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Hi everyone,

My question is 2 fold. Was wondering what the normal loss is after
spirit is carbon filtered. I have a 30 inch PVC pipe filled with carbon
that I have been running mine through and I always loose about 500ml.
Is this normal or is there a way to recover this from the carbon?

Also, I distill just sugar for a neutral vodka with a valved reflux
still that I run at full reflux for about 15-20 minutes at the
beginning and collect at a 3-1 ratio. My spirit comes out at 90%. Do I
really need to carbon filter if I collect at such a slow ratio?

Thanks for your time.

Hi Bill,
Activated carbon is very absorbent! Recovering the alcohol is possible,
but you will also recover the rubbish you filtered out.
Drop the whole lot in the next batch you distil!
as to whether you need to use it: that's down to your taste buds. Try
before and after and see if you don't mind the before, or whether it is
worth the 500ml loss for the extra purity.
3/1 ratio isn't _that- high, and more importantly, 90% means you have
10% of stuff that you don't want (ok, mostly water, but even so...)
cheers
Rob.

--- sackerbill1 <jsshort1@...> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> My question is 2 fold. Was wondering what the normal loss is after
> spirit is carbon filtered. I have a 30 inch PVC pipe filled with
> carbon
> that I have been running mine through and I always loose about 500ml.
>
> Is this normal or is there a way to recover this from the carbon?
>
> Also, I distill just sugar for a neutral vodka with a valved reflux
> still that I run at full reflux for about 15-20 minutes at the
> beginning and collect at a 3-1 ratio. My spirit comes out at 90%. Do
> I
> really need to carbon filter if I collect at such a slow ratio?
>
> Thanks for your time.
>
>
>


Cheers,
Rob.



________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Cheap talk?
Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.
http://voice.yahoo.com

Hi sackerbill1
I put activated carbon in the 5-litre demijohn and leave to soak for a
few weeks or longer. You lose what is soaked into the carbon the first
time only. I leave the carbon covered with 45% ethanol all the time. I
only filter the ethanol above the carbon and have no loss.
Happy drinking
Stevo


> Hi everyone,
>
> My question is 2 fold. Was wondering what the normal loss is after
> spirit is carbon filtered. I have a 30 inch PVC pipe filled with carbon
> that I have been running mine through and I always loose about 500ml.
> Is this normal or is there a way to recover this from the carbon?
>
> Also, I distill just sugar for a neutral vodka with a valved reflux
> still that I run at full reflux for about 15-20 minutes at the
> beginning and collect at a 3-1 ratio. My spirit comes out at 90%. Do I
> really need to carbon filter if I collect at such a slow ratio?
>
> Thanks for your time.
>

Hi everyone,

My question is 2 fold. Was wondering what the normal loss is after
spirit is carbon filtered. I have a 30 inch PVC pipe filled with carbon
that I have been running mine through and I always loose about 500ml.
Is this normal or is there a way to recover this from the carbon?

Also, I distill just sugar for a neutral vodka with a valved reflux
still that I run at full reflux for about 15-20 minutes at the
beginning and collect at a 3-1 ratio. My spirit comes out at 90%. Do I
really need to carbon filter if I collect at such a slow ratio?

Thanks for your time.

Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com

As the others said, you can just run water through and collect the
distillate, or you can filter at 40-45%, which seems to be more
recomended than filtering at 90%. By filtering at a lower alcohol
percentage, you will lose less of the alcohol in the carbon.

But do you need to filter? That is entirely up to you and your
personal tastes. If you are collecting it at 90%, you shouldn't have
that much nasty stuff in your distillate. If it taste ok to you, then
don't filter. If you want it to taste a little more pure, then filter.
Its that simple.

-Tyler



--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "sackerbill1" <jsshort1@...> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> My question is 2 fold. Was wondering what the normal loss is after
> spirit is carbon filtered. I have a 30 inch PVC pipe filled with carbon
> that I have been running mine through and I always loose about 500ml.
> Is this normal or is there a way to recover this from the carbon?
>
> Also, I distill just sugar for a neutral vodka with a valved reflux
> still that I run at full reflux for about 15-20 minutes at the
> beginning and collect at a 3-1 ratio. My spirit comes out at 90%. Do I
> really need to carbon filter if I collect at such a slow ratio?
>
> Thanks for your time.
>

As the others said, you can just run water through and collect the
distillate, or you can filter at 40-45%, which seems to be more
recomended than filtering at 90%. By filtering at a lower alcohol
percentage, you will lose less of the alcohol in the carbon.

