correction to tony acklands web site address ,
my apologies---i put a full stop under the forward
slash after the word BourbonStreet, it should not
be there, try this---  www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/
2588/distill.htm     ---BRIAN

>   Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 08:00:54 +1300
>   From: "Mike" <mike@...>
>Subject: Ready Reckoner


Mike, can I have your permission to forward this post to the SCA Distilling
list?

regards, Puck

>   Date: 28 Oct 1999 07:59:40 -0000
>   From: bj-fm@...
>Subject: reply to ray

>especially no bloody sugar----when attenuated load into your pot still or DE-
>REFLUXED reflux still run out about one third of what you loaded in ,do
that again ,then load back into still run out 200ml and throw away,thenthe
next 5

by de-refluxed you mean disabling the cooling reflux tower? why would you
do that? i thought that in all cases a reflux tower was more beneficial
than a pot design?

additionaly

>>   Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 08:00:54 +1300
>>   From: "Mike" <mike@...>
>>Subject: Ready Reckoner
>Mike, can I have your permission to forward this post to the SCA Distilling
>list?

where can i find that list?

thankyou both for your comments--re url's ray i corrected the tony ackland
address ,should be ok now,i jumped to "bushflavours" ok very case sensitive
arn't they !!!!!!!!!-----robert re refluxing in this specific case with
double distillation ,filling the still to about the three quarter mark and the
need for congeners as opposed to a neutral profile it is important not to have a
definitive reflux device in the steam path------enough refluxing will occur
within the headroom, the"roof" of the still body,the lyne arm or equivalent
-----one thing i didn't mention in the original missive was no charcoal
filtering or the tasty bits will go too-------these statements are in reference
to making a malt spirit not a neutral spirit---many regards to all--BRIAN

someone asked me is it legal to discuss distilling in a country without
legalised home distilling-----of course it is!!!!!!!!! i think they were
referring to postings this site,the sooner home distilling is legalised around
the world the better.
re-hydration of dry culture yeast----place the amount of yeast required in warm
water x 10 x volume/weight at no more than 10 degrees C above the intended temp.
of the wort stir in let stand for at least 15 mins.then pitch----fast starts
beat bugs.
sick of fermenting fruits/berries etc. ??????????----try running the feedstock
thru a juice extractor, soak juice and pulp in ethanol ,equal proportion at 26%
or so for a week then run it thru a non reflux still.
   many regards------BRIAN

>   Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 04:22:30 +0000
>   From: Robert Jung <rdj@...>
>Subject: Re: Digest Number 22

>where can i find that list?


At onelist.com, or if you like, shoot me a private e-mail and I can
subscribe you.  To whomever runs this list, I apologize for this, I joined
your list hoping to learn and contribute, not to add membership to the dist
list I run.

Regards, Puck

From Young Des (topkiwi)

Thats ok, I hope you are finding what you want in this list anyway.
I personally am very pleased with how things have progressed to date
and the flow of informed information is great.

Thanks to everyone

Young Des

Apologies for slow reply but very early in the week at work, we brew once
only/week to create enough wash to keepa the stills running for at least 6 days.
So quite clearly the P.C., God love it, is temporarily ignored.

Allan, Yes to fusels, esters and many more, volatiles etc. etc. all loosely
called by some people congeners or congenerics - yes.  You are most correct,
however at the risk of starting WW3 from this site allow me to be so bold as to
suggest that it is not the neutrality or lack of it that's giving you the
headaches, it may be a quite serious case of dehydration.

Try this, next time you have a "session".  FOR EVERY 50 ml of spirit at 40%
alc/vol or equivalent, you drink (regardless of amount of ice, water or whatever
added) 200 ml of water before AND another 200 ml after, also refrain from
overeating eigh hours before, during, and eight hours after.  Radical Stuff??
Well you may enjoy a "wee dram" instead of pain and suffering next day.

Now the next bit is as important as the water, as not only do they work in
conjunction with each other, they also work independently.  Take copius
quantities of the Vitamin B Group, before, during and after the session.
Why I hear you cry???

1. Alcohol depletes vitamin B group
2. B group is a major metaboliser of carbohydrates, protein and fats.
3. Lack of B group, glocose to the brain.
4. B group helps maintain fluid levels.

