The amount of people who probably paused video and read the comments after x.40. Were cranking it to 11 and giving a 120% effort. Outside of that, fantastic series George
Hi, George I just saw your first video on building an Electric still with the Enameled pot and that was one great Idea so I subscribed, and your channel is Awesome! thank you, George. LDL
All your info has been so helpful. I have ave been watching your videos since last night. At least a few hours worth. The fact you are willing to help people answer phone and emails is amazing.
George, I would love to see a parts list of everything you used. It looks like a great rig and I have debated getting myself one but dont know what to start with or what I can afford. Knowing what you use would be helpful. Thank you for bringing us along and sharing your vast experience and knowledge.
awesome video. I should really get my fuel alcohol permit. I don't drink anymore but I love the science and dabble in hobby chemistry. Ethanol is invaluable as a solvent and fuel. I loved your explanation on column packing. spot on.
Sir, Thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience,and enthusiasm! What you are giving away is worth years of trial and error! You are the BEST!! Thank you!!
Thank you for these great videos. This is a hobby I got into during a tough part of my life to help me keep my sanity as well to just give me something to look forward to and learn. Now I cant stop doing it, since i enjoy it so much!
Hi George, thank you so much for the education, I'm playing catch up man so I'm going through all of your videos.. this is like a 4 credit hour course, I just started this thing called a hobby, and I am so very thank that you are here to explain in explicit detail the entire operation from start to finish! After viewing an assortment of your lesson sessions (in no certain order) I'm feeling pretty confident! I've started out with a very small Pot Still of my own creation but i will be reviewing all other videos before i run. thank you David D.
George I would like to take this opportunity to thank you on changing the way i distill from this important video. I got the mile high 8 gallon 2 inch column sent here to Australia 10 years ago, and for 10 years I used it as a reflux still.
George, thanks for sharing all your knowledge, I love your episodes, all the way from South Africa. I am busy with your rum mash, can't wait for the end result, thanks, Ben Roos.
Love your videos George thanks for all you share I'm retire myself and use spirits to make tintures for my pain i have from a bone degenerative condition I live with ✌️🙏❤️💯
thank you for this.... i still go back and watch your videos from the beginning. can't learn enough about this hobby. i'm doing a cleaning run {copper pot} tonite so i can spend some quality time with my still tomorrow making Christmas cheer...lol God bless and hope you have a great Christmas
George, your videos are always great. Very informative, interesting and full of useful tips along the way. What you do is save me making the mistakes by trial and error. Keep em coming! Thank you, from England Uk 👍
Love all the videos! Just one point of clarification - the Yeast does not 'eat' the sugar, it 'breathes' the sugar (or more particularly the oxygen molecules off of the Sugar) and it exhales CO2(the bubbles during fermentation). By stealing the Oxygen off the sugar it is turned into Ethyl Alcohol. C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO. That is why we use airlocks, to force the yeast to find another source of oxygen once the environment turns aerobic. Thanks again for all the videos - very well put together!
Fun fact, I made a sugar mash and didn't get around it to process it further for almost a year and half later (didn't had a distiller) , it was still in the fermenting vessel and I did keep the seal topped off most of the time. I didn't turn to vinegar, did have to remove a lot of the heads and tails to make it drinkable though.
I have been watching your videos for a very long time and I really appreciate your where of it all. I do have many questions and I don"t think I would look anywhere first but to go to your site. thank you
Your videos are great! I have been learning a lot, and am excited about giving it a go. I am going to tell my friends about you so they can understand my enthusiasm. Thank you sincerely perry potter " shine on"
Just trying to satisfy and serve everyone. We often forget that the metric system is used throughout the world as opposed to the imperial system the US is stuck on.
I’m running a all copper still with a 3 gallon thumper tonight. So far I have ran two gallons of 170 proof. Doing a spirit run for clarification purposes lol iv done stripping runs all week to make enough for Christmas lol. Merry Christmas George hope the weather is nice down in Texas, cold as shit up in Nebraska here same as usual.
Usually I distil the fruit, without adding sugar, it has a low alcohol content. I have a self-built column that I can use as pot-still and reflux. What do you think is the best way to proceed? Double distillation with "pot-still", column with packaging without reflux? With a low ABV I can not get enough products from a single run, and I do not see for the maximum flavor from the fruit. I accept your advice!
Hey George Thanks for the awesome videos. 👍 Still haven't gotten my still yet but doing my research whit videos like yours. But what troubles me most is the poisonous part at first, I had a little trouble seeing the difference in the flames to identify the methanol from the ethanol. And thanks for doing the math both in Fahrenheit and Celsius 👌
if you are doing a fruit wash then discard the first few hundred mls.... if you are doing a sugar wash... then you can discard a little less... just catch your distillate into wee jars... (i use 200ml) and then make careful cuts... too much heads and you will get a headache the next morn... too much tails and you will find the stools a little loose the next morn. cut hard and redistill the cut bits for vodka... once again cut hard and dump the cuts from this run.
