Do You Need A Thermometer On Your Still? Thermometer TRAPS
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- čas přidán 13. 10. 2020
- Do you need a thermometer on your still? Or SHOULD you have a thermometer on your still?
Thermometers are a useful tool on a still. Unfortunately, some new distillers tend to overvalue them and fall into some common traps that hold their development back.
This video discusses how and where thermometers are useful in a distillery. But also warns of the mistakes they can lead too.
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#still #distilling #BubblePlate
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This will not change the price for you at all, But the seller will buy my a cup of coffee if you purchase from one of the links. Choice eh? - Jak na to + styl
Totally agree you don’t need them, but personally I find a thermometer most useful on the Keg/boiler. Not so much for distilling itself, but more so for knowing roughly when the product will start flowing or for heating water to a specific temperature prior to mashing etc.
I literally watch this channel while I let it run, instead of twiddling my thumbs
Brew by taste and your nose and not by the numbers. Good advise. Learn to trust your senses.
I'm a pretty new home disteller and this vídeo whould be so nice 1 year ago.. Firstly new destillers, as I did, believe that the destilling phases can be controlled by temperature by knowing the boilling point of ethanol em water - but since you have a mix that will change and also change if it is a sugar mash or grain or frut since you have other chemicals.. I have a small copper alambic which is like a pot still and as per my experience the thermometer is not that accurate or at least the information that it gives me is not more usefull than knowing how much time I have until the show starts. Thanks again! One of the best vídeos yet..
Yes
Yes
And yes
Temperature is very handy.
But not the be all end all.
Temperature will and does vary...
But also gives you a quick glance into what to expect.
Good stuff.
Love this comment.💪👍🥃
The thermometer on the pot is nice when using your boiler to heat up strike water 👍
Sure is
This is my philosophy, too. If you're running the same recipe over and over, you can start to correlate a temp with a cut, but using temps as the only deciding factor in cuts means you are missing out on a lot of weird and wonderful flavors.
Theoreticaly😉
@@glleon80517 It's a theoretical philosophy;-)
Lad u have inspired me to build my own still it .keep up that up beat u have the purest of passion for the rest of us new comers thumbs up lad from Ireland ...
Been binge watching these vids, Now Jesse is narrating my thoughts in my head. Not such a bad thing.....
As always Jess, GREAT info. Something that has a huge impact is also where you're are as well. As well as elevation, weather (barometric pressure, etc)
Temp gives you references points when you are making a consistent product, and abv definitely reflect flavour. Trying to hold a temperature is pointless, yes. To say temperature and abv have no relation to the product being collected is false
A thermometer is a bit more convenient than a parrot for a pot still. It doesnt 'lag' behind and you dont have to clean another part. When you reach say 98 C you know you can stop a stripping run because it's
What if your pot ABV is 1% ?
@@PetraKann What do you mean? if it's at 1% ABV you'll see nearly 100 C and you should toss it because there's nothing left to distill. It's a waste of time/energy to go down to 1% already though.
So, to you a thermo is quite important ?
@@MrLibbyloulou No not really, it's just convenient. You can always do it on taste but I like to measure when to stop stripping runs at least, because it can be hard to judge alc content in tails.
Respect. Always love the message you bring, Jesse.
I have watched enough of your videos over the last couple years to see you grow in knowledge and experience as a distiller .
I have also learned quite a bit from your channel so thank you Jesse. I appreciate what you do and please keep doing it .
Thanks again Jesse you da man !
Well Jesse, i would say that's the best 14.5 minutes of November i have learned in, i am a new stiller, only done 2 runs, i have never had a thermo in the pot, so i don't feel i need one.....i have one in the bend/lyne arm and use that just to ROUGHLY let me know where i am in the process.....
I have seen the oil in the tails, am getting the feel of the sting in the heads, i don't get much out out of a 25 litre run, as i believe i am making very conservative cuts, but after only 6 weeks with toasted oak in the bottle, i feel i am on the right track,i have a new 25 litre barrel, begging to be filled, i also use a parrot and alcohol traille ?
