Home Distillation of Alcohol (Homemade Alcohol to Drink)

Photos of Pot Stills

Pot stills can range in size from small stove top stills, to larger stills made from unwanted stainless steel beer kegs. Some are hand crafted from copper sheet and riveted and soldered together.

Stove Top Pot Stills

Two popular types of setups. One uses a copper coil in a bucket, the other a liebig condenser at the output. Common boilers are modified pressure cookers or stockpots sealed with flour paste

Geoffs illustration of simple pot still setup

phanmo's pot still made from a pressure cooker. "The lyne arm is attached to the lid of the pressure cooker by two male/female brass connectors, one on the inside, one on the ouside and the seal is made by a copper washer on each side. I cranked the connectors until the washers were squashed then tested the seal with dishwashing detergent while distilling water. No leaks. The pressure cooker is stainless and holds 10l. I used 10ml copper tubing throughout."

GingerBreadMan's pot still is made from a stainless steel stock pot. "The stock pot holds 12L and the SS bowl is sealed with flour paste and binder clips. I mounted a brass flange (better to use a stainless steel one if available) on the bowl and used cork as a gasket to seal it. The rest is just household 3/4" and 1/2" copper piping."

Larger Keg type Pot Stills

Made from unwanted or discarded beer kegs, these are excellent boilers made from stainless steel. Sankey type kegs can be easily fitted with tri-clamp fittings. Others choose to cut the keg for easier access. Kegs can be heated with either propane burners or fitted with internal eletric heater elements.

dixedrifter's pot still uses triclover fittings to attach to a beer keg. The keg is heated with an internal water heater element. The output condenser (liebig type) is made of copper pipe.

Bujapat's keg pot still uses a stainless steel bowl bolted with wing nuts to the top of the keg for easy removal. Cutting a bigger hole allows easy access to the boiler for cleaning. The boiler is heater with a propane burner.

Hand crafted Copper Pot Stills

Made from copper sheet metal, these stills are hand cut, bent, shaped and then soldered together. Still popular, this traditional still is being built today using the same artisan techniques of yesteryear.

pintoshine's 6 gallon pot still. This pot still connectes to a traditional copper worm in a bucket.

Ftero's alembic copper pot still.

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