Hi to all. I am an absolute beginner at this ‘game’. I’ve been following this forum for a few months, reading, reading and then read some more. Was really confused at first but gradually the mist is clearing…
Started with a simple air still from eBay to see if I could make this my latest hobby in my retirement and decided I could.
Have now bought a Digiboil 35l and Alcoengine reflux still. I don’t plan on mass producing huge quantities of grog but am partial to the clear spirits like gin and vodka. The missus is also a keen vodka imbiber…
For now I will produce clean, clear spirit (hopefully) and maybe cheat by adding essences to make some into rum, bourbon etc.
The pot still will follow in due course as I get away from the ‘cheating’ and progress towards true distilling.
One step at a time…
So my reflux column is currently soaking in 12l of 50/50 white vinegar/water which I will then run through the still to ‘clean’ the inside and packing before doing my sacrificial run (TPW).
First questions are, how long do I let it soak? Do I put the whole 12l through after, or say 10l?
I presume I then flush everything out with fresh water before the sac run?
Should these runs be using the 1mm bore? Should I remove ALL the packing first for the sac?
Apologies for the maybe disjointed questions but as I said, I’m new to all this and just keen to get going.
Recently did a TPW in a small batch of 10l cos I couldn’t believe how simple it could be but was absolutely gobsmacked at what came out of my air still. It took me all day in 4l batches and I ran it as slow as I could starting at 80C moving up gradually as it went on. Have to say, I was impressed. I think ‘Sir Birdwatcher’ has a certain ring to it…
I still have some turbo packs from my initial learning (KISS) but may never go back to them.
Sorry to ramble on a bit but I’m confident enough now to actively join this forum and you know there’s going to plenty more questions as I move forward.
Cheers guys and look forward to your help.