But do you need to filter? That is entirely up to you and your
personal tastes. If you are collecting it at 90%, you shouldn't have
that much nasty stuff in your distillate. If it taste ok to you, then
don't filter. If you want it to taste a little more pure, then filter.
Its that simple.

-Tyler

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "sackerbill1" <jsshort1@...> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> My question is 2 fold. Was wondering what the normal loss is after
> spirit is carbon filtered. I have a 30 inch PVC pipe filled with carbon
> that I have been running mine through and I always loose about 500ml.
> Is this normal or is there a way to recover this from the carbon?
>
> Also, I distill just sugar for a neutral vodka with a valved reflux
> still that I run at full reflux for about 15-20 minutes at the
> beginning and collect at a 3-1 ratio. My spirit comes out at 90%. Do I
> really need to carbon filter if I collect at such a slow ratio?
>
> Thanks for your time.
>

This guy sells on ebay. Theses are some of the claims:-

Amazing reflux still for spirits and alcohol! (SECONDS)

     * Its faster than any other (no more slow `drip, drip drip')
     * You can make 2 bottle of spirits in just 30 mins - including
       heatup!
     * Its 95% pure alcohol
     * You don't need to put it through a SLOOOOOW carbon filter
     * Easy for anyone to use – full colour instructions included
     * NO RISK – 100% money back guarantee!
The combination of extremely high purity of output (95%), plus the
catalytic operation of the copper means that it really is very clean
coming straight from the still.  Carbon filtering is required on
cheaper stills because the output from the still has a very unpleasant
taste and smell, not for any safety reasons.
Carbon can still be used on this still, and will make it taste even
better, but most people find it perfectly fine without it.
# Its a reflux still
# Comes with a high quality, waterproof digital thermometer
# The column is all copper, the boiler is all high quality stainless steel
# It has a specially designed structured copper mesh as packing for
superior taste and purity
# It has a 5L capacity for legal ownership in Australia
# It has a 2200W element (3 times faster than other 5L stills)
# It has had 4 years of solid design to make it the best commercial
grade still on the market!  Other stills are just toys compared to
this one.
What do people think?
Foras.

I heard you can even buy an adaptor kit that lets you select outputs
like Rum, Bourbon, Gin and Peach Schnapps.



On 12/4/06, forasses <forasses@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> This guy sells on ebay. Theses are some of the claims:-
>
> Amazing reflux still for spirits and alcohol! (SECONDS)
>
> * Its faster than any other (no more slow `drip, drip drip')
> * You can make 2 bottle of spirits in just 30 mins - including
> heatup!
> * Its 95% pure alcohol
> * You don't need to put it through a SLOOOOOW carbon filter
> * Easy for anyone to use – full colour instructions included
> * NO RISK – 100% money back guarantee!
> The combination of extremely high purity of output (95%), plus the
> catalytic operation of the copper means that it really is very clean
> coming straight from the still. Carbon filtering is required on
> cheaper stills because the output from the still has a very unpleasant
> taste and smell, not for any safety reasons.
> Carbon can still be used on this still, and will make it taste even
> better, but most people find it perfectly fine without it.
> # Its a reflux still
> # Comes with a high quality, waterproof digital thermometer
> # The column is all copper, the boiler is all high quality stainless steel
> # It has a specially designed structured copper mesh as packing for
> superior taste and purity
> # It has a 5L capacity for legal ownership in Australia
> # It has a 2200W element (3 times faster than other 5L stills)
> # It has had 4 years of solid design to make it the best commercial
> grade still on the market! Other stills are just toys compared to
> this one.
> What do people think?
> Foras.

Hello. I am going to distill my mash tommorow in my pot still and I was
wondering if there is any way to reuse my mash?
Correct me if I'm doing this wrong, but I am going to pour my mash
through a pillowcase so that there is nothing solid in my still. Then I
will boil it down at 86*C . That stuff that was in the pillowcase, can
it be used for anything? It's a whiskey mash by the way.
Thanks!