As long as you raise your still temperature to about 166°F , and hold it about 15 minutes, and discard what you have caught to that point, you will have removed the foreshots and heads and take the temperature up into the 170's F . Catch everything until the tails start coming off. You will be able to tell relatively easy, as the smell and taste will start to change noticeably. Usually I catch up to 200° F and toss anything after that. Hope that helps
28K subscribers about a year ago and over 53K today. Great job George! I've learned a great deal from you in the last year and forward your info far and wide. Thank you and Happy New Year!. PS - I've watched most of your videos at least 5 times.
George, I appreciate how well you communicate this hobby on your channel. Your archives are my 'goto' when I need to refresh my memory. Was so happy to see you add this latest "Christmas present" to your subscribers. Perfect timing for me. Cheers and Happy New year
Reflux if often associated with a specific type of still but it is happens in all stills once vapor pressure is achieved. Copper packing, rachig rings, or water jackets, all induce more reflux. The vapor condenses on the surface, trickles back down, then re-vaporizes over and over. It is not just for vodka and gin. One high reflux run through a packed collumn is equivalent to 1.5 or 2 runs on a pure vapor pot still. A plated collumn with proper vapor management is optimum since the reflux is completely controlled and thus flavor vs. purity is easier to control. The key with a reflux collumn is to run slow for flavor and fast for proof. A pot still has reflux too, just very limited since it is primarily vapor flow. Reflux happens on any still, it's just the level of separation the substrate gives. A plated collumn gives the best separation because levels of reflux is happening on each plate to such precision that commercial distilleries with huge collumns will actually choose the plate and valve it to get the desired purity at a specific level of reflux, and of course they can control where that happens based on real-time sampling so they can quickly adjust to the optimum take-off plate. Dealing with 5,000 gallons hot wash coming from a large stripping collumn is, by necessity, a highly controlled situation where the correct plate is not only important for flavor, but crucial to not waste thousands of gallons that are full of heads. This even gets down to such highly calibrated reflux and separation that it can actually be heads coming off of lower plates, hearts off mid to higher plates, and tails coming off of the higher vapor plates, all at the same time. That has to happen in that quantity of heated wash. That's why small batch distilling allows so much better separation. On a plated collumn still the higher plates are doing to give you the higher percentages. Even home plated collumn systems can have take-off valves to run that particular vapor up to take off.
If George was less chatty it would make the video down to around 15 minutes ... Thanks anyway for sharing your experience. Sometimes, your statements are a bit questionable though. A professional column with different plates, sight glasses and a dephlegmator will produce tasteful spirits like the famous German Williams pear while a 3 inches packed column can make a neutral vodka. Best material, according to experts, remains copper, but myself, I'm using stainless steel too. A matter of budget and availability of parts. I have a 70 litres boiler with a 3 inches column, height can be adjusted by adding more modules, ceiling is the limit, a Reflux coil (vapour management) plus a Liebig condenser, and a parrot (copper). I can add a gin basket too, use it as a pot still... Packing material, stainless steel pot scrubbers and like you, some copper mesh. My next project, a six-inch column with plates, bubblers and sight glasses, also stainless steel (in 2022).
Any pennies older than 1982 are 95% copper and 5% zinc. George, I have watched many of your videos and today I subscribed. I have never distilled but have been wanting to for awhile. I have learned a lot from your videos and will be saving the ones that I can learn the basics. I do have one question, how much grain or fruit do I use to make 5 gallon of beer?
If I New what I no now I would have bought a 3inch, but my 2inch does a great job.. I would sale, lots of accessories sight glass and it take me about 5 hrs for run
and reflux distilling is kind of boring but now I am making up different mashes and making nice brandy. thanks so so much for that one piece in this good video about doing the one run and its distilled twice. :)
I agree. I've left a mash, still under air lock, for 4-6 months with no negative effect. In fact it was my best product after passing it through the still.
Yes you have to think about all these people saying it will go bad,, they are getting there info from ( the drama tv show moonshiners ) and yes I might cold see theirs going bad, have you looked close at the containers, they are mashing in,, I noticed the Mark&Digger one the a few weeks ago and it was covered with dirt & fungus or mold around the opening where they pour into it, yes if you have filth close to your mash I could see contamination, These people watching don't understand this is all fake, first if after 8 or more seasons, the ATF would have all of them in prison,, after the first season everyone of those shiners would have so many ATF people following them they would never be able to make the second season of filming..
