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Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:49 pm
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
Well I bought this glass still ages ago and today it got it's first run

glass still.jpg


I made a heap of tinctures and most are cloudy my idea was to put each thru this still to clear the spirit. The first run was the licorice root and I did 2 batchs so added them to the 1 litre round flask and added a throw down of water.

Taken 600 ml @ 82% and now using 50ml beakers to get the rest so not a bad yield eh :handgestures-thumbupleft: Watered some down for a D.P and man am I onto something here :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The 150mm liebig isn't doing it's job as the glass ware is warm after it so I will buy a longer one.

Got 7 more tinctures to do so good times ahead and the best part is exploring this hobby. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 7:45 pm
by RuddyCrazy
Now as I had a temp gauge attached I started heating just before 3pm and my daughter came up and asked to take her into work early so I shut everything down and when I got back the 1 litre beaker was still warm. It only took about 10 minutes then I saw the temp gauge shoot up from 13C to 78C and it started producing. I took 300ml then took a abv reading and 82% but as the liquid was warm this figure would be off.

Over time it slowly rose to 80C where it stayed for another 300ml then it started very slowly to rise, I took another abv reading and it was on 78% then I started on the 50ml beaker cut jars and as the temp rose the smell of tails was coming thru and I ended up with 4 of them before I shut it down when it was reading 85C.

I will setup the vacuum so I can do a vacuum distill and monitor the lower temps to see just how it goes but this is a whole new area for me and from tonights results it can only get better.

Looking at feabay for a longer liebig was pointless so the next I'm in town I'll go see the mob where I get my gear and see if I can get a 300mm liebig which should work a heap better. I also need to get a longer flea as the short one that came with the mantle heater only works on a very low setting and when the boil starts it is useless.

Now silly me went and used that 8mm tube for siphoning some diesel out of my tractor for my listeriod and forgot to wash it out :angry-banghead: so the liebig is stained so I put some washing up liquid in the cooling water and it is slowly cleaning it and after a few runs it should be clean.

All good fun and the learning never ends in this craft

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:08 am
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
Well after doing the licorice run ended up with 670ml @70% so not a bad yield eh :handgestures-thumbupleft: anyway the licorice root did stain the one litre flask so I tried heating up some washing up solution and that didn't work at all :angry-banghead: So went down to the house and asked SWMBO where she said make a baking soda solution and bring it to the boil, then if that doesn't clean it all just add a bit of vinegar to get a reaction going :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Well this did work a treat :handgestures-thumbupleft: and now got a totally clean flask so todays run is the orange tincture which should provide for an exciting D.P :laughing-rolling:

OK the tincture list from my benedictine project

1. Orange
2. Cimmanon
3. Black Pepper
4. Licorice Root------- done 670ml to 70%
5. Ground Cloves
6. Ground Cardamon
7. Coriander Seed
8. Nutmeg

Now my idea is put all these thru the glass still then blend some to make a flask load and distill it again which should provide a nice liqueur :handgestures-thumbupleft:

More tinctures will be done once I get the TPW spirit runs done to build up the list for blending,

All good fun learning this craft and the best part is the tasting at the end to see what i have produced :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:19 pm
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
Well with that Orange Tincture done I'm at a total loss on the run :scared-eek: :scared-eek: :scared-eek:

This time i measured the volume of the tincture which was 600ml then I added 400ml to bring it to a litre for the run, now I got 700ml and on the last 50ml cut jar it came in at 20%.

I do have to get one of those Graham condensers as with the longer path down thru the PC it will do much better cooling as now the straight thru condenser gave a nice orange smell and I did see leakage from the vacuum port.

Now fleabay is not being nice to me at all and all my saved sites are gone so my glassware sellers on fleabay are not visible to me. now get this that mantle heater heater I bought came from Vic but the seller is from chingland and now any sales attract a $1500 US postage fee :scared-eek:

Anyway as the adventurers of old used to say just hammer on so the next run is cinnamon and that should bring a nice smell to the shed.

Just had a dram of the Orange temped to 40% and man the taste in the mouth is nothing then once swallowed the explosion of Orange hits, just like the licorice root was aswell, so with these others I'm in for a fun time having a D.P. off each run and deciding what to blend for the final run.

Made a call this morning and got a few varieties of roses coming to make into tinctures so this will bring a whole new picture to that perfect drop

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 2:44 pm
by howard
this is where i got mine, aussie seller.
there's a 300mm Liebig in that set, the rest could be a bonus (my gear is 24/40).
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/184105882888

i have added a 2-neck 5L flask, and if that gets stained, i just fill it with a medium strong solution of household bleach overnight.

