Hi, Well after two years I finally finished making your 2” combination still. It took me so long to finish because of other commitments. I tried vinegar for deep cleaning the copper still before using it, but found that a solution that George at Barley & Hops suggests did a better job for me and was much cheaper. (Perhaps vinegar is much more expensive here in the UK) For those interested it’s a Mix of 500ml of water, 500ml of Hydrogen Peroxide and 1oz of Citric acid. I soaked each part in the solution for about 15mins and the copper comes out like new. I used bottle brushes to remove any stubborn bits. I then assembled the still and ran it just with water for an hour. My first distilling run was purely as a a pot still with 28 litres of sugar wash using a PID controller. What can I say, being my first attempt at distilling I was really chuffed to bits with the outcome. I really want to thank you for your help and support during the build and am looking forward to running the still in reflux. I hope you are staying safe through these difficult times, all the best buddy and thanks again👍👍🍺🍺🍺
Heya Mel, Congratulations on finishing off the rig! Yeah these things end up taking longer than we think when you weave them into daily life. You now get to look at everything in terms of whether it's fermentable or not like the rest of us lol. Yep, the Citric/peroxide mix is great, I use it for cleaning newly made copper still parts - works very fast. Hydrogen peroxide comes in varying concentrations from pool product (highly concentrated 30%-50%, cheapest way to buy) to pharmiceutical grade which is very dilute (3% - 6%) but very expensive. I don't recommend things on the channel if I think it could potentially cause folks physical grief. I recomended vinegar in my vids just coz it also works, is readily available and won't be harming anyone if they screw up with it. 😊 Congrats again and Happy Distilling Mel !!
I would love to use a thermocouple or three with a microcontroller to modulate heat and cooling water as needed to maintain a specific vapor temp at the top of the column while maximizing heat input up to the "speed limit" imposed by the dephlegmator / column. Additionally, I live in an arid location and I want to come up with a way of creating a semi-closed cooling loop. Maybe run the water through a coil in the fridge or a really big coil exposed to open air or something... crazy how seeing one of these run just fills you with inspiration and ideas! Thanks again.
Hey fella, yeah I live offgrid so understand water issues. I have a 1000L IBC I use as a cooling reservoir with a small circulating pump. If it comes down to it I do have an old beer chiller I can run inline to help cool the condenser water.
Hey thanks fella! It gets bloody addictive doesn't it? :) Got a 4 inch dephlegmator on the go now as well so I can turn my 4 inch pot still and flake stand into a larger bore reflux system.
Hi Angry! I built my parrot similarly to yours and when I ran the cleaning run today for the new still I barely had any distillate as all the steam came out the vent hole of the parrot. I ended up covering it so the vinegar would run through the rest of the parrot. I'm a little worried when I distill, that the alcohol will do the same. When I run the water through the deflag and condenser will that allow the distillate to liquify so I can catch it? Thanks again!
G'day Peter, If you weren't running any cooling thru your condenser then yes, it will just end up blowing steam right the way thru. The cooling liquid running thru' the jacket chills and condenses the vapor normally. If you have alcohol vapor pissing out the top of the parrot vent when you run your still then you have some serious malfunction with your condenser and a danger of explosion. The vent on top of the parrot is to relieve pressure and prevent hydrolicing which mess with you alcometer reading in the parrot. (causes the alcometer to bob). Happy Distilling!
How long is your column compared to your dephlegmator and is there a proper calculation. If I have a 36 inch X 3" pipe how long should I make the dephlegmator and how long for the condenser? Thanks!
G'day Pete, The dephleg in this vid is quite a long one. General rule of thumb I make the actual cooled area inside a dephleg' approx twice the diameter (maybe a bit more for a 2") - that's just what works for me - no calculation involved. Column on this was 1metre long and actual cooling tube length in the dephlegmator was around 150mm-200mm from memory. Reflux condenser in 3" diameter copper tube ... in my experience, - just the way I do them (not saying I'm necessarily right :) I wouldn't go any longer than 4"-6" long for the actual cooling chamber with the cooling tubes. Product condenser ... 600mm long? - maybe longer if you are going to be doing real hot -n-fast stripping runs. A big part of the condensers is the surface area they have to contact the vapor path, ... just make sure you get a good number of tubes in there without impeding the water flow. Happy Distilling!
