What Does A Thumper Do Moonshine? - Información de la cerveza

A Quick Summary – If you’re in a hurry and just need to know the most essential information about the humble thumper keg, here it is.

What Is It? A thumper keg works to distill your low wine a second time. It may be made of copper, steel, or wood, and sits between the still pot and condenser.
What Does A Thump Keg Do? It speeds up the distillation process and transforms your low wine into a liquid with higher alcohol content, which is critical for or bourbon.
What Size Thump Keg Do You Need To Use? It should generally be about 25% to 40% of the size of your main boiler.

Now, if you need to know more about the thumper keg, keep reading.

Contents

1 Does a thumper add flavor?
2 What liquid do you put in a thumper?
3 Do you have put liquid in a thumper?
4 Does a thumper need to be heated?
5 Can you make moonshine without a thumper?
- 5.1 How do you keep moonshine clear and flavored?
6 What are the benefits of a thumper?
- 6.1 What happens if your thumper is too big?
7 How big of a thumper do I need for a 5 gallon still?
8 How much alcohol will a 10 gallon still produce?
9 How potent is homemade moonshine?
- 9.1 Can you drink undistilled moonshine?
10 Does fruit in moonshine go bad?
- - 10.0.1 How do you use thumper for flavor?
11 What are the benefits of a thumper?
- - 11.0.1 What are the benefits of using a thumper keg?
  - 11.0.2 What happens if your thumper is too big?

Does a thumper add flavor?

Distilling, Spirits

Distilling Thumpers
What Are They?
How do They Work?
by NorCal Brewing Solutions
There is nothing worse than spirits that are harsh, throat burning, off flavored, or have odors or impurities.
Common distilling wisdom dictates that to avoid the above you should perform multiple distilling runs.
But who’s got time for that?
If you don’t add a thumper (also known as a thumper keg) – or even a series of thumper kegs – to your pot head distilling system!
What Is a Thumper Keg? (Short Answer)
A thumper keg is a sealed, liquid-holding container that is placed between the still and the condenser in a pot head distillation system.
It has one ethanol vapor entry port and one ethanol vapor exit port.
It essentially performs a secondary distillation during a single distillation run.
A thumper keg enhances alcohol content while simultaneously refining the flavor of the product – whether it be gin, whiskey, rum, or anything else.
How Does a Thumper Keg Work?
Hot ethanol vapor passes from the main still into the thumper through a DOWNCOMER – a tube whose end is submerged in “Thumper Liquid” at the bottom of the thumper.
It is preferrable to have the Thumper Liquid be related to the spirit being distilled.
For example, the Thumper Liquid can be:
· Mash from the current run
· Collection from a prior run
· Store-bought spirit of similar type
· The Thumper Liquid can contain fruit, spices, botanicals, or juice to enhance the flavor (more on this later!)

· Water can be used as a last resort. Using water will substantially dilute the alcohol content of the collected spirit.

The hot ethanol vapor bubbles through the Thumper Liquid, cools, and in turn becomes liquid itself, mixing with the Thumper Liquid already in the thumper.
As the vapor condenses in the semi-sealed environment it produces a THUMP – THUMP – THUMP sound, from which the name “Thumper” is derived.
The collected spirit has a high alcohol content and enhances the flavor of the spirit.
Temperature Warning!
CAUTION: Due to a thumper’s proximity to the still it will get hot!
For this reason, the thumper keg container should be made from heat-resistant materials (stainless steel, copper, glass, etc.)
NorCal Brewing Solutions manufactures a line of thumpers designed for 1/6 barrel Sanke kegs and an economical line for glass canning jars (Kerr, Mason, and Ball).
Let’s Get Technical!
Okay but how does this produce a SECONDARY DISTILLATION?
A thumper works by distilling low wines that come from the still.
When distillation first starts, the starting liquid in the thumper keg is cool.
As hot ethanol vapor passes from the still through the thumper the heat waste carried in the low wines heat the thumper up.

