New and undecided

[Amature_Hour_247]

G'day all,

Watched a 'Still It' video on YouTube out of curiosity one day and now ~6 months later actually looking at the hobby seriously. Have had a chat with Andrew who provided some sage advice and gave me a few different ways I could go. BUT... I'm still stuck (no pun intended) in analysis paralysis on where to start from an equipment point of view.

I've also been doing all grain brewing for years and can do a decent sized wash fairly easily from an 82L kettle (2x2400w TC elements). I've also got a 2400w element stuck inside what is essentially a stainless fermenter (think T500 boiler with an exposed element) with a 2" TC on top of the lid. Andrew warned me about the lid not being great and it seems there's an 11kg limit on vertical downforce, with a 2kg off center force as well which rules out bubble plates with the 4" pot still, and barely scrapes by with the bare pot still.

Ive considered everything from whacking the 2" FSD pot still on the boiler, right through to saving up for another 12 months and going all in on a FSD Neutralizer and milk can (god they are pretty). I primarily want to do brown spirits and the 'one and done' nature of a bubbler would suit my time requirements better (read: young kids). I also know the more I read and watch and learn the more I want to be able to make a neutral(-ish) sprint for experiments :geek:.

Keen to hear how you all got into it and if you caught the bug gradually or all at once. It's been great reading through years of threads and you're all so bloody helpful compared to the beer community :obscene-drinkingdrunk:. I'm just here to learn at this point, but hopefully with the support of those on here I'll be making a decent product in time :)

Cheers,

Amature_Hour_247

[Wellsy]

Welcome aboard Amature. I was where you are and started with a 50 ltr milk can and 4 inch pot still. That gave me the ability to do Brown spirits, my main goal. I did some triple runs of vodka which turned out nicely. After 12 months I added 4 bubble plate and a reflux condenser to the equation, as well as a small digi boiler that allowed me to do gins. You don’t have to get everything all at once if you go the modular route which the 5 star equipment is. Good luck

[RobMichelle]

Welcome,
I went the slow route, airstill for just over 12months, works well a lot of work still use it for small gin experiments. Then I got 35ltr boiler and fsd 2” pot still which I am happily using now and love it, yes going bigger :handgestures-thumbupleft: would be awesome, but not practical at the moment. Good luck do what suits you lo

[The Stig]

Welcome Amature_Hour_247, nice to have you here.
Have a good read around the place, if small is your go the Boka and Pot option will do you well :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Ask away, there are no silly questions but you may get some silly answers depending on the time of day the questions are asked :obscene-drinkingdrunk: :obscene-drinkingchug:

[Amature_Hour]

Thanks all for the warm welcome :)
You did say ask the dumb questions so here I go :D

I've been leaning towards the 4" pot still and milk can setup, but wanted to swap out the straight for a packed section to build it into a neutraliser. But again it's a question of "will I keep the hobby up" vs dollars invested.
Not really a question you can answer for me, just where my head is at.

Another question was around minimum volumes. What's the least you'd run in a Milkcan for low wines?

For take off rates on the pot stills I've everything from 1L per hour to 2.5L per hour for spirit runs. Is this true for all pot still or are there material differences between the 4" and 2" columns for output?

[Amature_Hour_247]

Whoops, used the wrong account :angry-banghead:

I also had a question around minimum water for recirc. I've found I can't fit an IBC down the side of the house like I wanted and saw some olive barrels on Marketplace for $50 each.

Would 2 of these be enough? They are 220L each so I'd just connect them.

[The Stig]

Sorry but I’ll have to disable one of your accounts . Which one would you like to keep ?
Cheers

[Amature_Hour_247]

The first one please! I used an old email and user name but trying to standardise across everything for ease of use lol.