@@jbrunson1949 I tried to watch Moonshiners once. when the proof of the shine wasn't high enough they just dumped sugar into the still. Never watched another. How phony can you get
Thank you for the great videos. I am about to do my first ever of type of distilling. I am using peaches from my very own peach trees. They are super sweet, to the point they are almost unable to eat. On the breaker subject, they are more like a thermocouple, but instead of producing voltage when heated they obviously trip( open the circuit) . Any time you have dissimilar metals electrically connected you produce a very small voltage or in the case of a breaker it makes the internal spring expand . Which is what trips the switch ( breaker). Ok, guess I am bragging, I will quit now.😀
Can one use copper BB's?? It would seem they would fill the tubes in a dephlegmator and be easy to remove, of corse using a screen at the bottom or top. I only ask this as an option if you do not want to add/or do not have an empty tube with added copper mesh in it. Thanks for you time George, learning so much.
I am totally a self taught distiller, stuff was not available on the 'Net when I started. Biggest hurdle was the most basic...your still is a low pressure device, I over thought this for years, before I realized that the still is open to atmosphere on one end; duh! I was trying to build a bomb proof devise . On to the math; nope, ain't 'gonna do it, did not do it in grade school, junior high, high school; and "higher education". Grades suffered, had to do it over in college...hate math. Conversely, I can do all of this in my head, got that weird math thing, if I absolutely have to.....Good stuff starts around 173, I have always stopped at 200 or so, just from lack of knowledge.Temperature getting hard to control, proof dropping, 101 stuff. You know what a given batch will produce, heads, tails, look at it. The information you share is invaluable, total top shelf stuff, when in doubt, run it again, don't be lazy. Thank You so much for sharing.
an idea to look at instead of using ice is to use those blue ice packs or ones you cna make on your own as well. for then u can refreeze them and reuse and will last a long time in your worm barrel .
Calculating Expected Output From Still Gal = Gallons of Wash WABV = Wash ABV as a decimal, for example 15% = 0.15 DABV = Distilled ABV as a decimal, for example 90% = 0.90 Formula Gallons of 90% Alcohol = (Gal)(WABV)(DABV)+(1-DABV)(Gal)(WABV)(DABV) Example: For 5 Gallon Wash at 15% ABV and a Distilled output of 90% ABV. Gal of 90% Alcohol = (5 Gal)(0.15 WABV)(0.90 DABV)+(1 - 0.90DABV)(Gal)(0.15 WABV)(0.90 DABV) = 0.7425 Gallons
Do I need to run a vinegar wash through a new stainless steel reflux still before I can make a real run? Thank you so much for any info I am just learning your channel has been very informative.
What's your take on induction burner I find I have more control with temperature . Can adjust it fast up or down. And it's a very precise. Heat. Have you tried it
Great videos & intuitive insight into calculations for a final volume of product expected! It appears to be a miscalculation, however, by expecting to have gained more than .2 water of the 76.8oz that you'd just acknowledged was 160 proof (80% alcohol)... which added together would be 2.88 qts or 92.16 oz instead of 107.52... If, unless I missed the idea completely!
I felt it was too much work in pot stilling as it had to be distilled twice so i never tried it. But when I saw this video about only using 2 rolls of copper and doing the one run and it being distilled twice :) I have been running the still in pot mode now for 4 or 5 months and wow its so much better.
George sorry for the late question, my column is 4" and 22 inches high from the bottom to the top of the 90 degree turn.Do you think I can add 2 rolls of copper and will it be double distilled? The reason I ask is because of the height, I only have 22" to the top of the turn.
Hey George I bought a Vevor 9.6 gallon 3 pot still set up and I have tried 2 runs and have failed. one potaot vodka and one strawberry mash. I made and fermented the mash as directed in the book I got with the still and looking at your videos. I did not use what they call a thump keg because by watching your videos I see it is really a slobber box and I do not think I need it. I used a distillers cheat sheet that I found online. It says foreshots start at 175 degrees, heads start at 176 to 196 degrees, hearts start at 196 to 203 degrees, and tails start at 204 to 208 degrees. I use the themometer that came with the still and is screwed into the lid. I see you call out differenr tempertures than I have been using. Both runs was at about 30 proof and would not burn in the spoon test. Do you think if I use your tempertures I will get better results? This set up the cook pot will sit on my kitchen stove and I get cooling water from my sink, so this is easy to use. I also wash everything that touches the mash with Star San. I am a green as grass rookie at this and need all the help I can get.
you can always distil out the water after you've made the final cut then use the remaining liquid as a flavour for the high proof alcohol when you use a reflux still. if the concentrated remains in the still taste any good that is
George, can you make us a video giving data points for an 8 gal vs 15 gal, 2" vs 3", pot vs reflux? I'm thinking a 3" running reflux on a 15 gal with 10 -11 gal of wash would run in about the same time as a 2" 6 gal batch... How wrong am I? Since you should have the data points in your head, I'd be interested in you thoughts on the subject. Might influence my future purchases... Just looking for the best bang for my buck!
