Thanks Cyrus Star San works a treat and it will save me so much time, just used 1.5ml per litre, 3 liters of water was easily enough to cover my 8 bubble plates and cleaned them within 15 mins. Easy Thanks

Wow, that is awesome to learn, not gonna be buying expensive citric acid for copper anymore!

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

I know, right.

Dude that is awesome, I keep star san around all the time anyway!

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

Yes, I've always had star san around too. I had no idea

When I'm done cleaning with star San. I keep the used solution in a couple of 2 liter bottles. (Squeeze out the air) it can be used multiple times. I also keep in in a spay bottle.

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tips. that's a great idea.

Wow, StarSan is a sanitizer so I had no clue it could clean like this. That's amazing!

Great content!!

nice will be using that from now on

Much appreciate the education on this

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you like it.

Great info. Thanks.

Well done Cyrus, great alternative and as you rightly say there's no rinsing after, The one I have is chemsan its exactly the same as star san, as you say its quite expensive, bought mine on eBay. South Wales UK.

Wow, what a tip. Thanks.

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

You're welcome. I was a bit surprised when I saw Prohibition 1920 doing it.

Star San is indeed wonderful, but I want to comment on your beautiful copper pot still. I love it! I'm guessing it must hold about eight gallons. I've used a five-gallon still like that in the past. I found that operating it super-slow produced the best results. Too much heat would quickly overrun the cooling capacity of the condenser, and the proof would rapidly fall off. The highest proof and best flavor and aromas were produced with an absolute minimum heat. Frankly, I am far more impressed with someone that can operate such a still efficiently than someone operating a column still to attain a super-high proof distillate. I am in love with the old ways.

@StillnTheClear

3 ай бұрын

The still is a 10 gallon capacity, but we only ever put about 8 gallons in it. I agree, these type stills make great likker at very low heat and slow flow rate. In fact, I can't even use one of my burners with this still because it just won't adjust the flame low enough.

@340wbymag

3 ай бұрын

@@StillnTheClear I used a low-wattage hot plate to heat mine, but it cycles on and off to regulate the heat, so it doesn't hold a steady temperature very well. You have to remember that back in the early days people used oil lamps to heat small stills, and there was rarely (if ever) running water for the condenser. With little heat control and even less cooling control, distillation was by necessity done very slowly. I think it requires more skill to operate an old copper pot still efficiently than it does to operate a modern column still. I'd guess it might take up to eight hours to run an eight-gallon mash in your still.

Thats good to know... I never have starsan tho... I clean my copper with a tub of water and some citric acid... i soak my 5 gl alembic right in there.. I get a small jar of citric acid from walmart for like $3.50 and i can do several cleanings...Inside and out at the same time... Nice vd Cyrus... Always good to have options

I have a stainless pot still. I used vinegar and water to clean the system, and it took 3 freaking runs to get the smell out. Now I use a citric acid wash to clean, then I sanitize with star san. And to finish it off, I run steam.

Very, very cool!

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

Yes, I was actually surprised. I didn't expect it to work so well.

@pooppy87

7 ай бұрын

@StillnTheClear on another note. You share the most amazing gift with us here, and that is your life, which was a gift to you from God. Thank you truly, from the depths my heart. You may not know the difference you make, but your presence is felt through your channel, even if not in person. Merry Christmas to you and yours, and a happy and healthy new year, with many more to come.

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

@@pooppy87 I really appreciate the kind words and happy holidays to you and yours.

How about the inside of the condensor coil

Hi I just finished watching your video very informative I wanted to know to know about that still you cleaned up I’m interested in buying one like that. I want to make whisky and rum what are your thoughts about that still thanks.

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

The Alembic style stills are great for whiskey, rum and brandy. They're not so great for vodka or gin. Still'n The Clear will be selling the Alembic stills in the near future, but for now you can get them on Amazon amzn.to/3NiLG41 and you can get www.whiskeystillpro.com/products/whiskey-still?variant=41724773302424

Stay tuned , the poop commercial after this video is hilarious !!!!

@StillnTheClear

Ай бұрын

I wish I had control of the commercials on the videos. I would make sure that one was at the end of all the videos, lol.

Have you tried it on stainless

Great video ! Just a little question when you made the blue fermanting barrel with the foam insulation did the heating pad work okay or not ?

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

It worked for a while, but the pad quit working. The design flaw is that it can't be replaced.

