if you double by throwing your 95%/96% back in you get 99% abv. Try it works and you will see it for yourself. And if you triple still it you get 99% abv but much better smooth taste.
Hi @@DripdropBrewing, sadly it is impossible to get above 95.6% ABV from distillation. If you Google 'Azeotropes' you will see why it is impossible. A great explanation can be found here: chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Equilibria/Physical_Equilibria/Fractional_Distillation_of_Non-ideal_Mixtures_(Azeotropes)
use copper spirels not stainless
Hi @daniel brogan. Yes, copper is far better than steel. I now use 0.5 Litres of Copper SPP, 1 Litre of Steel SPP and around 1 Litres of the Steel packing that comes with the T500. I also use the copper Alembic Pot Dome.
air still = petrol
Different tools for different people. If I want purity, I will use my T500. If I am making a small gin, then Air Still is my choice.
Too much stuffing around with that T500 still.
Water temp MUST be right for it to operate correctly.
Half hour later....almost there....just a few more tweaks, and a few more.
Everyone knows that distilling spirits is not governed by temperature.
Then again, some ppl might think that's the way it's done....ppl like T500 owners.
I am sorry you dislike the T500. Personally I think it is a great boiler and a great condenser, as do hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who use them. While I own an Air Still, I don't use it to produce a neutral spirit, but if others want to and are happy with their results, then they should carry on. Each to their own.
Why are you such a dick bro!
The video was fine.
Maybe get rid of the Jolly in your handle.
I said it once say it again moonshine and moonshine has been around since mankind's been round. All this fancy mumbo jumbo I'm seeing mumbo jumbo and equipment it's just a waste of money. This guy sounds like Ben Stein. Add a little life to your voice
Sorry you didn't like my voice. I have never done public speaking or recorded myself for public viewing before, so I wasn't very good at the beginning. Hopefully my new videos are better and I also hope that in time I get more used to it & more relaxed (and less like a robot).
Don't mind me, it's just one man's opinion.