This sounds crazy to a semi-pro beer brewer....I will take the mash and keep it at 115 degrees F for 48 hours, totally void of fresh air, get the pH down to 4.3, and this is a great Berliner Weisse. What was your pH after 2-3 months? I assume you kept ALL oxygen away from your mash? Maybe this is how a wonderful Sour-Mash whiskey is made! I did not get there in distilling yet....
George, thanks for the videos. Question about filtering, does running a flavored spirit such as bourbon through a filter strip the flavor? I've read it both ways. Thanks
Hey buddy.... I say buddy because after watching all the videos I feel like we are buddies... I live in Cascade locks Oregon home of the bridge of the gods.. a few months ago I I just happened to tell my wife that I wouldn't mind getting a steal and playing around with it and by a mistake she accidentally bought me two off the internet one with a thumper cake one without both pot stills.."you gotta start somewhere". But knowing absolutely nothing about the craft or hobby I turn to TH-cam watch the variety a videos from all over as I'm sure you're aware of. It's Christmas night and the family is gone to bed and I'm going to make a second run on some liquor I made with 30 lb of honeycrisp apples... And as I'm watching your video for some last minute tips and pointers,
Question about calculation: if i have 12 gallons of mash at 10% abv and i collect at 91-94% ABV how much water will i be getting in there? How much product should i keep?
8/5 23 hi George, I have a sugar mash I made about 3 months ago, it's been air locked . I've used all but 10 gals. I think it's still OK. But it's in a 50 gal plastic drum maybe ok ??
Hi George - G’day from Australia! Thanks for the videos - best on TH-cam- please keep them coming! A quick question - putting the copper mesh in the column causes some reflux - won’t that strip out the flavours?
Please correct me if I'm wrong George but at the 25 minute mark you state that you need to multiply 76.8 by .40 to account for the amount of water. Shouldn't that be by .20 since we are collecting approximately .80 alcohol?
Yeah, probably so. My mind works slow sometimes. This is just a method to determine a ball park figure of collection volume. It is fairly accurate if you use the right numbers (smile)
Yes. Cryptoponics has a system he has perfected using something very similar to what you describe on a small scale. He reports that it works very efficiently.
The amount of people who probably paused video and read the comments after x.40.
Were cranking it to 11 and giving a 120% effort. Outside of that, fantastic series George
Hi, George I just saw your first video on building an Electric still with the Enameled pot and that was one great Idea so I subscribed, and your channel is Awesome! thank you, George. LDL
Always learn from you, thanks for taking the time of sharing your knowledge!
All your info has been so helpful. I have ave been watching your videos since last night. At least a few hours worth.
The fact you are willing to help people answer phone and emails is amazing.
Love it. Very informative. Thank you
George, I would love to see a parts list of everything you used. It looks like a great rig and I have debated getting myself one but dont know what to start with or what I can afford. Knowing what you use would be helpful. Thank you for bringing us along and sharing your vast experience and knowledge.
Brilliant. Informative and entertaining.
Excellent clarity in education George ! Thank You...
Love your work George. Lots of valuable and easily understandable information provided by you across all of your videos. Thanks and keep it up.
Great information, thanks so much for helping us learn this hobby
Great information George!! Many thanks to you!! So many questions and superstitions. So good to hear the real truths. Happy distilling!!🌷
Wow, brilliant series, thanks. Keep them coming.
Love your videos, George. Watching gives me confidence. Thanks, keep it up
awesome video. I should really get my fuel alcohol permit. I don't drink anymore but I love the science and dabble in hobby chemistry. Ethanol is invaluable as a solvent and fuel. I loved your explanation on column packing. spot on.
Plenty of great info. Thanks
Sir, Thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience,and enthusiasm! What you are giving away is worth years of trial and error! You are the BEST!! Thank you!!
Appreciate the comment. We'll keep em coming.
Thank you for these great videos. This is a hobby I got into during a tough part of my life to help me keep my sanity as well to just give me something to look forward to and learn. Now I cant stop doing it, since i enjoy it so much!
Hi George, thank you so much for the education, I'm playing catch up man so I'm going through all of your videos.. this is like a 4 credit hour course, I just started this thing called a hobby, and I am so very thank that you are here to explain in explicit detail the entire operation from start to finish!
