Copper Moonshine Style Stills | Understanding Pot Stills, Column Stills & Distillation
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- Опубліковано 12 жов 2017
- Today we're going to talk about Copper Moonshine Style stills using the fine quality stills at Steven Stillz to showcase a bit about how distillation works and how pot stills can differ from column/reflux stills.
Steven Stillz on eBay: ebay.to/2y9FKoS
Steven Stillz: www.stillz.com
You may be a hobbyist distiller, a professional distiller or in the market to understand more about copper stills for rum, whiskey, moonshine or whatever fun you have in mind. The legality is up to you to research (and drink safe and responsibly). However, if you're in the market for a still it's worth checking out Steven Stillz product line as he's got a great quality copper moonshine style still complete with copper pipes, thumper and, of course, the actual pot still (and worm).
The electrical element that Steven Stillz sells is fantastic and highly accurate (we tested it). Electric stills are safer and are less likely to blow up because you don't have open flame near high ABV. The copper quality is top notch, it's 22 gage copper with non-lead silver welds and holds up to the stress and strain of distilling spirits--the weight of the copper still allows it to hold a great deal of wash!
A lead free still is important for surviving the experience and free shipping makes it even better. The experience of reading, learning and understanding how my favorite rums were made gives me a new appreciation when I buy a bottle. You wonder why your favorite whiskey costs so much? You want to know why an 8x distilled vodka is more expensive? Understanding the still is the first step to understanding the history of the spirit.
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Drink Responsibly. - Навчання та стиль
Excellent, answered a lot of my questions - especially the thumper.
Just finished my first run with a Steven Stillz 10 gallon still. Looks like the one you have. This is a quality work of art!
yeah, even once the copper is tarnished after a run :)
I have to say this has been one of your better videos. Lots of great info.
thanks!
Lovely, comprehensive explanation, education and entertaining...I will share on my page so that my customers can get the big picture of how rum is made....
thanks
Yes do a another video on that!
They build the best stillz!!!! You won’t find quality like this from anyone else....they take pride in what they do... Highly recommend
Of course you need those follow up videos! lol Definitely need more videos about what is going on. I find this stuff interesting and have been wanting to try my hand at it some day. Plus something about these things being pure precious metals just has something neat about it, they work as just works of art by themselves. :)
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Best explanation I've heard. Thanks. Keep the videos coming
thanks!
Cool vid man. Its cool for enthusiasts to see where their product comes from.
Also cool you have a rather sexy "prop" to show off from now on! I just sat down after distilling my first sour mash "bourbon". Perfect video to relax too :)
lol, thanks!
If someone enjoyed this video then they need to subscribe to 'Still It' hands down best home distilling channel out there. This video was fun too!
GREAT video, thank you. Would LOVE to see more detailed comparison between column and pot stills. I visited Stillz eBay page and asked him some questions, and mentioned that I got his information from your UA-cam channel.
Thanks, he'll know who you're talking about so drop my name :)
Good job - I would like to see more about the heating process and how the thumper works - I assume you have to heat the thumper too?
the thumper does not need to be heated, the heat from the main distillate moves down into the line and into the thumper and heats it up, and then that second stage of distillation occurs. However, the challenge then is to make sure you don't bring the heat up too fast because, once you turn it down, it's going to turn down the thumper slower, so it takes about ten minutes to alter the final temperature as it moves through the line.
Great video...
I am just the green novice that wants to learn all the aspects of great distilling....have no idea where to start...I'd love all the direction and videos you can produce.
Bobby Sanchez no offense to Carmen man, but if you’re really interested in learning this craft, then check out Barley And Hops Brewing UA-cam channel. It’s run by George Duncan and he is a master and very easy to understand. He taught me everything I know and I happened to be blind.
You should also do a video going through the process of making shine from this still.
How long would it take on this size of a still , how much could you possibly collect and at what percentage?
Thanks again!
unfortunately I've got no experience on moonshine, just rum and potentially gin (someday)
By the way, I really enjoyed this video and the subject matter
Thanks!
Great video good information
Thanks!
Hi, built a very small home still years ago, but someone told me about a “SNEAKY STILL” that is made from a 500 watt soldering iron and some sort of configuration of copper piping. But apart from knowing that, that is all that I know. So with me been in England, distilling is NOT a big thing. So I was thinking that YOU might be able to point me in the right direction for getting the information that I am looking for.
Many thanks in advance.
Bye from John.
Sorry for any spelling mistakes, as I need a bilateral cataract operation, so am not seeing the keypad on my phone that well 🙁😎🤩🤓
MOAR!!
I was wondering how much finished product can be distilled per run in an 8 gal pot still?
