By Elricko 

In the old moonshine and bootlegging days most back-wood stills were heated using either wood or coal.  These days the hobby distiller generally uses propane or an electric coil to heat their wash.  Many people who are hobby distillers started out as homebrewers.  They have the equipment and background for using propane and think "why reinvent the wheel?"  One big advantage to using propane is, depending on the BTU rate of the burner, the distillation temperature can be reached very quickly. 

If you are new to the art of distillation or even if you have been at it for many years you may want to consider converting from propane to electric.  The advantages are great.  Electric heat is more consistent, it is cheaper to run than propane, you can actually use it inside, there is no noise, you never have to worry about running out of fuel, and there is no open flame.  That last point is quite important when you are producing a liquid as flammable as ethanol.  I have a friend who was using propane and developed a leak in his column.  He ended up with a blue flame running from the top of his column, down his keg, across his floor, and toward his garage wall in a matter of seconds.  Luckily he was watching his still and had a fire extinguisher handy.  He has now converted to electric.

This article presumes you are converting a keg, either ¼ barrel (pony keg),  or ½ barrel (standard sized keg).  The process is the same for either one but the ½ barrel works better if two heating coils are installed.  The first coil should be placed close to the bottom of the keg without actually touching the bottom.  In the case of the ½ barrel a second coil is placed at a right angle just below the half way mark.  It is important that the second coil is placed so that it will be fully immersed when using.  This upper coil is plugged directly into a wall socket and used solely for the purpose of reaching the necessary start up temperature quickly. The bottom coil is connected to a 1500W dimmer switch for heat adjustments during operation.  A Lutron 1500W dimmer switch can usually be found on eBay for around $25.

If you are using a milk can, the double buckets welded together, or some other form of still make sure you measure to see if the coil length will fit before drilling a hole.

To convert a keg, a hole must be drilled and a stainless steel half coupling (bushing) must be welded into the keg.  This can be done at any welding shop and should run about $25 plus the cost of the half coupling.  If you are a welder, half couplings can be ordered from the internet at www.McMaster.com and run abut $5 each.

Next, 120v -1500W hot water coils can be purchased from Home Depot or Lowes for about $8.  I actually use a 120v - 2000W coil for the top coil in my ½ barrel for the faster heat up, but a1500W works as well.  If you are lucky enough to have a 240V receptacle handy you can go up to 5000W for the top coil.  They easily screw into the half coupling and tighten up with a pair of vice grips, or a special socket wrench which can be purchased for an additional $6.  The socket wrench comes in handy if, like me, you pull your coil out and clean it between each session.  I like to spray the rubber washer with WD-40 just to form a better seal.

Using the electric keg is as easy as plugging it in.  Attach the bottom coil to the dimmer switch and plug the upper coil into a separate outlet.  Once the temperature reaches 77C unplug the top coil and adjust the dimmer to the proper drip rate.  That’s all there is to it.