+Dan Tangen That is one way of looking at it. I figured it would be easier to convince non-believers if we had another purpose for it. My wife loves the idea. She went out and bought lavendar plants today so I can extract the oils when they mature. George
You know actually that is really creative. I would not have known you could do that. We plant a lot of herbs. More then half seems to go to waste each year. This is an awesome way to use up extra stock.
Being allergic to a lot of artificial fragrance i use insence & oils to scent myself & my house, but it's expensive. If i can make my own with stuff i grow or buy in bulk this could save me a lot & let me play with different blends & combos. It would also be wonderful to get top quality extracts for cooking. Thanks George.
How awesome is George??!!! Not only does he make rosemary EO for wifey....he cleans up his mess! Hallelujah!! A man who cleans up after himself! I thought they ALL automatically forgot how to do that the day we said "I do". lol
if you ever wanna do a smaller run you can pack the column with the plant matter with a screen on the bottom seal. This would also keep from overheating the plant matter which could cause the oil to smell burnt.
He basically said if you add alcohol you get more oils because the oil is hydrophobic it has fear-of-water and is more likely to bond to alcohol in the extraction process however my understanding is that ethanol destroys the ends of tellemors of your dna. So long term storage could destroy the flavor But if a flavor is worked out it's replaced with roundness and deeper aromas that are left behind
Newbie here. Just got my first still (5 gal Speakeasy) and ran a vinegar clean out today. I have a TON of mint I'd like to distill and wondering how you know when you're "done" with a run? It seemed to drip forever and I only had about a gallon of liquid in the pot and was using a 1800W induction heater. Thanks. Love your videos, very helpful.
what's the longest you have aged a barrel and was there a noticeably improvement in taste. in your opinion what was the consistently best whiskey you've made.
George, you are just my new favorite person! I'm a total beginner at all of this, and I get my little Chinese still on Monday. I originally wanted it just for this: essential oils. Then I remembered it will make vodka and gin, and now I'm shopping for martini glasses. 🤣 Any tips for extracting essential oils in my kind of inexpensive still? And what kinds of gadgets would you say every total, complete, can't-believe-I'm-getting-so-into-this novice on a budget needs?
My question is about heat process. If the heating is faster by direct electricity did that effect the hydrosol...in another ward as a beginner which kind of heat you would advice
Funny you should mention that, I actually used it as a sales pitch to my wife and it worked (smile). She now has lavender oils and rosemary oils for her air-fresheners and I am a happy camper. Thanks George
I'll bet your yeild would be significantly better if you used 180 proof vodka instead of water. Let it soak for a few days. After you separate the oil save the vodka for next year.
You will get a lot more oil if you separate with a sieve so you are steam distilling. By putting the plant in with the water you are essentially stilling for just hydrosol and will get almost no oil, but you can still use the hydrosol for many things. Your wife will be happier if you buy her a sieve. Depending on the plant copper stills are best used to remove the sulfides and bacteria. However, having some part of the heating element copper (or incorporating copper in it) will do the same trick.
Just a thought, but if you had a container with a small spigot at the bottom you could just drain the water from underneath the oil and collect all the oil in one container then. although with those bottles it'd but really easy to eyedropper out just the oil from the top. but now a question, would that distilled water be infused with some residual flavor that could lend a different taste to a mash?
+Justin Lee the water does have an aroma but I am not sure i would add it to a mash. Would be nice to add a cup to the washing machine during the rinse cycle to give your clothes a fresh scent. George
Greetings from Maine. Where can i get a heat band? I have a few different stills but for the small stainless one i have i think having one of those would be great. thanks, tom
I have just a cheap amazon still. If I fill it with mint leaves and water will it burn on the bottom? I've had corn burn before so I'm a bit shy now. lol
+Jim Nimblett Nothing special. Just clean it as soon as you are done, another advantage of stainless steel. Cleans up with warm soapy water. Of course if there are any residual odors left behind you can clean them with household chemicals ; windex works wonders and then you just need to rinse well. George
Oh if you go on eBay y can buy essential oil separators made of Pyrex scientific glassware cheap it has a stopcock valve lets you drain the water out switch containers and put the oil in another
the only problem is the largest set I've found online only runs 2 liters. of plant matter at a time. It also costs just as much if not more than a decent 8 gal still. for small runs I'd say the pyrex setup is great but if you want to run bulk the still is the way to go.
George, all my moonshine turned cloudy when I cut it. I have determined I did not filter the mash correctly. (Got in a hurry) anyway, want to run it through for a second run. Just cut it first?
I know normally one would use an alcohol solvent with cannabis. Here in Virginia we can grow legally now. My question is how do you think this would do with the extraction of all the cannabinoids both CBD and THC?
