When Using A Moonshine Still What Goes In The Thumper?

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).

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 does the thumper do in a moonshine still?

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).

Do you need to heat the thumper on a still?

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.

Does thumper size matter?

Home Distiller Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper. Moderator: Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:49 pm by » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:36 am With a 220v heated 20 gallon boiler and a 2″ coper pot still head down to 1/2″ outlet, what would be a correct size thumper to add on? I have two stainless vessels, a 13 gallon olive jug that was the boiler on my first still and a 5 gallon corny keg. Posts: Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:25 am Location: Tennessee by » Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:21 pm A thumper should be 30-40% the size of your main boiler, so the five gallon would be marginal at best. Plumping is simple: the inlet from the main boiler should extend almost to the bottom of the thumper; the outlet should just penetrate the lid.

1. Big R “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
2. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” William Pitt Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:49 pm by » Thu Mar 07, 2013 2:29 pm Thank you.
3. Is there ryme or reason to the 30-40% rule? Also, how do you run the thumper, do you put feints or mash or anything in it to start off with? Does it make sense to pypass a thumper to collect foreshots, then use switch to the thumper? If that makes sense I was going to do some sort of valve set up to make it work that way.

Thanks again. Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:49 pm by » Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:49 pm I just read up a bit on thumpers and i see that theres a relationship in size and also that the starting liquid should be of high ABV for best results. I also read that bubbles from the dip tube make the thumper more effective. Posts: Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:25 am Location: Tennessee by » Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:08 am I’m not sure I’d try anything like an airstone because thumpers do create some back pressure and you need to keep that at a minimum. You’re working with volatile gasses so you want the system to be open as much as possible.

• I have read that some individuals do not recommend using thumpers because of the potential for excessive back pressure, although IMO that’s mostly caused by carelessness and lack of knowledge.
• The thumper size is important because part of the process involves transfer of liquids from the main boiler to the thumper, so the liquid volume in the thumper does increase throughout the run.

You need sufficient size to accommodate that. The ABV of the thumper charge doesn’t have a significant effect on your final distillate; at best you will only gain a 2-3% increase in your distillate’s ABV. You can charge the thumper with just about anything, wash, low wines, feints, backset, or even water, the difference being the effect on the flavor profile.

When I do brandies I charge my thumper with a combination of fruit concentrate and low wines, for an example. I’m not sure trying to valve off the fores would be of any value. A thumper, to some degree, compress the fractions, so when you switched back to the thumper it would compress more fores that would be in the heads.

Big R “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” William Pitt Admin Posts: Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:19 am Location: occupied south by » Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:52 am Seen thumper from 1/3 to same size as boilers.Tube that runs to near bottom of thumper can be cut at angle or l or t shaped with slots/holes in it to spread steam from boiler or just open at ends Ive only used tube cut at angle and opened ended t.Couldn’t really tell any difference.On a 20 gallon boiler 3/4 in would be minimum Id run 1 1/2 maybe 2 all the way through worm included on boiler that size would be ideal for me.Remember bigger tube easier it is to push steam through it.

1. I use a pot still.Sometimes with a thumper Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:45 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:54 am I’ve learned that this can easily be determined by a very simple formula using only multiplication and division.
2. Be sure to keep in mind that the calculations may vary from each wash you make so it would be ideal to have more than one size thumper available.

I made mine with soft copper and compression fittings attached to different sized glass jar lids so they can easily be changed out. (I’m only distilling 10-12 gallon wash on my rig) Very simply take the amount of wash or mash that you make and multiply it by the amount of alcohol present in your mash.

• Remember percentage is always divided by 100 when used in calculations) Here is an example: 5 gals.
• Wash/mash) x,10% (alcohol) =,5 gallon (thumper) So a 5 gal.
• Wash containing 10% alcohol will require a 1/2 gallon thumper, and so on.
• The higher your volume and the higher your alkeehol the larger your thumper as the lower your volume and lower your alkeehol will require a smaller thumper of course Hope this helps! Cheers! WhoDat! Last edited by on Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Trainee Posts: Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:45 pm by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:50 pm DwhoDat you are way off. First off as Bushman said. “NO GLASS” second your calculations are totally wrong. As stated your thumper should be 30-40% the size of your boiler so for a 5 gal.

