FIRESIDE CHAT WITHOUT THE FIRE THUMPERS

These are two credible sources:

JESSE FROM STILL IT

BEARDED AND BORED

This channel is designed to offer insight and background on the science, art and practice of making alcohol based products at home.

[BeardedBored]

Thanks for the shout out George! Excellent video:-) Your advice is spot on. Learn to distill without a thumper because it makes the process way easier, then think about whether or not adding one will add benefit to your process. Personally I like them, but only for a few specialized purposes.

[shadow]

Thanks buddy! I made my wife watch the safety part. The tv show has made her start yelling "you better not blow up the house! "

[beerbbqman]

George, one of your best informative videos. I've been brewing for 46 years and distilling for 6 years and have wanted to hear someone state ALL the disadvantages and reasons why thumpers exist. You covered it perfectly, well done. You also did a good job explaining water/alcohol ratio's (ABV) and how it corresponds to vaporation temps. I applaud intelligent, educated YouTube videos.

[britinozoz]

George.. As I have brewing since the 1970's and distilling since the 1990's....I always come away from you videos with a little smile and just that bit more info that I was unaware of .Thanks again :-)))

[mustavertwang]

Thank you so much George.Greetings from England

[wyattblackwood]

George has become my sensei in the art of distilling, he's definitely a master.

[anthonydaprato]

Holy cow George you explained why my still puked and ruined over half my run. Yes I run a thumped, I thought nostalgia as well. I started with no thumped until about two years ago, thought I was doing well until about a week ago when the top of my pot blew off, luckily no explosion. I could not figure out what happened until you ran this episode, genius George genius. Keep up the advice!!

[UGREEN]

It's all about temperature control. Backwoods stills ran hot and probably got a lot of water vapor in the thumper and had to separate water from alcohol as the temperature drops. Great video! Butterfly that damn Turkey

[SirBoden]

Having run a actual Appalachian hillbilly up the holler still, I have one minor point. You control the temperature with the firebox air ports. Just like a wood burning stove. Not by adding logs. Open fire under a barrel still is... well, not smart.

[knightmare]

Another classic George. I don't like thumpers either and I also don't intend to collect the tails on any run either. In my humble opinion the 2 best stills you can get especially if you are just starting out is either Mile High Distilling's mighty mini which is a 2.5 gallon still or the Still Spirits air still which is a 1 gallon air cooled still. The easiest still to use is the air still which is simple as using a Kuerig coffee maker.

[wldtrky]

Always great info. Early on I wanted a reflux still for that high ABV. But the more I use my Mr Distiller and the better I get at making the cuts ??? I may just hang with a pot still when I upgrade. But... I DO save the tails down to 10%, after several runs I have enough to make a pile of high ABV, nearly neutral spirit, to make the Apple Pie shine that my wife has really decided she loves 😁 Leaving me with some very nice corn liquor that I don't have to share 😂 Thanks George !! Have a great week Sir 👍👍

[williamelliott]

I've watched all your video's over the last 3 years and go back and review. Your videos are so informative. Thanks very much

[ipreweda]

I have many, many years of university learning and degrees to show for it.    But I have learned more useful and practical information from you, George, than I have from all that other learning.  Thank you Professor Duncan.

[chucknichols]

George, I have been hobby distilling sense I was a young child. I started by watching my father and grandfather doing it for a living. All together I would say I have closer to 30 years personal experience distilling on my own. Never have I had a teacher I respect scientifically as much as I respect you. You really break things down to such a simple understanding. As I was learning to distill as a young man I had no internet nor did I have a community of forums to read and learn from.

[landcare-outdoorfun]

Thank you so much for all of your help and advice.
After watching this amazing video. I am so glad I watched this to night. I have decided not to use the thumper. Thank you so much for all your help and time to help others like myself.

[kyleroy]

This just answered so many questions to the problems I've been having!!!! Thank you so much!!!

[AngryParrotDistillery]

Blasphemy! Heretic!
Burn him, burn him, he's a witch! 😊

Thanks for the vid and the info George.
I'm still messing about with thumpers, I run a couple in tandem - bardados/jamaican style for rum.

Found a few advantages to them, for instance the falloff in proof on a run is more akin to a reflux setup (ie; fairly constant abv product that plummets at the end) than the gradual drop off you get with a potstill, yet your starting abv is somewhere around what you might initially start with a potstill and are still taking off all the flavours of the mash/wash.

The pressure in the system is definitely something folks need to be aware of tho' as you said.

Horses for courses.

Happy distilling fella. 😊

[themig]

Thanks George for the info. I found running the still lower, was giving me the same proof as running higher using the thumper..I agree with you completely.

[rocketsroc]

You noted that if one is going for higher proof, a thumper can increase the final proof, but at a tradeoff. Perhaps the thumper's real advantage is its ability to add flavor. No matter how one mixes the mash or how fancy the still is, it will never yield much more than the "Character" of the mash's flavor which is usually not enough. Adding a thumper charged with a fruit mix (or whatever one choses) greatly increases the noticeable flavor of the shine. This benefit is much greater with a thumper than using a gin basket or placing something in the column.

[chuckdontknowdoya]

Congratulations on 48k brother now let's get you to 50k. Come on people I've been subscribed for like five years and no one has broken my door down looking for me. I promise it doesn't hurt and you will most likely learn something plus it gives you easy access to the library and if you hit the bell it will tell you that George has made another interesting and informative video to watch so get off your duff and join one of the best on you tube. Getting the rest of us is just an added bonus.