G'day Peter, no problem :) Never hurts to have more cooling. For a 50L kettle you might want to run it out to 800mm tops if you were doing really full-on stripping runs. I never managed to overwhelm a 600mm 2" condenser on a 50L kettle. I even chained a 2" dephlegmator and 2" product condenser and used them on a 200L kettle for a slow run before - they were getting pushed but managed ok. Again - main thing is having as much contact area between the cooling tubes and the vapor path as you can. Happy Distilling
Hello, Hello from the Czech Republic. I wonder why the column is so tall, and there are rings in the rashing and some copper wool in the stainless steel? And I'd like to ask for the layout of the best hops you have now. Thanks to the PS in advance: you have decent videos
G'day Miloslav, I made the column 1 metre tall to try and get as good a purity as I can. Very general rule of thumb in still-making is "height for purity and diameter for draw-off rate". The still runs as a potstill or a reflux still, - without the dephegmator on top of the column it isn't nearly so tall. If I'm running it in reflux mode, yes, I have copper mesh packing in the column (not the whole column tho'). Other thing, is that the still was sitting on a tall kettle and then on top of another platform with the gas-burner which makes it look A LOT taller than it is. In a more recent video I have it mounted on a keg-kettle I built and it doesn't look as tall and would be easy to operate. I'm 6'2" and when it's on the shorter kettle now I can read the thermo-dials no problem. :o) I don't understand what you are asking about hops? Do you mean the PDF baffle layouts? I can send those to an email address if you like.
New Zealand ... pretty much re-knowned for its wind in some places. A mate that lives up the road on a ridgeline has a ventimeter on his garage and regularly clocks 160kmh winds. I'm lucky I'm a little more sheltered where I am!
G'day Gareth, I never got to run this properly in reflux, I'm a whisky/rum guy so I was running it in pot still config'. I have a larger unit nowadays I run in reflux very occasionally (I don't do a lot of neutral) that is essentially a 4" scaled up version of this - I'll have to make and post some video's of that if you are interested. :o) No feedback from the buyer, he was a nice enough guy, had never done any distilling/brewing and I got the impression he was buying the still as a curio art-piece for his house with a view to maybe doing some distilling way down the line later. Gave him an open offer to walk him thru' his first brew/run but not heard back yet. I used the money I got from the sale to buy a few more tools, copper tubes, some more junkyard finds - and feed me and my daughter. lol
NICE, how long will the clean last, do you have to run your product soon after or will it be good for week or weeks, and then after run, does it turn blue-green again soon????
G'day again JB, The cleaning run is really a one-time deal for a new still. It's sole purpose is to get rid of any residual flux and metal salts from the soldering/fabrication of the new still parts that you haven't gotten to with a brush of by soaking the parts in vinegar. (Well, ... it's also a test of whether you still is leaking as well - before you are actually running flammable alcohol.) It stops the salts/flux etc from ending up in your subsequent distillation runs. You shouldn't need to do another cleaning run unless you notice your still becoming tainted with something in future - (maybe as a result of scorching/burning something in the kettle). If you ever see green verdigris copper-oxide forming on a copper part of your still you should soak that part in vinegar solution overnight and then gently wipe the part down with a rag or use a very fine abrasive pad. You don't want that green oxide in you vapour path - it ain't good for you. Happy distilling
Hey thanks fella. No plans - just basic lengths. I do have a pdf you could print of the copper baffles for the reflux and product condensers, you are welcome to have if it makes life easier. Happy Distilling!
Hi,
Well after two years I finally finished making your 2” combination still. It took me so long to finish because of other commitments.
I tried vinegar for deep cleaning the copper still before using it, but found that a solution that George at Barley & Hops suggests did a better job for me and was much cheaper. (Perhaps vinegar is much more expensive here in the UK) For those interested it’s a Mix of 500ml of water, 500ml of Hydrogen Peroxide and 1oz of Citric acid. I soaked each part in the solution for about 15mins and the copper comes out like new. I used bottle brushes to remove any stubborn bits. I then assembled the still and ran it just with water for an hour.
My first distilling run was purely as a a pot still with 28 litres of sugar wash using a PID controller.