Keep it going, your doing a fantastic job, because of you, i have 325 litres of whisky wash fermenting around the bedrooms....love it...thank you..
I absolutely agree with most here.
I obviously agree about a thermometer 🌡 at the point of no return.
This is academic and undeniable in either a pot or reflux still.👍🥃
But I prefer my boiler thermometer 🌡 ABOVE the liquid.
I really don’t care about liquid temperature.
I care about vapor temperature.
All respect ✊ to you... you’re boss level.
Temperature will vary a little on ALL thermometers.
All the time.
And perhaps they aren’t calibrated correctly.🤷♂️
Everyone MUST learn how THEIR still works...
But thermometers... without preconceived notions of exact temps...
Will tell you just about everything you need to know.
Without them an average inexperienced distiller will be lost.
Obviously... experienced distillers KNOW how their still works...
And temps become less important.
Love your channel Jessie.
As always you’re an amazing asset in this game.😊👍🥃
I have a bbq thermometer on my still it can have six temp probe inputs you can set alarms and it links with Bluetooth to your phone, I use two probes one on the top of the column which i set to alarm if it goes over 35 degc which means it's going to start outputting soon (after that i switch to bellow 65degC which means the still is cooling down) and one at the end of the condenser which goes off if it gets over 20degc (i.e. your cold water supply has shut off and you are going to get flammable soon :p). Basically it lets me monitor my still in the garage from the lounge. The bbq thermometer cost me $25 of ali express.
I’ve just completed my 5th run today. I’m seeing trends and patterns in the whole process ( and yes , its getting palatable but still not Great).controlling temp. Is mostly in how fast you want it to come off and tasting along the way. How fast it drips will change along the way as the solution changes (water/alcohol relationship). You’ll have to ‘squeak’ the temp up a little at a time- watch the speed of the drips/sec this will tell you how to adjust the temp. Go slow! Be patient! Thanks for all the work Jesse! I’m digging watching the beard grow!!
I found you because I discovered the ait still (I only have a room in a shared house) and thought to get one, decided it's too expensive for what it is and have started considering how I could do the same thing by repurposing my instant pot type pressure cooker. Vapour take off from the pressure release valve, leaving the safety valve in situ and some kind of fan cooled matrix to condense. Your videos are very informative and entertaining 🙂 now subscribed
I love thermometers I like them in the pot and on top of the column. I also have them in other places but because they come in various attachments they are not needed but I leave them in there. The one in the pot tells me to speed up or slow down like when I want to stack my column. The one at the top I use for the same thing also I use the drip volume, or flow to determine if I'm running that wash at the optimal temp. I do lots of cuts whith whiskey probably to many but thats ok I have lots of collection jars. I've seen alot of people talking about making cuts a certain Temps and I agree that's not the best way. I think thermometers are just one of many forms of information I can use but certainly not the only one. Thanks for the great info as always Jesse
Yes... I’ve seen in your videos that you appreciate thermometers 🌡.
And you often have many.😊🥃
Thermometers are a window into what is happening...
And for inexperienced distillers invaluable.
But as we become more experienced...
it’s more like a check and balance...
But still very useful.
Good stuff.
I look forward to any new distilling videos you post.👍🥃
@@BillMcGirr very well put. A thermometer can give a inexperienced person that little bit of confidence or piece of mind they need to get some experience under their belt
@@spikelove9533
It took me a little while to figure out that temperature isn’t the be all end all...
But it was very helpful in me beginning to understand how my still works....
I run a 26 gallon boiler as my first still...
It was a hard learning curve.
Thermometers let me know when I was doing wrong... and right.
Along with learning from much more experienced people than myself .
No matter how many runs under my belt...
Thermometers are always there to help.
Because as we all probably know...