Many people on this site will be very interested in your progress.
Many Regards  -   Brian

Refer to "Reply to Allan" for reason and apology for slow reply.

Six gallons if you are in Great Britain was 27 litres, I suspect Ray you are in
the U.S. (the helicopter pilot??), where your six gallons is 22.8 litres.

Therefore a formula for an all grain mash would be a minimum of 6 Kg (about
13/14 lb, I think), for a hopless malt extract about the same, as unless you use
enzymes you may be lucky to get full attenuation or equivalent balance of
adjuncts.

I think that's what you were asking Ray - if not get back.

Many Regards  -    Brian

can i send to this site an email by the "normal" method e.g.type it offline
then go online and transmit or can i only transmit from the web site
as i do by clicking on post etc. etc. etc.-----many regards BRIAN

From topkiwi:
You are able to construct an email off line and address it to:
    Distillers@onelist.com

Regards
Des.

occasionally i have thought of writing a book on our mutual subject
but i see several times this has been done and very well, the only chapters i
would add would be growing your own,malting ,storing,gristing ,mashing for
distillers,[yes it's different to brewers] and maturation , but the more i think
about it ,doing it alone gets harder and harder----any idears???????????
but a school of distilling either "in house" and/or correspondence sounds
feasable =====any comments please-----BRIAN

Hi from Edinburgh,

         Well, here's my first contribution to the group. In response to
Brian @hotnet.net.au recently asking about a method of calculating mash
extraction efficiency using metric quantities I tidied up the Excel
spreadsheet I've been using to do this (& quite a bit more) & contacted
him to see if it was of interest. Brian suggested that others in the
newsgroup might also be interested - so it's attached to this e-mail,
hope Des doesn't mind but I've not seen anything about not attaching
things to e-mails for this ng.

[ Section: 1/1 File: Brewcalc.exe UUencoded by: Turnpike Integrated Version 4.02
S ]

begin 644 Brewcalc.exe
M35J:`1\``0`&`(D,__\``"!A`````?#_4@```!014$M,251%($-O<'(N(#$Y
M.3`M.3(@4$M705)%($EN8RX@06QL(%)I9VAT<R!297-E<G9E9`<`````````
M````````N$D0NIH]!0``.P8"`'(;M`FZ&`'-(<T@3F]T(&5N;W5G:"!M96UO
M<GDDB_R![TH#5U=2N:T`OIP"B_[]270'K9(#PJOK]H=?T_^$N2%'G0UD[H^W
M--G)AO[^#`*A/JX0$(SR=@`5RKP?-X;%`3*LC51S62)A[I_\X)/Q65D:J*@%
M9CX>'QYYUJ63I>.Q?!;YT_1?Q,_TH4.'(H?$C_W@`'Y<+^1U?V+=;O]T5?M@
MMK\WEQG1:/*S!/M(MF<P/Y3?/5S5]E!/)B=WE'[T\SY^_@502P$"%``4````
M"`#+B&(G@X8QYP),````_@``#````````````"````":/0``0E)%5T-!3$,N
96$Q34$L%!@`````!``$`.@```,:)````````
`
end

sum -r/size 18345/48737 section (from "begin" to "end")
sum -r/size 26464/35350 entire input file


         Beercalc.exe is a self extracting file that will produce an
Excel 5 spread sheet beercalc.xls, there's a step-by-step guide in the
Notes Worksheet. It's designed primarily as a full grain mash beer
design tool & brewing record but I see no reason why it shouldn't be
used for distillation - you just don't need to bother about the hops &
there are a reasonable selection of sugars available. Hope others find
it of use & I'll do my best to answer any further queries - but please
don't ask me for an Imperial quantity version !!

         I'm a keen home brewer & whisky drinker but unfortunately,
living under a hostile home distillation regime, producing my own
spirits & distillers@onelist must remain of theoretical interest only
...... but there again Excise Duty is a nasty English tax & we do now
have our own devolved Parliament ....... hmmmmm !!! No, better stick to
home brewing & coppersmith'ing.

