Clueless in Canada

New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
** Your first post MUST go here. Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your interest in distilling. Any posts asking distilling questions will be deleted. **

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
Jocelyn
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:46 am

Clueless in Canada

Post by Jocelyn »

Hi everyone!
As the title suggests I have no idea what I am doing (and I am from Canada, Manitoba to be exact). I am not new to home brew but brand new to distilling. In the past I have made various wines (from kits and from scratch), a couple of beers (from kits), currently I have a red wine in the primary and a mead on the go (my first mead).

I am not a fancy brewer I don't enter my stuff in competitions or anything. My stuff is for christmas gifts and for sharing with buddies.

I have been thinking of trying my hand at distilling for some time now. It's legal here as long as you are not selling it (anything to keep us Canucks warm in winter I guess?), so when I was at my local wine making place and saw a Distiller on sale last weekend I decided why not give it a go? Alas the guy who was working that day appeared to be new and seemed equally as clueless as I. So now I have my distiller, my instructions for mash, and am armed with nothing else.

According to these basic instructions distilling seems many times faster and simpler then wine making, that concerns me a little and leads me to believe I am missing some information here. And that is why I am here because I know nothing, except how to make my mash (at least I think I can figure it out) but the giant silver coffee pot is a bit more confusing. It came with instructions but I am a bit confused and I know that without the community of helpful people on my wine making forum I probably would have never figured out how to make a half decent brew.

This is the one I picked up (https://www.brewersdirect.com/product/d ... ess-steel/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow)
User avatar
Still Life
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1545
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:24 pm
Location: Great State Of Missouri

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by Still Life »

Well I was Mystified in Missouri, and I seem to have made it.

There's quite a bit of reading for you to get started and get answers to the questions you have.
Here's member Cranky's spoon-feeding: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

It is a must-read because it is very enlightening.

Welcome.
User avatar
bitter
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1999
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:51 pm
Location: Great White North

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by bitter »

Welcome fellow canuck.

Read till your eyes bleed...

What types of things do you like to drink and want to make this will guide your still selection.

B
User avatar
nuntius01
Rumrunner
Posts: 705
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 4:51 pm
Location: upper midwest

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by nuntius01 »

welcome. you will be inundated with info. but go to the link above and start reading. if you brewed your own, then the mash will be pretty straight forward. i too brewed my own to start. the biggest thing is arm yourself with as much info as you can and there is a lot of info on this site. then dont be afraid to make mistakes. i'm sure you made a ton while brewing, i know i did. but the biggest thing is have fun with it. once agian , welcome
I'm just the bank and the mule

post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
User avatar
HDNB
Site Mod
Posts: 7360
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:04 am
Location: the f-f-fu frozen north

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by HDNB »

Welcome from sunny Alberta. how's the mosquitoes in Manitoba, eh?

ain't legal here by a long stretch, the laws still exist at 5 years and 500k in fines, so keep your head down, don't yell and don't sell.

yer right they likely won't bother you unless you sell and cut into their tax...but no sense tempting fate, right?
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
Pikey
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 2444
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 3:29 pm
Location: At the edge of the Wild Wood

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by Pikey »

Hi Jocelyn, welcome in 8)

What you have there is a little Pot Still, similar to one sold as an "Airstill".

Yes it is quicker than wine and often than beer, depending how much sugar you put in the wash.
User avatar
bilgriss
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1690
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 2:28 pm
Location: Southeast-ish.

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by bilgriss »

Good to have you here. Lots of good advice above.

Your previous brewing experience will be helpful, but there are also some things to "unlearn".

Keep reading and you'll get there. As you begin to move forward, post questions about any roadblocks in the novice section!
Jocelyn
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:46 am

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by Jocelyn »

Thanks for the welcome everyone! It being illegal just adds to the fun imo ;) That said they totally told me it was legal which is strange. They said it was legal as long as you don't sell it.

I have been checking out some of those recipes here, they look quite good. My first run will just be the sugar yeast stuff they sold me but that I may just have to try a recipe after that. I suppose making the mash is pretty similar to the first steps of wine making. I would like to make some stuff that tastes decent as well though. I am looking forward to trying some of these recipes. And perhaps trying my hand at a homemade mash seems fairly straight forward by these instructions.
User avatar
bitter
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1999
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:51 pm
Location: Great White North

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by bitter »

I see you picked up an air still. They are basically a really small pot still.. and not ideal due to the small size. To make the most our of it I would strip enough 1g batches to fill the setup with 1g of 40% and then distill that using 125ml jars so you have a chance to make cuts. Personally I would toss a for-shot cut on every run in that thing.

If you get more serious, you might want to upgrade that setup.. on a positive note.. the airstill could make a perfect little setup for making gin. I borrowed one around xmas and made 7 26ers of gin doing 2 runs using neutral as my base from my main setup.

B
Jocelyn
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:46 am

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by Jocelyn »

bitter wrote:I see you picked up an air still. They are basically a really small pot still.. and not ideal due to the small size. To make the most our of it I would strip enough 1g batches to fill the setup with 1g of 40% and then distill that using 125ml jars so you have a chance to make cuts. Personally I would toss a for-shot cut on every run in that thing.

If you get more serious, you might want to upgrade that setup.. on a positive note.. the airstill could make a perfect little setup for making gin. I borrowed one around xmas and made 7 26ers of gin doing 2 runs using neutral as my base from my main setup.

B
This was super helpful now I can actually look at similar units. Thanks!

Yeah it only set me back just under 200 Canadian and my mom paid for half. To distill a whole batch would be time consuming but I don't mind still quicker then waiting months for wine! Also if we really get hooked I may upgrade and let mom take this one, but this should be more then sufficient for the next while. And we have a tiny house I like how small this is.
User avatar
smoCha
Novice
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:24 pm

Re: Clueless in Canada

Post by smoCha »

That sugar yeast stuff will make a good sac run. Good luck, they'll take care of you here.
CONFIDENCE-the feeling you get right before you realize the severity of your situation
Post Reply