Boiler the minimum would be 1.67 gal. So I think you need to forget what you have seen on you-tube and read elsewhere and a lot of research here before you proceed. If you are not living on the “Edge”, then you are taking up too much space!!! Trainee Posts: Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:45 pm by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:55 pm Yankee, I put a 90* elbow at the end of my down tube so I have a piece of pipe running parallel to the bottom of my thumper which I drilled about 20 small holes into in order to distribute the bubbles out.

I am not sure if it makes any dif. in my outcome or not though. If you are not living on the “Edge”, then you are taking up too much space!!! Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:45 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:11 pm Guys, I see no problems using glass at such a low temperature, I’ve used glass with no issues and have seen it done with no issues many times.

1. I agree that there are much better materials out there to design a more solid well functioning thumper, but in a pinch it works.
2. If me mentioning using glass here is an issue then I will keep it to myself from now on but I am personally certain in heat well under 200* F there will be no issues.
3. And OBX Phantom, please point out to me exactly how I am “way off” and how these calculations I mentioned above are “totally wrong” As far as your YouTube comment goes I’d rather take advice from a 3-year-old girl than to take any advice from most of those YouTube jack-wagons distilling out of a coffee can and a plastic pickle jar in their mother’s basement so you can miss me that one bud.

Nice try though Last but not least the calculations I mentioned in my reply can be found in a book written by Rick Morris owner of Brewhaus America inc. and author of “The Joy of Home Distilling” Rick lives in Keller Texas about 20 minutes from me and has a store there that I frequently visit.

1. I’m sure he would love to know a better formula if you have one, I will be glad to take it to him just to see the expression on his face.
2. Cheers! retired Posts: Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:22 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:23 pm As to sizing.the big issue is that there is some liquid transfer during the run to your thumper.

As long as your thumper is large enough to handle this.along with whatever volume you start with in the thumper.and still have some headroom left.then you are ok. The sizing should roughly be based on what you expect the output volume of the potstill to be.for a given still charge.PLUS.whatever you start with when you fill the thumper.PLUS some overhead.

1. That’s the way I learned it.and what I see when I run one.
2. I’m sure there’s probably some way to figure out a calc based on that.
3. But, it’s not that hard to figure out.
4. Glass.it’s not just how high the temp goes.but tollerances to temp swings (cold/hot).
5. Different types/grades of glass.have different tollerances for that sort of thing.

Hope you pick the right one for any given task. How a thumper runs when filled to different volumes is another issue. Lots of people are running thumper same size as the pot for extra room. I think most of them are actually using the extra space to add more wash during stripping runs.

Having the extra metal could add to heat up times. But, you wouldn’t have to worry about overfilling it. You can always run “less” volume.but when you run out of room, you run out of room. Lastly, the downtube.the main issue is that you don’t clog it up.which could create a backpressure situation.

So, whatever you do.slant cut it, or drill holes.etc.make sure you have it so if something solid comes over, or you put something that has solids in it in your thumper.that it won’t clog it up. Site Donor Posts: Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:20 pm Location: The wilds of rural California by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:24 pm DWhoDat wrote: If me mentioning using glass here is an issue then I will keep it to myself from now on but I am personally certain in heat well under 200* F there will be no issues.

• It is and please do.
• We consider it a safety issue and most here will not entertain discussion.
• Ok? In the meantime, please do the reading that has been requested of you.
• Avoid doing so at your own peril.
• Tp Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:45 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:31 pm Also to the following comment, “.thumper should be 30-40% the size of your boiler so for a 5 gal.

boiler the minimum would be 1.67 gal.” The size of your boiler is irrelevant when there is no calculation to what is in it. By this statement if I had a 5 gal. boiler with only 1 gal. of wash @ 5% then I would need almost a 2 gal. thumper??? I don’t think so.

1. Even if I had a 5 gal.
2. Wash at 20% and a second 5 gal.
3. Wash @ 5% both would require different sized thumpers to get the most potential ABV.
4. Too big, no good, too small no good.
5. There is no midpoint.
6. Retired Posts: Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:22 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:45 pm I don’t reckon most folks would want to be computing a new build for their thumper based on what they were running each time.

