Welcome!
Be part of our community & join our international next generation forum now!
Categories
In this Discussion
- albtraum November 2014
- AZZA1984 July 2018
- brewsmith September 2014
- captainshooch October 2015
- CothermanDistilling August 2018
- FloridaCracker August 2018
- FullySilenced November 2015
- GD50 July 2018
- grim July 2018
- jbierling July 2018
- jonno October 2014
- Jung September 2014
- Kapea November 2015
- Kill_Devil_Spirit_Co December 2015
- Law_Of_Ohms November 2014
- Lloyd October 2014
- Manofconstantsorrow November 2014
- Pa_bon March 2018
- popcorn November 2015
- punkin July 2018
- richard August 2018
- Smaug July 2018
- Sunshine September 2014
- TheMechWarrior July 2018
- Unsensibel November 2015
Comments
not column, just pot, will try to max out a rum column run next week...
Ah...
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
Added 6 plates today and ran rum low wines with 30 plates and a new plumbing setup. needs some tweaks, but getting the product we want...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xx5Mg7DOx8
30 plates! Impressive. How did it taste?
pretty much the same, was able to run at a bit higher power with a bit less reflux. and 2 degree F higher boiler temp at finish before tails cam in hard...
3 x 4500W and PID set to 60c internal RC temp... 100gal of 80 proof still charge, 5 gal fores dumped, 5 gal heads kept, 40 gal of good tasting rum at 185 proof unitl 206F, then 5 gal tailsy and switched off at 208F
Only change will be some plumbing, I think 100% separate RC and PC systems is in my future...
That perf included in the plate count?
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
naa, just a splash guard... ( I left it in, this was the Continuous R&D section, just replaced 7 of the 8 dual-flow plates with 6 procaps, had to leave a spot at the bottom for the flow directors, and had 2 sections on top so left it in to deflect some droplets..
I ran some malt barley feints in it today for making Gin, maybe 60 PG... I took off 3 gal fores and dumped, my vapor temp rose up from the 171 or so of fores and stabilized at 172... I was taking off heads at 8200W(2x4100W , 5500W on 208v), proof started creeping down below 190, I was not sure what was going on, I went to 13500W(3x4500w) got 192 proof that settled in to 191 at a fast rate of 35.8l/min, but it did not last past the first 5 gal container... it started creeping back down, but tasted great... other than that, great run, 6 5-gal containers of 190(ish) and 1 of heads/tails.... I probably pulled 90% of the potential and only dumped 10%
If I could get that 30L/min steady just one proof higher... I would be happier than a pig in shit...
now for the paperwork...
Interested to see what you think of the molasses 'neutral'. I've pulled molasses wash off through a VM at aezeotrope before and it tasted like a smooth white rum.
Don't get me wrong it was delicious and everyone who drank it loved it, but it wasn't neutral.
StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Shernell Layne (formerly of Cock Spur) says that they (Cock Spur) run their rum through 75 plates. I was somewhat amazed at that revelation. It is not at all lacking in rum notes. A testament to how bull frog tough molasses based beer can be.
To be fair however, they may be running a continuous rig and so not so sure at what plate level the beer feed is landed?
The 95% abv debate about neutral spirit has raged on in the hobby community for a good long time.
Like Punkin mentions, its hard to knock the stank out of rum.
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
Taste cane neutral from some of the highest quality industrial producers, it's distinctive enough to pick out blind.
Being a government controlled entity, my reference to neutral was their reference ;-) 190.0+ proof corrected..
It is not neutral, and sometimes there is 'the rum stank' that a few rare tasters can pick out right away, so we now carbon the silver and the cane vodka, and explain that the difference between the silver and cane are just the proof at which it was taken off the still and how the higher reflux and slower distillation reject more non ethanol compounds... most customers just love learning and drinking...
Also,we have malt, wheat, and cane neutral (along with jalapeno and habanero) we do taster flights and people are amazed at how different the vodkas can be from the base ingredient.
How big of an impact is the carbon making?
we have a few friends that are really sensitive to the twang, even at minute levels.. I think it comes from a low pH stressing the yeast... We blind test with him and mix it up, and he still is right on when he says it is there..... but he has approved all carbon filtered products. We are using norit Rox 0.8 in a 3"x20" TC spool with filter plates at each end, gravity flow with 3 feet of head, carbon was boiled, air dried, and then oven baked... we ran the cane vodka, then the silver, then our barrel aged(lost no color!) that were at bottling proof, and then some raw rum at 120 proof that had not been designated yet before rewashing and baking the carbon....