         All the best fra Auld Reekie
--
Dick
Speak well o' pipers, remember yir faither wis a fiddler.


From topkiwi:
Sorry Dick, while I have no objections to you posting this
type of info through the list, on this occassion it did not work.
I have edited out a lot as you will notice.  Maybe someone can
suggest a means of doing this better.  I for one would be interested
in the program.
I am very interested in other members comments on the matter, dont be shy.

Des

Sorry about that, something definitely went wrong with the attachment so
I'll try it as a straight ZIP'd file (PKZIP Ver2.0g). Thought a self
extracting file would help as I know there are a few vintages of PKZIP
around. What should arrive is a 26k UUEncoded file giving a 19.1k .zip
file.

[ Section: 1/1 File: Brewcalc.zip UUencoded by: Turnpike Integrated Version 4.02
S ]

begin 644 Brewcalc.zip
M4$L#!!0````(`,N(8B>#AC'G`DP```#^```,````0E)%5T-!3$,N6$Q3['T+
M?)Q'=>_L>_5</59O6?XDV;+L2!O);]N)M9(=OQ+'CNT$2`/)2EI)&Z^TRFIE
MU?903R8G=Y1^]/,^?OX%4$L!`A0`%`````@`RXAB)X.&,><"3````/X```P`
M```````````@`````````$)215=#04Q#+EA,4U!+!08``````0`!`#H````L
%3```````
`
end

sum -r/size 29045/27009 section (from "begin" to "end")
sum -r/size 29465/19580 entire input file

Could someone in NZ enlighten me as to what the oak chips are that some
of your malt whisky recipes call for. Are they simply bits of oak
somewhere between sawdust & plane shavings in size (like say, oak chips
used on BBQs) ?

If anyone is experimenting with producing whisky from malted barley then
it might be of interest that during the 2nd distillation of Ardbeg (@ 56
p.p.m. peat smoke on the barley malt the most highly peated of all the
Islay whiskys) the spirit is only taken between 72 & 60% ABV. The 72%
point is usually taken as a point where the spirit is not coloured by
adding distilled water - but the gaugers (Excisemen) insist on
hydrometer back up. Feints are continued to be taken down to 0.1%ABV
and, along with the foreshots, added back to the next distillation. Some
distillers will cut at 62/63% ABV to get a lighter spirit.

And finally from the days when every Scots family had their own still:

The Names of the 5 drams between waking up & leaving the bedroom

1. An sgaile nide - the dram on awakening
2. An friochd uilinn - the dram while resting on the elbow
3. An sgaile sheide - the dram taken before rising
4. An deoch chas ruisgte - the dram taken before pulling on socks
5. An deoch bhleth - the dram taken while grinding the teeth

Just thought you might be interested ........ !!
--
Dick

From topkiwi:
I suspect this has not worked again.  Maybe if you placed it on a webpage and
members could download it themselves.  My webpage would be available if you
wish, or one of the free hosting services may help.  Others may have better
suggestions.  We are intersted in your program.  thank you for the effort.

Young Des

Hi,

I'm brand new to this list.

I would like to make a still for making distilled water.

I have plans for such a still, which require a few feet of 2" copper tube.
However, I can not find this material locally (Home Despot, etc.).  Does anyone
know of an online, or mail order, source, where I could get just a few feet
  of 2" copper tube?

Thanks for any help!

DICK - Thank you very much for spreadsheet.

Oak chips in Australian home brew shops anyway are usually Quercus Alba
(American White Oak) and are applied as per the label.  I prefer to use a
natural essence as not only is it more accurate, but is actually "less harsh". 
To make this infusion yourself, take equal proportions w/v of chips and neutral
spirit at about 70% and soak for approximately one month, agitating as often as
possible or percolate using a pump, then separate the two and apply solution
(tincture) at a rate of about 10/15 ml per litre, or to taste of spirit at 40%. 
Or if you want to be really upmarket, take the tincture and simmer it very
slowly until the volume is 75% less than original and you should have a fairly
concentrated essence.  In processing, remember it's frightfully volatile!!!

Australia will become a republic this weekend, I hope that changes the thinking
on home distilling regulations in this country.

