Heads Series, Episode 9: How To Run a Dual-Purpose Reflux Still
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
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Video Transcription
Howdy folks, I'm Jeff at Moonshine Distiller, and we're back for one final Heads episode. Now that you've figured out what kind of still you want (which I am sure is a Moonshine Distiller reflux still, like this 3" tower here), we're going to show you how to run it. First thing we've done is set up our water hoses and done a quick test to make sure there is no leaks around the fittings here. If there is a leak, all you need to do is tighten the hose clamps down just a little bit farther. We've set up our parrot here so it's at the right height, so that the collection cup is right below the end spout on the condenser. And we've put in a little sight glass here so later on we can see the reflux action and show you what's going on inside the still. You can see that there are some vapors forming on the inside of the tower here, and that's a good indication that we are just about ready to start our run. So, we'll be back in a few minutes once we get things going.
Alright folks, the vapors just made their way up the column, you could feel it getting hot as the vapors made their way farther and farther up the column. And as soon as they hit the sight glass here, all the fog disappeared. So at this point, we are going to turn our cooling water on, just to make sure we don't get any ethanol vapors out of the end of the still.
So, for the beginning here, we are going to turn the heat up a little bit more and turn the cooling water up a little bit so that we get a lot of reflux moving up and down the column. You can start to see the reflux dripping down the sight glass here. We are going to spend about 5 minutes running the reflux really high so that we make sure our column is stacked properly. And our most volatile stuff ends up here at the top where it is hottest, and our least volatile stuff ends up at the bottom here where it's coolest.
As we mentioned before, the reflux column is all about balancing the reflux traveling down the column with the hot vapors travelling up. As the reflux is cooled and condensed up here by the reflux condenser, they'll slowly trickle down the column, meeting the hot vapors as they work their way up the column. As the hot vapors come in contact with the cool liquid, the less volatile stuff like water will condense down and become liquid, and as it does so, it will heat up that liquid so the more volatile stuff in the liquid, like ethanol, will re-vaporize. And this process basically super-enriches your vapors as they travel up the column. So, we'll give it about 5 minutes to run reflux very heavily here, and then we'll release the reflux a little bit and start getting some product coming out the end here. We'll get back to you in just a couple minutes.
And that looks like it's just about right, we're starting to get a slow drip into the collection cup here and in just a matter of minutes we'll probably see the alcoholmeter start to pop up here in the distiller's parrot.
So, it has been just a couple minutes here and you can see that the parrot has popped up and we've just started getting a flow at the end of our parrot. We're running right around 190 proof, which means that the alcohol is coming out at about 95% alcohol, which is pretty good. We probably could do a little bit further balancing to get it out at about 95% here, just a little bit more reflux. And this begins our heads.
So, this first 100 ml or so here is going to be mostly methanol. We're just going to get rid of the completely. After that, we are going to begin our heads cut. We're going to collect the moonshine in jars until it starts tasting alright and then begin our hearts cut. Typically what I look for is the acetone. The acetone is the compound right before the ethanol. Acetone is basically nail polish remover. So, what I typically do is, if you have a little teaspoon, I use a 1/4 teaspoon measuring cup. Take a 1/4 teaspoon straight off the still, mix it with a 1/4 teaspoon of water, because some compounds are more soluble in alcohol, and they won't break out until you mix it with water and they become less soluble. So, we'll take the mixture of half of my distillate and half tap water, and just taste it and smell it. And once I can no longer taste that acetone, I know we're good to start the hearts.
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Awesome video !!! very very informative thank you
Thanks Jeff!
thank you so much for your videos they’re helpful can you please make a video showing how you pack it with the sightglass or is it the same as how you packed it in that one video you made on setting up the reflux ? Thank you for your videos !!!!! 🤪
great video
I did not know you got acetone as a fermentation byproduct, that's fascinating!
Great teaching video you take the time to show people how to taste smell when they cut when will it rain out thank you so much
Nice channel, I subscribed. One comment if I may, a fractional distillation is not simple. Waiting the solution components to be separated-distilled based to their "boiling point" from lowest to highest is utopic. Components don't separate-distill when boil but when evaporate. Totally different thing. Accuracy and proper use of terminology is needed when comes to distillation matters. Heads, unwanted substances don't contain only acetone, there is also a group of aldehyde, ketone, acids, asteres etc. Also utopic is to try to separate and discard methanol by discarding heads. Methanol is distilled from the first drop until the last, mainly the last. Methanol is a product mainly found to tales, it is a paradox but this is the way it is. Right acetone has a distinct aroma but who can tell the difference of acetone and ethyl acetate? I can't, can you?
Nikos Kotsalis so if methanol is through the entire run how do you remove it then?
@@joew8013 its concentrated in the beginning, as it is more volatile than Ethanol, it boils and evaporates at an earlier time. But just like water and ethanol are bonded together, methanol is bonded with water as well. So it cannot leave completely in the first drops. The most part will, so the remaining amount is "safe", as the amounts are minute. Never pour heads back you wanna avoid all the other crap like acetaldehyde, acetate and so on.
Besides, methanol is tasteless and you cannot taste or smell it. Its the other compounds you are picking up on. You may feel methanol as a heartburn.
Would have been perfect if you would have mentioned your temperatures throughout the video kind of lost without that
Good video plenty of good information there but what wash were you running
Nice video! Thank you! (psst...the beginning of your video says "reflex" instead of "reflux")
Good video and explanation. Just one question: Is there a reason there is a jar under the parrot, which seems to create a precarious situation for the collection jar? Looking forward to more of your work.Thanks
Those temps listed by Cory, are they on the boiler or at the top of colum. Thanks for any help, before I pull the plug and give up
If your not looking to run continuously. You would ditch the heads, would you or could you mix the hearts with the tails to drop the proof. Then water to get it to a n 80 proof drink?
Or are the tails not drinkable either?
Will the water going through the final condenser first then through the reflux condenser get to warm to give proper reflux action
That's what I was thinking too, I use separate water lines for each condenser otherwise the distillate comes out HOT.
Is that a Liebig condenser at the end and how long is it for that length of column?
Can I use your 8 gallon reflux still on top of a wood stove? Is it flat on bottom like a pan or recessed?
Not clearly understand comment at 1:21 not get ethanol vapor where and why (left in still)?
I dont understand why you move from taking acetone straight to taking hearts. Wouldn't it move from acetone to heads and then to hearts?
when i run my reflux still do i keep the reflux valve open then shut it to full reflux when the first lot comes off
Hello what is the size of the boiler you're using
Reflux or pot still for a first timer?
+DruidicRifleman I typically recommend a dual-purpose reflux still, as it will allow you to run it as either a reflux still or pot still. This gives you the flexibility to make whatever you want!
Can I ask what one would do with the ISO propyl portion if it was for beverages
+ran dom It is only a very small percentage of nasties that still contains a large percentage of ethanol. Most distillers would save this portion and add it back to the boiler with their next run. This allows them to try and recover more of that alcohol.
why are you separating, and carbon filtering, doing all the steps to make it drinkable if your making fuel?
+Henry d'Boar ~ God protects drunks and fuels.
Why do you put heads containing Methanol into the next run, why not just throw it out?
because it still contains mostly ethanol and the next distillation will put the methanol up into the foreshots which will be thrown away.
If you are not drinking it why would you care if it has methanol or not?
You re run your heads?
*Reflux not REFLEX (opening text)
unfortunately I cant taste it because I only have a distilled fuels permit. what a fucking joke
You're right. He should announce to everyone that he's making illegal moonshine.
Idiot.