Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi All,

Was going to go electric but LPG seems a more affordable option these days.

I have a 50L keg, which one of the burners from the below page/link would you recommend? For pot head and reflux head use.

http://allgrain.co.nz/index.php?cPath=14_18&osCsid=mo6b70en3j96pmh57nntvdnri3

I would go the mongolian with a high pressure reg :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Probably why it's the most expensive 8-}

You could go one of the "low pressure" options and put a high pressure reg on it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You want some big grunt for heat up but fine control down low also for when your up to temp doing spirit runs ;-)

And before anyone says it, make sure you run your gas rig safely :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I think its come down to how fast you want to get up to distilling temp, my old 3 ring burner with a normal reg used to get 45L of wash in a 50l keg up to temp in 45-50 mins. Once your up to temp you really don't need a lot of heat unless your stripping. To give some idea my pot ran a nice stream for spirit runs using only the tiny middle ring, my keg was insulated though. The bubbler I used the middle ring, but only at about half speed, this varied a bit from time to time.
As Sam's already said the low pressure jobs go pretty hard with a bigger or adjustable regulator on them.
Safety has already been mentioned,
A few things to consider here, keep a garden hose handy, if you do have a still fire water works well as it dilutes the ABV of the alc that's burning pretty quickly down to a point were it wont burn. A fire extinguisher is also a good idea.
Ethanol vapors are heavy , they sink to the lowest point, in other words the floor or the lowest point in your work area. Good ventilation is a must. At least leave the shed doors open.
I don't know how correct it is, but Ive read on quite a few occasions that the minimum safe working distance between distillate leaving the still and a naked flame is about 6 feet. Personally I use that rule hence the "nozzle" on my Bubbler. To date Ive never had a problem.

Definitely go the king kooker, :handgestures-thumbupleft: my mate has one and I built a copy out of scrap they absolutely rips, it gets a keg boiler up to distilling temp in about 20-30 minutes.
If you do a search on kk747 on this site you should find a YouTube video of my one in action.

kiwikeg wrote:Definitely go the king kooker, :handgestures-thumbupleft: my mate has one and I built a copy out of scrap they absolutely rips, it gets a keg boiler up to distilling temp in about 20-30 minutes.
If you do a search on kk747 on this site you should find a YouTube video of my one in action.

How well do they go for control at low power though?

Good point, they aren't so good on low flame, tend to soot up with a yellow flame but will go to a low enough flame for a slow spirit run
vnd.youtube://T0Zt3u8pqhU/

kiwikeg wrote:Good point, they aren't so good on low flame,

And thats the good thing about a low pressure three ringer, very controllable and adjustable at distilling temps.

:text-+1: Even though I've only got a two Ring .With a HP adjustable Reg on it ,you can go from a simmer to a Roar and no sooting up that I've found :dance:

The Italian Spiral burner has done the job for me.

Not cheap but does both ceazy hot flame, and low enough for a pot or reflux column spirit run :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Man those burners are expensive. 3 ring burner from bcf $30 hi pressure reg from camping store $50. I have in the shed a mongolian burner but has no tips if anyone wants it.....well I pretty sure its in there :think: if I find it anyone can have it. Not sure if you can buy the tips though

Smbjk wrote:Man those burners are expensive. 3 ring burner from bcf $30 hi pressure reg from camping store $50.

I did mean to mention the same thing in my last post but forgot, they seem very expensive, the brand new 4 ringer I bought a couple of weeks ago cost , $105.
I was in a hurry at the time and that was without shopping around .

I've got 2 Mongolians and you can stick them where there ain't no sun shining. Sooty little shite burners, ok when on or near flat out but messy on lower settings and chew gas.

3 ring for mine, good control, low maintenance, cheap to run.

bt1 wrote:I've got 2 Mongolians and you can stick them where there ain't no sun shining. Sooty little shite burners, ok when on or near flat out but messy on lower settings and chew gas.

3 ring for mine, good control, low maintenance, cheap to run.

Well there you go, I thought the Mongolian was similar performance to the Italian spiral.

I'm with Evan and use the spiral to great effect :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks guys.
Is BFF a hardware store? Can someone shed some pics of a 3 ring under a keg? I'd like to know how the keg needs to be raised over the element.

George.bryant.nz wrote:Thanks guys.
Is BFF a hardware store?

BCF = Boating, Camping & Fishing ;-)

George.bryant.nz wrote:Thanks guys.
Is BFF a hardware store? Can someone shed some pics of a 3 ring under a keg? I'd like to know how the keg needs to be raised over the element.

Build a stand like mine, works as a heat/wind shield very well
Note the wheel I used was a little large for the keg to sit on, so 2 strips of angle iron welded across the top works as a little rack for the keg to sit on and have some room around it for air flow
I left the 2 pieces of angle far enough apart to still be able to remove the burner so I can use it for cooking big stirfrys and curries that my stove doesn't get hot enough for
I've been using it for around 2 years now and It's starting to rust a little, so I'll be putting a lick of engine paint on it soon

I Will get around to getting an engineering mate to make me something like above (I don't have a welder :-( )

But in the mean time do you guys think that fire bricks will do the job ok?

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

My boiler just sits on bricks :) not the prettiest or most permanent solution, but I've gotta pull my still apart between runs anyway.

Zak Griffin wrote::handgestures-thumbupleft:

My boiler just sits on bricks :) .

Same here, is actually quite convenient if you have space constraints as it all packs up quite nicely.

One issue that I have with some of the burners is noise ,running flat out on a quiet night may get people curiouse as to what you are up to in the man cave ,this may not be a problem for the NZ boys though.discretion is the best part of valour.hillzabilly