Hi from Tassie

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Hi from Tassie

Postby acharman » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:13 pm

Hi,

I’ve looked at this forum a few times as a guest but after a break from any distilling I’m starting back with the intention of supplying my own fairly modest alcohol needs of a 700ml bottle every week to ten days.

I only have an Air Still at the moment. Although I’m sure it is nowhere near as good as a proper still it is all I have at the moment. I have been getting results that are acceptable enough to drink and at least on par with the lower end brands of scotch I buy but I am looking at improving the quality within the limitations of my equipment. Although overall it takes longer to process a wash than a better still the shorter blocks of time do work well for me - I would rarely if ever be able to devote 5-6 hours of constant attention in one go.

I have another TPW on at the moment which is certainly better than the turbos I started with.

I will think about a better still at some point but it has to work in with the limitations I have. These include cost but also not having any uninterruptable process take too long (eg no 5-6 hour runs), minimal real estate required, minimal water usage and limited experience in metalworking/plumbing. That probably pushes me towards a fairly small pot still (8-12l) with a worm coil which I realise won’t be the best for clarity of cuts.

Cheers,
Andrew
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby acharman » Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:02 pm

Hi,

As an addition I might make my next wash a cereal one which I haven’t tried before though whether cornflakes or weetbix etc I’m not sure. As the TPW has only been on for a day or so I’ll wait a week or so at least before starting the cereal wash to give a chance to have finished the stripping runs of the TPW at least before the cereal wash finishes. As my intention would be either oak aging or whisky essences the cereal may be a better approach than TPW and definitely worth trying.

Andrew
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby southern45 » Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:41 pm

Welcome!

I had fairly good results with Weet Bix or All Bran washes, double distilled and cut heavily through an AirStill in the past (there's a flow diagram somewhere on doing this). I used to ferment a 25L wash, then do a stripping run each night after work until I was out of wash. Then put it back through again for a final spirit run.
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby Doubleuj » Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:51 pm

Hi Acharman, welcome to the forum, if the air still works for you then thats great :handgestures-thumbupleft: a WBAB is a great pseudo whiskey that ages well on oak.
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby acharman » Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:32 pm

Thanks. I’ll give WBAB a try in that case and age it on oak.

The air still is all I have for the moment so it is just a case of accepting it for what it is and trying to get the best from it which at least is coming out fairly good even if nowhere near as good as could be done with a better still. It is convenient to be able to easily do a stripping run each evening after work with no hassle and minimal effort and then do spirit runs on the weekend. It is harder to build up reserves with it because of the small size and it does take more time all up to process a wash which does mean I’ll keep researching and thinking about an alternative still for some time in the future.
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby Professor Green » Fri Jan 18, 2019 4:44 pm

Welcome to AD Andrew.

There's a great thread (in the pot still section I think) that offers some very good info on how to get the best out of your Air Still. Well worth a read.

WBAB makes a very acceptable whiskey. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers,
Prof. Green.
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby Sam. » Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:09 am

Welcome here mate, sounds like you know what you want out of the hobby which is a great start :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby Oldbowler » Sat Jan 19, 2019 2:40 pm

Hi Andrew, welcome, lots of good info for your airstill available on site. Great to have you onboard :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Hi from Tassie

Postby woodduck » Tue Jan 22, 2019 12:17 pm

G'day and welcome.

Definitely try one of the cereal washes that will be a big improvement I recon.

The most important thing with any still is the cuts. You can have the flashest still around but if you don't get your cuts right it won't be worth drinking.

Best of luck mate
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