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Todd morgan
How to Make a Small Copper Still – 1 Gallon – Clawhammer Supply
How to Make a Small Copper Still – 1 Gallon – Clawhammer Supply
- Craft Beer Brewing
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Contents
Distillation column diagram. How does a moonshine column work
Column) is an apparatus for the production of “underrectification”, that is, strong and relatively pure moonshine. At the exit, the product turns out better than the distillate, but does not reach the rectified value. You can read about its difference from the usual moonshine and rectification apparatus here -.
Today we will consider the option of making a reinforcing column with our own hands. This work requires knowledge of its structure, and owning a welding machine and a grinder…
It is rather difficult to collect something adequate from the trash, but we will try to offer you the most budgetary and affordable option, which will give you a strong and relatively high-quality product at the end.
There are not so many components as it might seem at first glance.
- Three stainless steel pipes with a diameter of 32 mm.
- Two nuts for connection to the cube.
- Stainless steel refrigerator
- Sewer pipes, coupling and adapter for a washing machine (dephlegmator).
- It is used as the basis of the alembic.
So how are we going to do solid column, then you will need a welding machine with electrodes and a grinder.
The design will not imply parsing, but it will need to be washed directly with water.
I propose to study the device and the principle of its operation of this device before work.
I did it most successfully Lucky on your Youtube channel. A lot of questions are closed in the comments, so study this section too.
Blueprints
Probably, your basis for the apparatus will not be the same as ours. For this reason, you will not be able to make an identical column, as your pipe and connection sizes will be different.
Therefore, we have prepared for you a selection of drawings which you can navigate while working. Choose the best option for yourself, collect all the parts and you can get to work. The video will be presented later.
Drawing with dimensions and names of parts. 
Made of copper. 
With a drawer side of 22 mm. Illustrative diagram.
Step-by-step instructions for making a reinforcing column
It is very difficult to explain the practical part in words, so I suggest you watch 2 videos from the Youtube channel samopal PRODUCTION… It is these rollers that are considered the most popular, as they show a budget option for manufacturing a reinforcing column.
The whole process can be roughly divided into several parts:
- Preparation of equipment and components of the apparatus.
- Connection and welding of pipes, that is, the creation of a sealed system.
- Testing and improving distillation (adding or working with a reflux condenser).
The output turns out to be a rather dumb, but working moonshine still. On it you can make moonshine with strengthening, taking away most of the harmful fractions from the product.
Column made of copper
If the stainless steel does not suit you with something, then the only alternative would be copper… The device will turn out to be more expensive, more efficient and better. This material is difficult to maintain, but the result is always fantastic.
I propose to study the scheme of work of a copper reinforcing column and understand its main nodes. The author will tell about those parts of which it consists, so after watching the video you will have an objective picture of how it can be done.
Beginner moonshiners usually prefer distillers. But the more experience, the more you want to get a perfect product – devoid of fusel oils and as strong as possible.
Moonshiners who are not familiar with the work of the RK in practice have a prejudice. They believe that the distillation column picks up the odor from the feed. This is only partially true.
It all depends on the purpose, but the column is operated in different ways: in order to obtain rectified alcohol or pure and fortified distillate.
Distillation column in appearance – high pipe, rising vertically above the alembic. Indispensable components:
- Food stainless steel pipe with a height of not less than 1 and not more than 1.5 meters. Industrial sizes are thousands of times larger than those indicated.
- The dephlegmator is the upper part of the pipe with a water jacket.
- Nozzles: RPN or stainless steel kitchen weeding scrapers, as well as (not always) SPN spirals of equal diameter and height.
- Thermometer. Better yet, two: one in a cube, the other in a column.
- Tubing for connection to the atmosphere.
- Direct-flow condenser, which finally condenses the alcohol vapor coming from the column.
- Connectors and pipes for connection / drainage of cooling water.
- Column insulation in the compartment where heat and mass transfer takes place (desirable, but not required).
Calculation of system parameters
The calculation is necessary in order for the column to produce a product with a strength of up to 95 °, clean from fuselage and other impurities. At the same time, it did not choke, it had an optimal haul speed.
Attention. Any of the home-made distillation columns on the market has a distillation speed several times lower than.
This is due to the need for multiple re-evaporation of the alcohol-containing liquid.
Productivity and quality of work depends on:
- the height and diameter of the drawer side;
- correct calculations for the nozzle;
- heating power;
- volume of the distillation cube.
Pipe and nozzle dimensions
To ensure the correct strengthening and separation capacity, regardless of the internal section, the acceptable height of the sidebar is considered to be 1 – 1.5 m. These parameters have been determined by numerous experiments.
