Hello from Central West NSW

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Hello from Central West NSW

Postby jomo » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:23 am

Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself as a new member of the forum. I signed up a year ago but haven't really been on the board too much for fear of going broke!

I recently moved to Orange, NSW and the cold start to winter has convinced me its time to start getting into distillation. I've been doing kit and bit homebrew beers for the last year or two and fallen deeply in love with the hobby - the taste and satisfaction from a beer you've brewed yourself simply can't compare with any of the commercially available beers in Australia, and sharing a pint with a friend and seeing the surprise on their face that it's actually a decent beer brings a great feeling.

I've been browsing through a lot of member build threads and am very impressed and excited to be a part of this community!

Cheers!
jomo
 
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby Yurugaboy » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:28 am

Welcome -
I lived at the back of Canobolas towards Cargo for a few years and it is cold up there.
What are you looking to distill?

Are you looking to build or buy. For either you’re on the right forum.

Cheers
Yurugaboy
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby jomo » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:38 am

Yurugaboy wrote:Welcome -
I lived at the back of Canobolas towards Cargo for a few years and it is cold up there.
What are you looking to distill?

Are you looking to build or buy. For either you’re on the right forum.

Cheers


Thanks Yurugaboy! Beautiful part of the land out there, and definitely a bit colder than where I am in North Orange. I believe the mountain had some snow on Friday!

I'm mostly looking to do gin as it seems to be one of my biggest expenses on booze! Would love a still that I can reconfigure to do some whiskey though as I think we'll definitely need it for winter!

I've had some previous experience doing metal work in high school which I loved, but certainly would be extremely rusty at this point. The challenge of building a still interests me, but we'll see whats available on the market!
jomo
 
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby Professor Green » Sun Jun 17, 2018 3:14 pm

Welcome to AD jomo.

You've come to the right place for info that's for sure.

If you are looking to do gin AND possibly whiskies then a modular design will be your best bet as it will cover off most of your bases. You'll need 4 or 5 plates plus a packed section to make neutral for your gin. The bonus of this is you'll have the best possible vodka on the planet by just watering some of that neutral down. Going modular means you'll be able to assemble it without the plates and packed section for stripping runs and pot stilled gin/whisky or, you can pop in 3 or 4 plates for single pass rums and whiskies. Depending on how you want to make your gin you could leave it at that or you could add a botanical basket for vapour infusion. If you want to go the whole hog, there's also a carter head which is the mutt's nuts for vapour infusion.

You will need to think about your budget if you're looking to purchase off the shelf as this equipment is not cheap. If you do decide to buy something ready to go, you cannot go past 5 Star for quality and service. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for and their gear is worth every cent.

Another thing to think about before you embark on your journey is where you're going to run your still as 5 plates and packed section on top of a boiler add up to quite a height.

There's heaps of info in the pot and column sections on DIY builds to whet your appetite if you want to have a got at making it yourself.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby jomo » Sun Jun 17, 2018 7:02 pm

Professor Green wrote:Welcome to AD jomo.

You've come to the right place for info that's for sure.

If you are looking to do gin AND possibly whiskies then a modular design will be your best bet as it will cover off most of your bases. You'll need 4 or 5 plates plus a packed section to make neutral for your gin. The bonus of this is you'll have the best possible vodka on the planet by just watering some of that neutral down. Going modular means you'll be able to assemble it without the plates and packed section for stripping runs and pot stilled gin/whisky or, you can pop in 3 or 4 plates for single pass rums and whiskies. Depending on how you want to make your gin you could leave it at that or you could add a botanical basket for vapour infusion. If you want to go the whole hog, there's also a carter head which is the mutt's nuts for vapour infusion.

You will need to think about your budget if you're looking to purchase off the shelf as this equipment is not cheap. If you do decide to buy something ready to go, you cannot go past 5 Star for quality and service. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for and their gear is worth every cent.

Another thing to think about before you embark on your journey is where you're going to run your still as 5 plates and packed section on top of a boiler add up to quite a height.

There's heaps of info in the pot and column sections on DIY builds to whet your appetite if you want to have a got at making it yourself.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.


Thanks for taking the time to reply to me - definitely some good bits of information in your post which I'll keep in mind when making purchasing decisions.