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:18 pm
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guys,
Well with cinnamon run got 500ml of clear then it went cloudly and man is the smell of this herb coming out, so where I thought I would have clear liquid looks like with these herbs the best may be in the cloudy stuff :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So the next run is Black Pepper and I'm sure with the D.P. it will be a hit and with this cloudy stuff I'm sure it will come out on the other herbs so they went into a beaker.

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:37 pm
by RuddyCrazy
Here is a pic of the setup and I was surprised just how quick the run got started ans man did the black pepper smell come out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

today.jpg


Notice the Larger Glass and yes a few of them is needed to do this why as a sober person wouldn't attempt it :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Rolling on

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 9:48 pm
by pistolknight79
cleaned out some clutter on the weekend threw out a glass still and condenser hmmm mb a little hasty :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:18 am
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
Yesterday I finally found some Aussie fleabay sellers and this morning I got a reply so a 300mm long Graham condenser is on it's way paid via affterpay so 4 off payments of $16 :handgestures-thumbupleft:

This condenser should knock down the vapour and also keep the outer glass ware cooler :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2021 5:11 pm
by RuddyCrazy
20 minute a fter I payed for that condenser got an email saying it's on it's way and should be here in 5-6 days :handgestures-thumbupleft: Then the fun canreally begin. The big problem with the condenser I have is the inlet tube is so big a 150mm long bath area just isn't big enough to knock down the vapours even when the water was 8C. So this300mm long one with spiral tube should knock everything back. It is generally said the Graham condenser is useless in chemistry but for the purpose of distilling it sure has it's use.

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 9:16 am
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
Just checked the tracking of this condenser and it hit Adelaide last night so there is a good chance I will get it today :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 10:38 am
by bluc
Sweet. Love the look of the glass be good tincture still as your using it. But with the laws around glassware up here i wouldnt be game to order one.

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 11:29 am
by RuddyCrazy
bluc wrote:Sweet. Love the look of the glass be good tincture still as your using it. But with the laws around glassware up here i wouldnt be game to order one.


Bluc if The Stig will let me put a link to this Vic fleabay seller they have a full range and the full kits are around $100, it cost me $140 for the mantle heater and yes it does work a treat and Iike I posted above in order to clean the flask after running 600mm of water and about 50 grams of baking soda will clean the flask nicely but don't try and reuse the solution as I found when it boiled it foamed up and puked causing a bit of a mess. By using new stuff each time it does the job, my flask was filthy with herbs stuck to the side and it did take close to half an hour to get it totally clean.

Now with this glass still when the temp goes above 83C it well into the end of the run, so a 5 degree range is the setting I found to be the one to keep an eye on.

I was surprised just well this worked but as the glassware did get hot after the condenser buying that Graham condenser will be a great investment and i won't be running again until it arrives.

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:02 pm
by The Stig
Go for it .
I don’t think these rigs are a good idea simply because a lot of the wrong people will get the wrong idea about them but each to his/her own I guess

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:10 pm
by bluc
Yea I am same stig..they have a very bad wrap with people in general..I dont want family member or nosy neigbour to catch a glimpse of glassware in my shed and get wrong idea :snooty:

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:15 pm
by tubbsy
I have this setup with 6 x 500mL flasks, each with a leibig condenser. Heat is supplied by a water bath. Running 6 at a time worked pretty well for very small gin recipe experiments. Heat loss was a bit of an issue, so I bought some cheap baby beanies and cut a hole in the top to sit over the flasks.

I also have a couple glass soxhlet extractors that fit on these flasks which are pretty cool to see running.

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:31 pm
by bluc
Sure looks fancy tubsy.

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:30 am
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
That Graham condenser rocked up this morning and as it is 300mm long I will have to raise the mantle heater for when I'm using the short distilling head and for a bit of fun I may just have to do a spirit run using the reflux head with some TPW low wines just too see how it goes and being longer shouldn't need to raise the mantle heater.

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:08 pm
by RuddyCrazy
While I was down the hill doing that medical I decided to call in a the local scientific shop I go to to get a 90 degree section only to find they are not a standard item. :angry-banghead: So my contact said he would get his glass blower mate to make one and I said well with the short still head on an angle how about the new one was made to make it a 90 degree so the Graham condenser would be vertical. He said not a problem so I paid for it there and then and it should be here in a couple of weeks.

Now I did tell him about the heat problem and he said what they do in the winery trade is put in a ice bath on the collection vessel which helps cool the glass after the condenser. He did go on to say the Graham condenser was great idea and yes it must be held vertical and it should provide enough cooling for the liquid to come thru cooler. He did say when I do a run with the new setup to report back on the outcome as he said his customers may just be interested in my findings.

Cheers Bryan

Re: Ruddy's Glass Still

PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:38 pm
by RuddyCrazy
G'Day Guy's,
That attachment rocked up this week so tomorrow time to try it out :handgestures-thumbupleft: with that Graham condensor and see if my idea does work out where the glass past the condensor stays cool :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan