What is a double thumper still?
Perhaps the most widely known version of a double thumper (retort) system is the alcohol still used for making traditional Jamaican-style rum. In this application, one of the retorts is charged with low wines, and the other with high wines. The primary distilling kettle is charged with the rum beer.
Is a thump keg necessary?
An ordinary pot still, without a thump keg, is capable of distilling a wash to only a “low wine”, which will be about 40-50% alcohol. A second, or even a third, distillation is needed to achieve the high alcohol content necessary to make high-proof whiskey or other spirit.
Can you put fruit in a thump keg?
You can choose to add fruit peel, herbs, spices, and mashed ripe fruit directly into your thumper keg. Just remember that in the case of mashed fruit, you will need to add large quantities to impart that flavor.
What’s the difference between a thumper and a doubler?
In American whiskey distilling, a type of pot still used for the second round of distillation. A doubler receives spirit that has already been cooled into a liquid, whereas a thumper receives vapor.
Do you heat a thumper?
Does a Thumper Need to be Heated? Many moonshiners do prefer to heat the thumper. The alcohol does need to stay in vapor form to be able to rise into the condenser. Wood barrels are often preferred as thump kegs because of wood’s natural isolative abilities.
How much liquid do you put in your thumper?
Making moonshine with a thumper instead of a pot still is great because thumpers essentially perform two distillations in one—without stripping the flavor the way reflux distillation does. Depending on your thumper, it’s typical to plan to fill it about halfway with liquid.
Does a thumper need to be heated?
What size Thumper do I need?
How Big Should a Thumper Keg Be? A thumper keg should be 25% to 40% the size of your main boiler. If you plan to prime your thumper keg with a sizable charge (botanicals, low wines, wash, water, etc), use a thumper keg that is at least 50% the size of your main boiler.
What is a thump keg?
While generally associated with the backwoods whiskey still, the thump keg, or “doubler”, is a very old design element that probably arrived with the early settlers and was incorporated into the stills they built on arriving in North America (Fig. 1).
Is double distillation with a thump keg worth it?
I think you make a very good point, that a carefully-done double-distillation is probably superior to almost any single distillation with a thump keg. A little foreshot in the rest of the run isn’t a disaster, though, within limits.
Can I use two thump kegs at the same time?
But to answer your question: Yes, two thump kegs should work, but you’ll want to keep them very well insulated. Two thumpers and their associated plumbing would provide a lot of surface area for heat loss, and you need the alcohol vapor to be able to reach the condenser without all of it condensing before it gets there.
How many gallons are in a thumper keg?
This thumper keg kit is available in 4 different sizes, (2 gallon/10 liters, 3 gallon/12 liters, 5 gallons/20 liters, and 8 gallons/30 liters). Made from 20 ounce copper sheet. Hold 2 Gallons of liquid.