Equipment needed

[Jayess]

Hi all
Hoping to get started soon. As a newbie, I have decided to dip my toe in the water to make sure I enjoy the distilling experience before jumping in the deep end and spending $$. If I do enjoy it I ultimately would like a nice plated still like the 4" FSD neutralizer.
So far I have 2 x 50L kegs with a 2" ferrule at the top. I will use one keg as the boiler and use gas (again cheaper to start) and the other to store low wines after strip runs.
I have a plumber mate who will build me a 2" basic pot still in exchange for some finished product. This also gives me time to save for the neutralizer while still enjoying a home made whisky.
My question is apart from a fermenter which I have from making cider, what other equipment do I need to get started. I am thinking alcometer, triclamp and seal, but what else?

All help greatly appreciated.
Cheers

[GINKING]

Hi Jayess,

What are you planning on making?

Some things that come to mind:

Cooling
- water pump + something to control water flow
- barrel for cooling water
- hoses and adapters

Safety
- fire safe gloves i.e. can handle high temps
- fire extinguisher

Fermentation
- hydrometer
- thermometer
- yeast
- sugar
- large cooking pot (I use a 19L one from Kmart for $20)

Column
- packing material

Keg
- how will you empty it one finished running it (high temp pump?)

Distilling
- lots on vinegar for cleaning run
- lots of jars when doing the spirit run
- small mirror (or spray bottle) to test for leaks

Ageing / storage
- depends on what you making

[Jayess]

Thanks Ginking
Lots of gear mentioned that I hadn't thought of.

Was going to start making UJSSM. Was thinking that the 1st gen I could use as a sacrificial run, or should I just run a TPW?

Is it safe to drain a keg with a syphyon wearing gloves?

Cheers
Jayess

[RC Al]

Collapsing hoses from heat is usually more of an issue than needing gloves with siphoning a hot keg, I can usually get a clamp off with bare fingers quickly and move the column with a towel. A solid "walking stick" with flex hose after the arch will fix the collapsing hose issue, 1" or bigger

With gas, consider the size of the burner and how the keg will be supported, a shroud to reduce losses helps with the gas bill. If your buying a burner, don't bother with anything above 65,000 btu unless you have access to 45kg bottles, a 9kg won't release much more gas than that.

Consider large bore coolant lines if you need to do a long run from/to your source, your pump will live longer and you will get a better flow

Valves - even just on a liebig, 2 valves are good, a gate or ball valve for stripping and a needle valve for fine tuning spirit runs, plan your plumbing for a minimum of fittings, connectors and size changes, I find a bleed line above the vavles good for keeping air out of the condenser

Figure out your work area and where you plan to put your take off point in relation to your burner. Work out relation of fermenters to the boiler and how you plan to fill it, 40L of wash is heavy to cart around

[Jayess]

Thanks RC some very good info.

Looks like a drain in the boiler could be a good investment.

[southern45]

Looks like a drain in the boiler could be a good investment.

Certainly is. Not sure how iId cope without a drain port. When I'm done, I drain my boiler contents into buckets (or some into the next wash) until it's light enough for my skinny ass to carry outside for cleaning.