What can I say, being my first attempt at distilling I was really chuffed to bits with the outcome.
I really want to thank you for your help and support during the build and am looking forward to running the still in reflux.
I hope you are staying safe through these difficult times, all the best buddy and thanks again👍👍🍺🍺🍺
Heya Mel,
Congratulations on finishing off the rig!
Yeah these things end up taking longer than we think when you weave them into daily life.
You now get to look at everything in terms of whether it's fermentable or not like the rest of us lol.
Yep, the Citric/peroxide mix is great, I use it for cleaning newly made copper still parts - works very fast.
Hydrogen peroxide comes in varying concentrations from pool product (highly concentrated 30%-50%, cheapest way to buy) to pharmiceutical grade which is very dilute (3% - 6%) but very expensive.
I don't recommend things on the channel if I think it could potentially cause folks physical grief. I recomended vinegar in my vids just coz it also works, is readily available and won't be harming anyone if they screw up with it. 😊
Congrats again and Happy Distilling Mel !!
I would love to use a thermocouple or three with a microcontroller to modulate heat and cooling water as needed to maintain a specific vapor temp at the top of the column while maximizing heat input up to the "speed limit" imposed by the dephlegmator / column. Additionally, I live in an arid location and I want to come up with a way of creating a semi-closed cooling loop. Maybe run the water through a coil in the fridge or a really big coil exposed to open air or something... crazy how seeing one of these run just fills you with inspiration and ideas! Thanks again.
Hey fella, yeah I live offgrid so understand water issues.
I have a 1000L IBC I use as a cooling reservoir with a small circulating pump.
If it comes down to it I do have an old beer chiller I can run inline to help cool the condenser water.
Nice technique getting that vortex going when emptying the vinegar :)
Used to work with an open-throat beer chug, ... also works with 5 litres of vinegar, ... all these cross-overs we find woven into our lives! :o)
That's a VERY nice looking build you have there sir!
Hey thanks fella!
It gets bloody addictive doesn't it? :)
Got a 4 inch dephlegmator on the go now as well so I can turn my 4 inch pot still and flake stand into a larger bore reflux system.
Hi Angry! I built my parrot similarly to yours and when I ran the cleaning run today for the new still I barely had any distillate as all the steam came out the vent hole of the parrot. I ended up covering it so the vinegar would run through the rest of the parrot. I'm a little worried when I distill, that the alcohol will do the same. When I run the water through the deflag and condenser will that allow the distillate to liquify so I can catch it? Thanks again!
G'day Peter,
If you weren't running any cooling thru your condenser then yes, it will just end up blowing steam right the way thru.
The cooling liquid running thru' the jacket chills and condenses the vapor normally.
If you have alcohol vapor pissing out the top of the parrot vent when you run your still then you have some serious malfunction with your condenser and a danger of explosion.
The vent on top of the parrot is to relieve pressure and prevent hydrolicing which mess with you alcometer reading in the parrot. (causes the alcometer to bob).
Happy Distilling!
@@AngryParrotDistillery Much obliged! When I covered the vent hole it ran through fine so I'm assuming it should be fine when I distill!
How long is your column compared to your dephlegmator and is there a proper calculation. If I have a 36 inch X 3" pipe how long should I make the dephlegmator and how long for the condenser? Thanks!
G'day Pete,
The dephleg in this vid is quite a long one.
General rule of thumb I make the actual cooled area inside a dephleg' approx twice the diameter (maybe a bit more for a 2") - that's just what works for me - no calculation involved.
Column on this was 1metre long and actual cooling tube length in the dephlegmator was around 150mm-200mm from memory.
Reflux condenser in 3" diameter copper tube ... in my experience, - just the way I do them (not saying I'm necessarily right :) I wouldn't go any longer than 4"-6" long for the actual cooling chamber with the cooling tubes.
Product condenser ... 600mm long? - maybe longer if you are going to be doing real hot -n-fast stripping runs.
A big part of the condensers is the surface area they have to contact the vapor path, ... just make sure you get a good number of tubes in there without impeding the water flow.
Happy Distilling!
@@AngryParrotDistillery Many thanks!
@@AngryParrotDistillery Sorry, one last question, so 600mm long, I'm using 2 inch tubing for the condenser not 3 inch. Would that change the length?
