Hi Mrjibs,

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure I understand the inner drum/outer drum design as you describe it. Are you saying that you have an inner drum for your wash, and an outer drum that contains water? ... and you heat the water in the outer drum to indirectly heat the wash in the inner drum?

--JB

Well that sounds pretty cool.


Since you have your wash in the inner drum, that's the stuff you're trying to boil ... and you can't control the temperature at which it boils. The boiling point will be determined only by the chemical make-up of the wash. Once it's boiling, the temp won't increase any further (other than due to a change in the make-up of the wash as more EthOH is drawn off). So the only thing you can actually control at the boiler is the amount of energy (power) that you put into the wash ... which will in turn control the volume of vapor that is generated in a given amount of time (flow).

You can control your power with a power controller that has a minimum current capacity of 5500/220 = 25 amps, but you'll want to go higher so you're not running your controller at maximum current. A 30 amp controller should be adequate ... this will put you at about 83% (25/30) of its rating when you're running full power.

You didn't mention if you have a reflux condenser ... it's a separate issue, but I'm curious. Also, do you have a mechanism to vent the water between the two drums? ... or some sort-of diaphragm to account for the expansion when things get hot?

That will depend on what you're trying to accomplish. If you want to shoot for high abv (neutrals), a reflux condenser and an appropriate take-off will help a lot ... but it also makes things a bit more complicated. If you're trying to bring some flavor across with the advantage of some packing (like having a few plates) then I would think you're good to go. You can add/remove packing as necessary.

BTW: If you don't have any copper in the vapor path, you might want to try a plug or two of copper mesh in your column.

You need copper in the vapor path not ss to get the nasties out

Johns right about the controller. You need a.constant heat, turning the heat on and off will just mess with the output and give smearing and off flavors in the output. You have a pot still with a little reflux from.the packing. A pot still is run by heat input, have the heat so the output is a broken stream/toothpick size. Don't worry about temps with a pot, it won't show you how to run it, it will just be a guide to when your different fractions are coming out. Your getting pretty good ABV already!, a reflux condenser will return condensed cape back.to the boiler over and over and over, it stacks the fractions and compresses them better so you get a cleaner less smeared end product. the packing in your still is doing this to a.degree, just not as effective. You might get between 3~6 more ABV out of it if you put a reflux condenser on it, 3~6ABV doesn't sound like much, but at that level it makes quiet a difference. Good luck. Btw, love the sound of your boiler :-).

"
That's pretty much what happens. Hydrogen sulphide and other sulphur compounds (e.g. DMTS) produce a rotten egg or cabbage aroma. Fortunately, they will react with copper to form copper sulphate that will stick to the copper. But one or two plugs of copper mesh are easy to maintain, you can clean them in a few minutes in a bowl of water/vinegar or water/citric acid."

So what was your grain bill ? Why don't you try stress aging with oak chips will be ready in a week

Flaked grains are usually already gelatinized, but they're still starch. You'll still need to convert the starch to sugars with one or more amylase enzymes ... either from a malted grain or using a commercial product.

The devil is in the detail with all of the mashing parameters (water-to-grain ratio, different rest temps and time, average DP, adjunct type/amounts, water chemistry, etc. etc.). Best bet is to follow a proven process ... maybe follow what other members have done wrt the GW recipe.

Here's a great online reference that explains many of those details: http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html

We plan on making a 100 liter wash due to the size of the still. You have all been very helpful and we WILL go with a proven method. The crux of the matter is will there be a big difference in taste when inverting the proportions of corn and rye? Should we stick with just the GW recipe until it's perfected. If so, I need to increase the rye purchases.