noob to pot stills

[zoids666]

hi there peeps! thanks for letting me apart of this community :-D . I'm Adelaide based here and I'm running a pure distilling reflux still and have been for a few years now. just recently i thought it might be time to try a pot still( recently as in last week). so if any one can point me to where the hell to begin? id be so happy, as Ive read about a million things and now I'm not sure where to start.
Cheers in advance and a big shout out to you all

[choppy]

pure distilling sell a pot still that will fit your boiler and the home brew shop can answer all your questions and load you up with all the turbo's you need.

[zoids666]

cheers choppy probably should have worded that better, i have already acquired a pot still and my local home brew shop is more a beer specialist. Ive asked many questions that he has not been able to answer

[choppy]

I've never used a PD pot still, so i'm not sure what to expect.

I do know that you should operate your pot by ABV, not by temperature. So maybe get yourself an alcometer and take continuos readings and report back with your finding.

[1 2many]

Welcome to the forum zoids, never mind choppy's commencements on the turbo's he is on his meds again :teasing-tease:

Try the TPW in tried and proven. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[choppy]

i'm off them , that's the problem!!!

[Sam.]

Welcome mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

There is a big difference between runnin a pot and a reflux, enjoy the learning curve ;-)

[Zak Griffin]

Welcome mate :) sorry about the blunt reply before :handgestures-thumbupleft:

As the guys have said, a thermometer isn't much good on a pot still. In the newbies section you will find a thread on why you can't control a still by temp :)

You'll also learn about cuts and all of other things that you will need to know before you start making top shelf spirits :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Good to see another SA member :)

[zoids666]

cheers everyone for the welcomes and the info :D now i better start reading so i can run another batch with more success

[Urrazeb]

Welcome! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Show us a pic of your pot

[huggy_b]

When we ran a pot still, we basically rigged up a free-standing parrot to monitor the alcohol levels - this was way easier than trying to keep temperatures at specified points like they instruct you to do.

On a stripping run, don't sweat too much about, just run it hard and fast and keep everything down to ~20% alcohol - it should even out in total to about 40% alcohol in your low wines.
When you have enough low wines to fill your boiler (may need watering down to keep it around 30 - 40% alcohol in the boiler), then do a spirits run - generally it will spit out at 70 - 80% alcohol and remain fairly steady for a while, but then will get a bit erratic and start dropping off a bit - basically you are into your tails at this point - keep running it and collect down to 20% alcohol again (feints). Do your cuts, keep your hearts and store all the rest as feints. You can then look at doing an all feints spirit run (once you collect enough), or combine that with more low wines you have. The biggest issue I found was storage.....so many vessels full of low wines and feints - that's why we went up to a plated bubbler.

[MacStill]

zoids666

just in case you missed it here's a couple of topics to help get the best out of your pot still

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2859#p40598

and

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=3098#p46147

Enjoy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[hillzabilly]

Welcome dude ,I would use a smaller element with a pot still compared to a reflux still ,slows down the run wich is better until ya get ya head around cuts ,less chance of pukein or overwhelming ya condencer.I always go easy on new equipment this is not a hobby that will give you results if ya rush things ,keep it safe .cheers hillzabilly

[Andy]

welcome mate.
there are some good recipes for the pot on the site. what are you looking at making with it?