Great Video! I learn so much from this and now fully understand this, because of your video. I have to say you are a good speaker, easy to understand, explain clearly, and it be awesome you make this more education and training video. I wish your video was able to link CC (Closed Caption) in english not dutch. Do you make your own spirit in still and if a show is awesome show step by step. Another thing is my son and I been trying to make a clean video for youtube just the way you did in this video ( for his channel gaming and I want do my relate to my work). It would be a big help to us as complete setup such as camera, editing tools, word on screen, mic, light.) Maybe you can make a video about that. It been years and I must be slow or something lol, but I only learn by watching video and just dumb come to the reading. Thank you and keep on making good video!
Yes, I've done the professional speaking/presenting stuff for sales teams in the past, which is where most of my education comes in (but I'm a software engineer as a "real life" job now). Technically, showing people how to make spirits via distillation on youtube could get me in trouble as that's not legal here in this part of the US (or maybe anywhere in the US) if you don't have a license and a distillery.
As for how to make videos and stuff, I've done all this at some point in the past, here is the last time we did something on this topic: ua-cam.com/video/36SxwypvjPE/v-deo.html
Baba u r full power mad baba....full knowledge
I would greatly appreciate it, if you would do a video comparing the column and pot still.
You can convert this pot still into a column still, it's really not something to compare/contrast, however, as they're designed for two different purposes. The flavor profiles of the final product will be different but it's not "bad" vs. "good."
You'll find column stills do a great job wiping out most of the congeners from the distillate and cleaning it quite well...but doing that to a whiskey or rum can destroy any of the actual flavors (given those same congeners are responsible for the character of the drink).
You'll find some products, like rums, use both a column still and a pot still and blend the two final products together for their signature flavors. Vodka, however, goes for "crisp and clean" and because column stills do that fast for less overall cost (because time is a cost) most folks use column stills for vodka. Of course, then you have tito's, which "finishes" it in a pot still (but the starting product is no doubt either column stilled vodka or purchased product already distilled that's run one more time through a pot still to soften up the flavor).
interesting stuff, would love to see you make some rum in that.
yeah, just don't think i can film that, not good to showcase w/o a license :)
Hi dear friend you work very good but no where in most videos do the give quantities of molasses and yeast and amount expected from the wash and run can you assist. Am in kenya using chaines pot still thanks good day
I would like to see more videos about the distillation process along with videos about distilling whiskey and different types of stills
okay, the next one is going to be more about vodka and "distilling" it (or do they?)
Common Man Cocktails are there any books that you would recommend on the subject?
probably, but I don't know of any so I can't make any recommendations. I know my father has some but most of us just use the Internet and some of the sites that talk about distilling.
Common Man Cocktails could you recommend a website. I'm a bit leery of reliable information on the internet
would be cool to make your own gas/fuel .but would lije one for water distilling.
Good Job. Please tell me more.
If I needed some grain and other mix ingredients can I get the from Graham Mash?
not sure what Graham Mash is
How much am l looking at In order to purchase one of these products?
Nice video
Thanks
If I a reflux still is ran without hooking up water to the dephlegmator will it technically run similar to a pot still?
From my understanding, dephlegmator's are at the final end of a column in a column still, creating additional reflux. It's enhancing the abilities of the column. A pot still has no columns and uses its natural shape to perform the condensation and such. I don't see any ways in which a column still, using the column, would give you the effects of a pot still.
If you do a follow up video on column stills do go into plates vs. packed ceramic beads. It's been many years but I ran the beads and from how I can reiterate, they act like hundreds of micro plates but lack the pure separation of a true plate so they are only so effective (I found that it would carry quite a bit of flavor too). I was still able to get ~190 proof from a single distillation on a packed bead column.
And if you want to get into gin theory you could talk about in-line botanical baskets! (ah, you got to that later in the vid) edit/
Yep I use I a packed reflux ccvm too. I am getting 91% right now. I think with a longer column I will reach 95%
I've got to do more research and testing on gin, after we play with rum a bit :)
95% is pretty freaking sweet :)
Going to make a common man rum anytime soon
won't have my name on it :)
Aren’t you allowed to make the alcohol for yourself to consume up to so many quarts or something or is that state specific
Nice
How come your 10gal unit looks different then the one on Steven’s site? The 20gal however looks the same as yours.
Thank you for the video
Mine is definitely a 10 gallon, the difference is the "top" on the one in the photo, I know you can get different tops, that might be a newer version, if you want I can ask Steven.
This still has the 4" Cap Logic Cap. That is why it looks different. With this cap you don't have to use flour paste.
@@mrgolf30 there is no electric port on the 10gals on the site either
How does the reflux tower distill the head poison?
Not sure what you mean, the heads fall out first
About how long do copper stills last? Is there a way to keep them properly maintained so they never disintegrate?