So, more commonly, the “minimum would be based off the potential max of the size of the “rig” (ie., how much it holds). You can always run less volume in it.but you can’t run more than the size it is. retired Posts: Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:35 pm Location: Virginia, USA by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:50 pm DWhodat, you’re not winning any friends here with your attitude.

The issue with glass thumpers has been beaten to death here on the forums – you won’t win that argument. Use it if you think it’s a safe option for you, your property, and your family, but please don’t try to persuade any other newbie coming along that it’s OK. Rick Morris is well respected around here because of his work toward trying to legalize the hobby, but as far as I know, he’s not an authority on distillation – that is, he doesn’t participate in the open forums very often.

The guidelines we have here for thumper size come from years of experience among the members of the forums. We recommend at least 1/3rd the size of the boiler to assure that it doesn’t overfill and puke. It’s not something you need to switch out with every size wash you run. retired Posts: Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:24 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:03 pm DWhoDat wrote: I agree that there are much better materials out there to design a more solid well functioning thumper,. No arguments here. DWhoDat wrote:,but in a pinch it works.

• Trying to imagine that scenario.
• Oh, crap, I left my thumper in my other car, can I use your Skippy jar to whip up a quickie? Shouting and shooting, I can’t let them catch me.
• Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:45 am by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:12 pm Bellybuster it can effect the distillation process if the content of the thumper isn’t matched properly to the wash amount and/or wash alcohol % so yes, it can.

S-Cack. I’m not attempting to win any friends I’m just responding to comments made in contradiction to my reply. As far as Rick goes I’m not sure how one could determine who is an authority on distillation and who isn’t but I do know that he has many years of distilling just as I am sure many here do and many here don’t.

• As far as assembling a thumper, in aspect to the theory I mentioned here, it could easily be designed to be removed and replaced on smaller sized stills with quick fittings or even compression fittings.
• These are my opinions, I thought that’s what forums were all about not everyone gang up on the new guy.

these statements are simply my opinions just as everyone else here has their’s as well right? retired Posts: Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:35 pm Location: Virginia, USA by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 5:06 pm DWhoDat wrote: Bellybuster it can effect the distillation process if it the content of the thumper isn’t matched properly to the wash and/or wash % so yes, it can.

Do you have factual information to support this? S-Cack. I’m not attempting to win any friends I’m just responding to comments made in contradiction to my reply. And why do you think members here might be contradicting you? They must feel that what you’re throwing out here as fact is wrong. As far as Rick goes I’m not sure how one could determine who is an authority on distillation and who isn’t but I do know that he has many years of distilling just as I am sure many here do and many here don’t.

Rick doesn’t post here about his involvement in distillation and that’s why I don’t cite him as an authority. Being a business man, selling stills, and using his real name, I would imagine you’ve done him a big favor by outing him as being involved in the hobby.

• Hope he has a license.
• As far as assembling a thumper, in aspect to the theory I mentioned here, it could easily be designed to be removed and replaced on smaller sized stills with quick fittings or even compression fittings.
• These are my opinions, I thought that’s what forums were all about not everyone gang up on the new guy.

these statements are simply my opinions just as everyone else here has their’s as well right? You didn’t present any of it as an “opinion” for others to weigh in on. It was presented as factual information which can be confusing to someone new to the hobby. Master of Distillation Posts: Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:41 pm bellybuster wrote: so thumper size has effect on ABV??? I ask because I seriously had no idea that was even a factor.

Just a thought, a bigger thumper has more passive reflux. With enough reflux a thumper acts like a big bubble plate and the output ABV goes up. HD Distilling Goddess Posts: Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:05 pm Location: The western Valley by » Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:13 pm DWhoDat wrote: I’ve learned that this can easily be determined by a very simple formula using only multiplication and division.

Be sure to keep in mind that the calculations may vary from each wash you make so it would be ideal to have more than one size thumper available. I made mine with soft copper and compression fittings attached to different sized glass jar lids so they can easily be changed out.