NOTE: Typically, no other heat source is used. This allows greater temperature control should the mash temperature get too hot.

Eventually, the low wine gets heated to a point where it vaporizes, a second distillation happens, and this newly distilled vapor passes out of the thumper and into the condenser (or into ANOTHER thumper keg).
The final spirit exits the condenser and is collected.
In essence, a thumper keg allows a pot head still to gain some of the features provided in the column portion of a column still.
Can a Thumper Keg be Used with a Column Still?

The short answer is “no”. There simply isn’t enough energy left to run the “thump” by the time ethanol vapor leaves a column still.

A Thumper as a Gin Basket!
A thumper keg can be used to add flavor to spirits.
Simply add botanicals, herbs, spices, fruit, juice, or extracts to the Thumper Liquid and the ethanol vapor will extract the flavors from the Thumper Liquid as it passes through the thumper and exits into the condenser.
What Size of Thumper Do I Need?
A thumper should be approximately 1/3 the size of the still.

So 1/6 barrel kegs are PERFECT as thumpers when used with a half barrel (15.5 gallon) Sanke keg still. Half gallon canning jars are PERFECT as thumpers for 1.5-gallon stills.

And don’t forget
Thumper Kegs can be used in series to double thumper capacity, triple it, and so on.
Two NorCal Brewing Solutions Half Gallon
Canning Jar Thumper Kegs used in Series
First Time Thumper Set-up (Step-by-Step Instructions)
The thumper keg must be cleaned to remove bacteria and other contaminants. An easy way to accomplish this is through a “Vinegar Run”:
NOTE: If using a series of thumpers, perform a Vinegar Run on each thumper individually (don’t assemble them in series).

1) Determine what 20% of the still’s capacity is. (1/6 barrel keg would be 20% of 5.17 gallons = 1.03 gallons). This is the “Vinegar Run Volume”.2) Assemble the still, thumper, and condenser.3) Mix half distilled water and half vinegar to make up the Vinegar Run Volume.

7) Discard all solution from still and from thumper.
8) Thumper is now ready for use.
Using a Thumper Set-up (Step-by-Step Instructions)
1) Assemble the still, thumper(s), and condenser.
2) Add mash to still boiler.
3) Add enough Thumper Liquid to the thumper to cover approximately half an inch of the bottom of the downcomer.
4) If using the thumper as a Gin Basket: Add flavorings to the Thumper Liquid.

a. Make sure thumper keg is no more than 2/3 filled with Thumper Liquid and any additives. More than 2/3 full could produce too much back pressure for the thumper to work properly.

5) Heat boiler of the still to approximately 172 degrees Fahrenheit (78 degrees Celsius).
6) As the still heats up, ethanol vapors pass through the still and into the thumper (through the downcomer), where the vapors will turn into liquid and mix with the Thumper Liquid.
7) Eventually the thumper will heat up enough where ethanol vapor will continue out the thumper’s exit port and through the condenser, where it will turn into the final collected spirit.
8) Once the thumping process is complete, turn off the heat source to the boiler.

WARNING: Understand and ALWAYS follow proper still shut-down procedures, Failure to shut down the distilling process correctly can cause back pressure, resulting in equipment damage and even an explosion!

Adding Flavor by Using a Thumper Keg
A thumper can replicate a Gin Basket by adding flavor(s) to distillate!
Simply add fruits, fruit juice, herbs, extracts, flowers, or spices to the Thumper Liquid.

NOTE: Using anything but alcohol in the Thumper Liquid will dilute the alcohol content of the collected spirit. If high alcohol content is a priority, consider using multiple thumpers in series. Adding Dried Fruit, Herbs, Flowers, Spices: Use any combination of dried fruit, herbs, flowers, spices, etc.

