Thanks fella, glad you enjoyed it. 😊

Heya Moto, only filter I've ever used is a paper cona filter in the funnel below the parrot - and that is just to stop bugs getting into my whisky. The whole "charcoal filtered" thing is just a selling point to apologize for cleaning up a badly made or badly cut spirit to filter out off-flavours, but then you filter out some of the good as well. If you brew well and distill competantly and not to quickly, you shouldn't need to charcoal filter. Only time I could see merit in using activated charcoal filter would be if you had a distilled vodka that you were wanting to make completely flavourless or "pure". Happy Distilling. 👍

No, I've always pitched my yeast and then kept the fermenters locked down with a water trap. Then again, I live on a farm so if I don't keep everything locked down and sterile theres plenty of other shit that will volunteer to enter the fermenter, ... like chicken poop and floaty rats! 🤣

@@AngryParrotDistillery lol.. yes, farmer here too, and i only do open. Here's why. 1. You get to see and smell the yeast working. After a while, you know how the wort is progressing, just by looking at the surface. It is way more connective. 2. No risk of infection provided you inoculate with a few trillion yeast cells. On a 100 liter batch, a 50g layer on the top will have it fizzing in a few hours. if using a small amount of yeast, make a starter first. 3. You get a better taste. 4. Saves on cleaning and chemical. use either a breathable fabric or a light lid if worried about dust or insects. 🙏

Thanks fella, I mainly silicon bronze TIG any stainless to copper nowdays but still solder copper-to-copper unless it's very heavy pipe or fittings ... - then back to silicon-bronze TIG. Happy distilling!

@@AngryParrotDistillery thats awesome, i can't TIG for the life of me. What fluxe and solder did you use? I struggle to get silver solder in my country...

Just the welds are passivated, then neutralized, then the whole thing is polished.

Cheers! Happy Distilling.

Heya fella, you mean for the worm coil? Just me but I probably wouldn't go much below 3/4 inch. 1/2 inch could work (and be easier to work than 3/4) as long as you weren't flooding the flakestand and had a gentle flow coming out of it. Main thing is to have the coil running downhill all the way so you don't get pools forming in the coils and blocking the worm.

@@AngryParrotDistillery thank you parrot sir

I carve out the larger holes with slitting discs and flapper wheels on angle grinder and a die-grinder where needed. In my experience holesaws wear out way too fast on stainless steel.

@@AngryParrotDistillery thanks for the reply

That would make it A LOT easier. Unfortunately they are not readily available in my country. Downside is being soft copper they will wear a lot faster against the stainless tri-clamps. Good luck. Would be keen to know what you think of them after using them for a while. Nowdays I silicon bronze TIG braze any copper-to-stainless joins. Stronger and less hassle. 👍

@@AngryParrotDistillery

@@AngryParrotDistillery I will let know after i make a few runs with them. Thankyou for the response.

You could make a thumper out of just about any stainless or copper vessel as long as its the right size for your kettle.

G'day, Sometimes I will backpurge - mainly when doing something with pipes. When welding Kegs I've got it down to the point that I can weld ferrules on without blowing thru'. I also occassionally use Solarflux (paint-on wipe off protective flux you paint on the backside of thin work - requires a bit of clean-up but handy to have.

G'day Laurel, Have done so in other videos. Stainless soft-solder is really a pain in the butt, I used to do it because that's all I started out with. Now days I much prefer silicon bronze TIG brazing, far more repeatable process. Main things for stainless-copper soft-silver-solder work is starting clean and using a zinc-chloride based general purpose flux that states it is suitable for stainless steel. If it gets to overheated or the surfaces aren't clean enough it just turns into a steaming hot mess and you need to stop and clean it all back. You need to start out concentrating heat into the stainless to begin with as that usually takes the longest to heat up.

G'day, They're a "tri-clover" or "tri-clamp" fitting - you can usually find all those parts at a stainless steel hardware suppliers that sell either dairy industry or brewing supplies.

Barely 🤣 "Life is what happens while you were making other plans ..." 😂

@@AngryParrotDistillery good too hear from you.

@@AngryParrotDistillery The pressure relief valve has gone off 3 times. Its rated at 1 bar = 14 psi . It happens when opening up the thumper while its running. So i dont do that any more.

@@AngryParrotDistillery yeah i put a shooter on top on the thumper, and when i would open it there was always a loud sucking sound, and thats when the pressure relief value opens,So i am glad i use a ss boiler.

Stainless steel TIG welding.

