Hi

Say Hi and introduce yourself

Hi

Postby pafc64 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:44 am

Hi everyone

Currently I'm a beer home brewer & have been brewing beer for last 20 years.
Long story short I'm getting a bit sick of beer all the time & have started drinking spirits more now & have a few friends who have stills, so figure its time for me to start stilling some clear spirits I can flavour with essences & hopefully end up making something better than I can buy.

I haven't got a still yet & still trying to decide on if Ill buy a still in kit form or just get a boiler and make a reflux tower (which I'm very capable of doing).
I recon if I buy one it'll be a Pure Distilling still.
Question is if I decide to make my own reflux tower which one would be same as or better than the Pure Distiller tower?
Would the Bokakob be better ?
And can I build a tower cheaper than buying one ?
pafc64
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:25 pm
equipment: Nothing yet

Re: Hi

Postby Sparrow » Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:14 am

Welcome mate,

I'm the other way around never made a beer but just about to start, only for mates really, I'm a spirits man through and through :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Can't tell you what to go as I don't have a reflux but I can get if you want good spirits you'll end up ditching the essence and getting yourself a bubbler one day.

Anyway enjoy the journey into spirits, it's great fun and the blokes around here are always helpful with any questions you have.
Sparrow
 
Posts: 155
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:30 pm
Location: Vic
equipment: 4 plate bubbler on a 50l keg boiler.

Re: Hi

Postby Zak Griffin » Thu Aug 17, 2017 10:07 am

What do you drink? Brown spirits or vodka?

If you want brown spirits - rum, whiskey, etc - you won't be happy with a reflux.

You say you're capable, why not just build a bubbler?
Zak Griffin
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 6832
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:34 pm
Location: Radelaide
equipment: "The Heart of Gold" - 4" Bubbler - finally bubbling!
"Zaphod" - 3" Pot - retired
"Agrajag" - 6" Bubbler - midlife crisis build?

Re: Hi

Postby Sam. » Thu Aug 17, 2017 10:24 am

Welcome here mate, if your capable of building then that's what I would do, especially if you already have the tools you will get out of it very cheap :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Sam.
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 10405
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:19 pm
Location: South Oz Straya
equipment: Original FSD 5 plate 4 inch modular bubbler SSG with hand crafted plates and parrot by Mac.
18 Gal boiler.
2 x 2400W elements and power controller.
.

Re: Hi

Postby Minpac » Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:13 pm

:text-+1:

If you're capable and have tools a pot or bubbler (depending on your investment) for whiskey/rum, etc or a reflux column for vodka will give you better results and cheaper than an off the shelf piece of kit.

What state are you in?
Minpac
 
Posts: 310
Images: 0
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:41 pm
Location: SE QLD
equipment: 2" pot, 2" VM

Re: Hi

Postby tipsy » Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:55 pm

pafc64 wrote:Currently I'm a beer home brewer & have been brewing beer for last 20 years.
Long story short I'm getting a bit sick of beer all the time & have started drinking spirits more now & have a few friends who have stills, so figure its time for me to start stilling some clear spirits I can flavour with essences & hopefully end up making something better than I can buy.


Welcome, sounds exactly like my story.
I made a reflux that sloowwwly made great neutral.
I quickly got sick of the essences, some good but not many.
I bought a bubbler of 5star and haven't looked back.

If you can make your own beer it seems a shame to drink vodka and essence.
tipsy
 
Posts: 863
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:34 pm
Location: South Gippsland, VIC.
equipment: 4" Mac 4 with packed section and gin basket on a 50lt boiler with 2 2400w FSD elements.

Re: Hi

Postby woodduck » Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:22 pm

Hi and welcome :greetings-waveyellow:

Your still choice will depend on what you want out of this hobby. If your happy to drink vodka or neutral with a favouring in it, a reflux will be fine. If you want to drink rum or whiskey's then a pot or bubbler will better suit you. The next thing you need to ask yourself is, how much time to I want to invest in this hobby? If this is something you think you will enjoy and want to spend time doing then build your own still and spend the time making a quality drink using the recipes in the tried and proven section. If you just want it for cheap drinks sake, buy a hbs (home brew shop) still and use cordials to flavour your drink.

There is no right or wrong way just the way that suits you. I personally love the hobby so building stills and making brown spirits without cordials is for me.

I personally can't tell you anything about the hbs stills as I've never used them but blokes here do and have had good results. I have however used a boka and while it does make very clean neutral is is notoriously slow (about 8-12 hours for a 50ltr wash but on the flip side it can be "detuned" to be used as a pot still for brown spirits so it may suit you. Or make a simple pot still to do your brown spirits. Orrrrr even better build yourself a bubbler and you can do it all in much less time. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Good luck qith whatever you choose
woodduck
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 3497
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 5:54 pm
Location: Good old country SA
equipment: 4 plate 6" copper bubbler, 6 plate 4" glass bubbler with 500mm packed section three way thumper sitting on a 50 ltr keg boiler with 6000watts, 2" pot still and a 2" boka.

Re: Hi

Postby Professor Green » Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:36 pm

Welcome to AD mate.

There's a lot of good information here. Don't rush your decision, take the time to research as much as you can on the stills that make the sort of spirits you're looking to make. Being able to build something yourself puts you in a very good position to end up with a great piece of kit for much less than an HBS kit will cost you too. From what I've seen in my time here, many people end up with a bubbler regardless of what they started out with. Make that a modular bubbler and you'll have the gear to make just about any spirit you like depending on how you assemble it.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.
Professor Green
 
Posts: 2483
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Victoria
equipment: FSD 100 litre milk can with 2 x 2400W elements
FSD Neutraliser
FSD Carter Head
12 litre double boiler with 2400W element

Re: Hi

Postby pafc64 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:25 pm

Hi
Thanks for the replies, all very helpfull :handgestures-thumbupleft:

As I said I have a couple of mates who have stills (one has a Turbo 500 & other has the Pure distiller & I also work with a bloke who has been making his own for 30 years using a homemade stainless boiler and 6ft reflux tower) & I have drunk both vodka & essence flavoured spirits & liked them so I'm happy enough to go with a reflux still & put out clear spirits & flavour them, I'm in no real hurry so Ill keep researching.
pafc64
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:25 pm
equipment: Nothing yet

Re: Hi

Postby Zak Griffin » Thu Aug 17, 2017 9:08 pm

Are you in SA? If you're in Adelaide you're welcome to come around for a look at the Heart of Gold, should convince you to build a bubbler :teasing-tease:
Zak Griffin
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 6832
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:34 pm
Location: Radelaide
equipment: "The Heart of Gold" - 4" Bubbler - finally bubbling!
"Zaphod" - 3" Pot - retired
"Agrajag" - 6" Bubbler - midlife crisis build?

Re: Hi

Postby Lowie » Thu Aug 17, 2017 9:16 pm

With a name like pafc I'm guessing he might be Zak. crows sounds better... :teasing-neener:
Lowie
 
Posts: 712
Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 1:32 pm
Location: Crow eater
equipment: 4", 4 plate "Frankenfurter" copper bubbler and blockhead on a 50L 3000W electric boiler, 10000W controller - don't even know why I need that much, all grain HERMS system through 18G HLT keg and 50L mash tun.

Re: Hi

Postby pafc64 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 9:41 pm

:teasing-neener: :-p
pafc64
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:25 pm
equipment: Nothing yet


Return to Welcome Centre



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests

x