Instructions - Super Reflux Condenser

Distilling Instructions

(Super Reflux Condenser)

9 Adams Road Palmerston NT 0830 Tel: (08) 8932 7700 Website: www.ozbrew.com
Shop 17 Homemaker Village Millner NT Fax: (08) 8932 7622 Email: [email protected]

Before reading these instructions, make sure you have read the information sheet called
“Distilling Overview” which is also available in the downloads section of the Oz Brew website. The
“Distilling Overview” sheet will provide useful information about the legality of stills and their usages, as
well as outlining some good overall basics that will help provide essential information about this process.

There are many types of stills, boilers, condensers & carbon filters available on the market. Different
products and brands, may use different instructions. These instructions cover one of the most practical
methods of distilling using a 25L boiler, a (super) reflux condenser and a Still Spirits Z- carbon filter,
which we believe is one of the most effective value for money packages available.

Read through all of 25 Litre Boiling Pot Z Carbon Filter Super Reflux Condenser
your instructions (3 in 1 Fermenter) Typically produces a high
including the Helpful yield of approximately 4-5L
Hints in each section
before proceeding @ 80% - 90% V.
through the steps in
each process. This will
ensure you are aware
of any tips that may
make the process
easier for you.

Stage 1 - Sterilisation

1. Everything used in the fermentation process must be cleaned and sterilised before and
after use. This includes the 3 in 1 fermenter, airlock and stirrer.

2. For optimum cleaning, we recommend Combo Cleaner Washing / Steriliser. Wash
through all of your equipment with this solution and rinse thoroughly with cold tap water.

Stage 2 - Fermenting the Alcoholic Wash Page 1

1. Half fill your 3 in 1 fermenter with cold tap water and mix in 8 kgs of Dextrose.

NOTE: Dextrose is used instead of sugar for several key reasons:
♦ Dextrose makes a cleaner spirit and ferments faster than other sugars.
♦ Dextrose dissolves easily in cold water
♦ & most importantly, dextrose produces less bi-products resulting in clenaer
tastes and greater alcohol yield from each batch.

Although dextrose is slightly more expensive to buy than normal household sugar and will cost you
approximately $11 more per batch, you can get up to 4 litres more of 40% spirit per batch due to the
overall quality. This makes it worthwhile!

2. Add warm tap water to your fermenter to bring the overall volume up to the 25 litre
mark (about 4cm from the top of the container - where the top “pressed ring” is around
the fermenter). Stir thoroughly as you pour. A good starting temperature for your brew is
approximately 35 to 40 deg C.

Page 2

3. For brewing in the tropics, add one sachet of Still Spirits Temperature Tolerant Turbo
Yeast to your Wash (mix of dextrose and water) and stir in.

♦ If the Wash is too hot the yeast may be killed or weakened, therefore may not be able to ferment
out all of the Dextrose. If the wash is too cold, it may take a lot longer to start fermenting. That’s
why a perfect starting temperature is between 35 and 40 deg. C.

♦ Each pack of Still Spirits Temperature Tolerant Turbo Yeast contains a mix of yeast and
nutrients, to make 25 litres of Wash. This yeast along with your dextrose will produce an alcohol
which is extremely low in bi-products creating a cleaner tasting spirit when distilled correctly.

4. Fit the Airlock to the fermenter by twisting and pushing it through the rubber bung. Insert it in the
top of the lid to create a tight seal. Push the airlock far enough through the bung so a complete
seal is obtained. Drip some water into the top of the airlock until it is level with the two lines
shown on the side of the airlock. Within 24 - 48 hours Carbon Dioxide should start bubbling
through the Airlock, if the brew is working correctly and if the fermenter is sealed properly.

Helpful Hints:

1 The element at the base of your boiler is secured by a collar on the outside where the power cord
plugs into. Make sure this is tightly nipped up to avoid any leaking.

2 Check the temperature of your wash using your long glass thermometer once you have vigorously
mixed in your dextrose. Sometimes you may need to add warm water to achieve a starting
temperature of between 35 to 40 deg. C.

3 The more vigoursly you stir your wash before adding your yeast, the more oxygen you will create
which means your yeast will start working sooner. So don’t be afraid to give it a vigorous mix.