Temps can spike and contract especially on a reflux still in a heartbeat.
Good stuff and best wishes.😊🥃
@@BillMcGirr super impressed! Learning on a 26 gallon. Did you skip over pot still and go straight to reflux? I dont have a favorite really, both have their place and uses. I grew up around old school pot stills , with and with out thumpers.I am a big fan of thumpers. Who am I kidding I like everything to do with craft lol. I love how you grow with experience and how much better you get as you progress. I think chasing temp is a lesson we all have to learn with a column. Some things no matter how much someone tells you , yiu just don't understand or fully appreciate the information untill you've done it.
@@spikelove9533
Yup... I love everything about it too.
My best friend from childhood has a 10 gallon copper pot still with a thumper.
We used to run it occasionally...
But always be mad because we never got enough out of it for 2 people.🤣
So eventually I got my own...
I tried running it in reflux my first run but I had my cooling tubes in backwards...🙄🤷♂️
Wasn’t using enough column packing...ect.
But the shine tasted pretty good.
It was an ugly learning curve and I’m glad no one was watching.
But I got better with time, experience and a whole lot of listening to others.
I posted a couple of simple videos on my channel but they aren’t anything to write home about.
I just do it as a challenging hobby and because I like alcohol 🍺😆
Best wishes.🥃
I use my thermometer to control the power going into the still. I run it at full power and when the temp hits 63C I know the voltage regulator down to 105V and I hold it there unless the drips slow down. I control the power at this point by the amount of product coming out of the spout. Then when the temp hits about 97-97.5 I'll taste and smell the offtake to see if I'm deep into the tails, and if I am I'll throw a large mason jar under to collect them.
I'm a complete noob at this but I have a thermometer at the top of my still because it came that way. It was cool to watch it when I did my first run and see what was happening at different temps. I don't know how helpful it was or if it was really necessary to have.
I do like most of your vids Jesse, but have we run out of subject material?
To sum up a 14 minute vid......Thermometers in pot stills aren’t necessary, but handy to some. And thermometers in reflux stills are also handy.
In saying that, thanks for the time and effort you put into this hobby, and for sharing your experiences with us 👍
Spot on Jesse!!! my grandpa taught me to listen the old copper lady.
Excellent points, for beginners it’s easy to view a gauge and think it correlates to abv or taste. Seems more abstract when just going by taste or speed of run. Reminds me of amount of heat vs temp vs speed of your still.
I have always use one for my reflux rig mainly to know when the flow will start and when I'm getting to the end. It's just how I learned on my rig. I was introduced to the trade from a pot stiller and he used pressure to know what was going on and pressure makes liquid boil different. Seeing that I'm still using gas I also use a handful of marbles to make a quicker heat flashpoint to help with the boiling process. One good thing a thermometer does for me is it helps with the ABV of what is coming out. Other than that it's going to put out only as good as you put in. Well that's just what I do and it's not by far gospel for there's a hundred different ways. Just find what works for you and do it.
For a larger 26 gallons boiler using electric heaters controlling with PWM what size of heaters do you recommend. Being in direct contact with mash will I have problem with scorching?
Thanks Jesse!
My hand is the only thermometer that I use for distilling. Now for brewing I use thermometers. I 100% agree that thermometer are good to use for the logistics of the process.
Once again, great video Jesse
I'm interested in adapting my 2" column to add the option of reflux or pot at my choice. While I'm familiar with the standard (inside column) cooling tubes I am curious about the possibilities of adding a 6" or 8" extension, at the top, before the point of no return, and raping the outside of the tube with either copper or silicone tubing and run the cooling water through it. Since I understand the efficiency of having the cooling tubes directly in line with the vapor, I've also noticed the importance of running the flow very low avoiding over condensing before going to the main condenser. Do you think I could make up for the tubes being outside the flow by cooling the sides of the pipe? Could I increase the flow of the water enough to function as a dephlegmator? Sorry to see the videos on this subject are getting hard to find, your work is the best, I have learned a lot between you and George, ha. Thanks!