At a lower height, it will not be possible to protect itself from the breakthrough of the fuselage into the finished product, that is, it will not be possible to achieve the proper purity of selection.
If you make the height higher, this does not give the best performance and, on the contrary, increases the number of head fractions.
Simply put – every extra centimeter of the column reduces the separating ability device and negatively affects the driving speed.
Allowable parameters of the inner diameter of the pipe – 28-52 mm… These are the dimensions used in the production of household RK.
There is a formula: productivity, measured in milliliters of product per hour of operation, and power (watts) are equal to the cross-sectional area (cross-section) of the pipe in sq. mm, that is, they are directly proportional to its diameter squared.
When choosing or constructing a column, calculate the diameter (internal). With large deviations, it will not work correctly.
Nozzle
It does not just increase the contact of the alcohol-containing vapor with reflux, it must be tied to a specific column. At home, pick up nozzles with a contact surface of 1.5 – 4 m2 per liter of rectified.
If you take more, the purification will improve, but the already low distillation rate will drop. If you take less than 1.5 square meters, then the separation and strengthening will fall, as a result of which pure alcohol will not work.
When using only on-load tap-changers, usually twisted sheets are inserted one above the other from below – from the cube to the take-off unit. The ratio of the SPN to the inner diameter is selected 13-15 times less. That is, with a wire thickness of 0.25 mm, the diameter of the SPN is matched to a 50 mm pipe – 3.5×3.5; 40 mm – 3×3; 28-32 mm – 2×2.
Attention. For various tasks, their attachments are used.
For example, when distilling (distilling) grain raw materials, it is advisable to use copper RPN or SPN, rings, saddle-shaped nozzles. For rectification – RPN + SPN, cut wire scouring pads.
We select the volume of the distillation cube
The rectification is carried out after the first distillation, when the crude alcohol is obtained. A 40-degree liquid is poured. The number of nozzles to prevent the ingress of fuselage into the finished product is calculated from 10 to 20 volumes of alcohol-containing strong liquid in a cube.
Cook a moonshine still. We make a moonshine still with our own hands at home
This article discusses the schematic diagrams of the simplest moonshine stills that you can do yourself in a short time. The constructions are home-made, productive and, most importantly, safe to use. All materials for the manufacture of devices are sold in stores at an affordable price.
The design of any moonshine still is based on the process of distillation – purification, separation of a mixture of liquids of different density and chemical composition into fractions. Our fraction, which we are going to get at home, is called moonshine, or raw alcohol, with a strength of 60 to 90 degrees.
The raw material for the manufacture of alcohol in the classic form is a fermented mixture of sugar and alcohol yeast – mash. The alcohol content in the initial solution reaches 14%. It is theoretically impossible to get more, a further increase in the concentration of ethyl alcohol inhibits the activity of yeast fungi and fermentation stops naturally.
All the recommendations of experts on prolonging fermentation by adding various chemical and biological substances to the mash – from the evil one. In no case should they be used in practice.
The optimal composition of the mash is not just canonized, but it has been tested a thousand times in practice – water, sugar, yeast. Old jam, expired caramel or syrups are sometimes used as sugar-containing components. This is not forbidden.
In addition to imparting a specific smell to moonshine, they will not bring any more harm.
How does a moonshine still work
The scheme of a moonshine still is very simple and does not differ in any way from a laboratory distiller. Its device is described in detail in any textbook on chemistry or reference book on laboratory equipment, there are also the necessary drawings. It consists:
- from a container for raw materials (wash);
- refrigerator;
- pipelines.
More advanced designs are equipped with a variety of devices – dry steamers (reflux condensers), bubblers, charcoal or wood filters. Their structure and purpose will be described below. A home-made moonshine still can be easily turned into a full-fledged professional equipment for the production of high-quality alcohol, which does not differ in purity from a distilled product.
Sad statistics speaks about the advantage of using moonshine stills at home in the production of home-made alcoholic beverages – most of all alcohol poisoning occurs when drinking vodka from stores.
The fact is that the production of counterfeit vodka is on an industrial basis.
As raw materials for it, alcohols of unknown origin are used, most often synthetic, which have nothing to do with wheat or yeast alcohol.
They affect the human body in a completely different way than good food grade distillation alcohol, and can threaten not only health, but also life, even with moderate use.
Not too high-quality moonshine can only lead to a severe hangover.
Therefore, let's talk about how you can brew high-quality moonshine at home, which you can drink without any special consequences (if in moderation).
The simplest moonshine still from a pan
Creation of a coil for a moonshine still. What materials to use? Coil manufacturing rules: tube diameter, material, location
The classic coil is a spiral made of a material with high thermal conductivity. Such devices have a large cooling area and are easy to manufacture.
The best materials
What to make a coil for a home moonshine still with your own hands? The material should be easy to process, not form harmful compounds during distillation, and be strong enough. The most popular materials for moonshiners are copper, stainless steel, aluminum, glass. Much less often, coils are made of silver, brass and metal-plastic.
Copper
Copper coils are most common in moonshine stills. Copper lends itself well to processing, and the high thermal conductivity of copper allows for faster distillation. Copper is not completely chemically inert, that is, it can form new compounds when interacting with heated vapors.
Theoretically, they can turn into ready-made moonshine, and then have a negative effect on the body, but the experience of French winemakers does not confirm these assumptions. They traditionally use copper stills in the production of whiskey and cognac, recognized throughout the world for their high quality.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel has good thermal conductivity and does not interact with most active chemical compounds. A coil for a home moonshine still made of food-grade stainless steel will allow you to get a high-quality alcohol product.
Aluminum
When making an aluminum refrigerator, it is necessary to take into account that with age such a device gets old and becomes hazardous to health. During distillation, aluminum oxides interact with alcohol compounds, and the resulting complex substances accumulate in the body. The alcohol obtained with an aluminum apparatus has a slight specific taste.
Glass
Glass devices have excellent thermal conductivity and allow you to regulate the distillation process. The disadvantage of such a device is the difficulty of making it at home and high fragility. If you decide to stay with this option, then in most cases it is better to buy a sufficient number of ready-made glass refrigerators on the Internet.
Distillation without coil
If you are a beginner moonshiner, it is not always worthwhile to immediately equip the perfect wine-making corner. To get started, you can use the materials at hand.
An old saucepan or can with a sealed lid is perfect as a distillation cube. As a coil, you can use materials at hand.
Moonshine after distillation will not be of the highest quality, but the first exciting experience of home brewing will be obtained at almost no cost.
Grandma's design
This is the simplest moonshine still you can make. The role of the refrigerator in the design is played by a large bowl of cold water, in which you can put snow in winter. Alcohol vapors condense on the walls of the “refrigerator” and fall into the funnel, and then flow down the groove into the alcohol receiver.
Lazy coil
If the soul yearns for a homemade drink, but there is no time, then imagination will help out. In the presented model, the role of the coil is played by a small diameter silicone tube attached to the distillation cube.
The free turns of the condenser are immersed in a container, which is placed in the sink and cooled by water. Silicone tubes of various lengths are available at the pharmacy.
When buying, it is important to pay attention to the material – rubber products will not work.
Metal tube refrigerator
A do-it-yourself coil for a moonshine still will compete with store counterparts. Before starting the assembly of a moonshine design, you need to decide on its parameters:
- Dimensions. To make the moonshine flow faster and tastier, you should find a longer copper or aluminum tube. Its length before twisting should be about 2 meters, and the section diameter should be 8-12 mm. Such dimensions will provide a sufficiently large contact area with the cooling medium. The tube wall thickness should not be very thin, on the order of 1 mm, so as not to complicate processing.
- Spatial location.The orientation of the refrigerator can be any, but it is better to prefer vertical, and serve the steam from the top. In this case, the condensed moonshine flows down under the action of gravity, without creating obstacles to the steam.
- Cooling can be produced by air, snow or water. Water cooling systems are more efficient. The choice between a capacitive and a flowing (open) refrigerator depends on the availability of water supply and sewerage.
How to bend a pipe?
You can get a beautifully curled coil in a variety of ways. An air conditioner store sells copper tubing of the correct length, and there you can find “pipe benders” that create smooth bends without creases. If no special device was found, then the old-fashioned way of making neat turns with your own hands will help:
- one end of the tube is closed;
- the cavity is tightly packed with sand (salt, soda);
- the second end is closed;
- the structure is wound onto a pipe of a suitable diameter;
- the spiral is removed, its ends open, the filler is carefully poured out.
See which one is easy to make and produces a quality product. Also, the article describes in detail the process of making a coil from a copper tube.
How to make a moonshine still with your own hands? Many people ask this question when they see the price of factory devices or try home brew, or. Experienced moonshiners often complain that the lion's share of those who have tasted their drink are subsequently questioned by questions: how to make the same high-quality moonshine.
And it is not at all in vain, because if you assemble a competent moonshine still, it will be an order of magnitude better than standard store options. Doing everything according to the instructions, you will probably get an analogue of an expensive, elite device from the store.
At home, you can do it just as well, and some craftsmen do it even better by equipping their apparatus with additional dry steamers and new refrigerators.
In principle, anything will work for a distillation cube, even a kettle! The main thing is that the container is sealed, and of course strong (pressure can break a weak metal), assemble it from the right components and put your soul into this unit.