4 Don’t overfill your airlock as you may find it will spurt out like a volcano during the first few days.
5 If you find that you haven’t seen any bubbling within the first 2 days, open the lid and have a

quick look inside. The wash should be bubbling or sparkling on the surface and will probably
have foam on top. In this case, just re-adjust your lid as you put it on and ensure your airlock
bung is fitted nice and tight. If you don’t see much activity, stir vigorously with a sterilised plastic
spoon (not wooden) to speed up the fermentation. Stir gently at first to avoid a froth build up.
6 Regardless of what your packet of yeast says, most Turbo yeasts will take 7 to 10 days to achieve
a complete fermentation and give you a Hydrometer reading of .980 to .990. (Hydrometer
readings are explained in the next section when you actually have to use one).

Stage 3 - The Fermentation Process

Your wash should take approximately 7 to 10 days to ferment if fermented between 26o - 32o C.

At a higher temperature, extra bi-products may be produced and your yeast might die off early. This
would result in a high Hydrometer reading and you may need to add another yeast to re-activate the brew.

At a lower temperature, the wash will take longer to ferment & may even stop working altogether.
For the first few days, heat is generated by the fermentation process, so it’s crucial to make sure that
your temperature does not exceed 32o C where your fermenter is stored, as the activity of the wash will
generate approximately 7-8o C more than your room temperature.

Fermentation is complete when the yeast has used up all of the dextrose. To check to see if your wash
is ready, sterilise your Hydrometer and drop it into the wash. The reading is where the line of the liquid
cuts across the scale on the hydrometer giving what is called the Specific Gravity (S.G.) of your brew.
The final specific gravity when your wash is ready to distill should be about 0.980 to 0.990 near the top tip
of your hydrometer before the red area.

Helpful Hints: It has been found that if you ferment your wash in a separate fermenter first, rather than using your

3 in 1 fermenter, you can discard the sediment on the bottom as you pour the finished wash into your boiler. This will give
you a greater yield and a better product overall. Ask your local store about Turbo Clear. This product clears your wash
within a couple of days & gives you a crystal clear base to work from resulting in a very high quality distilite / spirit output.

Page 3

Points to watch out for:

Even if you do not have an airtight seal, your wash may still be fermenting, so don’t worry.
Unlike beer brews, it is uncommon to see spirit washes go off. Leave it for a couple of days,
then check your hydrometer to see if the reading is lower than when you first mixed
everything up. This means you need to have taken a hydrometer reading when you first
mixed in all of your ingredients.

b) In some circumstances the yeast can stop working before all the dextrose is used. This will
be indicated by a final Specific Gravity (S.G.) higher than .990. Any reading above 1.010 on
a Wine & Beer Hydrometer suggests that something has gone wrong. In most cases a
good stir to get the yeast back into circulation should get the Wash fermenting again but in
serious cases you may need to add another yeast pack. The most common cause of stuck
fermentation is low temperature. In this case simply move the fermenter to a warmer place
and stir the yeast up. An inexpensive stick-on digital thermometer, available from your
homebrew shop, will help monitor the temperature, but only use one of these if you are
fermenting your wash in a different container to your actual boiling pot ie: a second
fermenter.

Stage 4 - Distillation

Assembling the Reflux Still:

1. Fit the Condenser to the domed lid by securely tightening the nut on the underside of the lid
(metal to metal) to the reflux condensor. This is fitted to the hole in the lid where the bung and
airlock were.

2. Situate the Still on a firm heat resistant base close to a cold water tap, drain and power socket.

3. Pour the whole packet of ceramic saddles into the top of the condenser by pulling out the small
black bung where your long glass thermometer fits. Fit the thermometer so that the bulb
appears on the inside of the black bung by 10mm. Then fit the bung & thermometer back into
the top of the Condenser.

4. Fit the lid, complete with Condenser and hoses, onto the Still. Thermometer
Distillation:

1. You will note that there are 3 tubes on the condensor. Water Out
Tube 1 connects to a tap for water in. 2
Tube 2 runs into a drain or sink for water out.
Tube 3 is where your product / spirit drips out. Ceramic
Saddles
2. Plug the element cord in & turn on your boiler.
Condenser Nut
When the wash has warmed up, but before the 1

thermometer reads 50o C, start the cold water Water In
(connect to tap)
running through the Condenser. It should take

about 1 hour and 20 minutes before you should

turn your cold tap water on and start the flow. 3

3. During most of the distillation process the

cooling water flowing through the condenser Spirit
should be flowing at about 400 mls per minute. Out
This will always be dependent on your water

temperature. If your tap water is cool, the flow does not

have to be as much. If your tap water is warm, you’ll find

that you may have to increase the flow considerably or find

a cooler water source. See step 7 for further explanation.

