G'day from Tassie

[engine giant]

Well, here I am, new to the game but learning a lot already, particularly about Tomato Paste Washes, they really seem to be the go.
Other than sampling the odd bottle of someone else's product I have never distilled before, but have brewed beer on and off for 20 plus years so understand the need for cleanliness etc.
About to purchase my first still in the next week or so and currently weighing up the Turbo 500 starter kit and the Essencia starter kit, with the Essencia being around $300 more expensive. I did consider the Pure Distilling Still, but pricing seems very high for what it is and nobody seems to stock them in Tasmania. The Turbo 500 seems easily converted from reflux to pot still into the bargain. Any input greatly appreciated on that subject.
Being a Boilermaker by trade, I can see myself "building the better mouse trap" in the future once I actually know what I want and what is needed.
Anyway, I hope to get to know a few of you a lot better through this forum and learn even more.

[benpandaae86]

Welcome mate great place to start do some readin no questions are silly

What do you drink rum scotch bourbon

You may want a pot still

Dont waste ur money on a t500 either build ur self a 3inch boka , plated colume, pot still or spend the money and get one of the best quality stills around from macs shop

Tpw is a great place to start if youve had experience with beer you should be able to do ag spirits with ease

Happy stilling

[Urrazeb]

Welcome

[Sam.]

G'day mate, you will be glad to hear cleanliness isn't as important with spirits as it is with beer ;-)

If your a boilermaker I would be having a crack at building a still. Like said what do you want to make? This will determine what type of still you want :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[1 2many]

Hi mate welcome :greetings-waveyellow:

[engine giant]

Welcome mate great place to start do some readin no questions are silly

What do you drink rum scotch bourbon

You may want a pot still

Dont waste ur money on a t500 either build ur self a 3inch boka , plated colume, pot still or spend the money and get one of the best quality stills around from macs shop

Tpw is a great place to start if youve had experience with beer you should be able to do ag spirits with ease

Happy stilling

I drink most wet things except Ouzo - Yuk Yuk double Yuk! Scotch, Rum and Bourbon for sure but I would like to make the white spirits too.
I am attracted to the ready made stills at this point as they will allow me to get up and running with a known quantity so to speak. I realise that T500's have a leak issue, (fixable it seems) and probably aren't the best still, but do they have any other major issues worth noting?
I have no doubt that Mac's stills are probably some of the best, if not the best around, but seem to be over my price range at present - I have just taken around a 50% pay cut due to being shafted out of a job the day before I was due to start, having resigned my previous position - it's enough to make you drink :sad:
For around the $600 dollar mark, I can be up and running with alcometer, fermenter, filter (although with TPW this seems less of an issue) and other ancillary items whereas Macs products will be well over the 1K mark and I would need to source a keg and heating element. Not to denigrate Macs product at all as having worked with stainless, I know the work required to present a product at that level.
Before I pull the trigger so to speak, I will look again at the design section of this forum and weigh up my options some more. The attraction of a turnkey package is strong at the moment and I reckon I could probably sell the store bought still at a later stage when my Godfather of stills was complete or possibly be used for distilling water to dilute the spirit produced by the main still.
At this entry point I primarily want to produce a drinkable product and experiment a little.
I hope that makes sense. If I am widely off track, don't be afraid to let me know.

[Redux]

sounds like youve got a fair idea bout where your going.... the t500 would be a fine still to start and if it fits your budget then go for it..... plenty of folks here started with them and a few still run em!

once you get up and running then you can look at a build or buy solution as money allows.

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

The T500 sounds like a great deal sure, you even get a bunch of plastic stuff that goes with it that you'll end up not using once you learn more ;-)

There's also been a lot of posts over the last few years or so with the Plastic :roll: top of the T500 leaking.

You won't be making Scotch, Rum and Bourbon with a T500 either, you'll be told to buy this plastic carbon filter, essences, turdbo clear et etc.

Good luck with whatever you choose, but I'd be striking the T500 off your list and aiming for a pot still if you want proper Scotch, Rum and Bourbon :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers.

[Urrazeb]

If you think about what you want to drink first off it makes it easier to choose.

If you want rum, whisk(e)y etc then pot still for sure, don't muck around with essences it really isn't even worth exploring :handgestures-thumbdown:

If you want vodkas & gins then the T500 will do for a start.

If you want everything straight up, then get something modular that can be configured to whatever you want to run, with this comes a cost though.

You could get a 4in FSD pot and add to it over time to build a bubbler :handgestures-thumbupleft:

$600 will get you most things you need to get started if you build your own 2in pot.

[engine giant]

Thanks to all for the input so far.
I've come to the conclusion from reading this forum that some people run with essences fairly happily, while obviously not getting the top quality results that other methods produce. Other members find essences to be a dirty word.
Having read the Brendans Bubbler Build thread, I have the germination of a few ideas and being a boily, the construction will fit within my trade skill set quite nicely - don't think I'll drill the 300 odd holes per plate though, a visit to the laser cutter sounds like the plan for that part provided I can source some copper sheet.
So, what to do??? I reckon I am going to twist the arm of the local brew shop to see what sort of a package we can put together based around the T 500, but with a few bits left off (plastics etc) and maybe some other more useful bits added in. Not a purists setup by any means, but it will get me up and running, at least to some degree and I can then assemble the bits for a bubbler build as time and money allow. Not ideal for Rum, Bourbon or Scotch I realise, but perhaps I may knock up a pot still head for the T 500, which I could easily do for less than the $400 odd dollars that the genuine components would cost, thus having the best of both worlds. On the subject of pot stills. How would a conical lid work as opposed to the domed lid that Still Spirits use for their Alembic Pot Still? Conical is a lot easier from a fabrication perspective.
I think that either the T500 or the Pure Distilling spirit maker will best suit where I am at present and nobody really seems to carry the Pure Distilling product here, leaving the T500 as my best option at present.
Once again, thanks to all.

[Meatheadinc]

Mac has pre drilled copper perf plates ready for downcomers cheap, as well as bubble cap plates. it can save you some work.
I have a set of each :happy-partydance:
Conical lid will be fine

[engine giant]

Well, well, well, I've just acquired around 1.2M of 50mm copper tube. Don't know what I'll use it for, but it can't be a bad thing.
Yes I did buy the T500 and if I get a moments peace, the last few days have been eighteen plus hour days, I'll unpack it and have a play. I'll do a turbo wash first off as I have one and then I reckon it'll be TPW from then onwards.
First job will be to make up a header tank for the condenser as I am on either bore of tank water, so there will be 20 PSI fluctuations in pressure between upper and lower limits, so a gravity feed header tank will smooth out flow variations nicely I reckon.

[TheMechwarrior]

Welcome mate.

Read lots of the forums, ask questions all before buying something and with your skillset I'm sure we'll be seeing a build-thread in the near future :handgestures-thumbupleft:


Cheers,

Mech.

[Muppet]

Well, well, well, I've just acquired around 1.2M of 50mm copper tube. Don't know what I'll use it for, but it can't be a bad thing.
Yes I did buy the T500 and if I get a moments peace, the last few days have been eighteen plus hour days, I'll unpack it and have a play. I'll do a turbo wash first off as I have one and then I reckon it'll be TPW from then onwards.
First job will be to make up a header tank for the condenser as I am on either bore of tank water, so there will be 20 PSI fluctuations in pressure between upper and lower limits, so a gravity feed header tank will smooth out flow variations nicely I reckon.

Its worth trying a cheap retic pressure reducer to smooth out your water flow, I bought mine at bunnings for about $7. The header tank has merit also if you can keep the volume constant. Of course I doubt you would need the header if you could keep the height constant. Let us know if it works out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[benpandaae86]

Hey mate good luck with your new still and copper pipe (2" pot build )
Mac seĺls a ferrule and adaptor for.the t500 so you can have one boiler and just change your still off the lid you would need a power controller.for the element to.do spirit runs through a pot though but you could do stripping runs with the pot and slap on the t500 for good quality nuetrals

Happy stillin

[engine giant]

I have sorted the fluctuating pressure issue. Being in a bushfire prone area we set up a 5000L tank on the hill behind our house so that in the event of power loss we still have a gravity feel water supply for emergencies. All I need to do is switch off the bore pump and allow the water to gravity feed and I will have an effectively constant supply of water at 350-400kPa. Problem solved with no input :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I am currently getting plans together in my head for a pot head for the T500 boiler.
Sounds like a temp controller is a must, despite the fact that they don't use one on their own pot still variant. A temp controller won't be too hard to organise.
I am currently surrounded by the sound of bubbling in symphony with the frogs outside. One brew of Coopers Draught beer, one Turbo Wash (yes it will be my last), and one TPW.
From what I've seen so far, I really love the TPW, much more pleasant to set up and no filtering required.

[Zak Griffin]

You dont want temp control, you want power control ;-)

[valkorum]

Welcome aboard

[engine giant]

You dont want temp control, you want power control ;-)

Whoops, my bad. That's actually what I meant.

[Teddysad]

And treat the turbo wash as a test / cleaning run.
Just don't expect great results from it.

Look at the other recipes for weetbix and nutrigrain washes. I believe they offer better flavours for white spirits than TPW.

It's also fun to try different approaches