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My 4" Crystal Dragon

edited July 2014 in Usage

After receiving my 4" Crystal Dragon, I am trying to see in what different ways I can use it, and how it will serve several purposes. I thought it might be of interest to friends here.

After the cleaning run, I assembled most of the parts I got and did a strip run from a 12% wheat germ wash.

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Getting azeotrope was easy. I am not sure 9 plates that I used is the way to go, but all worked fine.

After that I tried to see if I could compress tails with perforated plates, and stripped an apple wash with three. Using the Big Baby Dephlegmator for a bit of reflux.

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It was OK, but the ABV was more than I would like for a flavored product. So, I tried again with only two plates.

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This was better. By adjusting the water flow on the Big Baby Dephlegmator, I was able to prolong the ABV around 69%. Continued till the flow from parrot was reduced to drops, the ABV was around 50%.

I will continue the experiments and share.

Cheers.

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Comments

  • Dang Sadi you put together a heck of a rig 9 plates ... I was not expecting that but.. congratulations again on your set up... I do not think you will regret it in your lifetime...

    Happy Stillin,

    FS

  • Thanks @FullySilenced I am indeed happy and happy stillin to you and to all our friends too.

    Cheers

  • @Sadi looks really good! I also like more flavor in my spirits. :)

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • edited July 2014

    Yes @Sunshine , I am trying to simulate a pot still with a bit of reflux for that.

    Today, I used one perf and one bubble cap plate for a 35% apple wash sprit run.

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    It was very nice but the abv started at 90% which was more than I wanted. I need to check my math. :)

    I am getting used to using BigBaby for a bit of reflux and adjusting the abv of the run with it.. I have grown to like the idea very much...

    Will use the gin basket next. If I can control the abv to be at around 80% for a long time, that will be something..

    Cheers

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  • Nice going Sadi, ya will figure it out with some time behind you!

    It is what you make it!

  • Just a trickle of water.

    Don't spend any appreciable amount of time enriching the system by running in 100% reflux mode,,, if any at all.

    Think like a pot stiller.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • for that 'just a trickle', get a 1/8" brass or stainless needle valve and run in parallel to to the larger valve... I use one in conjunction with 3/8" ball valve for great control and instant full on to clear air from the condenser..

  • Thanks @bentstick , I am working on it.

    @Smaug said: Just a trickle of water.

    Don't spend any appreciable amount of time enriching the system by running in 100% reflux mode,,, if any at all.

    Think like a pot stiller.

    Thanks. That is what I figured also. That may be the reason that I started with 90%abv.

    @CothermanDistilling said: for that 'just a trickle', get a 1/8" brass or stainless needle valve and run in parallel to to the larger valve... I use one in conjunction with 3/8" ball valve for great control and instant full on to clear air from the condenser..

    that is a very good idea, I think I can find the valves.

    Cheers

  • edited August 2014

    Today, I used the alternative gin basket,

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    It is above the bigbaby dephlag and it works fine. I could adjust for 80% abv.

    However, I could not get a louche, which means not enough anethole extraction from the anise in the basket or there was not enough anise in it. I will try something else next time.

    Cheers.

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  • edited August 2014

    I tried putting anise on a perforated plate. All worked fine. I could easily adjust for 80% abv by adjusting the valve on the bigbaby dephlegmator. And I was able to get a louche.

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    I put a bit of stainless scrourer in the downcomer to avoid blocking it from anise seeds, worked nicely.

    Next I will try two perforated plates both having some anise on them, hoping for better extraction.

    Cheers.

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  • That is fantastic.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • Wow, cant believe I never thought of that, A+ for simplicity and A+ for modularity :)

  • Extraordinary! :-bd

    Your Place to be >>> www.StillDragon.org <<< Home of the StillDragon® Community Forum

  • wow! ^:)^

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • Want more extraction. Put the herbs on the downhill side of the vapor path. Keeps it out of your dunder. And in your product..

  • Thanks for the nice comments. :)

    @FullySilenced said: Want more extraction. Put the herbs on the downhill side of the vapor path. Keeps it out of your dunder. And in your product..

    The way this setup works kind of makes the plate with the anise seeds to work like a boiler/thumper. If you remember from my previous post about raki, the traditional way was to put anise in the boiler as much as 20% of the charge. Trying this setup, I tried to increase the abv of the anise boiling and also reduce the amount of anise used. This way there is not much overcooked smell in the low wines which was one of my aims. Using herbs on the downhill side has produced some raw smells and color in the product from past experience which I try to avoid now.