Page 4

4. Collect the first 150 mls that comes out of your still and discard it. This is the Head. It is non drinkable
and must be discarded as it may contain bi-products & methanol that will subbstantially reduce the
quality of your spirit. The ‘head’ usually comes out between 66 - 76 deg C.

5. Collect 4 - 5 litres of the Body which contains the Ethanol (drinkable alcohol) at about 90% Vol. Make
sure that the spirit outlet tube from the condenser stays well above the level of the spirit. Collect your
spirit in a 10L container with tap so you can dilute it later when doing the carbon filtering.

6. If using a standard turbo yeast do not collect more than 4 litres of distillate. Any spirit collected after
this amount will reduce the quality and taste of your spirit. If you are using Turbo Extra or Oz Brew
Temperature Tolerant Turbo Yeast with dextrose, you should be able to collect between 4 - 5 Litres
of good quality spirit.

7. The more cool water that flows through the condenser, the lower the temperature will be in the reflux
column. This will show on the thermometer. The temperature of your tap water influences the
amount you need. (i.e. In tropical / warmer locations, you will need more water flowing through your
condenser than in cooler / southern states where tap water is actually cold). The slower the water
that flows through the condenser, the higher the temperature will rise, producing a faster flow of spirit.
In tropical / hotter regions, you will need to run your tap at a much faster rate than 400ml per / minute,
as the tap water is likely to be quite warm.

8. The thermometer temperature will slowly rise as the alcohol is boiled off. Increase the flow of water
through the condenser to hold the temperature between 78 o - 86oC. The flow of alochol coming out
will slow towards the end of the distillation process.

From a standard 25 litre wash produced with 8ks of Dextrose & using a Super Reflux Condenser,
you should collect 4 – 5 Litres of alcohol at approximately 90% Vol. in about 5 hours plus your warm up
time. Standard Reflux Condensers will collect approximately 4 litres of alcohol at approximately
70% in the same period of time.

Helpful Hints:

a) As a rough guide, a typical Wash will take about 4.5 – 6 hours to run through the Still. It will take
about 1 hour and 15 minutes to heat up before you need to turn your water tap on, and about 15 –
25 minutes after that before any condensate / alcohol will drip out of the Condenser. It will then
take about 10 minutes to collect the Head, and nearly 5 hours to collect 4-5 litres of good quality
alcohol.

b) Make sure that the alcohol dripping out of the still is relatively cool. If the condensate / alcohol is
too warm or hot, the overall quality of the spirit will be compromised, which can result in you getting
less overall volume and more overall bi-products. The flavour of your base spirit will then not be
as good, and as a result, you will get an underlying aftertaste to all of your mixed spirits and
liqueurs.

c) If for any reason your Wash has not fermented completely, (i.e. your S.G. is above .990) then all of
your dextrose has not been converted to alcohol. This means you will not collect the full amount
of distillate through the Still. If you do not collect the full amount of alcohol, check the following for
next time:

♦ used the correct amount of dextrose in the Wash; and/or
♦ the specific gravity is below 990 before distilling; and/or
♦ there is no steam leak or frothing during distillation.

If the wash has not fully fermented out, then the unfermented dextrose can foam causing the
wash to come through the condenser with the distillate. It will foam worse with sugar. In this
instance Distilling Conditioner can be used to increase yield or avoid problems.

Page 5

Stage 5 - Carbon Filtering

WARNING ABOUT CARBONS !

There are several methods that can be used in order to successfully carbon filter your spirit and remove
the excess impurities and aftertastes. However, because there are so many methods and various types
of carbon, it’s important to use the right carbon for the right method. Some carbons are treated and
therefore absorb impurities at a faster rate than others. It’s very important to know which carbons suit
which methods. If you use the wrong type of carbon with the wrong type of method, it will be likely your
distilite will contain aftertastes, smells, poisonous properties and other unwanted bi-products.