@OSCARE38

7 ай бұрын

@@StillnTheClear morning yes I had the same problem they don’t last very long well I am of to check out m f b👍

On the condenser side how long of a 1-inch tube do you need for a good condenser

You never say anything about the inside of the still. Not in the 551 or the star-san. Could you make a video on both in one video. I'm new at this and any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks the shine- shack!

Hello im a new subscriber to your channel and was hoping you could do a video on how to tell the difference between heads hart and tails? How much do you need to separate at the beginning of a run for head's?

@StillnTheClear

6 ай бұрын

There isn't a hard fast rule or formula for when to make your cuts between heads, hearts and tails. It does take some experience dialing in your cuts to your preference. Here's a video that will get you going in the right direction kzread.info/dash/bejne/aYSEm7yKn5SnYLg.html

@bellbayless4318

6 ай бұрын

@@StillnTheClear awesome thank you.

I have a question for a future video. I made a batch and put it back. 2 months later I have babyblue flakes floating in it with a substantial amount setting on the bottom. Why is this the case?

What is the percentage or grade hydrogen peroxide Citric also pl

I have StarSan in my arsenal because I'm also a homebrewer. Stuff is awesome for sanitizing my brew buckets, siphons, cut jars, mixing spoons/drill attachments, etc... That said (and I'm genuinely asking), other than the "pretty factor," is there a reason to clean up your copper? For distillation purposes, ethanol & the other components that come through (especially heads!), will clean the copper mesh, plates, other vapor-path internals, etc...

@iainmacmillan1952

7 ай бұрын

HI RD In my still if i don't clean my onion head and bubble plates in the column regularly i can get a blue/ greeny tinge to the distillate. Basically copper patina which forms when copper is exposed to oxygen. I can see the colour best when i clean the copper in a bucket of water and cleaner ( now Star San) Cheers

The thing is ... 'clean' in this case is just the Starsan removing the oxalate off the copper. You sorta need that protective layer.

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

Interesting. Is that the same thing that 551 does?

@Bigpete9000

7 ай бұрын

@@StillnTheClear ive allways read that you want the oxide layer so you won’t leach metallic flavor. So unless it had verdigris ( blue-green oxide) not sure how much you would need to clean the outside. Usually good old vinegar (Acetic acid) is good enough since its a weaker acid than the citirc in 551. Starsan is 15% Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid and 50% Phosphoric acid. Since its mostly Phosphoric i would argue you would get almost the same results with a few cans of cola :)

@bdee1084

7 ай бұрын

@@Bigpete9000⚗️👨‍🔬🧪🗣️

@Reallymydaughter135

4 ай бұрын

I thought that was on stainless.

Can I use my huge 30 gallon aluminum pot for mashing in

@StillnTheClear

Ай бұрын

Yes you can

Would you put that in your still to clean and run it to clean your still and your condenser

@kevinhoban4416

3 ай бұрын

I don't know if you've made any videos lately and I just missed them or you haven't made any lately but I like your videos you do a good job on showing everything keep them up

@StillnTheClear

Ай бұрын

I did go a couple months without releasing any new videos, but I am back at it. Thanks for the comment.

⚠⚠Use at your own risk everyone! ⚠⚠ Quicker and cheaper doesn't necessarily always mean better 💯 If it's cleaning the copper quicker, that's because it's dissolving more of your beautiful still even quicker😢 As that's what all the acid-based cleaning solutions do to copper, one should only use at extremely low concentrations And it's actually completely counter-indicated by StarSan themselves too, btw🤦‍♂ At least not in high concentrations like regular strength formulations are at, only maybe when super diluted way down to protect the still from damage at the microscopic level I would personally only feel comfortable suggesting the high acidity of citric acid(551) or phosphoric acid(StarSan) at even close to the suggested strength, in certain very severe instances where one needs to do a very deep clean🤷‍♂ Using this for every cleaning would only be at great detriment to the still itself over time And removing the oxygen barrier the copper created to protect itself, will also hinders the stills ability to reductively oxidize the sulfurous compounds effectively as well as possibly unbonding dangerous oxalates which can be poisonous if not at the very least rinsed off😳 Those oxygen molecules created by the copper as tarnish, are the same molecules that are used to aid in the removal of oxalates and sulfur compounds like SO2(sulfur dioxide), S2O(disulfur monoxide), DMS(dimethyl sulfide), and DMSO(dimethyl sulfoxide) through redox reactions with those copper oxides👨‍🔬 Let me just share with you what Ryan Alcala a representative at StarSan had to say about this issue... "When it comes to our products they are compatible with stainless steel, glass, and rubber. They are not however compatible with softer metals like copper and aluminum." Hope that may help clear things up a bit🤞 I'm not a fan of seeing this harmful advice being spread so carelessly throughout the community especially when some people spend a small fortune on their stills💲 And as both a practical and analytical food and medicine chemist, I couldn't in good conscience ignore this issue and allow this bad advice to keep on spreading further and further without doing what I can to share this information😞 --Sincerely RuneShine, Michigan's Norse-Druid Alchemist✌💚🙃

