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Hello all. hope you're all doing well. Its been a while since iv checked in, the still has been churning out fine neutral spirits on a regular basis for almost 9 years now without issues like clockwork same TPW, same process steps, same boring old everything, so I have been considering a couple of m...

The high temp silicone plug has done about 120 hours of distilling and is showing no signs of discoloration or deterioration.

IMG_20181123_082329.jpg I've made another couple of modifications just to make life a bit easier. Firstly I've glued a CD to the take off control valve to make fine adjustments easy and used a zip tie as pointer so I can mark the CD for a quick reference point when starting the runs. Secondly I hav...

Welcome along fattima. Good old Melbourne hey ... hipster capital of Australia, but that's nothing to be ashamed about. The hipster movement has revived the whole fine food, beer, wine and fancy sprits thing. If you've got heaps of hipster mates, they'll probably appreciate a good gin. Personally I ...

Update ... I've done quite a few runs with this still now, I'm really getting to know it well. Some good note and time keeping means that I can now set it up, switch it on, walk away and return to the still just in time to see the the thermometer rise. With a tweak of the voltage controller and cool...

Liking, sharing and creating pages on Facebook about illegal activities is a great way to produce a shopping list of criminals for the local constabulary to sift through on a rainy day. Personally I no longer use Facebook because it's mediated by left wing loonies who only believe in free speech whe...

I wish you hadn't suggested building a flute. I've been looking at flutes since then, I've got a stainless beer keg, a long length of 3" copper pipe ... just need another $1000 worth of bits and pieces, a whole heap of homework, some fabrication and I'm there ! I've got to say, I'm more than a ...

When I buy spirits it's always Bundaberg Rum. They make many variations of rum none of which I'm yet to dislike This year they produced a Rum that was awarded World's Best Rum at The London World Rum Awards 2016! I managed to get my hands on a bottle of that particular batch. I'm hoping to make some...

still_stirrin wrote:Try distracting the clerk with a big box of condoms and personal body lubricant purchases.

" I see the biggest on the shelf is only 2xl ... do you have anything bigger out the back ? ... got anything more slippery than this stuff ? "

ranger_ric wrote:Only problem with that name is that "Barbara" the "Still" delivers every time!!! MIL's not so much..... your thoughts....??????

Perhaps I'll make it from lead ... so it makes venom.

I want to make a simple, crude, rustic, skanky old pot still and name it after my mother in law ... Barbara

My youngest son (22yrs) says I should name it Heywouldja... He says everytime he comes around me and the still I say Heywouldja pour this fermenter over here, Heywouldja pick up some corn in town, Heywouldja sit down and try some of this with me....... There is a similar post located here ..http://...

While researching types of stills and historical information on distilleries I've found that some people give their stills a name, even some comercial distillers have named their stills. I thought it would be fun to discuss how and why names are chosen. I get the ball rolling ... after a small handf...

Thanks for your great responses folks. It looks as If I was on the right path, but it's always nice to be sure. I have been running my coil so the top is the coldest but I'm not slowing the flow rate enough to get the exiting water hot or even warm for that matter. Luckily the return reflux distilla...

The cashier's your likely to deal with couldn't give two hoots about what your buying, if they ask at all it's because it's an easy bit of small talk, "wow that's a lot of sugar" could just as easily be "that's a lot of carrots" or "cute kid". In Aus at least there is ...

Your shop keepers must be a suspicious bunch, either that or your local cop is working at the shop on weekends. I recon I could empty the shelvs of sugar every week and no one would bat an eyelid.... "Yes I'll have a box of cornflakes with that, thanks." That elevated level of suspicion is...

Is there any scientific reason why we should have the water exiting hot other than to ensure that water is not wasted ?

I am running a offset head still, 2" column, 3" condenser with a double wound cold finger coil. Can someone please clarify for me, in which direction should my water flow through my coil and more importantly, why ? Should I be aiming to have the water exit at a certain temperature or is it...

skow69 wrote:Helluva coil. Oughtta knock down about 10 Kw.

Built in expandability

Pretty much finished, just a bit more cleaning require in some tight places.

2016-05-21 08.11.02.jpg I've almost completed the first modification to my still. An extra coil and a 1/2 " pipe plumed through the middle. This should add some extra cooling capacity and ensure that I'm knocking down everything. I might even be able to put more energy into the boiler and redu...

I'm actually thinking about making a very basic pot still and pulling flavor from some nice mash.

There's something not quite right about making a perfect neutral spirit and flavoring it to make it taste like something less refined.

2016-05-15 23.16.12.jpg AT LAST !!!!! It's been more years than I care to count but finally I got tired of seeing all those dud bottles of wine sitting around so I've kicked the still into life for the first time. This site has been a wealth of information, many thanks to the folks who have helped ...

Righ o , some good advice

thanks for the link for the valves.

I paid $80 or so for a Stainless steel Dixon brand needle valve with PTFE stem packing some years ago. Great little valve... Anyways you can apparently find them at places like eBay for under $20 now. :thumbup: Thanks for that, I'll try a ebay search with " needle valve ptef " Also Bushma...

Ok ... the needle valves have plastic tips and the valve body's have a Teflon or nylon sleeve inside them, they also had a liberal coating delicious of copper based anti seize.

I will try to find a suitable replacement for them.

Design looks good but I have several concerns. 1. What diameter is the take-off tube? 2. Is any of the plastic on the valves or the coffee pot boiler your using coming in contact with either the vapors or the alcohol? Cheers Bushman that's the sort of feedback I'm looking for. The take off tube is ...

Cheers Inglis hill. .

And I wonder what temperature I'd need to get the chlorophyll extracted from the grass 1313 ?

I've got a mate who is right into brewing beer, he controls his fermenting temperature by placing his fermenter in a dedicated fermenter fridge set to a comfortable temperature for his yeast so things cant get too hot , inside the fermenter he still runs a fish tank heater to provide the heat requir...