The following instructions are specifically suited for a Z - Carbon Filter

Step 1 - Filling Your Filter Helpful Hint Step 2 - Rinsing Your Carbon

Fill all 3 channels with Z-Carbon leaving Use thread tape to Turn your filter upside down & flush out your
approximately a 5mm gap for carbon wrap around all of carbon with tap water. The end with the mesh
expansion. the threaded ends disc should be at the bottom, & the end where
of your filter to help you flush your filter from should be at the top.
Unscrew here to fill channels prevent dripping.
Dripping will occur if
123 Fill all 3 channels you over tighten the Using a garden Using a hose, hold it
but leave a 5mm ends as the hose flush the securely over the top
gap for carbon standard seals are carbon from here. end of your filter and
expansion at the very soft. If you find run your tap for about
top of channels 1, 2 that you are having Your end 1 minute. Wait a few
&3 trouble with the filter with the seconds, and repeat
dripping, it would be mesh disc the process. Make
Do not overtighten better to upgrade should be sure the water running
the end caps when your seals to the here so out through the mesh
putting them back harder, replacement that your disc is completely
on, just nip them up. seals that are carbon is clear, othewise it will
available from your rinsed discolour your spirit &
local brew store. out. leave a sediment.

No filter paper should be
in your filter at this stage!

Step 3 - Changing Ends Step 4 - Inserting Filter Paper Step 5 - Diluting Your Spirit

When the carbon is clean, turn your Undo the black Before using carbon to filter your spirit,
filter around so the mesh disc end is nut and tail at the ensure it is diluted to below 50% Alc. Vol..
on top. Unscrew the black end with bottom end of the Your carbon will not work effectively at a
the mesh disc and replace it with filter, and take out higher percentage.
the hose attached end supplied with the rubber seal.
your filter. This is what your filter To dilute your spirit to the correct
should look like now: Insert 1 filter percentage, use an alcohol meter to see
paper inside the what your spirit is at before adding any
Take mesh Replace with black nut and put water. Once you know your undiluted
disc end off. hose attached the rubber seal alcohol volume, add 1 litre of water at a
end. back in over the time and stir it in. Measure your alcohol
top of the filter strength with each litre of water you add
paper to secure it until you get a reading between 40 - 50%.
in. Alc. Vol.. It is recommended you dilute
your spirit to approximately 40% Alc. Vol.
Re-attach the nut
to the filter.

The filter paper Diluted Spirit
goes in this end
between the 40% - 50%
rubber seal and Alc. Vol.
the inside of the
black nut.

Page 6

Step 6 - Connect Filter Step 7 - Start Filtering Pull this
leaver upright
Once you have diluted Diluted Spirit Turn your tap on full and let Diluted Spirit to lock your
your spirit, you will be your spirit fill your filter. You
may need to squeeze the clear 40% - 50% tap open in
ready to proceed to 40% - 50% plastic tube a couple of times Alc. Vol. full position.
the filtering stage. Alc. Vol. (the soft tube between your
Z-Filter and container) to help (unfiltered) Squeeze this
(unfiltered) get the flow started. tube a couple

Connect your Z-Filter Insert the hard Make sure you have a sufficient sized of times to
to the tap of your 10L plastic piece into container underneath your filter so you help get the
container where your the tap to allow can collect the filtered product. flow going.
diluted spirit is, by
inserting the hard the Z-Filter to Your diluted spirit should filter through the
plastic piece from the hang freely. carbon at a relatively slow rate, producing
tube end of your filter a constant, but slow trickle into your
into the tap. second container.

Make sure it is firmly It should take approx. 4-5 hours to filter Filtered Spirit
inserted into the tap so through 8-10L of diluted spirit. If the
your filter can hang process goes quicker than this, run it 40% - 50%
freely without coming through again. If you find that the process Alc. Vol.
out. It will be quite a takes longer than 4-5 hours, it is usually
tight squeeze, so don’t due to the carbon not being washed out
be afraid to give it a enough during the rinsing stage and the
good push to ensure it filter paper is getting blocked.
is securely fitted.

Stage 6 - Making Spirits & Liqueurs

Once you have a good, clean, filtered spirit to work from, you can produce some of the finest spirits and li-
queurs that specifically cater to your tastes. You can chose from a vast range of spirits and liqueurs to make
your finished product. See below for some of the many available types:

Spirit Essences only require
you to add the essence to your
base spirit. There are a huge
range of flavours available in
standard form, premium & bulk.

Liqueur Essences usually
require you to add a cream,
schnapps or liqueur base pack with
your base spirit & essence. These
packs supply the sweetness and
thickness that your liqueurs re-
quire.

Oak Sacks are an enhanced flavoured oak pack housed in a straining bag. All you do with these is soak 1
bag per / 1.125L of spirit like you would a normal tea bag. The enhanced oak smoothens, flavours and ma-
tures your spirit to give you the highest quality of flavour possible.