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You can include as much flavor as you want by how you run the still and choose your cuts. For Jenever, I use narrow cut hearts from a pot still. For gin spirit with less grain flavor, I reflux the feints from the pot still spirit run.

I sometimes use a 12V pump to add cold water to the bottom inlet of the flake stand, overflowing the hot water from the top outlet. A cheap 12V temperature controller is used to control the temperature in the flake stand near the product outlet, the thermocouple is in the water, not the product. Thi...

I doubt it. The entry point, G, for the vapor is too high. It will work just fine if the pre heater outlet piping is plumbed to allow removal of condensate generated in the pre-heater. STRIPPER W PREHEATER.jpg I've never seen the inlet to a thumper designed like that. What stops the thumper drainin...

Watch out for burning. It would be safer if they were put in a Carter Head.

I was thinking of fabricating one of these condensers as I have a lot of copper sheet that I found on craigslist. I could use it as a wine preheater. It would be much easier to clean than a traditional worm. It would be easier to make concentric cylinders instead of cones. condenser.jpg Very cool, ...

I don't even take the still head off between stripping runs, refilling through a valve at the top of the pot.

Your life doesn't sound much different to mine up until I started distilling. The biggest difference I can think of is that I didn't have the internet feeding me mis-information while I was researching what to do. I had to go to university libraries and hunt for actual research.

I just told a lie. My first rum ferment was airlocked and the wash hit the ceiling while we were away for the weekend.

I don't recall having any dramas when making my first rum over four decades ago without the 'help' of the internet.

Also i only realized i wasnt even in the ballpark on yeast until reading other recipes. And yeah thats why i didnt attempt another gravity reading after extra sugar. If you want to know just how screwed up my head was at the moment, changing jars on a spirit run and why you can now see i have a lei...

Still didnt take fg yet because i dont know what it would mean after an og, a ferment, and more sugar added. I’ll watch to see if gravity changes over next couple days. FG and OG won't mean anything to any of us 'experts' now that you have added sugar. The best check now is tasting it. If it's stil...

A number one screw up. There was probably nothing wrong with it and it was finished. Your Brix refractometer is the wrong tool for the job. A hydrometer is more useful, but even then, you still have to allow for non-sugars that affect both refractometer and SG readings. The difference from OG to FG...

You don't say what type of still you have, what it is made out of, or how you heat it.

Cleaning between brandy runs isn't needed and citric acid strips valuable patina off copper.

For neutrals, I run until my low wines collection is just below 40%. Some stop earlier, like 50%, then add water to get below 40%.

Have you done vinegar and sacrificial alcohol runs?

If using a couple of separate solar panels, you could mount them on stands to give yourself some power control. Point them both at the rising sun in the morning, then turn one away enough to prevent smearing when it starts producing. Once producing, you would only have to turn the panels maybe once ...

If you are running a simple pot still, passing clouds will interfere with production, but that doesn't cause smearing, it just takes longer and is a PITA if you are in a hurry to get it done and go to the pub. We use 12V water heater elements directly connected to second hand solar panels to heat ho...

Solar is at least three worthwhile topics.

A heliostat can aim a mirror.

Panels can be used with batteries and converters, plus they can be connected directly to elements without all the expensive stuff needed to store and convert.

If the flue of a rocket stove went through the boiler, there would be some serious burn on happening above the wash, the same as happens when a pot is shrouded.

I gravity feed my condensers from a bucket hung low enough for me to fill with another bucket. Supply the condenser water using the bottom hose tail and letting it overflow from the top. Flow control is a Crescent spanner pinching the water line.

Stripping them separately is a good idea.

If any of them did smell of SO2 when you opened the bottles, please let us know what tricks you used to distill them and how they turned out.

There are older threads.
I don't have any issues with learning from old threads and members that have moved on.

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I macerate overnight, then add the water just before distilling.

I have a thermocouple in the charge because the boiling point can be used to work out the ABV of the charge. When the first stripping run is done to my satisfaction, I record the temperature and use it to end the remaining strips without me having to check the ABV during the runs. The final ABV of e...

Start by planting the botanicals in your garden so that you can use them fresh.

I had to anneal the bottom of my still at least twice while shaping it to take an element at 45 degrees, which was then bent to horizontal to give me a very low element for small runs if needed. It was well worth the effort and I've done many small experimental runs with this still, even though it i...

I don't know that there is any need to put water in the retorts for the initial run. There is no flavor or alcohol in water. I'll rephrase that: I don't know that there is any need to put water, rather than wash, in the retorts for the initial run. There is no flavor or alcohol in water. Starting w...

I guessed you were a Kiwi from your user name. Welcome to the forum.

No, I'm nowhere near you.

Yes, I have put hops in gin, successfully
I have hopped gin in tonight's G&T.

Cheers
Chris.

I've only come across clear coat on finished products, not on sheet. Heating a corner to red hot should tell you if it has any sort of coating.

I don't know that there is any need to put water in the retorts for the initial run. There is no flavor or alcohol in water.

Make plenty of wash, more than enough for several runs.

Charge the boiler and the retorts with wash, do a run, choose what you want to keep to charge the retorts with next time.