G'day Peter, no problem :)
Never hurts to have more cooling.
For a 50L kettle you might want to run it out to 800mm tops if you were doing really full-on stripping runs.
I never managed to overwhelm a 600mm 2" condenser on a 50L kettle.
I even chained a 2" dephlegmator and 2" product condenser and used them on a 200L kettle for a slow run before - they were getting pushed but managed ok.
Again - main thing is having as much contact area between the cooling tubes and the vapor path as you can.
Happy Distilling
Hello, Hello from the Czech Republic. I wonder why the column is so tall, and there are rings in the rashing and some copper wool in the stainless steel? And I'd like to ask for the layout of the best hops you have now. Thanks to the PS in advance: you have decent videos
G'day Miloslav, I made the column 1 metre tall to try and get as good a purity as I can.
Very general rule of thumb in still-making is "height for purity and diameter for draw-off rate".
The still runs as a potstill or a reflux still, - without the dephegmator on top of the column it isn't nearly so tall.
If I'm running it in reflux mode, yes, I have copper mesh packing in the column (not the whole column tho').
Other thing, is that the still was sitting on a tall kettle and then on top of another platform with the gas-burner which makes it look A LOT taller than it is.
In a more recent video I have it mounted on a keg-kettle I built and it doesn't look as tall and would be easy to operate. I'm 6'2" and when it's on the shorter kettle now I can read the thermo-dials no problem. :o)
I don't understand what you are asking about hops? Do you mean the PDF baffle layouts? I can send those to an email address if you like.
I translate it in google :) I need a layout of the actual column you are using.
Hey there my friend - your English is still better than my Czech! lol
Give me your email address and I will email you a .PDF file. :o)
nice vid. little bit of wind today. the set up came out great. cant wait for you to do the vodka runs
New Zealand ... pretty much re-knowned for its wind in some places.
A mate that lives up the road on a ridgeline has a ventimeter on his garage and regularly clocks 160kmh winds.
I'm lucky I'm a little more sheltered where I am!
How does this go for distilling on reflux? Interested in any feedback you might have gotten from the buyer
G'day Gareth, I never got to run this properly in reflux, I'm a whisky/rum guy so I was running it in pot still config'.
I have a larger unit nowadays I run in reflux very occasionally (I don't do a lot of neutral) that is essentially a 4" scaled up version of this - I'll have to make and post some video's of that if you are interested. :o)
No feedback from the buyer, he was a nice enough guy, had never done any distilling/brewing and I got the impression he was buying the still as a curio art-piece for his house with a view to maybe doing some distilling way down the line later.
Gave him an open offer to walk him thru' his first brew/run but not heard back yet.
I used the money I got from the sale to buy a few more tools, copper tubes, some more junkyard finds - and feed me and my daughter. lol
NICE, how long will the clean last, do you have to run your product soon after or will it be good for week or weeks, and then after run, does it turn blue-green again soon????
G'day again JB,
The cleaning run is really a one-time deal for a new still.
It's sole purpose is to get rid of any residual flux and metal salts from the soldering/fabrication of the new still parts that you haven't gotten to with a brush of by soaking the parts in vinegar.
(Well, ... it's also a test of whether you still is leaking as well - before you are actually running flammable alcohol.)
It stops the salts/flux etc from ending up in your subsequent distillation runs.
You shouldn't need to do another cleaning run unless you notice your still becoming tainted with something in future - (maybe as a result of scorching/burning something in the kettle).
If you ever see green verdigris copper-oxide forming on a copper part of your still you should soak that part in vinegar solution overnight and then gently wipe the part down with a rag or use a very fine abrasive pad. You don't want that green oxide in you vapour path - it ain't good for you.
Happy distilling
wow this build is awesome, do you have the plans of the build ? I'm thinking about building one pretty close to this layout, thanks a lot
Hey thanks fella.
No plans - just basic lengths.
I do have a pdf you could print of the copper baffles for the reflux and product condensers, you are welcome to have if it makes life easier.
Happy Distilling!
that would be great, thanks a lot
No problem. Flick me a private message with your email or email me at "grant@angryparrot.co.nz"
Go with high temp silicone