    This was a strip run and I separated the part that produces a louche for a sprit run which produces a better product. The rest will be put in the next strip like feints.

    Cheers.

  • That said then finding the magic quantity of herb over the perf plate seems to be what you will have to work out...

    How consistent is the herb quality... as in humidity, potency, freshness... as all this would combine to make a different product each run... If you are weighing out your herbs, humidity has a tremendous effect on quantity/volume... If your going by volume less effect...

  • Yes @FullySilenced you made it clear once more. :)

    Actually, I should have said "more extraction" instead of "better extraction"

    I try to keep things as consistent as possible but considering that my anise is more than a year old now, (we made a bulk purchase last year) you can guess how successful I am. :)

    It seems that increasing the quantity of anise little by little as I do consecutive runs, is what I should try for a start. I try to clean and rinse the seeds before use, so there is some humidity, which I think helps..

    Cheers.

  • edited August 2014

    I tried two plates with herbs on them today.

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    and a closer look,

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    Everything worked very well.

    More herbs, more extraction. :))

    Cheers.

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  • let us know if the herbs foul the boiler or carry over into the next batch... that is why the Carter Head gin basket is offset.... I am thinking if you run pure neutral through it and don't use the dephleg too much, it may not....

  • Yes some alcohol blended with herbs go down in to the boiler. I clean everything after every run, and I have not noticed any off smells in the boiler or the column yet, which may not be a good solution for bigger scale operations, but it works for me.

    This is a strip run and I put heads, tails and some of the hearts that don't produce a louche to the next strip run. I don't have much experience with herbs other than anise, and anise mostly smells good to me. I think I get more flavor and satisfactory extraction this way. And when I do a sprit run (I don't have to put anise in the boiler or in the column for sprit run this way differing from the traditional methods) the outcome is always well balanced, smells very nice and the taste of the fruit is clear, having satisfactory anethole in it.

    Cheers

  • @Sadi I think your doing a great Job on it Sadi and as long as your having fun and enjoying what you make... I say keep the party going... <:-P

    FS

  • @Sadi - I think a lot of others will like to try what you have done, thanks for documenting in this thread!

  • Thanks @FullySilenced and @CothermanDistilling :)

    I am simply trying to enjoy our hobby, and if I can share with friends from whom I learned a lot here and some fine sprits with friends down here, I am happy. <:-P

    Cheers

  • After looking at how Sadi used his perf plates as a means to hold the Herbs in the column... What might be needed is fitting like 2 ferrules butted together (making a really really short sanitary pipe section) them being just long enough for the clamps to clear each other...

    Then a gasket and filter disc could be used with a longer pipe section to hold the herbs for an infusion... the section could then be removed without spilling the spent herbs until you were ready to flush/wash them out...

    Just thinking this through but wanted to share the idea..

    FS

  • edited September 2014

    I tried putting some stainless scrubbers on top of the herbs. I am not getting anise seeds all over the column anymore :)

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    This helped me to keep the herb bed tight also.

    @FullySilenced I am following your thought with interest.

    Cheers.

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  • edited September 2014

    I also tried a sprit run of my previous strips for neutral, it worked very nicely.

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    I think I will try more perforated plates next time. I have grown to like the way they work.

    Cheers.

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  • the alternating bubble plates with perf plates seems very interesting. seems like in inherently keeps things as stable as a full bubble plate, at nearly half the cost...

  • @CothermanDistilling yes, the bubble plate ensures that there is enough liquid on the perforated plate below.

    Even with the insufficient power I got, I was able to get the perf plates working as they should this way.

    Cheers.

  • edited September 2014

    I did a sprit run of an apple wash. Tried one bubble cap plate. It worked very well. After the cuts, the flavour was good and the abv of the hearts was 73%.

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    To get some warm water, I fed the baby dephlegmator from the condenser with a T. I started with the dephegmator valve closed at the beginning and after the fores and heads warm the still, I opened the valve just a little trying to keep the temp at the dephlegmator as close to the vapour as possible. The still found its equilibrium on its own and I did not have to touch anything till close to tails and there induced more reflux trying to compress tails some more.

    I will try the same with a perforated plate next time, trying to see if I can compress tails more.

    Overall, I am very satisfied.

    Cheers.

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