Is there another site somewhere where you can download some good
labels. I am already using the Prestige address but not all flavors
that I use are covered there.

Hmm, 5 liters boiler, takes 10 minutes to heat up mash. 2 botles of
40% stuff - assuming 0.7 l bottles at 40% that's roughly 6dl 95.6%
stuff at 20 minutes -> 1.8 liters per hour. It's doable with 2.2kW
element if you have 3" column and you sort out problems associated
with larger column diameter.

However, 6dl pure stuff out from 5 liters mash leaves ~1,5dl heads
and tails - that's about 10-80-10 cuts and that's not doable within
20 minutes. I'd say the stuff produced by this still is not neutral
or the bottle size they are talking about is miniscule.

Also, without direct link I can't say for sure, but there was
scamming problem associated to one NZ manufacturer of stills. The one
I'm talking about had shortish column and what seemed to be ball-
valve controlled LM outlet. Definately NOT amphora guys but some
unknown company with fancy name and big promises - sounded a bit like
this one. IIRC you can find related discussion at homedistiller's
forum.

Cheers, Riku

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "forasses" <forasses@...>
wrote:
>
> This guy sells on ebay. Theses are some of the claims:-
>
> Amazing reflux still for spirits and alcohol! (SECONDS)
>
>     * Its faster than any other (no more slow `drip, drip drip')
>     * You can make 2 bottle of spirits in just 30 mins -
including
>       heatup!
>     * Its 95% pure alcohol
>     * You don't need to put it through a SLOOOOOW carbon filter
>     * Easy for anyone to use – full colour instructions included
>     * NO RISK – 100% money back guarantee!
> The combination of extremely high purity of output (95%), plus the
> catalytic operation of the copper means that it really is very clean
> coming straight from the still.  Carbon filtering is required on
> cheaper stills because the output from the still has a very
unpleasant
> taste and smell, not for any safety reasons.
> Carbon can still be used on this still, and will make it taste even
> better, but most people find it perfectly fine without it.
> # Its a reflux still
> # Comes with a high quality, waterproof digital thermometer
> # The column is all copper, the boiler is all high quality
stainless steel
> # It has a specially designed structured copper mesh as packing for
> superior taste and purity
> # It has a 5L capacity for legal ownership in Australia
> # It has a 2200W element (3 times faster than other 5L stills)
> # It has had 4 years of solid design to make it the best commercial
> grade still on the market!  Other stills are just toys compared to
> this one.
> What do people think?
> Foras.
>

At 06:04 PM 12/03/2006, you wrote:

>This guy sells on ebay. Theses are some of the claims:-

Most of these claims skirt "Scamming" fairly closely. THAT should be your
first indicator.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-----
Two bottles of spirit in 30 minutes, including heatup?
You can make 2 bottles of spirit in 30 minutes, no problem... but you'll
notice that he doesn't say how large the bottles are, or how big the was is.

Alcohol starts coming out as soon as the wash reaches the boiling point of
ethanol. I can beat that time with my essential extractor from
Brewhaus.com, hands-down.

I can put one quart of wash into my boiler, instead of 5 gallons, with a
110,000 BTU propane burner under it, the alcohol in that wash will start
boiling to steam in less than 5 minutes.

If I'm heating a full 6 gallons, that's whole a different thing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-----
No more slow drip, drip, drip??? That's not a function of a still, it's a
function of how much heat you put under it.

Furthermore, slow drip, drip, drip, is how you get high percentage output
that is drinkable. Getting a flow which is continuous is generally a goal,
not something to be avoided.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
----
He misrepresents carbon filtering. Need for it is, once again, not
determined by design of the still, it's determined by how you use it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
----
How clean the output of a still will be is, once again, is determined by
whether it's a reflux still, the kind of wash used, and how well you
distill it.

Output from "cheap stills" doesn't have an unpleasant taste and smell
because the still is cheap... that comes from improper operation of the
still. It's called "heads" and "foreshots".

The stinky stuff comes out first, from ANY still. You collect the first
50ml-100ml, then switch containers and throw the stinky stuff down the sink.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-------
He's right about some things, like copper improving the taste, but nearly
everyone puts some copper mesh in a stainless-steel or a copper column, and
that takes care of taste.