When ready to distill, add this mixture to the Thumper Liquid.
Pros and cons of this method:
PROS: Allows good flavor extraction while keeping the highest possible alcohol content of the collected spirit.
CONS: Time delay / hassle.
Adding Raw Fruit, Fruit Juice:
Use any combination of ripe, mashed fruit and fruit juice and add it to the Thumper Liquid.
Pros and cons of this method:
PROS: Skips the low wines process and the associated time delay.

CONS: Dilutes the alcohol content of the collected spirit. Doesn’t extract as much flavor. Experiment, and Have Fun! Thumper kegs add a certain amount of pizazz to a pot head distilling system. Not only do they look cool, the “thump thump thump” sound they make while operating adds an auditory signal that all is going well in the distilling process.

Being able to easily extract flavors from fruit, botanicals, oak, or anything else you dream up adds a whole new dimension to flavor design. If you don’t have time for multiple distilling runs If you like the idea of flavor design If you like a higher proof at collection while getting a refined spirit then consider adding a thumper keg – or even a series of thumper kegs – to your distilling system.

Questions? Click to “Ask Jaybird” – NorCal Brewing Solutions in-house distilling expert! : Distilling, Spirits

What liquid do you put in a thumper?

Home Distiller Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper. Moderator: Novice Posts: Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:28 am by » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:39 am I am a beginner and just gettin into the hobby of distilling spirts and was needing some help.

What is the bet thing to put in the thumper keg. I have read to use water or mash and wanted to know which is better. I have read you can flavor your spirts by adding flavors to the thumper keg. Can some explain this to me. Also is there a certain temp that I need to keep the thumper when distilling? Any info is thankful for!! Thanks retired Posts: Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 7:42 am Location: Somewhere in the Ozarks by » Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:33 pm Run it like a pot still.

No thermometer needed. What to put in it? Just about anything will work. Water will give you a little cleaner lower ABV product. Wash will give you more flavor and ABV. Feints will give you a slightly different flavor with even higher ABV. Fruit or fermenter slops will give you even more flavor.

The list his on and on. Novice Posts: Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:28 am by » Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:05 pm Now do I need another burner under the thumper or is heat from the burner under the pot good enough along with the heat coming from the vapor going into the thumper? Bootlegger Posts: Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:45 pm by » Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:16 pm The heat from the pot will do.

Thumper won’t start putting out until it reaches a high enough temp. Insulating the thumper will help speed this up. Yahoo Mountain Dew ! It’ll Tickle You’re Innards ! Novice Posts: Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:28 am by » Mon Feb 11, 2013 5:51 pm Now by adding flavor to thumper would you put let’s say apple juice/water mix to give it a apple flavor? : Home Distiller

You might be interested: How Much Alcohol Is In Angry Orchard?

Do you have put liquid in a 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?

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. Condensation in the thump keg is minimized and less artificial heat is required to vaporize the alcohol.

Can you make moonshine without a thumper?

Figure 1, Typical backwoods whiskey still. Smaller copper pot in center is thump keg. – 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.

Most European distillers still use swan-neck pot stills, and will have both a “beer stripper” to distill the wash to the low-wine state, and a second “spirit still” to rectify the low wine to a high-proof spirit.
In the hillbilly still, the thump keg serves the same purpose as this second, spirit still.

The thump keg, moreover, does this in a very clever manner, utilizing waste heat from the still pot for its function. Many shiners in fact prefer to use a wooden barrel for the thump keg, precisely because it loses less of this useful heat than would a metal one.

As the hot vapor comes out of the still (Fig.3), it exits the arm into the low wine that condenses in the bottom of the thump keg – indeed, it’s the thumping sound of the the vapor and condensed low wine (and not, as some sources assert, “bits of mash”) periodically erupting out of this pipe that creates the characteristic bumping noise giving this piece of equipment its name.

This hot vapor continuously heats the low wine to the boiling point of alcohol, thus distilling it a second time, and producing a much higher-proof product than could otherwise be obtained in a single run through a pot still.

How do you keep moonshine clear and flavored?

