Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi everyone!

My name is Matt and I'm currently living in Bendigo, VIC.
I'm new to the hobby and very excited to get started on this journey.

I received my T500 still last week and am looking to give it it's first run this weekend.

I have the classic 6 turbo wash that I received in the kit fermenting at the moment and its looking like finishing tomorrow.
Few minor hiccups at the start but I will learn from these mistakes, I watched a few different videos on how to make the wash and should have just stuck to the one.

I also have the ingredients for the TPW ready to go.

As for what I enjoy drinking I have been loving Kraken during isolation however enjoy all spirits.

This first run I am looking at making a variety of spirits and liqueurs just to get a feel/taste of what is what.

#1 priority is to make a pink gin for the wife as she wasn't too keen on the hobby at first, being able to make her this is what got it over the line. :dance:

Looking forward to talking to everyone on the forum in the near future :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers

Good start switching to tpw :handgestures-thumbupleft: i would recomend a simple pot still head and soak botanicals for gin. Will be bolder flavour but safer then running the reflux with gin attachment..
Check out the pelican pot.
If you want to buy have a talk to andrew from 5star he has a 2" and a 4:(2" prob more suited to turbo boiler.) :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hi
Welcome to the forum
Lots of fun and lots to learn.
I have a FSD 2" boka and pot ( there is a thread on this in reflux stills).
I have been playing around with gin using Zymurgy Bob's gin extract to control the ""ginniness"and this works well for me.
Which pink gin does your wife like? It seems that there are different flavours with pink gin. I have some Gordons and the dominant flavour seems to be hibiscus. I was able to create a similar flavour with a cold brew fruit tea and gin extract.
At the moment I have raspberry, blueberry and cherry infusions on the go, ready to turn into gin later.

I also make fruit liqueurs and a variety of Baileys style cream liqueurs that your wife might also enjoy.

Cheers
Carol

Welcome to AD Matt.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

G'day Matt and welcome.
The T500 as it is will get you off to a good start. I had its predecessor for years. Run a vinegar wash first, then use the turbo wash to clean your still. That's all its good for. TPW will see you right. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hi Matt, welcome to AD. Bendigo is a nice place, just up the road from me :)

Before you fire up the T500 be sure to read "Running a T500, the Proper Way" in the Newbies Corner. In fact I'd suggest reading all the threads there first. Especially "Kiwistiller's Novice Guide to Cuts and Fractions".

I've been running a T500 for about 6 months and I'm now putting out a pretty good drop. Been learning how to make gin by "distilling on the herbs" and it's turning out pretty good, but you will need a pot still attachment and a power controller to do that.

I also use my neutral to make a cold brewed coffee liqueur, which is so bloody nice it's hard keeping up with my wife's demand.

Biggest tip I can give you with the T500 is don't run it too hot, or you'll warp the plastic bits at the top - so ignore the instructions it came with to "distill water".

Oh and don't forget to give you fermenter and still a good wash after having that Turbo crap in it.

Welcome Matt! :greetings-waveyellow:

Hey Tesla
Have you posted the recipe for the cold brewed coffee liqueur yet? Sorry to hijack your thread Matt.

Cheers
Carol

bluc wrote:Good start switching to tpw :handgestures-thumbupleft: i would recomend a simple pot still head and soak botanicals for gin. Will be bolder flavour but safer then running the reflux with gin attachment..
Check out the pelican pot.
If you want to buy have a talk to andrew from 5star he has a 2" and a 4:(2" prob more suited to turbo boiler.) :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Just checked them out and they look unreal, will definitely look into one in the future!

As for now all the wife is getting is a Top Shelf Pink Gin essence, I can't make an amazing one straight up otherwise she will think I've mastered it already and the hobby might disappear! :naughty:

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Carol wrote:Hi
Welcome to the forum
Lots of fun and lots to learn.
I have a FSD 2" boka and pot ( there is a thread on this in reflux stills).
I have been playing around with gin using Zymurgy Bob's gin extract to control the ""ginniness"and this works well for me.
Which pink gin does your wife like? It seems that there are different flavours with pink gin. I have some Gordons and the dominant flavour seems to be hibiscus. I was able to create a similar flavour with a cold brew fruit tea and gin extract.
At the moment I have raspberry, blueberry and cherry infusions on the go, ready to turn into gin later.

I also make fruit liqueurs and a variety of Baileys style cream liqueurs that your wife might also enjoy.