1. I’m only distilling 10-12 gallon wash on my rig) Very simply take the amount of wash or mash that you make and multiply it by the amount of alcohol present in your mash.
2. Remember percentage is always divided by 100 when used in calculations) Here is an example: 5 gals.
3. Wash/mash) x,10% (alcohol) =,5 gallon (thumper) So a 5 gal.

wash containing 10% alcohol will require a 1/2 gallon thumper, and so on. The higher your volume and the higher your alkeehol the larger your thumper as the lower your volume and lower your alkeehol will require a smaller thumper of course Hope this helps! Cheers! WhoDat! You’re formula assumes you are only bringing pure alcohol into the thumper,

Unfortunately that is false, at best with a 10% ABV wash you will be bringing only 65% ABV distillate to the thumper you failed to factor in the other 35% plus as the run continues the incoming ABV will lessen increasing the amount of residual fluids left in the thumper taking up volume of you’re theoretical 1/2 gallon thumper.

In the full run of 5 gallons of 10% ABV you will transfer in excess of 1 gallon to the thumper plus the original charge you put into it. You sir will have a mess with those calculations. That is why we recommend 1/3 the size of the boiler for a thumper,

• It factors in a safety margin.
• Glass is definitely no good.
• You say it will handle 200 plus degree vapors but if something accidently hits it and it shatters you again will have serious problems.
• Have you seen what hot glass does when something cold hits it.
• Typically it cracks.
• If you chose to run glass that is you’re decision do not recommend it to others on this site, period.

I am also curious why you brought this back up, you responded to a post that was 2 years old. I too see you have 6 posts here, that doesn’t determine your experience but as a statement of fact, how many ferments and runs have you made with your 1/2 gallon thumper to be able to state your theory as fact.

retired Posts: Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:22 am by » Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:19 pm If I could offer a bridge here.this is what i’d say: It’s often in the translation that things get lost. Somebody who actually knows something.tells somebody else.who remembers part of it.and just passes on what they heard.without really understanding it.

That’s really inherent in this kind of format. We know and understand that. And would not certainly hold that against anyone who admits.that’s the case. It happens all the time. But, you have to realize.that people here been runnin stills (of all kinds) for many years.who know how much output/volume a given still might have (given a still charge) to realize that those calcs attributed to you (or whomever) are off. Posts: Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:20 pm Location: The wilds of rural California by » Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:19 pm bellybuster wrote: shadylane wrote: bellybuster wrote: so thumper size has effect on ABV??? I ask because I seriously had no idea that was even a factor. tp (with no room to talk) Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:45 am by » Sat Feb 21, 2015 5:12 am I stand by my calculations and will respectfully disagree with those who believe differently here. With that being said I will agree that glass can be a safety issue with heat change and don’t recommended anyone to use it although I have seen it work fine over years of use on a small still.

I would definitely recommend other material than glass in any case though. This I agree with. retired Posts: Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:22 am by » Sat Feb 21, 2015 8:46 am WhoDat.so be it. When you get your rig built using those calcs.you be sure to document it good (pics, etc) and let everybody know how it runs/works.

retired Posts: Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:24 am by » Sat Feb 21, 2015 8:58 am DWhoDat wrote: Here is an example: 5 gals. (wash/mash) x,10% (alcohol) =,5 gallon (thumper) So a 5 gal. wash containing 10% alcohol will require a 1/2 gallon thumper, and so on.

1. The higher your volume and the higher your alkeehol the larger your thumper as the lower your volume and lower your alkeehol will require a smaller thumper of course Ok, first of all I don’t have a thumper, never run one.
2. BUT, I am planing to make one so I have been following the thumper threads, trying to understand the ins and outs.

Looking at this math, I think it just shows that the idea to have a thumper at least half the size of the boiler is a good one. Yes, looking at the example given, 5 gals. x 10% (not,10% btw) = 1/2 gallon thumper. But suppose you’ve already done a strip run and you are charging the boiler with 40% spirits.

How much head do you throw away when distilling?

Are you planning on doing stripping runs or only spirit runs? Stripping Run A stripping run is the best way to remove water from within the wash. Simply fill the still with wash and run the still hot and fast. Collect everything into one large collection container.