How Commercial Brewers Flavor Spirits – Commercially produced spirits are usually stored in wooden casks or to enhance the taste of the spirits. Some commercial brewers allow their products to sit for a minimum of one year where others may choose to age their products for many years which increase both the taste and price of the product.

The type of wood you use for aging your spirits can also affect its taste. For instance, scotch whiskey is usually kept in sherry cask to combine the different flavors of sherry, sugars present in the wood as well as the distinct flavor of the whiskey. The resulting product is quite unique and more flavorful.

If you will take a look at commercial whiskey products, you will find that the age is about three to eight years and even twelve. You may also begin to wonder why your spirit soaked with oak chips to achieve aging takes only a few days instead of years.

The answer greatly depends on the surface area of the oak wood chips that come in contact with a certain amount of spirit.
Essentially, the surface area of the oak chips is greater than that of the barrel which makes the exchange of flavor more rapid.
Using Fresh Wood Chips Is Ideal For Enhancing Taste New wood can age spirit more than old wood does.

It is recommended to use fresh wood chips rather than the old one because your spirit can have a woody taste if the chips are very old and this can negatively affect the flavor of your finished product Sweet Bourbon Essence Can Also Enhance Your Flavor To intensify the taste, even more, you can filter it in a muslin cloth and include the sweet bourbon essence into it.

After this, you can proceed with bottling the product into 700g bottles which should be stored in a cool dark place for one month or more. With this, you can achieve bourbon that is smooth and mellow to drink. Avoid Using a Carbon Filter You must not filter it using a carbon filter to remove wood chips because it will only remove much of its flavor which makes you lose all your efforts.

Using a muslin or tea towel is highly recommended in this case so that you can retain all the flavors that you would like to keep. You may also try a coffee filter which may take slowly compared to muslin, but it is really quite effective too. Adding sugar can also adjust the taste of your moonshine To add final touches, you can add 5 teaspoons of caramelized raw or white sugar per liter of your spirit.

What are the benefits of a thumper?

Thumper or No Thumper? – A thumper setup allows for a secondary distillation without having to run the distillate a second time. Based on the design parameters, the use of a parasitic kettle may require more BTUs to run than a single distilling kettle, but likely not as many BTUs when compared to running two completely separate distillations.

In addition, since the thumper contains a measure of liquid to facilitate another phase-change cycle, there will be heat exchange occurring within the thumper that may reduce the amount of cooling capacity required to cool the finished distillate.
Again, these variables would be predicated upon the design and size of the parasitic kettle.

The noteworthy savings, however, will be man hours needed to render a product that is more desirable for consumption. The operator can choose to “charge” the thumper with water, alcohol, or even an additional flavoring component that may result in the formation of additional carboxylic acids that can add to the complexity of the finished spirit.

What happens if your thumper is too big?

Home Distiller Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper. Moderator: Distiller Posts: Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am by » Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:07 am Size is arbitrary to how you want to use it. The bigger the thumper the more energy applied to the pot, because the thumper will bleed off some of this energy.

Here’s a few different ways people use thumpers.
As a steamer setup.
Put another way the boiler is filled with water or clear liquid from fermentation but the “thumper” is loaded with the grains, sludge and clear liquid.
Nothing in the thumper will burn or scorch as no direct heat is applied and the highest temp ever introduced will be water vapor and at 212 F/100 C temp.

This type of setup is great if you ferment on the grain and just want to load it all right into the still. A near 1 to 1 boiler to thumper setup is great for this. The traditional method of using a thumper that is roughly 1/3 the size of the boiler. Ideally you load the thumper with low wines of around 40% or so and the boiler with your 8% or so ferment.

This is similar to a double distillation as the average of what leaves the boiler is 40% or so which is feeding the thumper which then leaves as “high wines” or roughly 70% or so.
A thumper can be filled with nothing but water and used as a filter to get a bit more pure product but not any higher ABV.

