by MaKa » Fri Feb 08, 2019 9:31 am
Hi team,
So here is the situation, I am playing around with some gin recipe development but I have run into a slight problem.
I have a FSD neutraliser with a 50 litre boiler, however when I am making small batches to test recipes I am finding that I have to add about 6 litres of water to cover the bottom element and reduce the power to the still to control the recovery ABV.
I am considering a small pot still so that I can minimise the charge dilution and minimise the wastage should I not like something with the gin. After hours of cruising the internet looking at various things and really wanting to buy something in Australia I stumbled across this:
[url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/Copper-Still-Ukrainian-alambik-Distillation-moonshine-pot-Alcohol-1-32-gal-5-l/263974911383?_trkparms=aid%3D333200%26algo%3DCOMP.MBE%o%3D1%26asc%3D20190129125700%26meid%3D4134593b54d744158b8d9fe4e9c42e4b%26pid%3D100752%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D11%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D264092095813%26itm%3D263974911383&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982]Ebay Pot Still[/url]
Basically with this I can do macerated and some vapour infusions together in the one bit of equipment.
What I am worried about is buying something like this from the Ukraine am I going to get myself flagged by customs? I am only looking at the 5 litre version which is within the legal size, however I don't want the ATO banging on my door in a month and confiscating my gear.
To answer some of the questions before the get asked... yeah I know that this is direct fired and using an open flame is not the preferred method when operating a pot still. I will work with this. I also understand that small batches is purely an academic exercise when scaling up. The recipe wont necessarily scale in the same proportion. I am however trying to minimise wastage until I can find that combination I like and then scale it up to a bigger run using my FSD equipment. Also I understand that making a still might be significantly cheaper, however my issue there is I neither have the tools or skills to undertake this sort of task.
If anyone has any other ideas for stills that would work I am open ears. I did see a site for a company in Perth that sells small direct fired all copper pot stills, however they are $800 ex. GST plus freight to Victoria, so that is a plan D at the moment.
Last edited by
MaKa on Fri Feb 08, 2019 9:34 am, edited 1 time in total.