Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Fairly new to the distilling community. I went out bought myself a t500 after a little bit of research. Well I like how easy it is but I want to do more whisky washes. So this is useless using the to
500 due to taking all the flavours out. My question here is if I get a alcoengine pot still for stripping then use the t500 will that help retain flavours or am I wasting my time with it? I tried searching for the answer but couldn't find it so if there is a link please feel free to send it this way. Thanks guys

If you want to keep the flavour in, you need to only use a potstill (twice generally), the t500 is a reflux still for making neutral and will certainly benefit from running stripped wash from a pot still (watered to 40%), but it is made to remove flavour. People make them work with run strategies in various forms but your much better off using the right tool for the job

Welcome and no it won’t help .
The T500 will strip flavours end of story
Whiskey/ whisky whatever needs either a pot still or a bubbler and if your using the T500 boiler a little 2” pot is the way to go

Thanks guys thought this was the case. I'll just have to experiment with different wood chips for a while.

Hey Mickey
Give Andrew at 5 star a call for a pot still attachment for your T500.

The good news of course is that your T500 will sam you can use all your wash as once you go through the normal whiskey process of stripping runs then a spirit run on a pot still and even a feints run after all that. You will be able to convert the remaining spirits into neutral spirit where as those of us with a pot still only have to ti0it out at that point.

So it is not all bad news mate, but unfortunately you need the right tools for the job if you want to produce good product.

Welcome aboard mate! :greetings-waveyellow:
Got some great advice above.. goodluck getting yourself on the right path.

Thanks again lads. Are the whiskey washes worth it or can you get the same result from the neutral and chips? Got to convince my wife why I need to spend more money on my little hobby :text-lol:

I would suggest that they are worth it, especially if they have come through the Tried and Tested phase.

For mine, I can vouch for the gin and limoncello, and am playing with variations on rum.

A big help when starting out is to not expect something that tastes like store bought, its generally a unicorn not worth chasing and involves years in a barrel, chips and sticks do contribute to flavour, but dont replicate the breathing of the wood in a barrel

The few essences ive tried for bourbon have resulted in "a cup of wood" for me :hand:

As you go through you will find what you like - I like JD style bourbon normally, but the sugarhead Ive settled on is straight corn drunk white for the moment - tastes completely different, but im sure as I try more stuff that will change. Once you get into it, you will start noticing what you find you dont like with the store bought stuff, generally many seem to have a bit more heads than I like for example

Micky_ashman wrote:Thanks again lads. Are the whiskey washes worth it or can you get the same result from the neutral and chips? Got to convince my wife why I need to spend more money on my little hobby :text-lol:

It is a constant balancing act with cashflow Mickey. There is always something to spend our hard earned on. Storage jars, ingredients, better water flow. One option might be to produce something she likes that the T500 is good at. Once she sees the potential she might consent to it being a Christmas present as she realises the T500 is simply the first step not a complete system.

All the best mate it is an amazing journey we are beginning and fortunately there are many old hands happy to share their successes and failures

Hi Guys,

I am new to the AussieDistiller site( 1.5 months) and this is my first post, so please don't execute me...at least not straight away...
I own a T500 Copper Reflux system :violence-smack: ....(ducking an weaving while avoiding thrown bottles and full cans!!!)
ok....now that I've got that out of the way...
Firstly...thanks for being here and allowing me to be part of it all :text-thankyoublue:
Secondly....I'd like to ask (any other T500 owners or knowledgeable people) if placing/connecting an empty T500 Reflux column on top of the SS Alembic Pot still could work to do a "Pot still spirit run?
I only have the T500 boiler with no temp control of course so I was wondering if anyone has tried this method to slow the distillate output with the water flow control...as we would do to control it in reflux mode?
I've done stripping runs of FFV and got great results doing Spirit runs afterwards for neutrals, but I'm currently doing a few 25 liter batches of Nutrigrain whiskey to get my feet wet.
I am very keen on this hobby but sadly can't commit a great deal of time (or have a decent budget) to go to the extent that the experienced and Vets have on this site so please don't bag me for owning the T500...we all start from somewhere and not every noob knows somebody that can guide them straight away.
I'm learning and will continue to learn but am also dedicated to doing this safely as well.
Thanks again for any feedback and I really do enjoy reading the posts from other people's experience and knowledge

Welcome thozzbrew.
You never need to apologise for the equipment you use mate. It is all capable of producing good product. As with all things there are limitations to what things can do. Don’t be embarrassed to have a t500 they will do a good job or a lousy job depending on the operators just like all gear. Think of it as a 25 litre boiler with a reflux still on top if that helps. A pot still attachment is what you need if you want to retain flavour and pot still output can only be controlled by the temperature of the boiler. I know of no other way of doing than the voltage control units available on the market. I am however very new myself so others may know a different option for you

Spot on Wellsy , hell I started with an air still then moved to a T 500
But thozzbrew, please start your own threads instead of derailing this one. It’s also customary to post in the welcome section to say g’day

Thanks Wellsy and my apologies Stig,
I thought my post was relevant however , I did neglect to say hello...so that’s where I’ll go next
Thanks again again for your help guys

Just keep asking questions and posting what you do mate. All us newbies like to see what is happening on someone else’s journey. And you know there are lots of lurkers out there who are just waiting for the chance to say hello and your exploits might encourage them :)