A thumper (even small) can be used to make Gin/Jenever. You can load all the macerated vodka/spirit and botanicals directly into the thumper without worry of scorching of the botanicals regardless of how the boiler is fired. Doesn’t matter is a heating element or direct fired as no botanicals are present in the boiler.

The thumper only gets heated by the water vapor.
You can also use a double thumper setup.
Many Rums use a system like this but they typically call the thumpers retorts.
The typical load/setup in this setup is the 8% or so in the boiler, 40%ish low wines in the first retort and high wines or 70%ish in the second retort.

This would allow a triple distillation in one pass. While Irish whiskey isn’t traditionaly made this way, it could be done like this with great success for triple distillation with increasing “boiler” charges AND nothing higher than 8% to typical low wines in the boiler.

Even if you don’t specifically load the thumpers/retorts with said % it will work out that way itself due to the ABV output from each section.
This would allow you to load both retorts with only low wines for safety reasons while still getting the advantage of the 2nd thumper.
Some rum producers do exactly this.

When ever you add a thumper you need to understand what happens with the pressure in each “boiler”. You no longer have an open system but a closed system which requires a whole other level of safety especially when you reduce power or kill the heat to the boiler.

The “suck back” that happens when power is reduced is enough to collapse the boiler if not robust enough. This is especially common in thin copper “moonshine” stills. For that reason you really want a way to manually vent the piping between the boiler and the thumper. This way when you turn off the power you can open the vent between the “pots” and make the system open again.

This can be as simple as a T fitting in the piping between the boiler and the thumper with a ball valve on the 3rd side of the T. This way you can easily open the ball valve which reduces any pressures. This is the one reason I do like to have a thermometer on the pot itself.

You can keep an eye on the temp to make sure they don’t drop when you don’t expect it (ie ran out of propane and lost heat). Many digital thermometers allow you to set a temp that fires off an alarm. This is an excellent use for that feature. An alarm at 190 to 200 F or so depending on still would give you a warning the pot is starting to cool off and needs venting.

Depending on the amounts you fill the boiler and thumpers you can get some minimal reflux as well using the head space of the pot. This reflux action is minimal compared to a reflux still but can get you a bit which helps with cuts. Watch this video from George at Barley and Hops Brewing which is valuable info on thumper safety.

Here is another article full of good info on thumpers and retorts which is short but a good read. Carlo

Thumpers are great and can be used quite safely when you stay with your still 100% of the time while it’s running (should always do this). But it would be wise to learn to run a pot still without the thumper first to get at least a few runs under your belt.

Learn to craw before you walk type thing. Hope this info helps, Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing. More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.

Novice Posts: Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:49 am by » Sun Oct 27, 2019 2:56 pm That’s a good read. Thank you for the reply. I have seen that video and it makes perfect sense. The boiler that is going with this thumper I’m asking about is plenty strong (14ga stainless) and will also have a valve to break the vacuum at the end of a run.

You might be interested: What States Can You Make Moonshine?

I was mostly curious about this because I had a cylinder and I already cut it down to an almost 17 gallon, total volume, to have for the thumper. I was worried about it being too small with the boiler holding 30 gallons. Distiller Posts: Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am by » Wed Oct 30, 2019 5:20 am As you can see no set size is needed, just depends on how you want to use it and for what purpose and what ABV is getting loaded in the boiler and the thumper.

Once you understand the ABV coming out of the boiler based on the ferment charge ABV you can understand what the thumper will and will not do for you. You have the safety issues covered so you should be fine. Best of luck, Carlo Last edited by on Fri Nov 01, 2019 1:44 am, edited 1 time in total. Posts: Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm by » Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:34 pm wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 5:20 am As you can see no set size is needed, just depends on how you want to use it and for what purpose and what ABV is getting loaded in the boiler and the thumper.