If unmalted barley is 6 x cheaper than sugar, why am I not researching the use
of a KOJI applied to the unmalted barley to make a neutral spirit??  Anyone done
any work in this area??

Dick, For intellectual property reasons, I can't be too specific about how we
"cut" where I am, but lets say I was the distiller at Ardberg with one wash
still and one spirit still, I would run all the spirit out of the washstill as
low wines, load this into the spirit still and run foreshots, high wines, with a
cut at betwixt 65/60 then the rest as feints down to %.  The feints could then
go back to the wash still or spirit still for the next batch.  If I were at
Ardberg, I would probably run them back to the wash still.  We have a
cylindrical mash tun, the only one of its kind in the world, I believe, designed
by us.  Works well, very little negative pressure under the lauter screen.

Many Regards to All
Brian

Here it goes

attention dick grindley----yes i received the zip file all in one piece
when it came direct----yes i live in tasmania,yes it's a tropical paradise
with the same tongue in cheek humour by which the VIKINGS called the coldest
most iced up continent GREENLAND-----yes all of australias distilleries
[whisky] are in this tropical paradise and i am guilty of being involved in
starting and/or being currently tied up with them technically-----tasmania
distillery has just been bought by friends,small concern is the co. i was
distilling for and sending product to scotland,whisky tasmania who i have three
more years of a contract with is "automatic"/remotly controlled with stills
100,000 aggregate we keep it very quiet as no need to have a front window,we
will i believe be making for small concern co.

humulous!!!!!! surely your local hardware store has a bit of copper pipe
or plumbing supply store, what about a second hand place with hot water cyliders
or a gasfitter even????????

many regards brian

Here it goes

I am fixing to make my first mash and recently bought some brewers yeast
  any good suggestions on a Simple mash. Would be greatly apprecieted.

How do I store the left-over packets of yeast.

Try to remember I'm new to this, so the easier the better for me. I would like
to
learn how to run the still before I learn how to make a top of the line mash.

I Hope this goes thru I have tried to post here 3 of 4 times and only one made
it.

I'm new to this digest and to distilling.  Just wondering if there is a FAQ or
other resource anyone can recommend where I can cover the basics.

Anyone got a nice simple plan on making a simple still. I can't import one
from NZ as I've been told the customs in UK will confiscate it on arrival.I
thought of using a pressure cooker as a boiler, good ealing lid ,some 1/2"
copper pipe to take the vapour over to the condenser. Now that where I run
into trouble, has someone out there made a simple but effective condenser
using copper pipe of differect diameters , the outer larger pipe having the
requisite water intake and outlets. I'm not sure about building a reflux
tower.
I assume everything would have to be in scale. I mean a pressure cooker has
a capacity of 5 to 6 litres of wash, so how tall must the tower be, how long
to make the copper liebig condenser,so it will work efficiently? I am even
having difficulty sourcing turbo yeast and flavourings from within the
United Kingdom. Has anyone else had sucess importing a 5 litre or 24 litre
reflux into this OVER-TAXED country of ours?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Big Al

Hi all,
         My apologies to anyone who wanted a copy of that Excel Mash
Efficiency Spreadsheet, I think the problem is occurring once an e-mail
& attachment got into the Onelist system - if you want a copy e-mail me
& I'll send direct.

         As practical home distillation is not encouraged in this part of
the world information is a bit hard to come by but the following is
freely available & makes interesting reading:

         Distillation of Alcohol & De-Naturing - FB Wright 1918
         Manufacture of Whiskey, Brandy & Cordials - I Hirsch 1937
         Practical Distiller - L Monzert 1889

         Fairly historical information & tending to deal with rather
larger quantities than the home distiller might usually consider
practical, but interesting all the same. All three reprinted by Lindsay
Publications Inc & available from Camden Miniature Steam Services

The Secrets of Building an Alcohol Producing Still - VR Gingery - 1994
Practical instructions & plans for building a reflux still. Available
from Camden Miniature Steam Services

The Craft of House Brewing - C La Pensee 1996 - Publ Montag but I think
available via BruPak
Primarily dealing with home brew beer but a good section on yeast
propagation/cultivation.