Copper lasts a long time (as an example, the Statue of Liberty is copper). I take care of it by using water and citric acid to clean it and keep it shiny. There are a bunch of "recipes" that people have posted online about cleaning their stills, I chose the one that uses citric acid as I have a lot of it in bags.
@@cmcocktails thanks for the reply
No prob
Sweet!
Rum wash recipe?
Making cuts - based on smell? ABV? Column Temp? Volume output?
Blending cuts?
yeah, rum wash (molasses/sugar), cuts based on everything ... because it's all new :)
Well, the best advice that I ever got was from an old timer in Dahlonega, Georgia, he said that you don't need to watch your temperature except to know when to stop collecting, and you don't need to worry about ABV until you're ready to dilute it. All that you need to know during your run is that when your pot begins to produce, throw away the first 3 ounces for a 5 gallon run, then collect everything else after that into half-pint jars, and you should collect about 20 of them if you stop collecting when the head temp reaches about 200 degrees, at least for a 5 gallon pot and about an 18-20% wash. Then, when you have all of your jars, start in the middle where you know it's hearts, and it should be a somewhat neutral smell and taste, then try each other jar one at a time in both directions until you don't like the smell of the jar. Collect what you like, throw away what you don't. He said it helps if you keep the first jar (mostly heads) and the last jar (mostly tails) as samples to remind you of what your hearts should NOT smell like, at least until you learn what it smells like.
As for wash recipe, you can have whatever percentage of molasses to sugar that you want, but the best is a pound for pound equivalent - for a 5 gallon run, 10 pounds of sugar to 1 gallon (10 pounds) of molasses. Feed molasses is OK, just make sure its unsulphured.
can you make a video to teach how to make a whiskey and teach us how to use the instruments ?
not really, or, not legally, no. :)
People doing sugar+water+yeasts does not want taste. It is necessary to have as clean as possible product. After that I am putting fruits + alcohol and I receive very nice drink. Also vodka shall be clean I suppose.
CC on this is crazy 😂
how do you clean it
water and a bit of citric acid (powder) works fine as does just simply water. Citric acid works best on the outside as it stains and discolors if you want it to look more like a piece of art than a functional product :)
I'd love to see the video of this still in action?
I shall not incriminate myself lol
Anyone buy lemon grass oil?
Looks cool, only thing that bothers me is 'caplogix' that's just a triclamp and cap...
it's just smart business :) There are dozens of great "inventions" that were just repurposing something in another way, but doing it for the first time. If you look at many stills you'll see it can be kinda a pain in the ass to work around this problem, he just solved it for this case. And, had to have pieces custom built and sized for the application of use. But, true, the concept of a cap and clamp itself isn't new. It's just nobody has troubled themselves to fix the design "flaw" of older stills.
So, how much actual, drinkable spirit does a 10-gallon still will produce?
with good sugar content on the fermentation? about 2 gallons or maybe a bit more, but it depends on what you're making and your experience. "If I did it", I'd say that the first run was less than 2 but the second was much closer :) If you're doing rum, for example, and you add a good deal of sugar and let it all ferment to alcohol you'll, of course, get more product out.
Then you have to toss the start/finish and take the middle, so it's not bad to get 8 to 12 bottles of spirit (where a bottle is 750ml).
Common Man Cocktails Thanks. I would like to make whiskey.
Distillation at 76 ° C. Is the thermometer in water or in the air? Inside the pot
the probe is within the fluid.
@@cmcocktails
Excuse .
Can you give me the amounts of water per liter, yeast and sugar?
Not really, that's a very vague question. Yeast for what? Gin? Vodka? Rum? What type of yeast? Sugar depends on the recipe and what you're making, if it's a rum, that usually includes both molasses and sugars, etc.
If it was me, I'd find a recipe you want and follow that recipe to get the results you need, don't rely on vague proportions for an unknown goal.
@@cmcocktails
recipe amount for moonshine ?
again, find a good recipe on the Internet. I'm not a moonshine guy, I have no interest in moonshine -- flavorless odorless products bore the heck out of me :)
How much does this unit sell for?
I went over to www.stillzstore.com for you, seems to be bout $799 (sold out at the moment) for a 10G.
Can't you use that for essential oils?
Maybe, not a clue lol
Neat
yeh!!
Can you add apple extract to the thumper instead of real fruit?
You can add anything you want really, but I am not sure how each thing will impact the total flavors until you try.
I bet that most if not all copper unions were made soldering,... remember the problem with lead paint... whel the same problem seems to occur with soldered pipes... solution, use tig welding
They are using non-leaded solder which he mentioned at the beginning of the video. Just costs a tad more.
They have silver lead free solder
Pot still reflux still , please more on rum still, whiskey.