[The Stig]

Thanks , I’ll sort that tomorrow :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Wellsy]

In relation to takeoff speed with my 4 inch 5star pot I always run it at 2 ltrs an hour in pot still mode and bump it up to 2.5 if in bubbler config. I could possibly run it faster in pot but I started at 2 liked the results and stayed at 2 :). Having said that I can’t remember the last time I did a spirit run in pot mode since I got the bubbler.

In relation to water I have a 2000 ltr rain attached to the shed and fully exposed to the sun, I run the water through the still back up on the roof and into the tank. In summer the tank water stays about 28 overnight and I don’t do spirit runs as the water gets too hot for me over the 10 hour run. This time of year the water is starting at 14 degrees and will heat to about 20 over the course of the run, so I do my spirit runs in autumn winter and spring. Other will have different experiences especially our northern members where it is always warm.

The milk can boiler I have is the old style so need 11 litres to cover the bottom element and about 17 to cover the top element. Remember it is not the starting volume you need to consider but the volume after you finish.

Once the bug gets you would will not stop lol

[Buj]

Hi AM,

I started out in Aug 24 with a FSD 2" Pot Still, 2" Boka & 30lt boiler after several weeks of research and a chat with Stig.
I've since upgraded to a FSD 4" Neutralizer, and a 50lt milk can boiler, back in Sep 25.

The 2" Stills have been amazing. And they still are even with the Neutralizer.
With the Neutralizer I collect at 2.5lt/hr.
The 2"ers collection rate was 0.75lt/hr.
That's on spirit runs.

I'll only run the Neutralizer with at least 40lt wash or low wines.
Any smaller runs then I break out the 2"ers.
The 2" Pot Still with 30lt boiler is regularly used for 4lt (Neutral hearts) Gin runs and quick 20lt stripping runs.
The Boka is great for smaller 10lt low wine runs, if I don't have the 40lt to run through the Neutralizer.

I also have a 3000lt rain water tank, with return, for cooling.
If I didn't have that then I would have gone with a 1000lt IBC or 3x 220lt blue barrels linked together.
I use a $85 Ozito submersible pump as well.

If I had to start again I'd still follow the same purchase path.

Hope this helps you in your decision.

[Amature_Hour_247]

In relation to takeoff speed with my 4 inch 5star pot I always run it at 2 ltrs an hour in pot still mode and bump it up to 2.5 if in bubbler config....

The milk can boiler I have is the old style so need 11 litres to cover the bottom element and about 17 to cover the top element. Remember it is not the starting volume you need to consider but the volume after you finish.

That's a decent rate, and kind of pushes me towards the 4" lego set path as Buj (see below) seems to be running at less than half that on the 2". The milk can looks like it's the only option for the 4" path (for something reliable and robust), but based on Buj's comment I can always whack the condenser on my 25L boiler for smaller, slower runs. Only downside is this has a minimum 6L for element coverage, so might be easier and safer to get the 30L boiler with the concealed element. It's fun to have decisions like this to make :happy-partydance:

Hi AM,
With the Neutralizer I collect at 2.5lt/hr.
The 2"ers collection rate was 0.75lt/hr.

If I didn't have that then I would have gone with a 1000lt IBC or 3x 220lt blue barrels linked together.

Nice to see your progress path Buj! A little over a year from a 2" to a full setup kind of shows Wellsy's onto something about the bug biting hard :text-lol:
Purely based on the time factor, I think I'll need to save for the 4" setup.

Thank you both for the advice on the water too, I'd love to have the rainwater setup like you guys but don't have the room for it. I can probably sneak 3 barrels connected together down the side of the house the Mrs doesn't use much. Out of sight out of mind :)

I'll move my future questions to the rest of the forum so I'm not cluttering up the welcome page, cheers all!

AM

Edits: I can't spell properly

[Wellsy]

There are some smaller low profile rain water tanks that might be more appealing to your wife. You can always fill them with a hose and simply reuse the water,the same as you would the cherry barrels.
Remember the more you spend on water tanks the less there is for stilling gear lol :laughing-rolling: