I want to buy a still

[MacStill]

Hi I'm new to distilling and want to buy a still so I can make rum, bourbon & vodka, can you all recommend a still for me keeping in mind I have a low budget.

Let it rip guys :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[BackyardBrewer]

I will start with the cost:
Newbies really need to weigh up cost of commercial booze when saying "I don't want to spend much money". A bottle of half decent commercial spirits will run you $40. If you consider that just 20 bottles of your fave drop will cost you the same as an $800 workhorse from one of our members.

Drink one bottle a week? Six weeks of drinking commercial spirits is enough cash to make your own for life, which will be better and infinitely cheaper.

Drink more than a bottle a week? Like to give home made booze away for gifts? Like to be able to share spirits with family and friends at parties? Then it's going to be a lot less than 6 weeks to go through 20 bottles of commercial grog.

Weigh it up: what you'll piss away (literally) in commercial booze in a few weeks could be turned into a magic booze making toy that should last a lifetime!

[blond.chap]

It's a tricky question, the answer is you can have 2 out of the 3:
- Cheap
- Make bourbon and rum
- Make vodka

In my view:
For the 1st and the 2nd, you would get a simple pot still on a keg
For the 1st and 3rd, you would get a boka and a keg
For the 2nd and 3rd, you would get a plated column with a removable packed section

If you can't afford much right now I would advise you start with a pot still (so you can make rum and bourbon), then look at either a boka or a plated column later.

Whatever you choose, speak to WineGlass or Mac before going to the brew shop.

[MacStill]

If you can't afford much right now I would advise you start with a pot still (so you can make rum and bourbon), then look at either a boka or a plated column later.

I've heard you can make neutral with a pot still too, is this the way to go so I can make rum for me and vodka for the wife ?

[emptyglass]

Let it rip guys :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sorry mac, that bit threw me. Back to it...

I'd say start the drink you want to make the most. Concentrate on that till you get a handle on things. This decision will let you know what equipment will best suit you.
For arguments sake, if you want to make a flavored drink, like rum, whiskey or brandy, a pot still would probably be a wise choice.
However, if you plan to make vodka a reflux column might suit you better.
Neutral is another term talked about a lot. In my veiw, neutral is just that, alcohol devoid of flavor and smell, vodka on the otherhand is a drink close to neutral, but has some sort of unique character about it.

So there are 2 main types of product to make, flavored drinks and neutral. Most stills are good at one task and laking at the other.

Then there is cost. If this dosn't worry you all that much, a plated column still will do about as good a job as you could expect on both products.

Hope that helps... ;-)

[blond.chap]

If you can't afford much right now I would advise you start with a pot still (so you can make rum and bourbon), then look at either a boka or a plated column later.

I've heard you can make neutral with a pot still too, is this the way to go so I can make rum for me and vodka for the wife ?

It is theoretically true that you can make neutral with a pot, however you'd need to redistill at least 12 times to get reasonably neutral (which would take a long time by itself) and each time you would lose some ethanol, making it very inefficient.

[JayD]

I think as a starter still at a reasonable cost, start with a 2" pot still as this still will produce some nice rum and bourbon. Once the hip pocket nerve recovers from this, add on an extension with reflux capabilities for your Vodka. this probably the cheapest way to start off with minimal outlay.There are many threads in our pot still forum and many in ourreflux still forum and here is a still that is made as two trick poney...it can be used as a pot still when needed and a reflux still for your neutrals. Once again once your hip pocket nerve recovers you can either sell this still and reinvest in a plated column with the money saved making your own spirits. hope this helps you... :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Kimbo]

As a beginner, I would suggest you start with a simple Pot Still.
they are cheap, easy to run and are a great tool for learning the ropes.If you want to make vodka or neutral with it, it's just a matter of adjusting your recipe and running it thru your pot a couple of extra times.
Once you get a handle on how the Pot Still works and fine tune your recipes, you could then look at something a little more complex. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Good luck ;-)

[DrunkASAskunk]

Hi I'm new to distilling and want to buy a still so I can make rum, bourbon & vodka, can you all recommend a still for me keeping in mind I have a low budget.

Let it rip guys :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hello and welcome Mac. So you have a low budget and have no experience with distilling then I can only say go with the pot still. Not to long ago I joined this forum and made the choice of making a pot still for my self. I picked the pot because it is prity ezy to run and that it was also prity cheap to make that way at the end of the day if I dont like what I am making its no grate loss of cash from my poket. I think the best thing to do when you are starting out with a new hobby is to keep it simple at the start. Pot still for the win mate. With the pot you can make your rum and bourbon and live happy ever after. Then down the track if you want more then you can make the choice to up grade to something better.

[JayD]

you might like to have a good read through our Newbies Corner to bring yourself up to speed with the terminology used and save us answering questions we have answered many times... :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[1 2many]

As a beginner, I would suggest you start with a simple Pot Still.
they are cheap, easy to run and are a great tool for learning the ropes.If you want to make vodka or neutral with it, it's just a matter of adjusting your recipe and running it thru your pot a couple of extra times.
Once you get a handle on how the Pot Still works and fine tune your recipes, you could then look at something a little more complex. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Good luck ;-)

+1 . As a newbie myself I wanted to start with a boka , then a week later i wanted a bubbler but after months of reading and studying and cost I will vote for the humble pot still. Personaly when i start a hobby i like to start at the bottom and work up and so the pot is what i chose to start with , but i can still see the bubbler in the future. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[blond.chap]

What do you think then BF? Start with pot? boka? Or increase the budget and go for a bubbler?

[baldoss]

a lot of the time we want to just plug and play and get the end result.
We don't know if a pot still of a reflux still is what we need, we don't even know if we're 100% sure how it all works, but it all about the end result.

First question to both you and Mac - what is your ideal 'end result'? Or to phrase it another way, what do you want to drink? If you are a whiskey or a rum man, and the vodkas/gins and stuff hold little or no appeal, then you'd kick off with a pot still because they are the best stills for that job (I can help you research why this is if you want but you should search the forums because it's all there). If you want to make vodkas, gins or neutral (neutral = very high ABV% spirit that you can flavour with essences or do myriad other things with), then you'd be served well buying a boka still. Want to make anything and everything inbetween, depending on what mood you're in and have a reasonable budget behind you? Go the plated bubbler still - if you get a modular one you can run it as a pot still so you're (sort of) buying 2 stills in 1 that can do whatever you want once you learn how to drive it. They look intimidating but everything you need to know about running one can be found on these forums if you put in the time and effort to search through and read threads. Trust me, that effort is worth it!

We've got a pair of solid stillmakers in the commercial section of the forums that are happy to offer you a range of options depending on your budget and what 'end result' you want from your still. Hope that helps :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Kimbo]

Ok everyone, this topic has been cleaned up. Let's keep on track now please!