I like the thermometer to get that reading with each cut jar. Once I've smelled and tasted them the next day, I compare the temps of those cuts to see if I am taking a little extra or less than the last batch. Not taking it as gospel, but as a reference point. It's great to have that info there as a second opinion if nothing else. Oh yeah, and like you said, it's a nice reference for the start and end of a run too. I think they're great for newbies so they have a good reference point, but yeah, got to get off that teet at some point.
I'd be interested to see this done in a glass flask with a hot plate or heating mantle. There's about a 12-13C difference in boiling points between methanol and ethanol to be exploited with precise temperature control. Ethanol and water form an azeotrope which boils at a slightly lower temperature than ethanol alone. Methanol and water do not form an azeotrope. You're doing chemistry whether you know it or not, so why not run a small distillation as if it were any other chemistry experiment?
Elevation also effect temp but that basically pressure you mentioned.
I only use temp to give me an idea when product is getting ready to start coming off. And when to check abv to see when I'm getting to the end of a run.
Mine is at the top of the column.
For a new distiller. Do not focus on temp for cuts, just make a LOT of cuts. Have a lot of jars, make small cuts, and examine them all later so you can learn what each tastes like and what is desirable. Good for learning how to blend jars also.
I couldn't agree more about the gauges. In the beginning all I had was one in the pot. I just used the good ole shit that's hot method 🤯
Your comments about respect reflect my views too man.
Love your stuff !
Jesse, my grandfather taught me the 3 second rule, if you can hold your hand on the line arm for more than 3 seconds you still have a little time to wait lol
Hi Jesse , got 18 ltrs of 40% from 50 ltrs of sugar wash yesterday .....what can i do with it all im think i have used every top shelf essence on the market , can you do a section on things to make besides sticking it on charred wood for 6 months ! made a blackberry thing and a lemonchello but im out of ideas !
i have thermometer on the cap of my pot but use it much like you n it lets me know bout when things ready to happen then go by feel
Currently looking into electronic thermometers for my next still. Coupled with arduinos and a monitoring system. Lots of geekery to be added. Why? Possibilities include.
* To add visualisation to what the still is doing.
* Predict where is it going next.
* Alert at various points.
* possible Safety controls.
* increased efficiency.
Not sure exactly where I will go with it, time will tell. But there are a lot of possibilities with cheap electronics that I would like to explore. If I only get it to beep when I need to turn on the water for the condenser or when Im getting near the end of the run I will be happy
I have done this. Now I have live data charts on a tv screen :-) boiler vaper and cooling water temp. Also controlling valves and alerts etc. I used DS18B20 probes fitted in triclamp end caps. Also made buttons to press when switching a jar to see the production speed vs time and temperature. Next up is automating the jar switch :-)
Have you done a series on 1st time using a Pot Still, Reflux Still etc for new distillers? I am wanting switch from an Air Still (basic but does the job) and it I am interested to learn about the startup process and charging plates, what to watch out for (good and bad). I have a basic baseline of experience with sugar washes and have an appreciation for feel, taste flow. Don't want to upgrade and ruin lots of runs and give up.
What a enjoyable channel! 🥰
I very rarely able to run my still at the theoretical ideal temperature. My main still will run any were between 82C and 88c. I look at how my still is producing and the taste of what is coming out. I do not chase the highest AV ether. I am fairly confident while the temp is stable. I am producing harts. The main task of a thermometer for me, help to indicate when the tails are more likely to be begging and ending at arund 95C at around 40% there abouts.
walker donaldfrancis - same here with my cheap stockpot style Chinese pot still. It always baffled me why it wouldn't produce any spirit until the thermometer in the lid hit 84 - 86 DegC, which is well above the theoretical temperature where alcohols should be boiling. I've calibrated the thermometer and it is accurate. I don't rely on temp, but keep a close watch and even use a parrot to track ABV. For simple washes, when it hits 95DegC or higher, I'm definitely in the tails.