After viewing an assortment of your lesson sessions (in no certain order) I'm feeling pretty confident!
I've started out with a very small Pot Still of my own creation but i will be reviewing all other videos before i run.
thank you
David D.
I've learned so much from your videos, thank you! Shine on!
Thanks for this, you have my complete and undivided attention. Bring on all the rest, cant wait.
Will post part 2 and 3 today.
Hi George I am preparing to make some apple brandy by first making cider, I could not have done this without you . So big thank you
Most informative. Thanks for doing a great job in educating us
Great video, George. As always.
All the showes are the best. If you take a look around the internet boreing. Thanks George !
Can’t get enough of these videos, love this hobby it has saved my sanity!
Excellent and Thanks
Exactly....saves my marriage. Gives incentive to agree with my wife and not be tempted to debate her.
George I would like to take this opportunity to thank you on changing the way i distill from this important video.
I got the mile high 8 gallon 2 inch column sent here to Australia 10 years ago, and for 10 years I used it as a reflux still.
George, thanks for sharing all your knowledge, I love your episodes, all the way from South Africa. I am busy with your rum mash, can't wait for the end result, thanks, Ben Roos.
Love your videos George thanks for all you share I'm retire myself and use spirits to make tintures for my pain i have from a bone degenerative condition I live with ✌️🙏❤️💯
This was a very informative video... Thank you
thank you for this.... i still go back and watch your videos from the beginning. can't learn enough about this hobby.
i'm doing a cleaning run {copper pot} tonite so i can spend some quality time with my still tomorrow making Christmas cheer...lol God bless and hope you have a great Christmas
George, your videos are always great. Very informative, interesting and full of useful tips along the way. What you do is save me making the mistakes by trial and error. Keep em coming! Thank you, from England Uk 👍
it's a pleasure knowing that these are helpful.
Cheers
George
Great info thank you .
Love all the videos! Just one point of clarification - the Yeast does not 'eat' the sugar, it 'breathes' the sugar (or more particularly the oxygen molecules off of the Sugar) and it exhales CO2(the bubbles during fermentation). By stealing the Oxygen off the sugar it is turned into Ethyl Alcohol. C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO. That is why we use airlocks, to force the yeast to find another source of oxygen once the environment turns aerobic. Thanks again for all the videos - very well put together!
Fun fact, I made a sugar mash and didn't get around it to process it further for almost a year and half later (didn't had a distiller) , it was still in the fermenting vessel and I did keep the seal topped off most of the time. I didn't turn to vinegar, did have to remove a lot of the heads and tails to make it drinkable though.
I have been watching your videos for a very long time and I really appreciate your where of it all. I do have many questions and I don"t think I would look anywhere first but to go to your site. thank you
Love your information
George
Thanks George. Learning soooo much.
Your videos are great! I have been learning a lot, and am excited about giving it a go. I am going to tell my friends about you so they can understand my enthusiasm. Thank you sincerely perry potter " shine on"
Another fantastic video :-)
Glad you enjoyed it
George, very new to this but man, you have given me a lot of experience... next, time to apply it. 👍
your awesome!
hello George we really enjoy your videos .i am just starting to get into the art of distilling as a kinda hobby .
This guy is AWESOME!!!
Thanks for adding the liters too, really helps :)
Just trying to satisfy and serve everyone. We often forget that the metric system is used throughout the world as opposed to the imperial system the US is stuck on.
I’m running a all copper still with a 3 gallon thumper tonight. So far I have ran two gallons of 170 proof. Doing a spirit run for clarification purposes lol iv done stripping runs all week to make enough for Christmas lol. Merry Christmas George hope the weather is nice down in Texas, cold as shit up in Nebraska here same as usual.
Happy holidays no doubt. Thanks
Happy distilling
George
Usually I distil the fruit, without adding sugar, it has a low alcohol content. I have a self-built column that I can use as pot-still and reflux. What do you think is the best way to proceed? Double distillation with "pot-still", column with packaging without reflux? With a low ABV I can not get enough products from a single run, and I do not see for the maximum flavor from the fruit. I accept your advice!
Hey George
Thanks for the awesome videos. 👍
Still haven't gotten my still yet but doing my research whit videos like yours.
But what troubles me most is the poisonous part at first, I had a little trouble seeing the difference in the flames to identify the methanol from the ethanol. And thanks for doing the math both in Fahrenheit and Celsius 👌
if you are doing a fruit wash then discard the first few hundred mls.... if you are doing a sugar wash... then you can discard a little less... just catch your distillate into wee jars... (i use 200ml) and then make careful cuts... too much heads and you will get a headache the next morn... too much tails and you will find the stools a little loose the next morn. cut hard and redistill the cut bits for vodka... once again cut hard and dump the cuts from this run.
