It's good to have friends…

[Paul C]

A friend of mine in a place far far away has decided to start distilling - he sent me these photos of his new still - it's called Big Boy. Thought you guys might appreciate them. BTW - I am currently tasting a new batch he made with molasses. Cool. (EDIT) Just added a few drops of vanilla - it's starting to smell like bananas - originally it had a bit of a licorice smell - diluted it a bit - I believe it started life at about 140-150 proof so I cut in half. I'm going to fly over there one weekend soon and have a distilling and picking party.

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pbc1313/still/01%20-%20Big%20Boy%20-%20Front%20shot%20v1.jpg

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pbc1313/still/02%20-%20Big%20Boy%20-%20Cap%20&%20Lyn%20Arm%20detail.jpg

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pbc1313/still/03%20-%20Big%20Boy%20-%20Internal%20boiler%20detail.jpg

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pbc1313/still/04%20-%20Big-Boy%20-%20Internal%20cap.jpg

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pbc1313/still/05%20-%20Old%20Faithful.jpg

pbc

[Gray]

That's a pretty pot :)
You'll have to keep us updated on his product progress.

[curoswiss]

That thing looks sweet... Be careful.

[andrewG]

very cool. what type of molasses?

[Edward Hamilton]

It looks like a lot of work and craftsmanship has gone into that piece of hardware. I look forward to learning more about Big Boy, like how it is going to be heated.

[RC]

Wow, that's a very nice looking still. Sure beats the homemade contraptions I've seen people distilling with. My friend in BC has one made from an old beer keg. Fortunately, size and appearance doesn't matter, because he's making some very nice rum. Keep us informed of Big Boy's progress.

[Paul C]

My friend is an artist as well as a new distiller so it was built with aesthetics in mind as well as safety and a love for metal work.

I'll get back to you on the questions when I can.

He just sent me this wonderful blown out shot of the top:
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/pbc1313/still/06%20-%20Big-Boy%20-%20Art%20Shot%201.jpg

pbc

[Paul C]

So I finally took a trip to my friend's house and had a distilling and picking party (picking as in guitar).

He made the finest batch so far.

For a heat source he is using a propane burner like people use for deep frying turkey or for large BBQ pots.

The molasses he is using is a light unsulfered molasses made for brewing/distilling - I believe the brand name was Brewmaster or something like that. Comes in plastic gallon jugs.

In any case from 24 liters of mash (or whatever the term is) he distilled 3 or 4 liters of alcohol that averaged about 69% ABV. The run is really interesting, the quality changes quite a bit during the process. It is distilled into 500ml bottles so there were 5 bottles and the end we let gather in a larger copper pot. To be repurposed later. The strength of the rum also lessens at the end of the process - at the end it was about 50% ABV.

The run hit it's peak on bottle 3 - in my opinion the best product he has produced. He also let me try some previous product that had been soaking with charred oak chips - it adds a nice smokiness.

I also tried some that had been made from straight dextrose - wasn't too bad but I like the molasses better.

At the moment he is using a thumper keg which further distills the alcohol - one of the next experiments is just using the single pot still.

It was really a fun day and it changed the way I viewed tasting. During the entire day I sampled 6 or 7 distillations and I doubt if I drank more than an entire shot total. It was just about tasting and picking.

Cheers

pbc