The Historical Companion to House Brewing - C La Pensee 1990 - Publ
Montag but I think available via BruPak
Again, primarily dealing with beer brewing but interesting chapters on
home malting of barley.

Yeast Culturing for the Homebrewer - Rog Leistad 1996 - Publ Private but
available via BruPak
An excellent guide to propagation, long term storage & use of brewing
yeasts.

Instructions, Methods, Hints & Recipes for the Mk 13 Still - Spirits
Unlimited, Auckland, NZ.
V.interesting, a prime source of 'how to' information. Not sure how
you'd get a copy, may be some of the NZ newsgroup members could talk to
SU nicely & include it on one of their web sites ?????

Camden Miniature Steam Services, Barrow Farm, Rode, Bath, Somerset BA3
6PS Tel 01373 830151

Montag Publications - 6 Minster Av, Beverly, HU17 0NL

BruPaks - 2 Kennedy Av, Fixby, Huddersfield HD2 2HJ Tel 01484 841116
e-mail brupaks@..., http:\\www.brupaks.demon.co.uk
(BruPaks deal only wholesale but their products are available through
most home brew shops, contact them for your nearest dealer).

         A very practical reflux still design by Bob Lennon can be found
at: http:\\homestead.dejanews.com/user.boblennon/Page1a.html & although
using imperial measurements I am told that similar metric sizes are
available from good UK plumbing material or non-ferrous metal suppliers.

         A question from me, has anyone found a suitable alternative to
Rashig rings for use in a reflux still tower ?? I've heard of broken car
windscreen bits being used & Gingery uses glass marbles, any other
suggestions ??
--
Dick

I used the recipe form Irving Hirshch book (Whiskey,Brandy &
Cordials)and we sized it down to fit a 8 gallon still,
and had very good results. this is for 6 gallons or 22 liter batch.

                                  Rye Whisky

11 lbs. Of ground rye are added to 3 gallons of water previously heated to 145
  degrees Fahrenheit, and steeped for 1 ½  hours with the lid on the vessel you
  are using.  The temp will drop to about 110 deg Fahrenheit.  Add 2 ½ gallons
  of boiling water to raise the temp to 150 deg Fahrenheit.  Let the mash stand
for two hours, them mix in ½ gallon of cold water until the temp drops to 95
  deg Fahrenheit or less. Now add ¼ cup or 4.5 oz of pressed yeast which has
  been mixed with water.   Keep wash between 65 and 80 deg Fahrenheit and this
  can be done by putting a fish tank heater in your container with a rubber plug
  around the cord to seal  the hole, and use a air lock on the container. After
  fermentation has ceased. The wash is them filtered out by using a large funnel
  with linen cloth on the inside or you can use a large screen sieve.

NOTE: If you use malted rye instead of ground rye for the mash , it will
  improve your whisky immensely, But sometimes malted rye is hard to get here
  because people buy it up so fast. Give it a try, we tryed both malted and
unmalted rye, and malted does have a little better body to it. And from now on
I will use the name of Rusty instead of Ray because we already have two here
and it becomes confusing at times. Thank you Rusty from USA

Big Al,
don't let you scare away by the customs. I thought, the same thing would happen
to me, in the Netherlands, where it is even illegal to have a distilling-device
in your possession. (Check your laws!)
So I bought one, a distilling head that is, in NZ, and just within a week
or two,it arrived. No problems at all. I welded -well I let it do- it on top of
  my pressure cooker and voila, there's my distillery!
Results are not as I hoped for. This has to do with the size of my (5 liter)
pressure cooker; Vapors have no way to develop inside! So I am thinking of using
a milk-vessel.
But if you want something to build: look into this:
http://stillmaker.dreamhost.com/page2.htm

Regards
Erwin

Dick
In New Zealand we usually use glass marbles the best type are those sold

by garden shops for putting into pot plants, however the Rashig rings
are purported to be the best thing for this purpose.
Ray

> A question from me, has anyone found a suitable alternative to
> Rashig rings for use in a reflux still tower ?? I've heard of broken car
> windscreen bits being used & Gingery uses glass marbles, any other
> suggestions ??
> --
> Dick
>







--
Ray Toms Moonshine Supplies, Taupo. New Zealand.
http://moonshine.co.nz
Home Brewing Equipment and Suppliers.
Specialists in all aspects of Home Distillation and Wine/Beer Making.

