E216 Thumper Jar Cleaning and Test

We are cleaning our Thumper Jar set up and testing getting ready to run the sweet corn mash

[@vtcrafter6626]

One small piece of advice about anytime you have any sort of closed system, like a thumper. When you cut the heat open the system immediately. As everything starts to cool it will create negative pressure and if you’re using copper it will crush your still like a beer can lol. Great video cheers

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thanks for the tips!

[@chadhensch4748]

Great job Randy. Love the design and your demonstration. Lots of shiners have made good use for mason jars as thumpers. Can't wait for the sweet corn mash run.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thanks 👍

[@mikew.1902]

Wow! Awesome set up Randy. Had no idea how you were going to put it together. Looking forward to seeing what it can really do for your product. Nice job.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

thanks so much i know you have been waiting cheers my Friend

[@widgets76]

Love it Randy, can’t wait to see you do your first run on it🤞

[@stillworksandbrewing]

You and me both!

[@scottclay4253]

WoW, those green jars demonstrate how critical it is to do the cleaning runs. Nice rig, Randy! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thanks, you too!

[@ranger135]

Great video Randy really illustrates the cleaning run. Really like the thumper concept with the three way valve will make it easy to shoot the thumper for better flavor and less waist

[@stillworksandbrewing]

thanks so much

[@EdenLawnServices]

Randy, when cooling everything down, use your bypass or disconnect the pipe going to thumper. If you don’t it will pull a vacuum and suck the contents out of thumper or with thin walled stills it can collapse them.

[@timg2776]

Good call. I was thinking the same thing

[@stillworksandbrewing]

With the 3 way valve you can not shut anything off, with worst you can do is suck your thump jars dry

[@BigEdsGuns]

Randy, I don't use thump jars. The risk of failure is high. Do they work yes. (They act like a Plate) However, high temperature of all glass vessels are a risk of breakage. They can crack or break from temperature change. ie Spray water on them...(Rainfall) They become dangerous... A thumper is basically a Plate, Bubble or Sieve. BUT the bigger Thump, the MORE YOUR CAN DO. Shoot/load the thumper with flavor or double your wash volume for a bigger run. Advice I will give for thumper sizing: Run Full Size - same size as boiler, 3/4 size, 3/4 size, 1/3 size, or 1/2 size the size of the boiler. Run your lyne arms uphill (@5:57 - it looks level) from the boiler to the thumper. Any refluxing liquid will return to the boiler not the thumper and flood/puke. Which can happen in a small thumper. Nostalgia: For those of us who are old enough to remember from a kid. Remember the knocking/Banging from old steam radiators in school or at an old house. That's the water trying to return to the boiler which has condensed and is blocking the path of the steam heading uphill. In other words the radiator is down hill and the water has to go UP Hill past the steam. Thumpers start off quiet, rattle, then ping loud, then quiet down, then bubble/gurgle. Thumpers equalize and run smooth after they heat up. Cheers Randy! My blood type is my attitude B positive! Merry Christmas Buddy!

[@stillworksandbrewing]

thanks BigEdsGuns for all info Cheers my Friend

[@daverees986]

@@stillworksandbrewing Randy. My ole matey. your absolutely bang on with your 3 way mid position valve, you can only close one port on the valve, and not both. I have watched videos where those Mason jars have been used for preserving food, after the food being preserved have been placed in the jar with hot water they then place them into a pressure cooker. I would say they are designed for temperature use. Great video.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

@@daverees986 Thanks I just want everyone safe cheers

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

That bypass valve is sweet. Don't have to "waste" your thumper jar charges on foreshots/heads.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

cheers my friend

[@conwayfamily6734]

Wow I love it. I'm currently working on revamping my setup and you've given me some great ideas

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Great to hear!

[@conwayfamily6734]

Boy I got to tell you coming to find out that they sell a lot of that stuff on Amazon and other sites. It sure does make it a whole lot easier on a feller like myself that was raised up on a whole lot of nothing yet was taught how to do everything with it I don't know what to do with all these options they've got out there nowadays

[@conwayfamily6734]

When I found out I could buy a still on Amazon I went ahead and done so and when it got here it was about half-assed just the way it was made so I revamped it with half inch copper line and when I first made it I had a real nice glass gallon pickle jar Thumper but the lid started resting on me so I discontinued it. I put together a old pressure cooker that I had as a thumper and it's worked real nice since then I've made some real quality spirits. I started out just doing crack corn for my old man. But he passed away last September. Things have been real weird for me since then. But without him here to him how about the sissiness of it LOL I've been making some brandies. That have come out real real nice. Why it is that I haven't taken the step like you and some others have and started filming myself is beyond me. But I sure do appreciate what y'all do I spent about an hour and a half watching different videos here on KZbin yours and a few others and hell I didn't I have the slightest clue as to how many products they was out there to be had without having to MacGyver and improvise every damn thing. Anyhow I'm done rambling.

[@AVERYBEAL-z9d]

After your vinegar cleaning run what did you use to season your lines with to get rid of the smell and the taste of vinegar and how often should you clean your still with a vinegar run

[@donniepowell7146]

Looking forward to watching a mash run.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

cheers my Friend

[@Psilocybiant]

I put a release valve just before the thumper and leave that open at the start of the run so i can vent of the methanol . Cost me less that way

[@jonathansholar4437]

Great video Randy!!!!

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thanks!

[@cameronshine3465]

oh some nice recipes are a comin... she looks really good.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thank you so much

[@cameronshine3465]

@@stillworksandbrewing i am putting a 2" infuser on the top of my thumper, i'll see how that goes. should be working in a few weeks.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Cool like to see it

[@dannylee9138]

Just wanted to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🎅

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Hi Danny. Thanks so much hope you’re Christmas was great and have a great new year cheers my friend

[@bmcc4379]

That's a great set-up. Never really thought about heads in the thumper polluting ingredients. What about that technique I saw on moonshiners where they cooked off the heads before assembling the still?