Heya fella. Yep, thats good for making a tight reflux coil you're going to pump cold water thru. In this case I'm counting on the surface area inside the coil to condense the alcohol vapour. Plus I wanted to build a bit of future proofing into it - I've ended up running much larger stills than keggles, and didn't want larger vapour volumes to flood a smaller condenser tube. 👍

Hey fella, yeah I'm still around (no pun intended) 🤣 Haven't posted any vids in a while, things been quiet in my country with an over-reaching tyrannical govt trying to drive the people into poverty/servitude.

Thanks! Happy Distilling.

Hey fella, what was it about the element you wanted to know?

@@AngryParrotDistillery so I have an old beer keg it’s a 15.5 gallon keg .. what would be the best heating element to use because I don’t want it to be slow and take all day to heat up and what kind of pid control would be necessary to run it efficiently thank u

G'day Michael, Thanks for the kind words. I took the skirt of the top with a slitting disc on an angle grinder and then a powerfile with a reasonably coarse belt to start with, finer one once I got down further and the polishing buffs to remove the remnants. This was the first one I made for myself, subsequent versions for others I left the back of the skirt on, a) its less work, but b) functionally it is MUCH better having that skirt on the back to facilitate slinging it about and emptying it - especially when it has 50-70 lb of hot backset in there. Understand what your saying about the bottom 2" dump port. Most of the kettles I've made I leave as dual power - can be used gas or electric hence the side mounted drain port. I also ended putting 6" top ports on alot of them - makes it much easier to get your arm in there to clean out. Happy Distilling fella!

T is at the top to allow some flexibility. Is possible to have it open and drop a cooling coil down the centre of it rather than using a dephlegmator. Keeps the system flexible depending on what folks want. But you are right, 90deg elbow also does the job and still I've subsiquently sold ended up with elbows instead of T's just to simplify things. 👍 Happy Distilling!

@@AngryParrotDistillery Thanks for the answer, and does the dephlegmator have to be removed for simple pot-still distillation? Can it stay there but not connected to the water supply? How much in NZ does such a column cost from pipe 54? Best regards from PL

@@AngryParrotDistillery Does the cooler have to be placed at an angle of e.g. 20-30 degrees to the column or can it be mounted vertically?

@@AngryParrotDistillery Sorry, I mean, does the reflux adapter have to be removed for simple distillation? and the next question, is it possible to use soldered connections instead of tri-clamp connections. The column will not be transported etc. Should the cooler be bent in relation to the column or can it be permanently vertical? greetings

@@robertweglik9238 G'day Robert, can be mounted verticle. Would work better mounted on an angle as the vapor is not in freefall and instead "crashes" against the cold condenser tubes as it decends.

However you label it, the make-do, re-task/ re-purpose attitude is a bonus with this stuff, certainly keeps the price down! 🤣👍 In NZ here, "Hillbilly" means something has been cobbled together and is a bit rough n ready.

we aint americans . in nz we got the term hillbilly of TV . the beverly hillbillies

Hey fella, yeah I live offgrid so understand water issues. I have a 1000L IBC I use as a cooling reservoir with a small circulating pump. If it comes down to it I do have an old beer chiller I can run inline to help cool the condenser water.

I'd also love to know how you got that thermometer on without using a thermowell - I understand your description, but it would be great to see it apart if you have the time / inclination. Thanks again! Edit: I just went and watched the first part of the cleaning run where you wrap the teflon tape around the thermometer's threads. Can you confirm that you're threading the thermometer directly into that brass fitting? My partner and I are putting together a miniature combo still like this one but we're currently using a tri clamp cap with an inbuilt thermowell. I'm considering getting a plain cap and drilling into it to copy your method if possible!

The compass is a compass hehe - engineers compass, has a scribe/point on both ends. I don't run a lot in reflux - mainly got into this to makes heavy flavourful whiskies. You need some kind of packing or bubble plates below your dephleg or you don't get any reflux at all. You're welcome fella. Happy Distilling! 😊

@@erich1394 Yeah the thermo is a 1/2inch bsp thread that screws into the socket - I use plumbers PTFE tape on the fitting to get an airtight seal.

Damn straight! Like everything the govt does - it uses fear to coerce. Happy Distilling!

Woah, that's a big sucker. Around 1200 litres? I've made essential oil stills that big that are gas flame heated but not alcohol stills. You could risk scorching with direct heating something that large. Electric draw would be considerable. Maybe check out indirect heating - running a coil inside the kettle that has steam or even just super-heated air blasted thru it. Alternately jacketing the outside and using a high-temp oil heating exchanger of some sort. Would be keen to see what you come up with. Happy Distilling!