Hi all from the central highland Vic.

[crow]

G'day I was born , raised and spent most of my life in the Riverland SA . I have been making beer and wine since I was in second yr high school and have always had an interest in distilling . My Uncle and his bud use to run a still ,very well too ( I used his stuff for fortifying ) I always thought he could get me started in this , Sold his property moved to the big smoke and joined the Salvo's :angry-banghead: 15 or 20 yrs latter I moved over here . No family and few friends apart from my kids my ex and her family . thought ok I need a hobby , not into stamps and shells might go back to brewing ( beer here is total and utter shit ) . anyway awhile back accidently typed still instead of sill on ebay and thought shit yes . I've agreed to buy one of those ultra pure stills they make down Geelong though this would be a good entry point for me . my first job will be to replace or modify the pissy 5ltr boiler . I have a mate in SA who is a ss metal finisher and was wondering if I could extend the boiler to say hold 30 ltrs , open to any opinions on this I think my uncle had a ss 44 gal massive over kill for me :lol: . I've been looking at these forums for awhile and was surprised at just how informative they are , only just came across this Aussie one and decided this would be the first one I'd join so I'm totally to all of this . Anyway Hi all and hope to catch ya on here down the track

[MacStill]

Nice intro :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Plenty of good info here for you sift through, welcome aboard.

Cheers.

[Kimbo]

Great to have ya here Croweater,
hope you enjoy your stay ;-)

[Frank]

Hi Croweater and welcome.
Have you tried any of the microbreweries there? Most are not cheap for sure but some fine product to be found IMHO esp 'winter brews'. :handgestures-thumbupleft: Enjoy this forum too!

[Cane Toad]

Hi Crow,welcome to the forum mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: it's a great place,plenty of knowledge,and a real good bunch of guys and girls :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[crow]

Hi Frank yeah had a couple not to bad but as you said not cheap enough for a normal drink they have coopers but they'er a bit dear on that here too , Still smuggling back boxes of West End every time I go home and then sipping on it like its a bottle of Middletons :roll:

[grumpthehermit]

G'day Croweater.

Welcome :-D

I have the pure distilling setup as do a few others here.

I find it works well and makes a good product however the ball valve on the takeoff frustrated me due to the lack of control so I now have a stainless steel needle valve and find the output much easier to control.

If your buying your rig new you can get them with the "boil a beer" 25L boiler with lid to suit in QLD, I'm assuming you are buying yours second hand with the 5L base?

Cheers
GTH

[stubbydrainer]

G'day Crow
welcome to the forum, and that's an intro & a 1/2 :handgestures-thumbupleft:
heaps if seriously good stuff comes from these pages and I'm sure you will find something that suits you, If you don't , its as simple as asking a question, I reckon someone will know the answer :? :think: I think ! :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
and we don't mind having a laugh either :lol:

cheers
Stubs

[crow]

Hi grump yeah $400 bucks from a bloke not to far from here he's chucking in some extras so I figured that's not to bad and I'll see what I can sort out cheaply with the boiler for now PS would copper needle valves be ok , pretty sure there's a box of them back home in Dads shed

[MacStill]

$400 is a lot for a still that wont perform as well as a custom job for around the same dollars, think hard and ask questions before you part with your moolah ;-)

[crow]

Hi Mcstill yeah did think about that for a long while looked at loads of doable plans possibly have most of the copper parts back at dads in SA but I'm 3/4 way through a major project (total rebuild of a 1850's heritage listed house) so figured I just wouldn't have the time to put it together for some time . Anyway I thought the feedback I saw around the traps on this unit wasn't to bad figured this will get me started and hopefully by the end of this yr I'll have the time and knowledge to get into something better . just a quick question , i like the Idea of producing a descent whiskey down the track fond of rye or Irish is this at all possible with my type of reflux still or would I need to look at something else

[MacStill]

It's a lot of money for such a little still is all I'm getting at, I've only seen one in a shop and dont really know a lot about them.....

I guess you could remove the packing and run them like a pot still for whisky.

I'm sure there's plenty of people that own them that are happy, and at least I dont think there's any plastic and shit in it like other brands :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[crow]

Mcstill yeah I know , Its just I have been getting real excited about getting into this ever since i decided Right I'm gonna do this . I know I wont have the time to make something up for ages , got impatient and a bit worried I'd shelve the idea like I have for the last 20 yrs . As long as I can produce something almost drinkable with it I reckon i'll be hooked , play with it until I find its limitations and by then should hopefully have a really good idea about whats going to suit me . I've always liked the idea for distilling but the past few months the fascination has turned into an obsession . Reading all the stuff on these sites has only made me more impatient , mate said he'd throw in halve if I sent some of the produce his way :-D PS was involved with the demolition of some dandy old commercial stills yrs ago wishing I had hoarded some of the salvage

[hoppy]

From one Croweater to another Hi :mrgreen: and good to have you aboard its a great friendly site :teasing-neener: with plenty of top info and a great bunch of members :dance:

Cheers Hoppy :mrgreen:

[crow]

Hey thanks hoppy was starting to think the crow was an endangered species here :laughing-rolling: and thanks to every one for the warm welcome