[@stillworksandbrewing]

I guess that could work but me myself I taste and smell to find that cut

[@chrislnflorida5192]

Id like to see how u built yor condenser with the 1/2 tubbing and the 1", cool water in and out? I cant believe the pressure you are getting, Crazy.

[@conwayfamily6734]

Thank you

[@stillworksandbrewing]

You're welcome

[@jedpusczykowski4955]

Your wheated bourbon recipe is awsome!

[@stillworksandbrewing]

I did like it sad to say it is all gone cheers

[@jedpusczykowski4955]

@@stillworksandbrewing I put that recipe on repeat.

[@jonathansholar4437]

Hope you do more videos like this!!!

[@stillworksandbrewing]

noted cheers

[@dennisstahl7621]

Any concern about the brass valve and fittings(?) I notice they often come with a lead warning tag. I would think the glass canning jars will work ok if one is careful. They are designed to be sanitized in boiling water then used to basically cook/ can food in them.

[@Jake_B74]

Yeah, I was thinking that. I think brass components may contain lead. Also, the vinegar run is needed, but the sacrificial run is just as important. It makes sure that any oils or chemicals alcohol could leach out have been removed before running a batch you intend to consume.

[@widgets76]

Modern brass shouldn’t contain any lead. You can pickle the brass to be safe👍

[@stillworksandbrewing]

todays brass removed lead

[@daverees986]

@@stillworksandbrewing Lead was removed from Potable water metals a number of years ago. Copper, Brass, Stainless steel are good too go.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

@@daverees986 you are correct

[@olbenparker310]

Hey Randy, I ran my two jar thumper and it worked FANTASTIC!!! I have one question. What do you do with the liquid after you shut the thumper down. It probably doesn't have a lot of alcohol in it so I am guessing it would be better to just throw it out rather than ad it back into the next run.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

I throw it out

[@TheToddFather1969]

Randy- do you have a parts list for this build? If so can you share it? Thanks.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

No, sorry I got parts over time and did not save a list me bad

[@ozarkrogue7144]

When running your thump jars for flavor, do you add alcohol plus your flavor or just your flavor?

[@stillworksandbrewing]

this will be my first run using thump jars I am going add some good tails I have

[@endenendenus7569]

Great job Mr. Randy.2 questions : Why did you put water in the jar? and How many minutes should it take to clean with vinegar and water? .Thank you

[@stillworksandbrewing]

i put water in jars to see how it was going to preform and i ran for around 15 min. once it got going

[@ARCSTREAMS]

should you not use water last to steam flush it all out? or you said you rinse everything so that means you disassemble it and flush rinse the pipes too? anyways using vinegar will make it go green its not because its gunk or dirty but the reaction will always do that but yes it cleans it new on inside by acid striping layers of copper inside the pipes

[@stillworksandbrewing]

I cleaned with steam and vinegar because first use after build wanted to get flux and junk out

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@stillworksandbrewing yes i got it but what do you use after that was the question? there will be water n vinegar in the system that needs to be flush rinsed out with water so you will have to take it all apart ,, id assume it would need to be taken apart after every run to clean up anyways

[@stillworksandbrewing]

I always take apart each time and flush with water and hang to dry

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@stillworksandbrewing ok good to know , must be a bit of a daunting task

[@garagebrew9569]

In ur opinion.. Water and citric acid or water and vinegar to clean..

[@widgets76]

Water and vinegar for a cleaning run👍

[@widgets76]

You can use citric acid to clean the copper of course. If I’m not mistaken, the boiling point would be too high hence it wouldn’t really work for a cleaning run.

[@stillworksandbrewing]

i do use citric acid when soaking

[@widgets76]

@@stillworksandbrewing i mostly use citric acid for soaking however backset works pretty well too👍

[@Lumpy-jd4fw]

How you attach copper to stainless

[@stillworksandbrewing]

in this the copper and ss are connected by pipe thread

[@whatifitisreal]

Got some leaks

[@silly6004]

Randy, in my opinion you should have some sort of disclaimer on this video series. Would really hate to see something go wrong later down the road with someone watching your videos. Cheers 🍻

[@stillworksandbrewing]

cheers

[@extrazero1593]

very nice:)

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@rickfickes4954]

Ain’t there a big risk of the jar exploding I mean I see a lot of videos of glass thumpers but also heard of some bad stories about them exploding I like to try that with my 8 gallon flux still

[@stillworksandbrewing]

if any problems ill let you know

[@OzarkStillWorks]

👍🏼

[@stillworksandbrewing]

cheers

[@ARCSTREAMS]

looks like somebody's been watching the show moonshiners lol

[@stillworksandbrewing]

I have seen that show

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@stillworksandbrewing that show got me started ,think all i learned from the show and doing self research got me to the next level

[@stillworksandbrewing]

me too

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@stillworksandbrewing and thank goodness its still going with season 12 now i been watching and also catching up on side shows like american spirit, or master distiller etc i really enjoy watching there shows i feel at home with all the characters and the locations etc and learn something every time really fun and exiting to watch i hope it stays popular enough to keep going, dont think ill ever get bored of it lol

[@robertfontaine3650]

MMM fire hazard

[@stillworksandbrewing]

cheers

[@jbwagonmaker8887]

Thanks for a excellent video. I shard in to all of my 13 moonshine groups MOONSHINE LIFE GROUP

[@stillworksandbrewing]

Thanks JB