Jason
Marbles are put into the tower of a reflux column, their purpose is to slow
the passage of the alcohol as it rises up the column. The greater the surface
area of the marbles have the better they seem to work as they transfer heat
from the vapour, cooling the vapour below the boiling point of water but still
above the boiling point of alcohol incidentally the vapour point of alcohol is
78 - 78.5 C, the water turns into a liquid and falls back into the pot and the
alcohol continues on and out through the condenser where it to is turned back
into a liquid so it can be collected.
Ray


Jay wrote:

> What do glass marbles do?
> Thanks,
> Jason
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ray Toms [mailto:ray@...]
> Sent: Thursday, November 11, 1999 6:59 PM
> To: Distillers@onelist.com
> Subject: [Distillers] Re: Practical distillation
>
> From: Ray Toms <ray@...>
>
> Dick
> In New Zealand we usually use glass marbles the best type are those sold
>
> by garden shops for putting into pot plants, however the Rashig rings
> are purported to be the best thing for this purpose.
> Ray
>
> > A question from me, has anyone found a suitable alternative to
> > Rashig rings for use in a reflux still tower ?? I've heard of broken car
> > windscreen bits being used & Gingery uses glass marbles, any other
> > suggestions ??
> > --
> > Dick
> >
>
> --

JEREMY in Lufkin, Texas:
Did you have any luck with your navigating this site?

DICK GRINDLEY in Scotland:
Thank you for the spreadsheet.  I answered you about a week ago in the archives
this site, entitled "tongue in cheek" I looked at bob Lennon site, very
interesting.
Check out my coment to Ray in New Zealand this posting, re.rashig rings etc.

MICHAEL BRAUN in Vial, Colorado:
Thank you, received all date, our Bavarian relatives are having trouble
translating the workd (erhalt).  Is it old fashioned, poetic, high German?  They
think it alluded to hops and malt etc being God's "special gift".

"BLUEDART"
Your questions would require long and involved answers to treat them seriously. 
Try these web sites for help info etc.
http://homepages.ihug.co.NZ/~topkiwi/index.html
www.moonshine.co.nz/
or for a non commercial site with many links
www.geolities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/2588/distill.htm

JERRY BARGER
With a reflux still, make a grape derived spirit and flavour it or de-reflux it
and/or use a standard pot still and distill twice as per my suggestions to Dick
Grindley about a week ago, with reference to Ardberg Distillery.  Infuse some
raisins and put the liquid in your brandy, to taste, it will make quite a
difference.

YORG in Australia:
Same answer this posting as I gave "Bluedart".  What state are you in? I'm in
Tasmania, would'nt mind 'bouncing" some ideas re progressing education of our
mutual subject.  I notice you a fair bit at Deja.com.rec.crafts brewing a good
site.

ALISTAIR in England:
Same answer as "Bluedart" and Yorg.  Also why not buy your water purifier in
bits and pieces over a month or two.

RUSTY in U.S.
Why not malt your own rye, its simple.  If you don't have a book, get back to
me, a fairly high gumming rate in the mash tun but like everything there are
ways around that.

BRETT in New Zealand:
Thank you, this site is quite often mentioned at Deja.com.rec.crafts brewing.

RAY in New Zealand:
In reference to rashig rings, glass marbles etc. Use the rashig rings to make a
necklace, give the glass marbles to the local kids to play with, as relative to
STAINLESS STEEL scrub buds (scourers, pot scrubbers etc) they are average.  Gert
Strand (ola Norrman) in his book rates holeless spheres (marbles) as a surface
area of 300 rashig rings as 930, I would like to rate s.s. scrubbers as 1200. 
Years ago I was involved in fuel ethanol research and have observed different
materials in GLASS reflux towers and backed up with all the usual obs. can
assure anyone that scrubbers allow an easier "fall back" of the higher boiling
point solutions.  Trust Me, I'm old and balding.

