[Perth, WA] newbie set up wanted

[fo3]

I'm splitting with the mrs, so after lurking but not being allowed a still, now I can buy one.
Everything has gone in one ear and out the other because I'm stressing about other shit and going full retard into my cars and researching stuff for them.
All I know is what not to buy (a $500 t500 set up I was about to buy today)

Anyone in perth got something to sell to get me started? Budget is tight, about $400-500 max, preferably closer to $400 so I can actually buy some ingredients and a new fermenter.

[hillzabilly]

G-day mate ,what sort of spirit do ya see yourself wanting to make will help others if they have something to offer,and are we talking about just a still or all the other things needed ta produce ya drink of choice.Plus its normal ta do ya first post in the welcome centre,with a bit of info about were ya headed ,will help us to help you better.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

[Sam.]

Welcome mate, I moved the post for you :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Plumby]

Hi mate,
If you are after brown spirits ( rum, whiskey or scotch ) then a pot still is an easy bit of kit to knock together and will only take a day to do, good reading here viewforum.php?f=7.
Anyway enjoy your journey down the rabbit hole :D

[fo3]

Not really interested in proper spirits now. Don't have time to age and flavour etc. Probably do neutral spirits with a tpw/sugar wash.

I home brew beer (but extract only for now), later on if I go all grain I might make proper spirits, so room to expand/add a pot still would be good. But right now just want to save the $60+ a week I spent at the bottlo on cheap nasty stuff. When I've got those savings back in my pocket I can expand beer into all grain and exapnd distilling into proper stuff.
But definitely not for now because I don't know where I'm going to live, how much money I got, and if I end up having to sell everything to live in a 1 bdroom flat or shared house.

E: regarding building something, I'm useless at cutting ss, still need to work out a heatsource, and I wouldn't trust myself on it distilling properly. Cars are off the road so transport picking up supplies would be too bothersome (flat out fixing my cars as well so I'm just too busy plus not interested in making something).
I just want something premade and if it can't be packed away at least it looks good.

[Plumby]

Check this out, I use the same one and it pulls 92% abv from a tpw. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10806#p186732. With postage should come in well under $400

[bluc]

If you want brown spirits rum whiskey (even if your not going to age for 10 years) get a pot still or if you want vodka (liquiers, vodka, flavoured maccerations) and brown spirits get a bubbler.If you want vodka/neutral exclusively get a reflux still.

Also boiler size plays a big part. A big chunk of stillin time is heating up a wash.

If you dont mind spending lots of time stillin a reflux (boka) or a pot still will do the job. If you want to get some ageing get a keg or bigger boiler and a 4" bubbler with a packed section and you will make plenty (of whatever you want)without spending every spare minute stillin.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[copperhead road]

Welcome mate, heaps of experienced fellas around these pages that are more than happy to steer you in the right direction and give advice and tips to those who are building there own still :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Professor Green]

Welcome to AD fo3.

$400-500 is is a pretty tight budget considering you want grab a fermenter as well but bargains do show up in the for sale section from time to time. If you're at all handy with a torch and do soe scrounging at the local scrappy you might be able to DIY up a boka within that price range. Alternatively, you could wait and save up a little bit more then contact 5 Star and see if they're still doing the 2"boka - it was fairly competitively priced against the T500 if I remember correctly but they were a little more than your max budget.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[fo3]

Yeah, they're over my budget
Grabbing an extra fermenter is a desire, but it can be put off (already have one for beer)

Handy is not my middle name.
Saving up? more like spending down. The longer I wait the less money I'll have. (splitting up withe mrs, moving out, fixing my car etc)

[Professor Green]

Bugger!

All I can suggest then is you keep scouring the for sale section. There have been some ripper bargains there in the past.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[Kenster]

fo3, you will sort it all out mate ... no stress... Plumby's suggestion is a VERY good buy and a fair starter for you...far more flexible than a T500...Do you have a large esky...they make great fermenters... if so, one problem solved.

[bluc]

It takes zero talent to solder up a pot still (prob takes talent to make it pretty) When i made my pot i had never soldered anything with a blow torch. After about 4 hours i had a pot still in a citric acid bath. Watch some youtube videos on soldering technique and about $200 including $50 roll of solder and a $50 blow torch and you will have a pot head. Copy the pelican pot its a doozy! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[fo3]

Thanks for all the comments guys but looks like I'm going to try get one of those still spirits super reflux stills.
I've pmed lowie, also found one closer to perth on gumtree (sold as a lot with extra fermenters, bottles, a bit rich for $450 when I don't need all the beer gear with it like bottles and bench capper, and it's not the extended one, I'll see if they'll split or come down in price).
Also another one on gumtree in qld that is the extended one for $200 and I'll see if they'll post.

[Sparrow]

The one thing I really like about stilling forums as opposed to other types is that people are genuinely helpful and you'll definitely get that here so stick around. Even if like me you read a lot more than post.

As advice from another person new into the game if you're not prepared to do the work yourself that's fine but there comes a point where things just cost what they're going to cost. If you can get Lowies setup or one of the others you've done well. And if you're making neutral it'll only cost $10-15 a wash in ingredients.

We tried to get a local bloke to help build one cheap but got stuffed around so we ended up saving our coin for a while and bought a nice bubbler. It was painful waiting extra months but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

If worst comes to worst you could always just hold off and save. If you're spending $60 plus on grog a week, have a dry month and there's $250 in the pocket! As laughingly as it sounds that's one of the things I cut back on to save :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Best of luck.

[coffe addict]

Oh wow sparrow that's tough, I suggest we need a charity thread so those with more than enough can share with those doing really tough lol.
The pelican pot still on a keg is very easy to make and will make great whiskey or rum, and you can drink your beer for a month and the rum will be drinkable rough but no worse than cheep shop bought!

[fo3]

I just got a good deal buying s/h from someone moving overseas for work.
still spirits super reflux still and urn, 2 fermenters, bucket style charcoal filter system, heaps of flip top demi johns and bottles, some flavours, all the kit for testing and cleaning for $300.
Only downside is it's the original still, not the extended one. Been looking for a while to see if it's an accessory you can still buy, but seems like NOLA. Oh well, good enough I guess.

Tomorrow when I do a stout beer brew I'll be cleaning this gear up and going over some tpw recipies.