Once you understand the ABV coming out of the boiler based on the ferment charge ABV you can understand what the thumper will and will not do for you. You have he safety issues covered so you should be fine. Best of luck, Carlo You have posted one of the most succinct and comprehensive explanations of the uses of a thumper I have ever seen here,

I think your explanation should be moved to required reading for all to see, TB If you ain’t the lead dog in the team, the scenery never changes, Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that, Don’t drink water, fish fornicate in it,

Distiller Posts: Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am by » Fri Nov 01, 2019 1:58 am wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:34 pm You have posted one of the most succinct and comprehensive explanations of the uses of a thumper I have ever seen here,
I think your explanation should be moved to required reading for all to see,

TB Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. I love thumpers as they can be used for a lot of different purposes. Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing. More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.

Site Mod Posts: Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:04 pm Location: North Palm Beach by » Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:39 am 100% cayars. As a general rule I always start with the basic premise that on a stripping run, the low wines yield will be about 1/3 of the total volume in the kettle. Therefore, the thumper would be sized to handle all of the low wines yield of the primary kettle.

Trample the injured and hurdle the dead. Master of Distillation Posts: Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am Location: Pacific Northwest by » Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:53 am Great overview of thumpers. Thanks for taking the time to type this up. Next time someone asks me why use a thumper or what a thumper does, I’ll point them to this thread first., Otis Site Donor Posts: Joined: Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:00 am Location: USA by » Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:08 am Great information! Thank you! Stay strapped or get clapped.15.5 gallon boiler, 5 gallon thumper, shotgun condenser, 57″ spiraled liebig, mash steam cooker head, 5.5 kW element with SCR controller All modular : Home Distiller

How big of a thumper do I need for a 5 gallon still?

1.65 Gallon (6.25 Liter) Copper Distillation Thumper with 3″ access and triclamp, temperature gauge, and 1/2″ ball valve drain. This Copper 1.65 Gallon (6.25 Liter) Thumper/Doubler is the perfect addition to a 5 gallon still. The advantages of a thumper would be gaining a higher proof on the first run and/or to add back flavor that is lost during the first distillation process from the pot.1.65 Gallon Thumper 3″ ferrule with locking triclamp, gasket and stainless sanitary end cap Temperature gauge placed at the vapor line to help you manage your still 1/2″ ball valve drain to help drain and maintain levels 1/2″ copper pipe stubbed out ready for plumbing to your still (if you need help with this part, please contact us as will need measurements to help you).20 oz Revere copper and silver based, lead-free solder

How much alcohol will a 10 gallon still produce?

How Much Alcohol Will a Still Produce? – Before we get started, a reminder: Distilling alcohol is illegal without a federal fuel alcohol or distilled spirit plant permit as well as relevant state permits. Our distillation equipment is designed for legal uses only and the information in this article is for educational purposes only.

A 1 gallon run will yield 3-6 cups of alcohol A 5 gallon run will yield 1-2 gallons of alcohol A 8 gallon run will yield 1.5-3 gallons of alcohol A 10 gallon run will yield 2-4 gallons of alcohol

For the researchers, science nerds, alchemists, and truth seekers, here’s why:

How potent is homemade moonshine?

Moonshine Alcohol Percentage | Moonshine Proof – Moonshine usually has an ABV of 40% but can sometimes be as high as 60%-80% ABV. Alcohol content can be converted to proof by multiplying it by two. So, 40% ABV is 80-proof. The distilling process is the key to a spirit’s alcohol content.

Can you drink undistilled moonshine?

Methanol Risks – While the flammability of the moonshine distillation process is dangerous in and of itself, the health effects of moonshine-methanol consumption pose an even bigger threat. More people have died from drinking moonshine than by any explosions at stills, despite the few old and handmade stills that are left.

A major risk of drinking moonshine is methanol blindness. Detecting methanol upon the first step is impossible, and consuming more of it will simply get the person drunker. However, it’s eventually metabolized as its toxic metabolite, formic acid, in the body, which can have an extremely harmful effect.