With a 2200-watt heater, he might be extracting alcohol pretty quickly, if
the column is of sufficient size. An inch-and-a-half diameter column, 36
inches tall, pretty much needs about 1100 watts or less, after the wash
comes up to temp.

BTW, if you want to make anything but neutral spirits (Vodka), a reflux
still is a liability.

Carbon filtering, OR use of a reflux still, either one, will remove all
flavor from corn, molasses, rye, or whatever.

You can get "essences" (at a relatively steep cost) of Bourbon, Rum, etc.
which can be added to the neutral spirits that a reflux still produces.
That's a more expensive way to go about it though, and the taste simply
isn't the same.

So, "What do people think?", in the case of THIS people, is that he didn't
EXACTLY lie, but he came as close as possible.

His still may, after all the hype, be substantially the same as everyone
else's, so if the price isn't out of line, it may not be a bad buy.

I'd personally have some strong suspicions about him in general, from the
things in his description, and avoid doing business with him on that basis
alone.

>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
--------------
>Amazing reflux still for spirits and alcohol! (SECONDS)
>
>* Its faster than any other (no more slow `drip, drip drip')
>* You can make 2 bottle of spirits in just 30 mins - including
>heatup!
>* Its 95% pure alcohol
>* You don't need to put it through a SLOOOOOW carbon filter
>* Easy for anyone to use – full colour instructions included
>* NO RISK – 100% money back guarantee!
>The combination of extremely high purity of output (95%), plus the
>catalytic operation of the copper means that it really is very clean
>coming straight from the still. Carbon filtering is required on
>cheaper stills because the output from the still has a very unpleasant
>taste and smell, not for any safety reasons.
>Carbon can still be used on this still, and will make it taste even
>better, but most people find it perfectly fine without it.
># Its a reflux still
># Comes with a high quality, waterproof digital thermometer
># The column is all copper, the boiler is all high quality stainless steel
># It has a specially designed structured copper mesh as packing for
>superior taste and purity
># It has a 5L capacity for legal ownership in Australia
># It has a 2200W element (3 times faster than other 5L stills)
># It has had 4 years of solid design to make it the best commercial
>grade still on the market! Other stills are just toys compared to
>this one.
>What do people think?

Most commercial distilleries will dry out the used grain and sell it
for use as feed for cattle, horses, chickens, etc.  This is called DDG
(Dried Distillers Grains). In the summer time, i will lay my used
grains out on a screen to dry out. It makes a good feed for deer too.

-Tyler



--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "rocklandbum" <rocklandbum@...>
wrote:
>
> Hello. I am going to distill my mash tommorow in my pot still and I was
> wondering if there is any way to reuse my mash?
> Correct me if I'm doing this wrong, but I am going to pour my mash
> through a pillowcase so that there is nothing solid in my still. Then I
> will boil it down at 86*C . That stuff that was in the pillowcase, can
> it be used for anything? It's a whiskey mash by the way.
> Thanks!
>

Depends on your recipe, if you used sugar in your recipe and just used
the grains for taste then you can add more sugar and go at it again,
however if you used enzymes (such as malted grain) to convert your corn
or whatever grains you are using into sugar, then NO it will be all
used up and should be used as feed,  Never throw it away, if nothing
else feed it to the birds and squirls.

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "rocklandbum" <rocklandbum@...>
wrote:
>
> Hello. I am going to distill my mash tommorow in my pot still and I
was
> wondering if there is any way to reuse my mash?
> Correct me if I'm doing this wrong, but I am going to pour my mash
> through a pillowcase so that there is nothing solid in my still. Then
I
> will boil it down at 86*C . That stuff that was in the pillowcase,
can
> it be used for anything? It's a whiskey mash by the way.
> Thanks!
>

I download label pics from various websites then play with the
graphics in Photoshop till I'm happy.
Here's a site of many labels.
http://www.postercheckout.com/PictureGroup.asp?OrderBy=PopOrder%20Desc&PreFramed\
=&ColorID1=&ColorID2=&Price1=&Price2=&Height1=&Height2=&Width1=&Width2=&PreFrame\
dCount=0&PrintCount=282&CategoryID=66&ArtistID=&Title=&Artist=&SearchString=&DoO\
R=&ReturnCount=285
This is a good starting point.
At 11:04 PM 12/3/2006, you wrote:

>Is there another site somewhere where you can download some good
>labels. I am already using the Prestige address but not all flavors
>that I use are covered there.
>
>_

;-)Derek

If you actually mash grains to make your wash, the grains can be
turned into doggy biscuits.  I've seen a dozen or so beer brewers who
have done this, recipe follows (I got the recipe from "mill rat" from
a brewing forum).  I don't know how it would work for you corn
whiskey makers as the brewers would be using a majority of barley
with maybe some wheat rice or corn, but I suspect it would work just
fine with any mashed grain:

4 cups spent grain
4 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Press down into a dense layer on a
large cookie sheet. Score almost all the way through into the shapes
you want. Bake for about half an hour at 350 F to solidify them.
Loosen them from the sheet, break the biscuits apart and return them,
loosely spread out on the cookie sheet, to the oven at 225 F for 8 to
10 hours to dry them very thoroughly to prevent mold growth. Store in
an airtight container to keep them dry and mold-free.

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.430 / Virus Database: 268.15.6/568 - Release Date: 4/12/2006 3:20 PM

I can vouch for it 100% of the way this little still is awesome I get 96% every run and never have I yet had to filter the final distillate.

Hi all. I just got into distilling after being a brewer for more than 5 years.  I have the fermentation end of this down pat but am still learning the distilling.  And thus my question - what exactly is reluxing?  I know its really simple and I suppose I should be able to find it in the various web sites but I am not sure I get it!

I get that the alcohol steam condenses on a scrubber/plate etc and then is made into steam again by the heat present in the still, but I suppose that I don't get the ability to concentrate the alcohol to a greater degree.  I have also read about operating the still without the output valve being open so that additional reflux happens - that seounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

Count me in as a member of the pack since I did whomp together a very small pot still out of a beer mini-keg, some 3/8 inch tubing, some corks, compression unions and homemade "play dough".  And HOT DAMN it worked!

Thanks for the info when it come! 

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "rocklandbum" <rocklandbum@...>
wrote:
>
> Hello. I am going to distill my mash tommorow in my pot still and I
was
> wondering if there is any way to reuse my mash?
> Correct me if I'm doing this wrong, but I am going to pour my mash
> through a pillowcase so that there is nothing solid in my still.
Then I
> will boil it down at 86*C . That stuff that was in the pillowcase,
can
> it be used for anything? It's a whiskey mash by the way.
> Thanks!
>
With smaller amounts of grain that I have used for beer making I have
turned it into a dense brown bread.  Find a good brown bread recipe
and put in a cup or so of the spent grains.  It makes a nice health
food kind of loaf.

Hi
let me try explaining this. You have the Pot still and the Reflux still.

In the Pot still:-
When the mash is heated vapours come up (dugh!!!). And this vapour
would contain more of the alcohol(ethnol to be precise, after the
heads and tails are thrown out) with a good proportion of the
flavours. This steam is collected and becomes the drink. From a pot
still you always get a flavour of what the mash was made with. So if
the mash (say 20 liters) had 10% of alcohol then by theory you would
get 2 liter of drink (practically you wouldnt get this much, loosing
something like .5-1 liter to heads or tails). This condensed steam
that was collected would have 20% (just a figure for citing an
example) alcohol. However, at times the flavour becomes too strong and
people put the collected batch through the pot still again.

Now. Ethnol (which is the alcohol we are after) has a lower boiling
point than water. So when the batch is heated the ethnol would be the
first to escape as steam than water. So when the batch is put through
the potstill again it would let of more ethnol again leaving more
water in the pot still.
BUT having said this, when water and ethnol are mixed both do not boil
at their boiling temperatures. Instead they reach an equilibrium
temperature where boith water and ethnol turn into steam together. Its
just that the steam would contain MORE ethnol than water as not all
water molucules bond to ethnol molecules (too little of ethnol present
in the mash)
So when the collected batch is run through the pot still again, cause
of distillation and water remaining in the still the condensed steam
collected would have a higher percentage of ethnol than the previous.
say, 50%.

