Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Better stop lurking/absorbing information and say hi.

Hi.

I’ve been brewing for a long time and have always toyed with the idea of distilling. This whole hand sanitizer shortage BS has finally given me the push I needed. (Not that I’ll be going out of my way to make any)

You guys have quite the community here. A lot of answers to questions I had been mulling over. Also a lot of new ideas and directions to head in.

3 days ago, I was about to pull the trigger on a T500.
Thank goodness I signed up to this forum. (And an extra thankyou to Covid-19 for causing Australia to basically sell out of T500’s before I could slap one on the credit card)

I’m interested in making predominantly neutral spirits. Although I have the equipment to make 50L of reasonably high gravity wort, so I guess anything could happen.

Cheers.

Welcome mate and good to see you speaking up and not being that creepy guy in the corner!

Neutral spirits I'm pretty sure they all recommend the boka from FSD... Anything but a T500.

I got one as a gift a while back.... Didn't last long before I NEEDED to upgrade.

These home brew shops must really sell the idea of flavoured neutral.
Everyone always wants to make white spirits and then flavour back to JD or Bundy.
Start with a pot still, nobody really likes drinking vodka.

A pot still will make you some fine rum or bourbon (Brown spirit)

:handgestures-thumbupleft: :text-+1:

scythe wrote:nobody really likes drinking vodka.

I enjoy a good vodka , and making a good vodka is just as hard if not harder than making anything else.

Would you say it is your goto drink?
Also as you say, not a beginner drink to make.

scythe wrote:Would you say it is your goto drink?

It is when I am testing somebodys brew and I do enjoy trying new vodka from around the world

Hi pimpsqueak.
I am a relative newbie. I have a 5 Star 2" boka and pot. Modular system so cost effective. I can make high quality 95% neutral. Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Lots to learn and heaps of fun.

Cheers
Carol

Welcome mate :greetings-waveyellow:

Welcome to AD pimpsqueak.

Good move doing your research before diving in, get the right still for your needs up front and you'll save yourself a lot of money and grief. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If you're looking to make neutral and possibly brown spirits later on then you need a still that can be reconfigurable to run as a reflux column, or bubbler/pot OR a reflux column and a pot still. Budget, amount of room you have in which to run the still and how much time you have to do it will dictate which way you go here.

If you have the budget and have a decent amount of space then a 4" modular system like the 5 Star Neutraliser is ideal. Pop it on a 50 litre boiler and you'll be able to accommodate your excursions into flavoured spirits further down the track with ease.

If you don't have much room or are looking to get into this without spending too much money then you could start off with a 2" boka on 25 litre boiler and add the bits required for a 2" pot later on. You could run your flavoured spirits in batches in the 25 litre boiler or you could also upgrade the boiler and run larger batches.

Just remember that 2" stills are much slower than 4" ones at producing the same amount of booze. If you don't drink that much and have time on your hands a 2" still might be all you need however if you do drink a fair bit and are short of time then a 4" still will be best option.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Carol wrote:Hi pimpsqueak.
I am a relative newbie. I have a 5 Star 2" boka and pot. Modular system so cost effective. I can make high quality 95% neutral. Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Lots to learn and heaps of fun.

Cheers
Carol

Cheers Carol. It certainly looks like the 5 Star 2” Boka is highly regarded as an excellent way to start out. It certainly looks sexy compared to a T500.
Is your pot still a complete, seperate still, or do you use the same column and attach the pot still head?

It is a modular system - same column for both boka and pot - so cost effective.
There is a thread about my Boka in reflux stills. I can take some photos of pot still parts tomorrow if you like.

The boka and pot work very well for me. But if I were to upgrade I do not think I would have any trouble selling the boka and pot at a decent price. There always new people joining the forum looking for something to start with.

Carol wrote:It is a modular system - same column for both boka and pot - so cost effective.
There is a thread about my Boka in reflux stills. I can take some photos of pot still parts tomorrow if you like.

Just read through your thread. Very informative. It would be cool to see pics of the still in the two different configs. No rush though...

The Stig wrote:

scythe wrote:Would you say it is your goto drink?

It is when I am testing somebodys brew and I do enjoy trying new vodka from around the world

I’m picking up what you’re putting down. For me currently, if I was really pushing myself to showcase my brewing skills from start to finish, I’d make a Czech Pilsner. There’s nowhere to hide any mistake in a beer like that.

Hi pimpsqueak. I was running Boris (the boka) today.
I have nutrigrain wash to strip so Natasha ( the pot) will get a run soon. (Rocky and Bullwinkle reference but you might not be old enough to get it!) I will post pictures of the rig in the different configurations after I have run the pot.

Cheers
Carol

Photos of Boris the boka and Natasha the pot.

That looks like a great setup you have there, Carol. Thanks for sharing.

And welcome Pimpsqueak, from a fellow distilling newbie. Currently waiting on a 5 star 2"boka to arrive. Haven't read a bad thing about it, and I've just about read everything boka related on the site while I'm waiting lol.

Hi Hangman

I am sure you will love the boka (when it arrives). Happy to answer any questions you might have once you are up and running.

Carol

Thanks Carol. Now I have a much better idea of space requirements and the like.