Cheers
Carol

Thanks Carol they all sound amazing!

I think she has only tried the Gordons Pink Gin and she is very happy with that at the moment.

Any help would be greatly appreciated further down the track once I get a hang of it.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Professor Green wrote:Welcome to AD Matt.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Cheers Professor! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Lowie wrote:G'day Matt and welcome.
The T500 as it is will get you off to a good start. I had its predecessor for years. Run a vinegar wash first, then use the turbo wash to clean your still. That's all its good for. TPW will see you right. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Lowie,

Looking forward to getting stuck into it this weekend! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Tesla101 wrote:Hi Matt, welcome to AD. Bendigo is a nice place, just up the road from me :)

Before you fire up the T500 be sure to read "Running a T500, the Proper Way" in the Newbies Corner. In fact I'd suggest reading all the threads there first. Especially "Kiwistiller's Novice Guide to Cuts and Fractions".

I've been running a T500 for about 6 months and I'm now putting out a pretty good drop. Been learning how to make gin by "distilling on the herbs" and it's turning out pretty good, but you will need a pot still attachment and a power controller to do that.

I also use my neutral to make a cold brewed coffee liqueur, which is so bloody nice it's hard keeping up with my wife's demand.

Biggest tip I can give you with the T500 is don't run it too hot, or you'll warp the plastic bits at the top - so ignore the instructions it came with to "distill water".

Oh and don't forget to give you fermenter and still a good wash after having that Turbo crap in it.

Thanks Tesla!

Yep I have already been over to the newbies corner and checked all those posts out, they have been very helpful and I've made plenty of notes.

That coffee liqueur sounds amazing, would definitely be interested in seeing a recipe for that!

What temperature/flow rate do you personally recommend running the T500 at?

I'll be making sure there is a big focus on keeping everything clean, I have already been to the local brewing store to get bulk cleaning products.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

dans.brew wrote:Welcome Matt! :greetings-waveyellow:

Cheers Dan! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Also I am not sure where I should post this or who would be best person/admin to let know, but I received my T500 kit last week and the kit no longer comes supplied with the distilling conditioner.

I have read a few posts either on here or on Facebook (I can't remember which one) that saw some "newbies" having issues that may have been caused due to foaming.

I think it would be good to remind those who may have recently purchased the T500 to ensure they have the distilling conditioner for safety reasons!

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Mwil08 wrote:Also I am not sure where I should post this or who would be best person/admin to let know, but I received my T500 kit last week and the kit no longer comes supplied with the distilling conditioner.

I have read a few posts either on here or on Facebook (I can't remember which one) that saw some "newbies" having issues that may have been caused due to foaming.

I think it would be good to remind those who may have recently purchased the T500 to ensure they have the distilling conditioner for safety reasons!

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I am no expert but have read herein that olive oil is a good substitute for the conditioner.

Hey Matt, you don't need all that stuff that the HBS flogs to clean your still or fermenters.

For fermenters, I just give mine a bit of a scrub with a dish scrubber and then rinse 3 times with hot water out of the tap.

Same with the boiler, but I use one of those cleaning pads recommended for stainless steel pots - and then the 3 hot rinses. The pot head gets a bit of a scrub with hot water before I do a gin run, just to make sure I don't carry any TPW flavours over into my gin.

I don't bother with rinsing out the column much, it only ever has low wines go through it and the fores do a pretty good job of cleaning it up - which I use for BBQ fuel or firelighters later.

As for flow rate:-

For a stripping run through the pot head I run it flat out. Takes about 4 hours to strip a 25L wash. I don't go by temp, I just collect about 6L, which is down to about 12-15%ABV
For a spirit run through the reflux column, after warm I go for a drip, drip, dribble just like WJ's guide. Output coolant temp ranges between ~37C when fores start until ~45C at the end of the run. Again, I take about 11L of ~93% from a 24L spirit run. After discarding 700mL of fores and doing cuts I end up with ~6-7L of neutral hearts. The feints go back into the next stripping run.
For a gin run through the pot head I'm only distilling 1L of macerated neutral hearts while I experiment with botanicals. I set the power controller to about 77V and run it slow. Takes under an hour - first drips come out at ~37C on the lyne arm temp and the next 400mL finishes at ~81C. But I don't use the temp for running the still, I use flow rate. On mine 77V on the power controller is my sweet spot.

I'll post the coffee vodka recipe in it's thread