As long as you raise your still temperature to about 166°F , and hold it about 15 minutes, and discard what you have caught to that point, you will have removed the foreshots and heads and take the temperature up into the 170's F . Catch everything until the tails start coming off. You will be able to tell relatively easy, as the smell and taste will start to change noticeably. Usually I catch up to 200° F and toss anything after that. Hope that helps
Thank you George!
28K subscribers about a year ago and over 53K today. Great job George! I've learned a great deal from you in the last year and forward your info far and wide. Thank you and Happy New Year!. PS - I've watched most of your videos at least 5 times.
Awesome. Thanks
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I'm in the market for a small barrel or 2 George. Do you have one to recommend?
@@buggyridge Try
www.barrelsonline.com/
George, I appreciate how well you communicate this hobby on your channel. Your archives are my 'goto' when I need to refresh my memory. Was so happy to see you add this latest "Christmas present" to your subscribers. Perfect timing for me. Cheers and Happy New year
Same to you. Thanks
Reflux if often associated with a specific type of still but it is happens in all stills once vapor pressure is achieved. Copper packing, rachig rings, or water jackets, all induce more reflux. The vapor condenses on the surface, trickles back down, then re-vaporizes over and over. It is not just for vodka and gin. One high reflux run through a packed collumn is equivalent to 1.5 or 2 runs on a pure vapor pot still. A plated collumn with proper vapor management is optimum since the reflux is completely controlled and thus flavor vs. purity is easier to control. The key with a reflux collumn is to run slow for flavor and fast for proof. A pot still has reflux too, just very limited since it is primarily vapor flow. Reflux happens on any still, it's just the level of separation the substrate gives. A plated collumn gives the best separation because levels of reflux is happening on each plate to such precision that commercial distilleries with huge collumns will actually choose the plate and valve it to get the desired purity at a specific level of reflux, and of course they can control where that happens based on real-time sampling so they can quickly adjust to the optimum take-off plate. Dealing with 5,000 gallons hot wash coming from a large stripping collumn is, by necessity, a highly controlled situation where the correct plate is not only important for flavor, but crucial to not waste thousands of gallons that are full of heads. This even gets down to such highly calibrated reflux and separation that it can actually be heads coming off of lower plates, hearts off mid to higher plates, and tails coming off of the higher vapor plates, all at the same time. That has to happen in that quantity of heated wash. That's why small batch distilling allows so much better separation. On a plated collumn still the higher plates are doing to give you the higher percentages. Even home plated collumn systems can have take-off valves to run that particular vapor up to take off.
If George was less chatty it would make the video down to around 15 minutes ... Thanks anyway for sharing your experience. Sometimes, your statements are a bit questionable though. A professional column with different plates, sight glasses and a dephlegmator will produce tasteful spirits like the famous German Williams pear while a 3 inches packed column can make a neutral vodka.
Best material, according to experts, remains copper, but myself, I'm using stainless steel too. A matter of budget and availability of parts. I have a 70 litres boiler with a 3 inches column, height can be adjusted by adding more modules, ceiling is the limit, a Reflux coil (vapour management) plus a Liebig condenser, and a parrot (copper). I can add a gin basket too, use it as a pot still... Packing material, stainless steel pot scrubbers and like you, some copper mesh. My next project, a six-inch column with plates, bubblers and sight glasses, also stainless steel (in 2022).
Perfect
Thanks George for all the info.
Any time!
The people next door have a cool neighbor..😉 some people have all the luck.
I really appreciate the calculation.
Any pennies older than 1982 are 95% copper and 5% zinc. George, I have watched many of your videos and today I subscribed. I have never distilled but have been wanting to for awhile. I have learned a lot from your videos and will be saving the ones that I can learn the basics. I do have one question, how much grain or fruit do I use to make 5 gallon of beer?
I have a 4in plate still with 5 plates I get so much flavor I make Bourbon no problem its extremely flavorful and 180+proof
If I New what I no now I would have bought a 3inch, but my 2inch does a great job.. I would sale, lots of accessories sight glass and it take me about 5 hrs for run
and reflux distilling is kind of boring but now I am making up different mashes and making nice brandy. thanks so so much for that one piece in this good video about doing the one run and its distilled twice. :)
I agree.
I've left a mash, still under air lock, for 4-6 months with no negative effect.
In fact it was my best product after passing it through the still.