Now about the reflux still:-
A reflux still does a couple of pot still distillations at one go. The
reflux still has a column at a particular height(say 100cm). The
reason with the column being this tall is that. Each vapour that goes
up into the column comes to a point where it condenses back into its
liquid state (as the vapour dosent have enough ethnol in it). This
liquid falls back down the column. As it does fall back down the hot
fresh vapour that is coming up hits the condensed steam falling down
and THIS causes the seperation of water from ethnol (not totally
though). Now when more water is seperated from the condensed steam
that was falling down the remaining ethnol is turned back into steam
as we just caused its boiling temp to go lower by removing the water.
So the ethnol goes back up as vapour

and it condenses again and comes down and is intercepted again by
steam coming up and more water is seperated. ......  and and and...
. Finally when the steam is pure enough as to reach the top of the
column without condensing, its collected. This whole process is called
REFLUX :-)

The scurbers help in holding the condensed steam that comes down so
that the steam going up can hit it. The vapour that condenses and
comes down is no good if it goes back into the boiler.

In short, reflux makes it possible to run an equvalent of several
repeated potstills distillation. And you would be looking at reflux
only if you want more % of ethnol (Vodka). If your looking for
something with flavour (wiskey, rum) then pot still is the way to go.


Now about this q:-
> I have also read about operating the still without the output
> valve being open so that additional reflux happens - that seounds
> like a
> disaster waiting to happen!

The vapour that goes all the way to the top goes through the condenser
and is condensed into liquid and collected. Instead of collecting this
in full People collect a small part of this and let the rest of this
pure liquid to go back into the column. Then additional reflux happens
on this liquid and its bought out purer than it went in.
So the statement you stated was about not collecting anything and just
letting everything collected go back into the column (mind you not the
boiler, only the column)

I guess I answered your Q's.

Hey guys Harry,abbababbaccc,Larry, Tim correct me if I'm wrong. I
think I got it right.

Regards
Surya.
PS. A disaster would be exposing the product to the flames :-)

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, "nepperhanman"
<nepperhanman@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi all. I just got into distilling after being a brewer for more than 5
> years.  I have the fermentation end of this down pat but am still
> learning the distilling.  And thus my question - what exactly is
> reluxing?  I know its really simple and I suppose I should be able to
> find it in the various web sites but I am not sure I get it!
>
> I get that the alcohol steam condenses on a scrubber/plate etc and then
> is made into steam again by the heat present in the still, but I suppose
> that I don't get the ability to concentrate the alcohol to a greater
> degree.  I have also read about operating the still without the output
> valve being open so that additional reflux happens - that seounds like a
> disaster waiting to happen!
>
> Count me in as a member of the pack since I did whomp together a very
> small pot still out of a beer mini-keg, some 3/8 inch tubing, some
> corks, compression unions and homemade "play dough".  And HOT DAMN it
> worked!
>
> Thanks for the info when it come!
>

At 01:17 AM 12/05/2006, you wrote:
>Now. Ethanol (which is the alcohol we are after) has a lower boiling
>point than water. So when the batch is heated the ethnol would be the
>first to escape as steam than water.

Essentially, yes. Ethanol will begin boiling before the water does, but
there are several kinds of alcohol other than ethanol in the wash, and
thankfully THEY have lower boiling points than Ethanol.

That makes THEIR steam the first thing out, and that's why you throw away
the first 50ml to 100ml.  Those are the "Foreshots" and "Heads". They smell
bad, taste bad, and cause hangovers/worse hangovers.

Running a wash through a pot still once, then running it through a second
time is a pretty standard practice for most people. The first run generally
comes out at about 40%, and not tasting as good.

When you see cartoons of Hillbillies hefting a gallon stoneware jug, with
two or three "X" marks across the bottom, that is based in fact.

Back around the turn of the century (20th) stoneware jugs and demijohns
were favored for storage of moonshine, mostly the cheaper stoneware jugs.

The "X" marks denoted quality of the contents. A marking of "XXX" meant
that the whiskey was triple-distilled. (in a pot still).

That's a very nice simple explanation Surya, good job.
I do have one thing to add though.When he asked about
closing the valve and it maybe being disaster waiting
to happen. I think he is under the impression that the
still "system" is allowed to come under pressure, thus
being an explosion hazard. Reflux (and I guess all)
stills are open to the atmosphere and not "closed
systems" so pressure is not allowed to build up
(except a little vapor pressure, but I'm going for
simple). In the reflux still the condenser is sized
big enough to condense and return all the rising vapor
before it can leave the "vented" column. By closing
the take-off valve you are returning all the condensed
vapor down the column and helping it to concentrate
the alcohol vapors at the still head. By allowing it
to remain in total reflux after equilibrium for
several minutes the  alcohol percentage is much
higher.

Over on www.homedistiller.org they have several really
nice pictures of reflux stills. A close look will let
you see how they are "open" to the atmosphere.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

Tony T





________________________________________________________________________________\
____
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com.  Try it now.

That's a pretty cool story. I was always curious about the "XXX" on
the jugs.

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, Larry <larry@...> wrote:
>
> At 01:17 AM 12/05/2006, you wrote:
> >Now. Ethanol (which is the alcohol we are after) has a lower boiling
> >point than water. So when the batch is heated the ethnol would be the
> >first to escape as steam than water.
>
> Essentially, yes. Ethanol will begin boiling before the water does, but
> there are several kinds of alcohol other than ethanol in the wash, and
> thankfully THEY have lower boiling points than Ethanol.
>
> That makes THEIR steam the first thing out, and that's why you throw
away
> the first 50ml to 100ml.  Those are the "Foreshots" and "Heads".
They smell
> bad, taste bad, and cause hangovers/worse hangovers.
>
> Running a wash through a pot still once, then running it through a
second
> time is a pretty standard practice for most people. The first run
generally
> comes out at about 40%, and not tasting as good.
>
> When you see cartoons of Hillbillies hefting a gallon stoneware jug,
with
> two or three "X" marks across the bottom, that is based in fact.
>
> Back around the turn of the century (20th) stoneware jugs and demijohns
> were favored for storage of moonshine, mostly the cheaper stoneware
jugs.
>
> The "X" marks denoted quality of the contents. A marking of "XXX" meant
> that the whiskey was triple-distilled. (in a pot still).
>

Thanks Tony.
Just doing my bit for the forum. You guys helped me big time when I
came in :-)

And Josh.
This did confuse me as well when I was looking at still pictures when
I started out. Most pictures dont show it (a top view) but the top
part of the condenser is "open". What is condensed trickles down to
be collected, but the rest goes to the atmostphere.

Regards
Surya.

--- In new_distillers@yahoogroups.com, Tony T <tonkyman1979@...>
wrote:
>
> That's a very nice simple explanation Surya, good job.
> I do have one thing to add though.When he asked about
> closing the valve and it maybe being disaster waiting
> to happen. I think he is under the impression that the
> still "system" is allowed to come under pressure, thus
> being an explosion hazard. Reflux (and I guess all)
> stills are open to the atmosphere and not "closed
> systems" so pressure is not allowed to build up
> (except a little vapor pressure, but I'm going for
> simple). In the reflux still the condenser is sized
> big enough to condense and return all the rising vapor
> before it can leave the "vented" column. By closing
> the take-off valve you are returning all the condensed
> vapor down the column and helping it to concentrate
> the alcohol vapors at the still head. By allowing it
> to remain in total reflux after equilibrium for
> several minutes the  alcohol percentage is much
> higher.
>
> Over on www.homedistiller.org they have several really
> nice pictures of reflux stills. A close look will let
> you see how they are "open" to the atmosphere.
>
> Good luck and welcome aboard.
>
> Tony T
>
>
>
>
>
>
______________________________________________________________________
______________
> Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com.
Try it now.
>

Feed it to your cattle they love it!

I just inherited a pound of Superstart Distillers Yeast and a pound of
Fermax Yeast Nutrient but can't find a ratio of yeast to nutrient for a
sugar wash and don't want to do the trial and error routine.  Anybody
out there have a recipe using that yeast and nutrient?  The yeast is
supposed to turn out around a 20% wash.  Thanks in advance.  Phantom

"The guy is hyping his stuff to people who don't know better."


Well i spose your entitled to have your opinion which by the sounds of
it sounds like your very bitter about something? (just my opinion)


"Saying you "get 96% every time and have never yet had to filter the
final distillate" makes you sound like you're swimming around with his
hook in your mouth."

Well if i got his hook in my mouth its a bloody good quality hook then
because as i stated the still "DOES" perform as mentioned.