Once there are multiple stripping runs saved, they can be added to a still and run as a spirit run. Think of the stripping run as nothing more than an alcohol concentration step: you can get a larger, more refined spirit if you do a stripping run. Stripping is usually achieved via the use of a pot still, but can be done with a de-tuned reflux still.

Running a pot still as quickly as possible will extract as much alcohol from your wash as possible. The distillate collected is called low wines. The low wines of several stripping runs are then collected and a spirit run is done. Spirit Run Spirit runs are used to distill low wines produced from a stripping run or from a single run in a pot still.

A spirit run is used to separate the heads, hearts and tails for the final spirit, called the spirit run. A spirit run takes a lot more time than a stripping run. Foreshots Foreshots are the first vapors to boil off during distillation. They should not be ingested as they contain methanol and other volatile alcohols.

Always discard the foreshots — they make up around 5% or less of the product collected during a run. Throw out the first 30 ml on a 1 gallon run, the first 150 ml on a 5 gallon run, or the first 300 ml on a 10 gallon run. Heads Heads come off of the still directly after the foreshots.

1. Simply put, they taste and smell bad.
2. Heads smell like paint thinner or solvent.
3. They are not worth drinking and are said to be the main culprit in hangovers.
4. Hearts Hearts come off the still after the heads.
5. The hearts are the sweet spot during the run: This is the good stuff.
6. The easiest way to tell when you’ve reached the hearts is simple: The harshness of the heads is replaced with a mellow, sweet-tasting flavor.

Once that harshness of the heads fades away, you know you are in the hearts. The heart cut is very important and this is where the skill of the distiller comes into play, because they must recognize the end of the heads, and the beginning of the tails.

Tails Tails come off the still following the hearts. The tails start once all of the lower boiling point alcohols have evaporated. The tails contain a lot of fusel oil and other alcohols that are not desirable in a finished product. The tails are mostly water, proteins, and carbohydrates and do not taste very good.

The tails start once the rich full flavors from the hearts taper off and start tasting thin. The tails make up between 20-30% of the run.

Why do stills have to be copper?

– Copper is the preferred material in the construction of a still to impart flavor into the distilled spirits. According to Broadslab Distillery, both stainless steel and copper are excellent conductors of heat: dispersing the heat evenly across the entire surface of the metal and creating a more even distillation.

But where both stainless steel and copper will not put harmful chemicals into your final product, copper has the advantage over stainless in that whisky out of a copper still simply tastes better. When distilling in copper, the copper reacts on a molecular level with the sulfurs put out by the fermenting yeast.

It “cancels-out” the sulfur taste which would otherwise be bitter and not as smooth. In the process of distilling, the sulfur coming from the yeast binds itself to the copper, making hydrogen-sulfide which in turn, forms copper sulfate. The copper sulfate sticks to the inside of the still after distillation is completed.

What do I need to carbonate a keg?

FORCE CARBONATION – Most carbonation in kegs is done using pressurized CO2 from a gas cylinder, a process called force carbonation. The fastest results can be achieved when the beer in the keg is at a cold temperature. This will let the CO2 diffuse into the beer more efficiently and at a faster rate.

Can you put anything in a keg?

What can I put in my DrinkTanks Portable Keg? We get this question a lot about our portable keg: What exactly can I put in my DrinkTanks™ customized growler? Well, you can fill up your DrinkTanks™ with anything your taste buds desire. Normally, people like to fill up their portable keg with craft beer, but you can also use them for hot drinks as well.

Some examples include coffee and cocoa, or hot tea. In fact, you can place any liquid you’d like to keep fresh while out and about. It’s all about convenience, and we want you to take your portable keg anywhere you’d like. The best part is, our portable keg will not impart flavors on your drink or stain the bottle.

When you clean it, it’s clean. Acidic fruit juices will not wear it down or ruin the taste of future drinks. As for us, we like to use craft beer, our favorite wines, spirits, sodas and colas, and duh, water. So you can take your portable keg on your next camping trip! For other questions about your DrinkTanks™, you can always go to our FAQ page at our website. : What can I put in my DrinkTanks Portable Keg?