Many Regards to All -  Brian

without question the best non commercial site in the world is tony acklands
which had the longest,complicated address with both upper and lower case etc.
what a nightmare,as a few of us found when reffering others on ,it's changed and
simple   www.geocities.com/kiwi_distiller    ----many regards to all,soon be
christmas,brian

Nice one Ray. Most amusing. Good to see that we're getting
a bit of humour into this List. So marbles slow down the passage
of the vapour and water selectively condenses out and falls back
into the pot whilst pure ethanol continues on its merry way.
At last, we can dispense with fractionating columns, reflux,
and all that bothersome stuff. Pure ethanol at a stroke!
No doubt it is all helped along by the fact established by Aristotle
(and therefore not to be questioned) that heavy objects fall faster
than light ones, so water which is heavier than ethanol gets a little
more assistance.
I apologise if this seems a bit like a flame Ray, but it just doesn't
work that way.   Personally, I agree with Brian that marbles should
be given to the kids to play with and raschig rings made into necklaces.
Neither come anywhere near the surface area per volume that stainless
steel or brass scrubbers give. A simple bit of maths confirms his
comparative figures for the surface area per volume ratios. In
consequence, 'we in New Zealand' do not all use marbles as spheres
are the most inefficient shape you can have for a packing material
(simple maths again). If anyone out there wants to know how distillation
really works (and I'll even throw in a bit about gravity if you like), they
can contact me direct at mike@... and I will be happy to
send them a pdf file of an article I've just written about how distillation
really works. Does this article contain accurate information? Feel free
to confirm it with any chemist, physicist, technical college, university,
oil company, pharmaceuticals company, etc etc you like.  Or just check
out any good text book from your local library.

Mike

Mike
This is a discussion list dedicated to promoting informed discussion on the
topic of distilling. Sarcasm and abuse has no place on it I can't believe that
you penned that email after we have had discussions both on this list and
privately. I was responding to a question that asked what marbles actualy did
and that is what they actualy do, the relative merits of other material is a
completely different discussion. I will amplify the process, what marbles
actualy do is slow the passage of the vapour in a reflux column alowing the
vapour to cool and the water to condense out and fall back into the pot, and no
amount of sarcasm is going to change that. I am happy to concede that there may
be other materials that do the job better.
Ray

Mike wrote:

> Nice one Ray. Most amusing. Good to see that we're getting
> a bit of humour into this List. So marbles slow down the passage
> of the vapour and water selectively condenses out and falls back
> into the pot whilst pure ethanol continues on its merry way.
> At last, we can dispense with fractionating columns, reflux,
> and all that bothersome stuff. Pure ethanol at a stroke!
> No doubt it is all helped along by the fact established by Aristotle
> (and therefore not to be questioned) that heavy objects fall faster
> than light ones, so water which is heavier than ethanol gets a little
> more assistance.
> I apologise if this seems a bit like a flame Ray, but it just doesn't
> work that way.   Personally, I agree with Brian that marbles should
> be given to the kids to play with and raschig rings made into necklaces.
> Neither come anywhere near the surface area per volume that stainless
> steel or brass scrubbers give. A simple bit of maths confirms his
> comparative figures for the surface area per volume ratios. In
> consequence, 'we in New Zealand' do not all use marbles as spheres
> are the most inefficient shape you can have for a packing material
> (simple maths again). If anyone out there wants to know how distillation
> really works (and I'll even throw in a bit about gravity if you like), they
> can contact me direct at mike@... and I will be happy to
> send them a pdf file of an article I've just written about how distillation
> really works. Does this article contain accurate information? Feel free
> to confirm it with any chemist, physicist, technical college, university,
> oil company, pharmaceuticals company, etc etc you like.  Or just check
> out any good text book from your local library.
>
> Mike

--
Ray Toms Moonshine Supplies, Taupo. New Zealand.
http://moonshine.co.nz
Home Brewing Equipment and Suppliers.
Specialists in all aspects of Home Distillation and Wine/Beer Making.

My Plans are to start with a thin wort to make a basic moonshine. What is the
best recipe for thin wort with brewers yeast. I have a basic pot still what is
the best way to improve it or add a reflux tower? Maybe I can keep posting here,
thanks for the help guys.