Just 10 milliliters (ml) of methanol is all it takes to cause permanent optic and partial nerve damage, if not complete blindness. As little as 30 ml of methanol is lethal, and, for reference, a standard shot glass in the U.S. holds 40 ml. Old stills use car radiators during the distilling process, which often contain lead soldering and remnants of antifreeze glycol products that could contaminate and add toxins to the moonshine.

Larger batches of moonshine are more likely to contain methanol.
Because methanol is vaporized or evaporated at a lower temperature than alcohol, the first liquid produced by the distillation process usually contains methanol.
While moonshiners have adopted new ways to discard methanol, some moonshiners will actually add it back into the batch to make the drink more potent.

However, because these processes aren’t regulated, there’s no way of knowing whether the illicit alcohol actually contains any methanol.

Does fruit in moonshine go bad?

Flavored Moonshine – Moonshiners love to produce different flavors of spirits. A few good examples are apple pie moonshine, cherry pie moonshine, jalapeno peach moonshine, and key lime moonshine. These moonshines have added sugars and flavorings that result in a different taste.

Unopened, flavored moonshine won’t change much and it won’t go bad.
The fruits in unopened moonshine are preserved by the alcohol which prevents it from going off.
These fruits can however become much more concentrated with alcohol and it is often best to discard the fruit.
When moonshine is opened it can go off because the moonshine will evaporate leaving the fruits vulnerable to rotting.

This however isn’t very likely to happen any time soon. It will take many years for a bottle of unopened moonshine to expire.

How do you use thumper for flavor?

Infusing Flavors Using A Thumper Keg – We’ve already given you a pretty good idea of how a thumper keg works. But did you know you can also use it to add more layers of flavor to your moonshine? Before you start distilling, fill the thumper keg with a small number of spirit tails from a previous batch (best option), some wash from the current batch, or water (water is the last resort).

Add fruit-infused spirits to your thumper keg – You can place your chosen fruits, spices, and herbs into a big container of low wines or head/tail spirits. Then, let it sit for about a week or two to gradually infuse these flavors into the liquid. Once it’s time to distill, just add this solution to the bottom of the thumper keg to impart its flavors into your final moonshine.
Add juice or oils directly into your thumper – In case you want a simpler and faster process than the one above, you can also add liquid ingredients like juice (apple, lemon, peach, blackberry, etc.) and coconut oil directly into your thumper keg.
Add raw ingredients directly into your thumper – Now this is a combination of the first two flavor infusion methods we’ve mentioned. 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. Also, it can result in quite a mess.

Regardless of which method you choose, you need to extract the heads from the ethyl alcohol before infusion. This will make sure the flavors will infuse the distillate that you will drink.

What are the benefits of a thumper?

In addition, since the thumper contains a measure of liquid to facilitate another phase-change cycle, there will be heat exchange occurring within the thumper that may reduce the amount of cooling capacity required to cool the finished distillate.
Again, these variables would be predicated upon the design and size of the parasitic kettle.

What are the benefits of using a thumper keg?

YUEWO 3 Pots DIY 2 Gal/10 Liters Moonshine Still – YUEWO 3 Pots DIY 2Gal/10Litres Alcohol Distiller Still Copper Water Alcohol Distiller Home Brew Wine Making Kits with Thumper Keg for DIY Brandy Whisky Wine Essential Oils

You might be interested: How To Ptrpsit Osk For Moonshine?

Alcohol Stills – complete distillation equipment,suitable for beginners or expert distiller,easy to handle and installation.3 Pots Distiller,Innovative the Steam flow into the side of Fruit/Spice Pot, flow out from the top,So operator can brew his own taste easily!Material and Construction: safe & non-toxic red copper and stainless steel material, there is NOT ANY lead in all the parts, stainless/copper coil cooling tube, all the parts are made of food-grade materials,the fermenter is specially thickened. (Dimensions:capacity: 2Gallons/10L, Height: 9inch, Diameter: 9inch)Build-in Thermometer – Metal Thermometers show as: Celsius & Fahrenheit, So Operator can Inspect the Temperature easily when Running the Distiller,Free Stainless Steam Plate and Gauze Bag, to prevent Burn Out, and has much better on distillation. Free Temperature Sticker on the Fermenter, can inspect the Temperature when use the big pot as a Fermenter Pot.