Yes you have to think about all these people saying it will go bad,, they are getting there info from ( the drama tv show moonshiners ) and yes I might cold see theirs going bad, have you looked close at the containers, they are mashing in,, I noticed the Mark&Digger one the a few weeks ago and it was covered with dirt & fungus or mold around the opening where they pour into it, yes if you have filth close to your mash I could see contamination, These people watching don't understand this is all fake, first if after 8 or more seasons, the ATF would have all of them in prison,, after the first season everyone of those shiners would have so many ATF people following them they would never be able to make the second season of filming..
@@jbrunson1949 I tried to watch Moonshiners once. when the proof of the shine wasn't high enough they just dumped sugar into the still. Never watched another. How phony can you get
Corn sugar vs. white table sugar, is one better than the other? All comments welcome. Excellent piece, thank you very much.
Thanks !!
Thanks for helping
Thank you for the great videos. I am about to do my first ever of type of distilling. I am using peaches from my very own peach trees. They are super sweet, to the point they are almost unable to eat.
On the breaker subject, they are more like a thermocouple, but instead of producing voltage when heated they obviously trip( open the circuit) . Any time you have dissimilar metals electrically connected you produce a very small voltage or in the case of a breaker it makes the internal spring expand . Which is what trips the switch ( breaker). Ok, guess I am bragging, I will quit now.😀
Can one use copper BB's?? It would seem they would fill the tubes in a dephlegmator and be easy to remove, of corse using a screen at the bottom or top. I only ask this as an option if you do not want to add/or do not have an empty tube with added copper mesh in it. Thanks for you time George, learning so much.
I am totally a self taught distiller, stuff was not available on the 'Net when I started. Biggest hurdle was the most basic...your still is a low pressure device, I over thought this for years, before I realized that the still is open to atmosphere on one end; duh! I was trying to build a bomb proof devise . On to the math; nope, ain't 'gonna do it, did not do it in grade school, junior high, high school; and "higher education". Grades suffered, had to do it over in college...hate math. Conversely, I can do all of this in my head, got that weird math thing, if I absolutely have to.....Good stuff starts around 173, I have always stopped at 200 or so, just from lack of knowledge.Temperature getting hard to control, proof dropping, 101 stuff. You know what a given batch will produce, heads, tails, look at it. The information you share is invaluable, total top shelf stuff, when in doubt, run it again, don't be lazy. Thank You so much for sharing.
Awesome
an idea to look at instead of using ice is to use those blue ice packs or ones you cna make on your own as well. for then u can refreeze them and reuse and will last a long time in your worm barrel .
this man knows his stuff
Calculating Expected Output From Still
Gal = Gallons of Wash
WABV = Wash ABV as a decimal, for example 15% = 0.15
DABV = Distilled ABV as a decimal, for example 90% = 0.90
Formula
Gallons of 90% Alcohol = (Gal)(WABV)(DABV)+(1-DABV)(Gal)(WABV)(DABV)
Example: For 5 Gallon Wash at 15% ABV and a Distilled output of 90% ABV.
Gal of 90% Alcohol = (5 Gal)(0.15 WABV)(0.90 DABV)+(1 - 0.90DABV)(Gal)(0.15 WABV)(0.90 DABV) = 0.7425 Gallons
Do I need to run a vinegar wash through a new stainless steel reflux still before I can make a real run? Thank you so much for any info I am just learning your channel has been very informative.
What's your take on induction burner I find I have more control with temperature . Can adjust it fast up or down. And it's a very precise. Heat. Have you tried it
Thank You George :) All way nice to come back and see you :)
Happy distilling
George
Great videos & intuitive insight into calculations for a final volume of product expected! It appears to be a miscalculation, however, by expecting to have gained more than .2 water of the 76.8oz that you'd just acknowledged was 160 proof (80% alcohol)... which added together would be 2.88 qts or 92.16 oz instead of 107.52... If, unless I missed the idea completely!
I had the same problem trying to justify the volumes and proofs.
Yeah he did that wrong
I felt it was too much work in pot stilling as it had to be distilled twice so i never tried it. But when I saw this video about only using 2 rolls of copper and doing the one run and it being distilled twice :) I have been running the still in pot mode now for 4 or 5 months and wow its so much better.
George sorry for the late question, my column is 4" and 22 inches high from the bottom to the top of the 90 degree turn.Do you think I can add 2 rolls of copper and will it be double distilled? The reason I ask is because of the height, I only have 22" to the top of the turn.
Thanks George
Hey George I bought a Vevor 9.6 gallon 3 pot still set up and I have tried 2 runs and have failed. one potaot vodka and one strawberry mash. I made and fermented the mash as directed in the book I got with the still and looking at your videos. I did not use what they call a thump keg because by watching your videos I see it is really a slobber box and I do not think I need it. I used a distillers cheat sheet that I found online. It says foreshots start at 175 degrees, heads start at 176 to 196 degrees, hearts start at 196 to 203 degrees, and tails start at 204 to 208 degrees. I use the themometer that came with the still and is screwed into the lid. I see you call out differenr tempertures than I have been using. Both runs was at about 30 proof and would not burn in the spoon test. Do you think if I use your tempertures I will get better results?