You can, but without the water. Temperatures around 420f should do the trick. Don't go higher, it will burn. Don't throw out the fore shots like you do with alcohol. They will be the turpentines. Then comes the thc. And the cbd last.
The fractionating column is desirable for alcohol distillation, but it's unnecessary and probably undesirable here. The compounds in the essential oil generally have higher boiling points than water. The fractionating column will tend to return them to the still, which will mean needing to run the still far longer to get a comparable yield. The column is useful when trying to separate liquid components from one another based on their different boiling points, but in this case all you're wanting to do is use steam to extract the volatile components from the plant matter and condense the result without separation.
+purpguy69 No price list but I am usually available when we are open if you give me a call (254-681-1760). Check out our face book page and website barleyandhopsbrewing.com George
one of the most creative ways I've seen to get your wife to agree..."It's not for alcohol dear it's to make your essential oils." Love it lol.
+Dan Tangen That is one way of looking at it. I figured it would be easier to convince non-believers if we had another purpose for it.
My wife loves the idea. She went out and bought lavendar plants today so I can extract the oils when they mature.
George
You know actually that is really creative. I would not have known you could do that. We plant a lot of herbs. More then half seems to go to waste each year. This is an awesome way to use up extra stock.
BigDanT funny that I am reading this now.... just told my wife we could extract the essential oils... she almost fell for it
Being allergic to a lot of artificial fragrance i use insence & oils to scent myself & my house, but it's expensive. If i can make my own with stuff i grow or buy in bulk this could save me a lot & let me play with different blends & combos. It would also be wonderful to get top quality extracts for cooking. Thanks George.
Thanks for this lovely spirit....
Very neat video. I honestly didn't know what to expect at the end, but it was pretty neat to see the finished product.
Thanks again for making these your the best for this information
Thank you George!!
You are awesome my friend
Ah, so _that's_ how a distiller works! ya learn something new every day. :) Thanks for the upload!
How awesome is George??!!! Not only does he make rosemary EO for wifey....he cleans up his mess! Hallelujah!! A man who cleans up after himself! I thought they ALL automatically forgot how to do that the day we said "I do". lol
if you ever wanna do a smaller run you can pack the column with the plant matter with a screen on the bottom seal. This would also keep from overheating the plant matter which could cause the oil to smell burnt.
George is the man.
Ever tried a spring on the heat band instead of the screw to allow for expansion and contraction of the band while maintaining contact?
George, you are a real inspiration and your video is so entertaining. I need to get this going in South Africa.. may need some time with you!
Sure thing. Anytime. Maybe we could do a facetime linkup
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing yes.. indeed. When will it suit you best George?
Best done in the wash or infused through a botanicals basket?
Hi George
By changing the polarity of solvent (for example adding a little ethanol to the water) you can increase the yield during extraction.
Saeid Seylani Hello. Would you mind explaining this in more detail, I'm very interested!
Please. Am interested also.
@@thirstbuster78 An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile chemicalcompounds from plants.
@@sseylani4582 My cat's mouth smells like cat food.
He basically said if you add alcohol you get more oils because the oil is hydrophobic it has fear-of-water and is more likely to bond to alcohol in the extraction process however my understanding is that ethanol destroys the ends of tellemors of your dna. So long term storage could destroy the flavor
But if a flavor is worked out it's replaced with roundness and deeper aromas that are left behind
Newbie here. Just got my first still (5 gal Speakeasy) and ran a vinegar clean out today. I have a TON of mint I'd like to distill and wondering how you know when you're "done" with a run? It seemed to drip forever and I only had about a gallon of liquid in the pot and was using a 1800W induction heater. Thanks. Love your videos, very helpful.
what's the longest you have aged a barrel and was there a noticeably improvement in taste. in your opinion what was the consistently best whiskey you've made.
George, you are just my new favorite person! I'm a total beginner at all of this, and I get my little Chinese still on Monday. I originally wanted it just for this: essential oils. Then I remembered it will make vodka and gin, and now I'm shopping for martini glasses. 🤣 Any tips for extracting essential oils in my kind of inexpensive still? And what kinds of gadgets would you say every total, complete, can't-believe-I'm-getting-so-into-this novice on a budget needs?
Hi George, if I soak ,say eucalyptus leaves in spirit would I achieve a similar outcome.... Great videos. Cheers
My question is about heat process. If the heating is faster by direct electricity did that effect the hydrosol...in another ward as a beginner which kind of heat you would advice
George ......brilliant . I think it just might work
Oh it does. I made a few batches of oils over the last year from freshly grown herbs.
George
Sorry George ....I am sure it works but i was referring to using it as a sales pitch to the wife lol
Funny you should mention that, I actually used it as a sales pitch to my wife and it worked (smile). She now has lavender oils and rosemary oils for her air-fresheners and I am a happy camper.