This is a complete moonshine still kit which i ideal for making any kind of spirit from scratch. It comes with a large 10 liter boiler, thumper, condenser, and all connecting pipes. Made from non-toxic red copper and stainless steel components it is 100% safe and non-toxic.

Comes with built in thermometers which makes tracking the progress of your distillation simple.
What Is The Purpose Of A Thumper Keg? The main purpose of a thumper keg is to speed up the distillation process.
It lets you distill a high-proof spirit without running it through the still multiple times.
The other purpose of using a thumper keg is to add botanicals to your spirits.

It becomes simple to introduce fruits, spices, and herbs, creating delicious new flavors and aromas in your spirits. Related: List of Moonshine Distilleries

What happens if your thumper is too big?

Here’s a few different ways people use thumpers. As a steamer setup. Put another way the boiler is filled with water or clear liquid from fermentation but the “thumper” is loaded with the grains, sludge and clear liquid. Nothing in the thumper will burn or scorch as no direct heat is applied and the highest temp ever introduced will be water vapor and at 212 F/100 C temp.

This is similar to a double distillation as the average of what leaves the boiler is 40% or so which is feeding the thumper which then leaves as “high wines” or roughly 70% or so.
A thumper can be filled with nothing but water and used as a filter to get a bit more pure product but not any higher ABV.

The thumper only gets heated by the water vapor. You can also use a double thumper setup. Many Rums use a system like this but they typically call the thumpers retorts. The typical load/setup in this setup is the 8% or so in the boiler, 40%ish low wines in the first retort and high wines or 70%ish in the second retort.

Even if you don’t specifically load the thumpers/retorts with said % it will work out that way itself due to the ABV output from each section.
This would allow you to load both retorts with only low wines for safety reasons while still getting the advantage of the 2nd thumper.
Some rum producers do exactly this.

The “suck back” that happens when power is reduced is enough to collapse the boiler if not robust enough. This is especially common in thin copper “moonshine” stills. For that reason you really want a way to manually vent the piping between the boiler and the thumper. This way when you turn off the power you can open the vent between the “pots” and make the system open again.

Here is another article full of good info on thumpers and retorts which is short but a good read. Carlo

Learn to craw before you walk type thing. Hope this info helps, Programmer specializing in process control for ExxonMobil (ethanol refinery control), WT, Omron, Bosch, Honeywell & Boeing. More than a decade working for NASA & FAA Tech with computer code used on Space Shuttles and some airline flight recorders.

I was mostly curious about this because I had a cylinder and I already cut it down to an almost 17 gallon, total volume, to have for the thumper.
I was worried about it being too small with the boiler holding 30 gallons.
Distiller Posts: Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am by » Wed Oct 30, 2019 5:20 am As you can see no set size is needed, just depends on how you want to use it and for what purpose and what ABV is getting loaded in the boiler and the thumper.

Once you understand the ABV coming out of the boiler based on the ferment charge ABV you can understand what the thumper will and will not do for you. You have he safety issues covered so you should be fine. Best of luck, Carlo You have posted one of the most succinct and comprehensive explanations of the uses of a thumper I have ever seen here,

Distiller Posts: Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:08 am by » Fri Nov 01, 2019 1:58 am wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:34 pm You have posted one of the most succinct and comprehensive explanations of the uses of a thumper I have ever seen here, I think your explanation should be moved to required reading for all to see,

Site Mod Posts: Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:04 pm Location: North Palm Beach by » Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:39 am 100% cayars.
As a general rule I always start with the basic premise that on a stripping run, the low wines yield will be about 1/3 of the total volume in the kettle.
Therefore, the thumper would be sized to handle all of the low wines yield of the primary kettle.

Gaspar Aparicio