Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Good morning everyone. I am new to the world of distilling although have been brewing beer since I was 17, now 40. I’m going to start relatively slow as 4 months ago my shed burnt to the ground(apparently an electrical fault). So for once in my life I am actually going to plan to do something properly, and research and plan and think about what I’m going to do. So big thank you to every with the priceless information I have already read and still reading. I have learnt so much thus far and I have only scratched the surface.

My plan at the moment is to build a reflux still to produce a clean spirit. I’m the sort of person that builds or buys things once, so I’m not set on a particular design yet but it’s going to be bulletproof. I’m not a whiskey drinker but do indulge in my rum but both me and the wife generally drink vodka. Hence the reason I’ve decided on a reflux still that can be also used for a rum run, but in time. As this is a new venture for me, I’m looking at taking it slow with baby steps.

Once again, many thanks in advance to all of you in this great community for the help I will receive and the information I’ve already learnt from reading through the forum so far.

Hi there :greetings-waveyellow:

If you only want to build or buy once then go for a bubbler. Minimum 4 plates but 5 or 6 would be good if you want neutral. You will need a packed section around 500mm long for neutrals as well.You can then run without packed section with 3 or 4 plates for your rum.

A bubbler will be far superior over a boka or T500 which are pretty slow in comparison.

Welcome buddy. If you get a bubbler you can make any spirit you want. Also they have the fastest output of any still, well actually about on par with a pot still. Difference being a bubbler will make vodka neutral as fast as it will make brown spirit pot still you will be doing 4 or 5 runs to male anything remotely neutral.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers for the info, that’s kinda where I’m planning in my head. But heaps more reading in front of me before I even start collecting materials for my build. But a bubbler I think will be the go.

Please correct me if I’m wrong and link me to relative posts for me to read please.

I’m starting planning, planning and planning on a basically a build once still, but I’m thinking of making it modular so I can add to it along the way. I’m not set on an exact design yet but I will go in the direction of a 4” 4-6 plate (either a perf plate or bubble I’m still reading posts on builds and absorbing everyone’s experiences, good bad ugly and otherwise). But then I stumbled on a post and for lack of time haven’t got back to it yet, where a member built a packed column with no plates as he was only going produce a neutral spirit. This sprang my curiosity. I’m thinking shorter to get started maybe now building 2 packed sections (1x 1m and 1x0.5m) as the 1m section I can swap out with my plate sections once they are built. As this will be the most time consuming part of the build. At least I can get started on simple washes making neutrals before heading down the road of vodkas and rums(long way away). Or am I mad? No I’m mad. Or am I wasting my time? While doing a spirit run I can be building my modular plate sections I suppose.

So starting from the bottom working up I’m going to need:
Boiler
Column
Reflux condenser
Product condenser
Parrot
Associated cooling valves & lines.

If I’ve missed anything please chip in.

Through availablility, I’m going to make my boiler with a keg, kindly donated from a local pub. First question is going to be do I need an electric controller to start with. This is where nil experience is shining through. I was going to weld in 2x elements that I’ll source from FSD. Run both for warm up and switch 1 off during production or will I need a controller? I’m looking at only making neutral to start with and probably for a long time before I start on any more exotic washes. The rest of the keg build I think I have straight though, 4” ferrule for column another for fill and third for drain.

I’ll come back to the column.

The RC is a quandary. I’m torn between a shot gun style or a coil style. I’m tending towards a coil from what I’ve read so far, mainly to do with ease of build. But I could swing either way, question here though is do I need a flow meter of water outlet temp guage or both or neither?

The big condenser, now everyone seams to have their own take, from what I gather mostly is dictated by available materials. How important is the distance from the column and does it matter if the condenser is parallel to the column? Can a condenser be too big?

I’ve got a handle on the parrot build.

I don’t think I’ll be needing a thumper.

Should I plan on a botanical basket even if it’s never going to be used in the foreseeable future.

Then the column. As I like the look, eventually I’m dreaming of 4-6 glass modules with either drilled perf plates of bubble caps. That I’m 50/50 on which way to go. But through what I’ve read I need copper in the vapour path. How much? I know it’s for the catalyst reaction to remove sulfides from the product. I have readily available SS tube of almost any size hence the concern. I would like to use as much SS as possible for cost reduction, but where is the importance of where the copper in the still for the most effect of removing the sulphides? Is it at the reflux plates, the reflux condenser, joining between the reflux condenser and main product condenser or at the parrot? I know I can always use mesh from FSD as packing as a lot of you do, but as this is a build that’s not even started, knowing where’s best in the vapour path and how much copper can be easily accounted for initially.

Many thanks in advance everyone especially if you managed to get through my rumblings. Im more than happy with links to relative posts that can answer my questions without readdressing what may have been answered before.

Cheers

Sounds like you've been busy, this building bug bites hard doesn't it :laughing-rolling:

Modular, great idea
4-6 plates, great idea
Perf take a bit more driving but not that hard from what I've heard, more about what you want to build than performance.
You could run it as a 4" packed colomn but unsure of how successful that would be, need more research on that one.
Neutral is vodka, some may disagree but that's my opinion, no flavor= vodka (might have just started a war here ;-) )
You've named all the bit you need except for what your gonna do over the top, 180deg bend or blockhead? A blockhead can be used for a gin basket if you wanted one :handgestures-thumbupleft:
You don't need electric, you can use gas but just be aware of the few extra saftey issues that come with it.
You don't need a power controller but they are extremely handy and you will get one eventually.
Boiler design, good, consider bigger fill port for ease of cleaning but make sure it fits on.
Suit yourself on the rc, shotguns are popular here but sure a coil eill be fine. There are tutorials on building shottys in the workbench section.
No need for flow metres, my still has no gauges at all and works fine, personal preference really or bling factor.
Pc distance from colomn is no big deal, give it some space, 50-100mm.
Pc Size is normally 5-600mm long with 5-6 1/2" tubes in it.
Use copper plates and you'll have enough copper in it :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Copper mesh in packed section is a great idea, works well.
Glass, copper or stainless steel, makes no difference, personal preference.

Good luck :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:text-+1: on the bigger fill port, if I build another boiler I will put a six inch fill port with a 6 to 4 inch reducer to mount the still on to the boiler.

With regards,
Nino.

yep def agree just go with the bubbler

:text-+1: on the 6" fill port. You can not get your elbow through a 4" and it will drive you mad. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Should add I've never had to put my arm in my boiler yet but not to say I won't have to.

Your on the money there WD.

I have a 4in fillport on my keg and it is enough for my skinny arm to scrub out after a messy run.

A boka design will get you good Vodka. I like my Vodka to have some character from it's origin, so I strip through a pot config and spirit run the low wines through 6 plates and a 500mm packed section, but I make all grain Vodka and the last thing I want to do is strip all the character and have no idea of its origins or else i'd use a sugar wash and skip the hard work.

If you want a sipping Vodka or something that will add to mixed drinks and cocktails then you want some character there IMO.

If you want a truly neutral vodka then add at least 2 more plates to your bubbler or look more into the boka design, if you plan of gins or brown spirits make the boka head removable so you can run pot mode.

Sounds like your on the right path whichever turns you take along the way