Not sure what you mean, rum uses pot and or reflux
Just a quick note on stills in the USA... that's going to be a state-level law, and every state is different, so PLEASE check your local laws to be sure what you're getting into. In many states, like mine, owning and operating a still is perfectly legal for water, essential oil production, etc. as long as you don't distill spirits. In other states it's illegal to own and operate a still full-stop, and in a handful of states production of alcoholic spirit for personal or household use is totally legal. A quick internet search should sort you out!
Just like marijuana laws, use common sense and best judgement for where you reside; this is just good sense in general. The police won't take "The guy on UA-cam said it's okay" as an excuse :)
Federal law will always Trump any state level law. It is federaly illigal to use a still for distilling spirits for consumption in any stats. You can fill out an application for a permit to distill spirits for fuel.
I got a bong made by David Crosby.
why copper vs something like stainless steel or cast iron?
I'm not exactly sure how heavy a cast iron still would be, but I'd imagine enormously heavy and unwieldy :) Stainless Steel can be a thing, however, most people agree that copper imparts a taste/softness to the distillate. It is said that copper (at a molecular level) wipes out any sulfur like flavor that can come through the distillation process (from the yeast)
Stainless is very common in stills - you just need some copper somewhere in the vapor stream to remove sulfur from the vapor. A lot of people using stainless stills use copper mesh (think of it like cookware scrubbers, but made of copper) to pack a section of their column or lyne arm, and that is usually plenty to take care of the sulfur. Additionally, packing an entire column with copper mesh gives almost the exact same result as bubble plates in a fractioning column (for some nerdy reading, look up "HETP" in relation to distilling...)
TL;DR yes, stainless is super common for distilling, but some copper in the vapor path is necessary.
Yes, and no doubt cheaper. But from a "one vs. the other" I'd assume the PRO for stainless is cost.
Whats that model cost?
Their website shows it currently at $650. www.stillzstore.com/Moonshine-Still-10-Gallon-Traditional-STZ-10G.htm
Thanks
I think it's time to make some rum sir
sssh :) It's not fermenting, I swear!
went to site and this still is not offered?????
huh? What are you talking about, need more details. This still is right on the site when I go there, this? www.stillzstore.com/Moonshine-Still-10-Gallon-Traditional-STZ-10G.htm
wow talk about nominative determinism
Kinda like Tito Beveridge?
Be aware that some shark bit connections have lead in them!
ok what is a moonshine burger ?
What the hell are you asking for the unit being advertisements would lead you to believe!
Please write an Arabic translation
yeah... no.. lol, I don't know all the worlds languages, but if someone submits one I can use it
I think its time you go get your license sir.
in NH? Yeah, that's not so easy :)
Sad :( tis a pity!
this guy is less cracked out in this video .
energy and enthusiasm is viral, I like to make sure when people are finished watching my videos their feeling inspired and ready to go
All these new people making this process to complicated. Im old school like the moonshiners did it 100 years ago
It's really not that complicated, and "old school" doesn't translate to better. You still make "old school" phone calls on a rotary phone plugged into the wall? Probably not. That's about as ridiculous as "traditional martial arts" trying to go back to the roots, or "old school boxing" when people punched each other with fists.
Just because something is old doesn't mean it's doing the best techniques. To me, it means you've not taken 100 years of advancements in the art to make your craft better, but stick to old ways, old mistakes and lack of knowledge. If people 100 years ago had the techniques and technologies that we have today they'd have been better off and happy with their knowledge.
@@cmcocktails ok well that is understandable but that's my opinion. On all this information I find they make it more complicated right but complicated. It should be simple ways
Bahahaha phew hahahaha $10,000.00 still?! Maybe work on that. China sells a SS unit for $169 with free shipping. Sure one must watch the temp but then again who's to say the Chinese don't offer a temp control unit which i might add you did not point out in particular.
I'm am a big fan of single train explanation. I've left courses because of pause and point out concept explanation. Cheers
I would _never_ recommend a $170 still from china. I'm sure such things exist, I'm also pretty sure I could get open heart surgery in a third world country for a quarter of the price I pay in the US... still doesn't mean I'd ever take you up on it :-)
Lesson one: cheap shit from china isn't a new concept. However, you almost always "get what you pay for" and when I'm putting that in a house with heated alcohol into vapors and a heating element... I'm going to just skip out on that $170 "solution" and save my house and body from potential harm.
But, yes, you are right, I did not point out that you can find cheap product in China. And, I'm going to stick with _never_ doing that with anything on the show. I only work with quality product that I myself would recommend.
When explaining why the still is made of copper... he doesn't mention sulfides at all. I doubt he even knows that's the reason copper is actually used.
removing sulfides gives a better taste and better smell. Still doubt?
@@cmcocktails Doubt what? The fact that you didn't mention it in the video at all?
re: "I doubt he even knows that's the reason copper is actually used"