Hello, its time to introuduce...

[Moyston]

Im located down on Mornington Penninsula....firstly, i have now sore eyes from reading posts and getting to understand the lingo. Ive read the newbies corner and found the questions to ask oneself if distilling is really something to get into as a hobby.....which made a lot of sense...

So firstly, just been doing beer brews, pretty basic but have not done any for over 20 years..it was great doing it when you were a teen....it was like being naughty and rebellious....anyway, i ended up getting into motorcycle racing, so spending money on these hobbies seems to come naturally, so should fit in...but now just muck around restoring them...So to be upfront and perfectly honest, like my bourbon and getting into distilling and trying , seems to caught a bug and facinates me and watching it all....so being honest, it is in very early stages or learning, viewing, understanding the time and committment that is required. Reading some of the new starts are very similar, in what still to get, how much, what if i build etc etc...but its more about were I am , the time i need, expenses and what it is that i want to produce ...but i do enjoy reading the older posts and working through.

Ive never tasted any "moonshine bourbon"....but hope to down the track...and ill just keep reading on , but really interesting to see the builds, and information and glad this is so informative ,and being an aussie site....thanks for letting me join... :-D

[The Stig]

Welcome to the mad house.
Restoring old bikes is similar is many ways, it takes time , patients , and years to see the real end result.
Enjoy the ride
Cheers

[Wellsy]

Welcome Moyston
A word of warning mate this hobby can be very addictive so tread lightly lol
You have made a good step in at least isolating what you want to make. Being bourbon a pot still is your first option as it is best for retaining flavour.
Now which one gets down to power supply, storage area, water cooling options etc.

And the best results take a long time, but you won’t know that until you have aged your product for a couple of years. I was happy with my 3 month old bourbon but now I am drinking 15 - 18 month old stuff I am a little embarrassed how I could have thought it was so good lol.

As long as you are happy that is all that matters and what suits you may not suit others. I would strongly recommend giving five star a call as a 5 minute phone call will save hours of typing, and I can assure you there is no pressure to buy. To be honest the gear sells itself as it is quality

[Moyston]

yes thank you ......, yes looked into what was best as in pot , then read posts on bubbler, then watched how to cut up and make own keg boiler etc...mrs thinks im mad... :-D

[Wellsy]

Just take your time mate.

I started with 2 fivestar pot still and 1 year later unpgraded to the bubbler. You need to remember that a 25/30 litre digi boiler wont be strong enough to support the weight of a bubbler. Fortunately i did not learn that the hard way as i made a call to five star before spending.

I now have a digi boiler ( I use that for Gins), when i can be bothered making them and the lid barely supports a pot still. It is very thin metal so flexes.

[RuddyCrazy]

Welcome Moyston :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Well mate looks like your pretty handy with the tools, now as you said you want to use a keg for a boiler go check the 5 star shop for the ferrules you will need. :handgestures-thumbupleft: Now go 4" mate one for boiler and one on the side for a fill port and if you want some pic's go at at my build thread where I did the same. Now I just used 316 rods to arc the ferrules on mine but tig welding is that much better but horses for courses it's all the same we are welding :laughing-rolling:

Now for heating what are your plans elements or LPG, if it is LPG I made a How-To on building a BD burner out of copper pipe and man do they just work. I heat up on 5 psi then down to 3 psi for the run and 3 runs out of a 8.5 kg gas bottle is not uncommon.

Research the shotgun condensors as they are simply the best for knocking down the vapours and for guy with the skills one should be an easy build.

Just remember mate the 5 star shop has everything you need to make your own still so no need to go elsewhere for bits.

Cheers Bryan

[Moyston]

Just take your time mate.

I started with 2 fivestar pot still and 1 year later unpgraded to the bubbler. You need to remember that a 25/30 litre digi boiler wont be strong enough to support the weight of a bubbler. Fortunately i did not learn that the hard way as i made a call to five star before spending.

I now have a digi boiler ( I use that for Gins), when i can be bothered making them and the lid barely supports a pot still. It is very thin metal so flexes.

thanks for the heads up!

[Moyston]

Welcome Moyston :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Well mate looks like your pretty handy with the tools, now as you said you want to use a keg for a boiler go check the 5 star shop for the ferrules you will need. :handgestures-thumbupleft: Now go 4" mate one for boiler and one on the side for a fill port and if you want some pic's go at at my build thread where I did the same. Now I just used 316 rods to arc the ferrules on mine but tig welding is that much better but horses for courses it's all the same we are welding :laughing-rolling:

Now for heating what are your plans elements or LPG, if it is LPG I made a How-To on building a BD burner out of copper pipe and man do they just work. I heat up on 5 psi then down to 3 psi for the run and 3 runs out of a 8.5 kg gas bottle is not uncommon.

Research the shotgun condensors as they are simply the best for knocking down the vapours and for guy with the skills one should be an easy build.

Just remember mate the 5 star shop has everything you need to make your own still so no need to go elsewhere for bits.