Thanks
George
This will work for hops too right?
I'll bet your yeild would be significantly better if you used 180 proof vodka instead of water. Let it soak for a few days. After you separate the oil save the vodka for next year.
You will get a lot more oil if you separate with a sieve so you are steam distilling. By putting the plant in with the water you are essentially stilling for just hydrosol and will get almost no oil, but you can still use the hydrosol for many things. Your wife will be happier if you buy her a sieve. Depending on the plant copper stills are best used to remove the sulfides and bacteria. However, having some part of the heating element copper (or incorporating copper in it) will do the same trick.
Is there a sieve you'd recommend for t500 still?
Hello MR. Barley, can you tell me what brand of distill is good to make essential oil ?
Just a thought, but if you had a container with a small spigot at the bottom you could just drain the water from underneath the oil and collect all the oil in one container then. although with those bottles it'd but really easy to eyedropper out just the oil from the top. but now a question, would that distilled water be infused with some residual flavor that could lend a different taste to a mash?
+Justin Lee the water does have an aroma but I am not sure i would add it to a mash. Would be nice to add a cup to the washing machine during the rinse cycle to give your clothes a fresh scent.
George
Have you or anyone else experienced any issues with residual scents left over that could invade other distillates?
Greetings from Maine. Where can i get a heat band? I have a few different stills but for the small stainless one i have i think having one of those would be great. thanks, tom
I have just a cheap amazon still. If I fill it with mint leaves and water will it burn on the bottom? I've had corn burn before so I'm a bit shy now. lol
George, is your column packed with anything? Even if you are making you'r spirits?
+james stevenson Not at all when extracting essential oils.
George
You don't need to put them on dry?
George, is there anything special you need to do to clean out the still before switching back to spirits?
+Jim Nimblett Nothing special. Just clean it as soon as you are done, another advantage of stainless steel. Cleans up with warm soapy water. Of course if there are any residual odors left behind you can clean them with household chemicals ; windex works wonders and then you just need to rinse well.
George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing Thank you Jim for the question and George for the answer!! I have learned so much!!
@@philiptruitt id probably do a sacrificial run of some old wine or beer or maybe a vinegar run before running a good mash.
@@thejakein7867 thank you, Bro!
What is the device called your using ?
Oh if you go on eBay y can buy essential oil separators made of Pyrex scientific glassware cheap it has a stopcock valve lets you drain the water out switch containers and put the oil in another
the only problem is the largest set I've found online only runs 2 liters. of plant matter at a time. It also costs just as much if not more than a decent 8 gal still. for small runs I'd say the pyrex setup is great but if you want to run bulk the still is the way to go.
George, all my moonshine turned cloudy when I cut it. I have determined I did not filter the mash correctly. (Got in a hurry) anyway, want to run it through for a second run. Just cut it first?
Came out cloudy because you probably collected some tails in with the hearts. No need to cut it first to re-run it.
Ah to be retired and doing the things you enjoy to do 😊
How would it do with cannabis oil?
Great vid. WIll try this in my air still. Could you tell me how you seperate the oil from the water? Thank you
The oil separates naturally. It floats on top of the water. You need to use an eye dropper or something similar to take it off the top.
A sepratory funnel or a hydrasol funnel is best IMO
I know normally one would use an alcohol solvent with cannabis. Here in Virginia we can grow legally now. My question is how do you think this would do with the extraction of all the cannabinoids both CBD and THC?
You can, but without the water. Temperatures around 420f should do the trick. Don't go higher, it will burn. Don't throw out the fore shots like you do with alcohol. They will be the turpentines. Then comes the thc. And the cbd last.
I hope you dried the stems. It is best used as an skewer with big pieces of meat, with some peppers and onions.
The fractionating column is desirable for alcohol distillation, but it's unnecessary and probably undesirable here. The compounds in the essential oil generally have higher boiling points than water. The fractionating column will tend to return them to the still, which will mean needing to run the still far longer to get a comparable yield. The column is useful when trying to separate liquid components from one another based on their different boiling points, but in this case all you're wanting to do is use steam to extract the volatile components from the plant matter and condense the result without separation.
sorry if i sound stupid. absolute beginner here. what sort of column would u use?
@@IESchardijn A liebig condenser will work just fine for this application.
You'll have rosemary flavored shine next time.
can you do this in the T500?
Tyler Schreiber I know it's 2 years late, but yes. You either need the ambellic top or remove everything from the column.
Will this work on a reflux still?
yes
Do have a price list you could email me?
+purpguy69 No price list but I am usually available when we are open if you give me a call (254-681-1760). Check out our face book page and website barleyandhopsbrewing.com
George