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Filling allowance for a Hoga pot still using silicon for foam control


mendodistilling

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Does anyone use a Hoga pot still to distill beer and other foaming washes which could lead to puking problems. If so, how high can you fill them with silicon antifoam sprayed in there. I'm about to do trials on some beers and have one with a preheater being built and to get the most per day done I'd like to use silicon spray. I talked to Armindo and he suggested for a 380L wash I needed a 500L still, so he is roughly saying 80%.

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This has also been my experience, especially if I don't turn the throttle up too high too fast early on. Seems like once its past like 120 its fine. I've got a preheater so that was what I had in mind, get it up to around 100-120, then move from preheater to the pot and let'r rip. Just curious if someone had this type of pot still. I believe its actually made with the round bulb specifically to help puking. Just trying to figure ways squeeze as much out each run as possible without any troubles.

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I am not familiar with Hoga brand, but I assume it is a simple alembic that you do a stripping run first then a spirit run with cuts.

If that is so, it is possible to run at least 120% of its volume for the stripping run.

Firstly fill to at least 80% then bring to boil, cutting the heat back just before boil so it won't puke. After the foam settles then start slowly adding more wash as the level drops and you should be able to get at least 120% stripped.

It helps greatly if you have a viewing window to regularly check on foaming

With a foamy wash I usually start with 500 litres,(600 litres= full) then add another 250 litres during the run

With fruit washes of high ABV it is no trouble to strip 900 litres............... Slightly continuous distillation!

This won't work if you do just one run with plates because you can't do the cuts.

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Dehner Distillery,

About how much silicone anti-foam would you recommend per 100 liters of wash?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Do you have any problems with adding a lower temp liquid into the pot and upsetting the flow of vapor due to pot temp swings? or it is so slow that it is not a problem? I was thinking of how this would work and it occured to me this could have adverse effects on the spirit as the heads would come over too by adding beer in later. I take heads cuts by the numbers for first runs, then do seconds cuts too so its easier to see it. Just curious what your experience there is. I know hardly anyone takes first run cuts.

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I don't take cuts on first run. If wash is added too fast then the pot will stop boiling for a while but it does not matter. This technique no good if doing cuts

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