Cheers Bryan

thanks ill have a look at the build...it turns out my son has been trying to sell to kegs last few months and no one and asked him so it was a bit of a bargain to get 2.. i did look at the 5 star site and ferrules....i did see the shotgun condenser so ill put that down to have a look at what it is and for...thanks

[RuddyCrazy]

Well mate when you get things together make sure you start a build thread so first we all can see the progress you are making and second if you have any questions one of us will chime in and answer it for you. Now if you have ever worked with copper before you can now enter into addiction mode :laughing-rolling: where just about anything can be made.

Like on this forum is a "How-To" on marking out a frustum so one can make 2-4" reducers etc then the urge to make funnels etc will come and in my case using copper I made my own BD burner that I still use today :handgestures-thumbupleft: Doing the easy flange also there is a "How-To" but I went another method where I didn't hammer the end of the pipe around, I just hammered the 1/4" until it was 80% done then soft solder it. Then by using some 10mm perspex hameered down the 1/4" to finish off then rubbing on the concrete got the sealing surface flat, I can go into more detail later on my method too mate.

Lead free soft soldering isn't that hard to do but for peace of mind on some hard soldering is used and in the end scrap bits of copper can become items we use everyday in the hobby :handgestures-thumbupleft:

For years I was daunted at the prospect of doing all grain but once I tackled it the days of using breakfast cereal is well and truly over. It's a simple of getting a sack of grain from the hardware store malting in small quantities and repeating until one has enough to do a mash. I sun driven hotbox is great for drying the grains and do be careful not to totally cook them on a real hot day :angry-banghead: then do a mash which is just so easy no enzymes needed as barely has a heap of them :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Mate I will be looking for that build thread where I can help you where needed so just get one going so you can make the best booze one can make and it's all done by you (and the 5 Star shop for parts)

Cheers Bryan

[Moyston]

thanks bryan...the hardest im finding is coming down to a still that suits....i originally looked at ther t500 but seems so many reviews said dont, id like to get making a bourbon type, thats my drink...so in my head is,,ok maybe try the t500 and test and do the runs, and see how it goes, or get a bubbler spend a bit more to set up, and just watch etc, but im sort of leaning away for the t500 type. it was on my mind just as a get into it, sort of thing, but then thats probably $700 basically i cld put on the bubbler....so still reading up and watching and being able to make a decision and go....and maybe a stupid question, but i couldnt find any link or anything to see builds....just some, or maybe looking in wrong area...

[Wellsy]

Hello moyston
My understanding is the T500 is a reflux still. A reflux still is designed to strip out flavour and produce high ABV neutral. This is not what you need to do bourbon, whiskey, or brandy.
A pot still produces lower abv full flavoured spirit which is what you need for the above.
The t500 is usually a digiboil boiler which has a very flimsy lid that will buckle if you try an add a bubbler on top.

I would recommend you look at a pot still mate. I started looking at the t500 but like you I was wanting to do bourbons, I also wanted to upgrade later to do bourbons and whiskeys. I ended up with a 50 litre milk can boiler and 4 inch pot still. I went that road as if I had of gone the digi boiler and 2 inch pot I would not have had the upgrade to a bubbler option.

I hope that give you food for thought

[Moyston]

Hello moyston
My understanding is the T500 is a reflux still. A reflux still is designed to strip out flavour and produce high ABV neutral. This is not what you need to do bourbon, whiskey, or brandy.
A pot still produces lower abv full flavoured spirit which is what you need for the above.
The t500 is usually a digiboil boiler which has a very flimsy lid that will buckle if you try an add a bubbler on top.

I would recommend you look at a pot still mate. I started looking at the t500 but like you I was wanting to do bourbons, I also wanted to upgrade later to do bourbons and whiskeys. I ended up with a 50 litre milk can boiler and 4 inch pot still. I went that road as if I had of gone the digi boiler and 2 inch pot I would not have had the upgrade to a bubbler option.

I hope that give you food for thought

Yer it does....ive go 2 already kegs to utilise...most comments were saying pot still is good for that and the best for flavour etc....i dont think il go t500...so it will either be one of those and end up sort of cheapr, not that the cost comes into it, more about starting up and gettting into it...a pot is what i was originally looking at....thankyou

[Wellsy]

I know your pain mate as that is exactly where I was lol

Wanted to make whiskeys and bourbons and a reflux was never going to do that effectively for me.

I am not handy so the choices became easy.I was also buying in the middle of covid lock down as we missed a 4 week holiday to visit the kids in Canada so I had a bigger budget than I originally planned on .

Iam now 3 years into the hobby and love it,another 3 years and I can remove the L plates :)

[Moyston]

I know your pain mate as that is exactly where I was lol

Wanted to make whiskeys and bourbons and a reflux was never going to do that effectively for me.

I am not handy so the choices became easy.I was also buying in the middle of covid lock down as we missed a 4 week holiday to visit the kids in Canada so I had a bigger budget than I originally planned on .

Iam now 3 years into the hobby and love it,another 3 years and I can remove the L plates :)

pot distiller it is with a view to add into a bubbler seems the way to go....thanks