@StillnTheClear

7 ай бұрын

I appreciate you giving your input. It is certainly important for everyone to do their research and I will be looking into this.

@thealchemist-hr8me

7 ай бұрын

​@@StillnTheClear 👍Thank you, I appreciate your consideration for the knowledge I share🙏 I'm a huge advocate for doing ones own research whenever there's new information presented... and I'm certainly no exception to my own advocacy 💯 Simply checking the Materials Safety Data Sheet for compatibility of any two proposed compounds is the quickest and easiest first place to check IMO 😁 Then in this particular case looking at Reductive Oxidation reactants and solutes would be another great thing to research on this one, just to confirm what the MSDS says and to get further details on what reacts and how. Hope that helps make the researching process go a bit quicker and easier for anyone looking😄 In my mind that's what makes Copper a fantastic piece of specifically spirits distillation equipment though; because it is reactive, mostly with sulfurous compounds through the redox route, making it's reactivity the actual benefit of said copper⚗ Although because the copper is reactive and not inert, greater care must be taken with cleaning said equipment so that one isn't losing any more than the necessary first micron layer of tarnished copper during cleaning. And to help prevent integrity issues way down the road or any copper(I or II) products from attaching to distillable fatty acids and fusels within spirits distilled through it and tainting or possibly even poisoning the finished spirit👨‍🔬 I personally only feel it necessary to interject like this when peoples health and/or equipment longevity are at stake, otherwise lessons can be learned through experience. Unfortunately, it could just be dangerous in this case 😢 Stay safe & shine on 💦🥃 --Sincerely RuneShine, Michigan's Norse-Druid Alchemist✌💚🙃

@dac7046

7 ай бұрын

Right on. Internet “knowledge” is tricky and glad you commented! While I was very sure the acid cleaning damages the copper I’ve always assumed clean copper surface is required for the sulfur compounds and oxalates to react with along with atmospheric O2 but you are saying the copper oxidates are what enables sulfur/etc removal? Wish I’d learned more in my freshman chemistry class….

@thealchemist-hr8me

7 ай бұрын

@@dac7046 Absolutely, I've spent 3yrs researching brewing science now and have only just begun to scratch the surface😅 Well, sort of... it's a little different depending on the congener ones looking at. Though specifically with oxidation-reduction reactions the copper needs to be slightly degraded in order to give up any electrons for the reaction to occur and since acids remove free electrons from all the exposed surface, you'll have less reductive potential for a bit👨‍🔬 So freshly cleaned copper will have a much harder time removing unwanted congeners, it becomes almost impossible until heat or time frees up more of the coppers electrons as it degrades. Which can happen relatively quickly on its own depending on environment😄 It can fairly easily be seen in the slight change in its refractive properties when it'll efficiently redox. Going from extremely shiny to slightly dull and will actually continue to work up until it builds up think enough scale that when you swipe your finger across the inside black copper(II) oxides leave residue on your finger. That's the point you know it's necessary to clean, not always necessary on every run⚗ The size of the still can have an effect on how much oxides it can handle before starting to flake off and drop those congeners into a finished spirit as well, you might be surprised how little some pro's and distilleries actually clean their stills 😂 Any other questions please feel free to inquire anytime 💯😁 --RuneShine, Michigan's Norse-Druid Alchemist✌💚🙃

@PoppaLongroach

7 ай бұрын

In redneck speak he means......copper needs to season in like a cast iron skillet to get the most out of it. Shiny and pretty ain't always better basically

On the outside the blue green tinge doesn't matter as much but on the inside you want all that junk off or it will turn ur liqour blue green and then you have screwed the pooch

I use ketchup !!!

How much sugar and yeast do I add to a 15 gallon mash?