This is what we will talk about in this article: how to properly assemble moonshine with your own hands, how the elements work, how to make them yourself, we will provide a choice from various components and how they interact with each other. We strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the material before you start making your moonshine still, because you can make seemingly minor mistakes, spoiling your future drink!
How the moonshine still works
The scheme of a moonshine still is very simple and does not differ in any way from a laboratory distiller. Its device is described in detail in any textbook on chemistry or reference book on laboratory equipment, there are also the necessary drawings. It consists:
- from a container for raw materials (wash);
- refrigerator;
- pipelines.
More advanced designs are equipped with a variety of devices – dry steam tanks (reflux condensers), bubblers, charcoal or wood filters. Their structure and purpose will be described below. A home-made moonshine still can be easily turned into a full-fledged professional equipment for the production of high-quality alcohol, which does not differ in purity from a factory distilled product.
Sad statistics speaks about the advantage of using moonshine stills at home in the production of home-made alcoholic beverages – most of all alcohol poisoning occurs when drinking vodka from stores.
The point is that the production of counterfeit vodka is industrialized.
As raw materials for it, alcohols of unknown origin are used, most often synthetic, which have nothing to do with wheat or yeast alcohol.
They affect the human body in a completely different way than good food grade distillation alcohol, and can threaten not only health, but also life, even with moderate use. Not too high-quality moonshine can only lead to the strongest. Therefore, let's talk about how you can brew high-quality moonshine at home, which you can drink without any special consequences (if in moderation).
The simplest moonshine still from a pan
Pot still – Wikipedia
Distillation apparatus for flavored liquors
Pot stills at the Lagavulin Distillery
A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as effectively as other distillation methods. Pot stills operate on a batch distillation basis (as contrasted with Coffey or column stills, which operate on a continuous basis). Traditionally constructed from copper, pot stills are made in a range of shapes and sizes depending on the quantity and style of spirit desired.
Spirits distilled in pot stills top out between 60 and 80 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) after multiple distillations.[citation needed] Because of this relatively low level of ABV concentration, spirits produced by a pot still retain more of the flavour from the wash than distillation practices that reach higher ethanol concentrations.
Under European law and various trade agreements, cognac (a protected term for a variety of brandy produced in the region around Cognac, France) and any Irish or Scotch whisky labelled as “pot still whisky” or “malt whisky” must be distilled using a pot still.[1][2][3]
Method of operation
During first distillation, the pot still (or “wash still”) is filled about two-thirds full of a fermented liquid (or wash) with an alcohol content of about 7–12%.[4][5][6] In the case of whiskey distillation, the liquid used is a beer, while in the case of brandy production, it is a base wine. The pot still is then heated so that the liquid boils.
The liquid being distilled is a mixture of mainly water and alcohol, along with smaller amounts of other by-products of fermentation (called congeners), such as aldehydes and esters.[5] At sea level, alcohol (ethanol) has a normal boiling point of 78.4 °C (173.
1 °F) while pure water boils at 100 °C (212 °F).[7] As alcohol has a lower boiling point, it is more volatile and evaporates at a higher rate than water. Hence the concentration of alcohol in the vapour phase above the liquid is higher than in the liquid itself.
During distillation, this vapour travels up the swan neck at the top of the pot still and down the lyne arm, after which it travels through the condenser (also known as the worm), where it is cooled to yield a distillate with a higher concentration of alcohol than the original liquid.[5] After one such stage of distillation, the resulting liquid, called “low wines”, has a concentration of about 25–35% alcohol by volume.
These low wines can be distilled again in a pot still to yield a distillate with a higher concentration of alcohol.[6] In the case of many Irish whiskeys, the spirit is distilled for a third time. However, cognac and most single malt Scotch whiskies are distilled only twice.
A still used for the redistillation of already-distilled products (especially in the United States) is known as a doubler – named after its approximate effect on the level of the distillation purity.
[8][9] Distillers of around 1800 having sufficient resources to operate both a primary still and a separate doubler would typically use a smaller still for the doubler (typically about half the capacity) than for the first distillation.[9]
An alternative way to reach an increased distillation purity without a full second stage of distillation is to put another pot (often a passive pot – i.e., without an external heat source) between the pot still and the cooling worm.
Such a pot is known as a thumper – named after the sound made by the vapour as it bubbles through a pool of liquid in the thumper.
[10] The distinction between a thumper and a doubler is that a thumper receives its input as a vapour prior to cooling, while the intake of a doubler is an already-condensed liquid.[8][10]
During distillation, the initial and final portions of spirit which condense (with the first portions termed the foreshots and heads and the final parts called the tails and feints