At the moment I'm very strongly considering buying Linny's kit that he has up for sale in the for sale section - it seems like it will tick all the boxes for what I'd like to do and sits pretty squarely on my budget - would this kit be a bit beyond a new starter, or should I dive right in? I'm certainly not interested in taking shortcuts, and understand that to obtain quality outputs you need high quality inputs and methods. I've tried homebrews and spirits done by friends before who don't care enough about sterilisation, or want to save a couple of extra dollars on cheap homebrand cans and sugars from woolies and I'm simply not interested in that game. As an extension from this I'm interested in making quality spirits with 'natural' flavour that comes from the distillation and maturation processes, rather than bottles of flavouring essence.

Space isn't a real issue - I've got a good sized garage and an enthusiastic wife who is 100% onboard and into the hobby. The garage has a pitched roof and no low hanging plasterboard so we've got decent height to work with too.

As I said I've been doing kit and bit brewing for a while now, and certainly wanted to graduate to BIAB or all grain mash in the very near future as I'm finding what I can do to be a bit limiting and less exciting than the possibilities and customisation of getting out of the world of tins.
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equipment: None yet

Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby woodduck » Sun Jun 17, 2018 8:32 pm

Welcome jomo :greetings-waveyellow:

Linnys rig would be fine for a first still, bubblers look more complicated than they are so don't be frightened by them. I still wouldn't rush into anything until you've had a good read around the forum and just get your head around some of the different facets of stilln.

Btw there's nothing wrong with cheap sugar, no need for dextrose or anything fancy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Enjoy the ride
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby Professor Green » Sun Jun 17, 2018 8:47 pm

Woodduck beat me to it!

:text-+1: on not rushing into it.

Linny's rig will certainly get you up and running quickly although being made from 3", it will be a bit slower than a 4" rig. Also, being only 4 plates I think you would need to do a stripping run on your wash and then run the resulting low wines through the 4 plates and packed section to get your neutral. That's no big problem though as it is exactly how i do my neutral since I cannot fit 5 plates and the packed section in my shed.

I don't think you'll have any difficulties running it either. Have a read of Mac's thread "Running a Plated Column. the easy way" and you'll see that they're not so scary.
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby jomo » Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:24 pm

Thanks for all the replies guys - I've already had a read through the thread and trying to read all the information I can find on the forum as well as Youtube (doesn't really seem to be that much on Youtube I've found).

I've messaged Linny directly as from my perspective it's been something my wife and I have been discussing for quite some time now and we know that we really want to get into distillation, reading through the build thread for the still it comes across as a well manufactured and designed still and I think it's worth doing it right from the start.

Obviously understand there will be a learning curve in the process and have no expectations of making life changing spirits within the first few months, but it's certainly something we're keen to practice and get right.

Very much looking forward to becoming an active member of this community! :)
jomo
 
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby scythe » Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:50 pm

Welcome to the apple city.

Dont be surprised if you are making great gin after a few months either.
So long as you do it the right way.

A bubbler will do nicely.
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby jomo » Thu Jun 21, 2018 5:02 pm

Thanks for the welcome mate! Are there many members out here? Maybe we'll all catch up for a drink one day.
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby shortcut » Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:54 pm

Hey dude, I’m near Mudgee. I’ll sink piss with you. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I’ll try your gin, you can try my rum.
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby Doubleuj » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:52 pm

shortcut wrote:Hey dude, I’m near Mudgee. I’ll sink piss with you. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I’ll try your gin, you can try my rum.

That’s a great offer :handgestures-thumbupleft: but jomo, hide your empty beer cartons and coffee filters... :laughing-rolling:
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby scythe » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:55 pm

Should be fine as long as the matches and lighters are hidden.
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby Sam. » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:34 pm

Doubleuj wrote:
shortcut wrote:Hey dude, I’m near Mudgee. I’ll sink piss with you. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I’ll try your gin, you can try my rum.

That’s a great offer :handgestures-thumbupleft: but jomo, hide your empty beer cartons and coffee filters... :laughing-rolling:


:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
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Re: Hello from Central West NSW

Postby shortcut » Sat Jun 23, 2018 3:34 pm

Sam. wrote:
Doubleuj wrote:
shortcut wrote:Hey dude, I’m near Mudgee. I’ll sink piss with you. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I’ll try your gin, you can try my rum.

That’s a great offer :handgestures-thumbupleft: but jomo, hide your empty beer cartons and coffee filters... :laughing-rolling:


:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:


:handgestures-thumbupleft: :laughing-rolling:
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