Wow you hit on every single point and you came to the exact opposite conclusion I came to.
When you're in a proper wet lab and doing a distillation there are no measurements you already know whats in your flask and whats going to come out the condenser. Repeatability in a lab should never be an issue.
Brewing and distilling have so many knobs you can adjust and so many that you just have to roll with (quality of your ingredients, water chemistry, health of your yeast, fermentation temperature clarity of the mash ...) for the home gamer batch A and batch B will likely differ in some way. Taking control of as many of those knobs as you can for me is the key to narrowing down what knob does what and gives me more control over the output at the end. I suspect it's the same reason I use a pid for everything and you do not. Neither approach is wrong I just want the data and the exact control over those knobs.
I am admittedly a data horder. I've found that having too much data about a process is seldom a problem but having too little often is. So I gather every possible data point I can, time stamp it and record it. The data doesn't inform my process during but rather after. If something particularly nice happened I can look at the data as see what was different and the same goes when I'm disappointed in the outcome. So on that note we agree, head temp, condenser temp, boiler temp, temps at each plate don't really matter, they are what they are. In the end it's all simple chemistry you got a goes-in-a and a goes-out-a and a black box in between I'm just more comfortable with a smaller black box. For me all the fun in it is in the numbers (and to some extent the outcome) the process for me is the actual work.
I know what you're saying and don't disagree on taking notes. Jesse earlier on in the channel days had plenty of notes on the whiteboard too. Probably still does. I myself find enjoyment in the art of moonshining which was recorded in the brains and experiences of our predecessors whose writing and data recording skills may have been very limited. Its the best thing about this hobby is that its almost infinitely variable and therefore fun for almost everyone of us. If it weren't fun we would go buy store liquor. Keep on chasing.
I understand that producing neutrals is not your favourite style, but because of this you have omitted a HUUUGE aspect of using themometers. I agree, that when you go for the grainy/fruity taste the thermometer is not necessary. BUT! When you're going for a neutral azeotrope, especially made of sugar on a packed column, well, then at least one thermometer (preferably placed somewhere about the position of the 10th theoretical plate) is a must-have. The change (important! Not the particular value, but it's change) of temperature indicates the incoming tails and allow you to cut when you still have a nice spirit. Cutting "by taste" would come to late and would result with a product "tainted" with off-tasting tails.
Awesome 😎
Kickass -more gages just make the stills look cool.
Evening Jesse great video as always, but I have a burning question slightly off topic. What was the noise in your last video? A hedge trimmer ?
There's also altitude that you can use to effect boiling temperature. I guess its a sub-category of pressure, but it would be a safe way to adjust the pressure, as you wouldn't be creating a closed/semi closed/restricted system.
You have been to a ton of commercial places .. how do the big guys do it ? I would think they have temp probs /valves all over the place to control down to the ml how its running ?
The most temp checking I do is water temp in and out of the condenser. I check it multiple times during a run.
Thanks, finish your trim on the bench. Lol, great insight
I love this channel and Jesse's awesome but 110% agree. "Finish the f@$&ing bench trim Jesse". For the sake of my OCD and sanity.
Please. ..
I'm surprised i've never seen a thermometer right before the reflux condenser, it seems like knowing the tamperature delta across the dephlegmator would be useful
I use one on my off take to see the temp of that to see if I need more ice in my cooling vessel or not.
I use the thermometer to tell when the run is about to start and when I am done with the run every pot has it's own temperature it likes to run at . And I have my favorite pots for different things .
Hi Jesse, greetings from Greece! Is there available such a file with the correspondence of temperature on top of the column vs vapor %abv vs liquid %abv. I tried to find it on the internet but no luck so far
I love my Lyne arm thermometer. I would never be without one.
For a boka temp helps for seeing how much alcohol is left in vapor path. But interesting enough flavor changes even though temp is same.