You like the Norit Rox? I'll have to try it.
Norit sent me a number of samples - but their pricing per bag is incredible, one product we liked was almost $1000 with shipping, for a 40lb bag.
They had a granular decolorization carbon - the issue is, you can't just wash and steam clean it, since the color isn't volatile enough to be purged.
I did not know what that carbon was so searched it. A bloody expensive peat carbon. Do you see that much difference using that compared to activated coconut husk type ?? Would a longer cheaper carbon path get closer to the norit Rox.
I guess if the recovery and reuse rate is good then its only the initial purchase that hurts.
I have only used that one, I forget where I got the recommendation, thought it was here, 99% sure it was here..... looks like I bought it in 2012, a gallon for $44 from 'bulk reef supply'..
This is soon after I got it... I quote someone, but cannot see who, I guess they were removed...
My StillDragon Activated Carbon Filter
I just bought 2 liters of it from an aquarium supply joint that repackages. Guess like thirty bucks with shipping.
While i did not look too hard i thought i was looking at prices like $1000 for xxx The prices you are talking about are good.
Not the same stuff
Good stuff
I will say that when I did my filtering and documented it back in that thread, I was not happy. I think either I needed to rinse/wash/boil the carbon first, or more likely, It was shitty vodka I put in the first time and it transferred the flavor on to the next batch... not the first time nor the last that my laziness and inexperience has screwed something up, but I am learning....
I gave the filter assembly and carbon to @Raoul_Duke to play with a few months back, he wash-boiled and baked the carbon and ran it slower in a gravity system that I mentioned above and we are now very happy...
looks like the place I got it is out of stock, not sure if that is just temporary...
Search "carbon" @ Bulk Reef Supply
So yesterday my 5-6 year old single wall 380L decided to do this to me.... when 83 PG of rum low wines in it....
I will take all the blame, as I noticed a minor imperfection on the inside 2-3 years ago and never got around to fixing it. (I have never ground or polished the outside, FYI) Much like a cavity in your tooth, I believe things ate away at it (by 'things', I mean 3.8pH rum wash_... putting the 30 plate column on yesterday morning incensed the pressure enough to make it come through I guess... it was not there on the last pot run...
Not 100% approved, but I used a ratchet strap to press block of rubber up against it and kept an eye on it... and yes, I tried slapping a duct-tape patch on it... we all know that did not work with 180f alcohol... but I had to try...
I will weld it up this week, hoping I can fit my head in the manway and my arm in the top or vise versa... or get a Tig Torch camera or make a PC camera with a welding glass in front of it... oh, boy... more work...
Damn.
Can you imagine someone running autonomously with tons of “safeguards” and “failsafes”. Think they have a safeguard against that happening? Just goes to show why a still should never be left unattended.
What qualifies as a minor imperfection?
Oh, I had a jacket with a similar problem. It was repaired from the outside. I don’t see why you couldn’t do the same. I’m not a welder FWIW.
I’ve attached a pic. Two cracks, the most serious between the arrow heads. Bubbling away during heat up. I shut it down right away.
Farggg...:(
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
You are 100% correct and for this I believe that you need to overdesign for it. That said, none of my automation other than low level would pick it up.
@cothermandistilling I suspect that you are on a weld line where the crack opened up.
One of the problems with welds being ground down on top of mirror polishing is that you can become exposed to super thin walls and subsequent cracks on weld line.
My suggestion before you do any welding is to first dye pen your vessel for further potential cracks. You will be amazed as to what comes out.
maybe a 2-3mm pit..
I do have gas sensors hooked up and they did not catch it because we are well ventilated... and it was going straight to the floor drain, but yes, unattended might be an issue.. Not ready to test the fire sprinklers either...
Real scary part is for a few seconds I actually thought about taking a video of making it into a flamethrower with a lighter... but then adult-ness stepped in...
I agree with @jbierling - weld from the outside, purge from the inside. I think it’s easier to get better weld quality by not struggling.
Either way you still need to clean, polish and passivate the inside, so it doesn’t save a ton of work.
I've tested LEL sensors near a running stream of high strength spirit direct off the condenser. Unless you're hand width away the LEL doesn't even go off. A small leak and an open drain would not get picked up by an LEL meter.