This set up the cook pot will sit on my kitchen stove and I get cooling water from my sink, so this is easy to use. I also wash everything that touches the mash with Star San. I am a green as grass rookie at this and need all the help I can get.
Just came up with a beer keg to convert into a pot. Where can I get the glass or stainless 2" attachment to complete my project?
you can always distil out the water after you've made the final cut then use the remaining liquid as a flavour for the high proof alcohol when you use a reflux still. if the concentrated remains in the still taste any good that is
Good idea
Lol sitting for 6 months.... I've had stuff sitting around for over 2 years before I got to it and it was perfectly fine
George, can you make us a video giving data points for an 8 gal vs 15 gal, 2" vs 3", pot vs reflux? I'm thinking a 3" running reflux on a 15 gal with 10 -11 gal of wash would run in about the same time as a 2" 6 gal batch... How wrong am I? Since you should have the data points in your head, I'd be interested in you thoughts on the subject. Might influence my future purchases... Just looking for the best bang for my buck!
We new what you meant George, on the fuse/breaker thing.
about how much is a complete set up for the mighty mini, with specific gravity, and heater and controler,and temp guage
just a roun figure
I've had mash sitting for 2-3 months now, and it's still good.
Run it
@@richardzehrung7088 have no use for it right now.
This sounds crazy to a semi-pro beer brewer....I will take the mash and keep it at 115 degrees F for 48 hours, totally void of fresh air, get the pH down to 4.3, and this is a great Berliner Weisse. What was your pH after 2-3 months? I assume you kept ALL oxygen away from your mash? Maybe this is how a wonderful Sour-Mash whiskey is made! I did not get there in distilling yet....
The 3" column at the top goes to what size tubing to be cooled?
👍
do you have a video on how to use those reflux tubes? I'm making fuel.
Hey George when’s the next instalment of the mead making arriving loving all your posts
We are waiting until after the holidays for the acid tests.
This will be a good video.
George
George, thanks for the videos. Question about filtering, does running a flavored spirit such as bourbon through a filter strip the flavor? I've read it both ways. Thanks
No necessarily. The natural flavors remain when filtered but anything added after distillation may be stripped if you filter it.
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I think you just hurt my head(😂)
Hi George I’m back with you for review
Hey buddy.... I say buddy because after watching all the videos I feel like we are buddies... I live in Cascade locks Oregon home of the bridge of the gods.. a few months ago I I just happened to tell my wife that I wouldn't mind getting a steal and playing around with it and by a mistake she accidentally bought me two off the internet one with a thumper cake one without both pot stills.."you gotta start somewhere". But knowing absolutely nothing about the craft or hobby I turn to TH-cam watch the variety a videos from all over as I'm sure you're aware of. It's Christmas night and the family is gone to bed and I'm going to make a second run on some liquor I made with 30 lb of honeycrisp apples... And as I'm watching your video for some last minute tips and pointers,
Question about calculation: if i have 12 gallons of mash at 10% abv and i collect at 91-94% ABV how much water will i be getting in there? How much product should i keep?
We always used copper or stainless for a still
8/5 23 hi George, I have a sugar mash I made about 3 months ago, it's been air locked . I've used all but 10 gals. I think it's still OK. But it's in a 50 gal plastic drum maybe ok ??
George, I work in the HVAC industry if you wrap it backwards (sticky side out) it makes that insulation much easier to remove. God bless.
Thanks
can i use stainless scrubbing pads in my column since i don't have copper pads?
Hi George - G’day from Australia! Thanks for the videos - best on TH-cam- please keep them coming! A quick question - putting the copper mesh in the column causes some reflux - won’t that strip out the flavours?
Not at all. It not truly a reflux action just a short stopping stage for the vapors as they rise.
Thanks
G-day
Thanks George - have a great Christmas!
Please correct me if I'm wrong George but at the 25 minute mark you state that you need to multiply 76.8 by .40 to account for the amount of water. Shouldn't that be by .20 since we are collecting approximately .80 alcohol?
Yeah, probably so. My mind works slow sometimes. This is just a method to determine a ball park figure of collection volume. It is fairly accurate if you use the right numbers (smile)
Would it cool down the condenser water enough if you ran it through a radiator with a fan on it? Something like a car radiator.
Yes. Cryptoponics has a system he has perfected using something very similar to what you describe on a small scale. He reports that it works very efficiently.