I can relate the thermometer in the pot like a download status bar. Counting up to the point to where the vapors will start making the thermometer at the top the column surge, and when to start turning the elements down. Hypothetically ;-)
The ONLY thing I use the thermometer for on my still is to see when to turn on the cooling water. When the top of the column reaches 100* F I turn on the water to the product condenser, and lower the flame on the burner. After that, everything is done on sense of sight, smell, taste and feel. When the boil chips in the bottom of the pot start rattling good, I start looking for tails and the end of the run will be near.
What's your heat source?
Yes. Agree. I monitoring mashing themperature. Distillation is easy. Then I monitor ABV. P.S. At the begining I use 3 thermometers!!! 😁😁😁😁😁
When I started I was worried about the temp being in a range that produces methanol. Now I use the temp of the distillate to set my water flow, if it’s just cool to touch then that’s where I leave it regardless of the thermometer reading
When are you going to put that last facing strip in your bar? Just kidding, love your videos.
Please do! Does my nut in. Can we Patreon vote the wood type? 😂
I find that a thermometer in my pot measuring liquid temp is most helpful... Having small kids this helps me pre-heat the still and keep it slightly cooler than when it's about to produce helps me reduce the time needed to finish a run an evening after kids go to sleep
Using any one data point will not give an accurate snapshot of any process not just distilling but using multiple data points can and does help. If you know round about where the boiling point of your azeotrope is and know about where your starting abv should be it gives you a good idea of what’s going on and how you will be proceeding. Then of course you will make other decisions based on other metrics including smell, taste and whatever else you use to gauge your run.
It’s not one or the other. When doing anything in life the more information one has access to the better the result will be providing one has the knowledge to make use of that information.
Should you have a thermometer at the PONR? Yes of course why wouldn’t you. Why stay blind to an important metric in your run, should you measure ABV during the run? Yes of course you should particularly if you are new to distilling and maybe haven’t developed the “sense” of where the cuts are.
Distillation. IS a science, I know there is the debate of it being “art” but it is literally a process based on chemistry and physics. The art comes in when deciding on the cuts but the greater understanding and manipulation one has over the processes the better their ability to create their product.
This is true of every art form and every task in general.
I agree that every mash and wash is going to have different properties but knowing what is going on in the process will only help make a better product.
My gauge on the top of the pot goes from ambient to max as soon as any vapour get there. Never seen it drop down ever.
Exactly
Put a thermometer at the top of the column in a pot still for stripping and you can monitor beginning and end points plus know roughly the 'progress bar' to completion... or so I'm told.
Ive only run a few batches, usually stop before it hits 90c, dont know what im doing would be nice to actually give me a few pointers on temp
Bang on mate, temp means nothing, its all about the taste and the smell, different with every run
I never known a moonshiner to use a thermometer.
Im thinking about a pid and element
You didn’t mention determining ABV by vapor temperature at the head of the still. Easier and cheaper than getting a parrot. Using vapor temp there is no lag due to filling a parrot, or a necessary temperature compensation for a hydrometer. Not how to do cuts, but good info to have for each jar.
I think a thermometer is very helpful for a run but i agree id never make tasting decisions based off the thermometer i just like it so i have more of insinght on progress if that makes sence
The other part to add to this. The Temps are different based on Alt. Water Boil point here (7500 ft ASL) is 198F instead of 212F at sea lvl.
While I can agree that using temp and avb is not a hard set point. It does give us an idea or data point so to speak of where to start and stop for our given process. Say like stopping or getting to our perceived end at 220° and 40-45 avb. My still does not start a drip until the 2" column balance hits 178-180°. My 3" column starts at 181° almost like clockwork. That is a data point I always seem to be able to rely on as an indicator that I need to start watching, smelling, and tasting. See what I mean.
Thanx for this! I've helped a few people this week get away from thermometers for running their equipment. Now i have a video to point them towards. #rantymfer 🤣 #soami lol
Equally scared, God bless you and your family brother! Thank you for all you do!
Man I was about to spend a hundred bucks to upgrade my temperature reading abilities
I find that a thermometer in the pot is great for estimating the wash ABV.
ie. boiling temp of wash ~ % water/alcohol
eg if the wash is boiling at 88 C then the wash ABV is approximately 22% and
if the wash is boiling at 93 C then the wash ABV is approximately 10%.
I'm an old fart, brewing bad moonshine in an old corny keg still. I've always gone by senses to know my cuts...and I'm too old to learn else, I fear. I oak a small percentage, but l and the friends who sample my stuff prefer the white stuff. Forty years or so of tasting develops a distinct preference...and we all prefer that which we drink the most, over a time.
Respect the drip, drip, drip, spurrrrrt.
If the stream coming out of your still is thicker than a matchstick, turn down your heat.
What about using the thermometer for separation of methanol by temperature, being new I am bound to ask dumb questions....
Altitude also affects boiling point!
Separating into glass jars by temperature or separating into glass jars by milliliters collected are both arbitrary ways to segment a run. Using a parrot on a small scale doesn't work because of smearing. The only "perfect" way is to smell and taste what's coming off of the still constantly, or segment collections by 1ml - neither of which is practical :) Temperature is a good way to look for patterns in the run. Climbing, stalling, etc.
If you're making vodka/brännvin using a basic still with a fractionating column you should make sure that the temperature at the top is 78.3 degrees Celsius. This is the way....
Thermometer for mashing and top of column to see when expect something coming out of still, rest goes with senses.
If I'm running outside I'll wrap a towel around the column so I sort of need a thermometer at the top because I can't feel the heat coming up.
I understand your point, especially on a reflux still. That said, I am Going to combine thermometer and PID observations for a small pot still, from my personal POV.
As an engineer, recognizing and learning patterns is engrained. Reproducibility and control is a goal. Automation to do this is valued and useful. Tracking PONR temp is an observable, and is helpful to achieve these, especially when using a PID.
By not only observing the PONR temp, but maintaining stability of that temperature, (which the PID permits, relying on that PONR thermometer/sensor) it permits consistency and allows better control of the process. When volumes are small, tracking this temp also gives clues when to change sampling jars. Not as cuts, but to more consistently create points where cuts can occur based on previous observations in how the still operates. This can make for a more reproducible and potentially better product than just changing jars when they reach a certain level.
My 2 cents worth. The small batch guy has a different set of problems when making cuts than the distiller running a big still.
Well I use 4 currently I’m fairly new and experimenting - boiler - top of column and 2 on the top above dephlegmator - 1 internal and 1 external - those 2 top units need a talking too...............
Just strap a thermometer on the outside of the column with aluminium foil to get a analogue of temperature. No need to have the thermometer inside.
just found out im goin to be granpap for 9th time!!! thats a great reason to actually drink some of the shine i make and my friends like so much....woohoo
The only other way to change the boiling temp of your wash is to break the laws of thermodynamics ;)
Shots fired!
Thermometer is fun for your first time. Then becomes meaningless compared to off take rate/heat in, or cuts based on personal tasting preferences
lol ther goin b a ho-down in the holler this weekend bring a mask all is welcome....nuthin better than harvest season in west virginia
Thermometers make me look smarter for visitors like i know what i'm doing. But face it they are just there for the drinking.
Popcorn nvr had one
I have an Alembic pot with a temp' gauge in the Onion (cap). I agree that there is no real need for it, other than:
1. It's an indicator that i need to pay attention to throttle the gas.
2. If it's going to puke then i get a temp drop on the gauge and i can react accordingly ( panic ).
Keep up the good work Jesse.
20 seconds after intro, I cannot agree more!
On a HOBBY SCALE: "YOU DO NOT NEED A THERMOMETER !!!"