Home Distiller

And a pound of hops. That would taste like piss.

In the basement, away from prying eyes, out of the weather, and easy access to all my tools and materials that I would need.

I love this one! It's simple and covert. No one would look at you funny if you're buying baby cereal, sugar, lemon juice, and baker's yeast at the grocery store. I need to give it a try at I run my current sugar wash.

I do it because I can, and because I only know one other person who does this, so I get points for being 'out there'. I've made some good beer, acceptable wine, and this just seems like a natural progression. Plus, the product that I can make at home is what, 90% cheaper than what I would find on a ...

That is certainly a step in the right direction. Now, to be able to run a still on a setup like that...

If you are working close to another finished joint, you can wrap it in a wet rag. I've done this when working with fussy plumbing fittings. This will keep the finished joint from getting hot enough to melt what you've already done. Just be careful of any steam that it might create. That crap will bu...

Around here most cooler bottles have twist off tops, which are more difficult to seal with a bench top capper. How about picking up some Grolsch style bottles and doing a bottle fermentation? Of course, you would have to educate people on how to pour them or they will end up drinking the yeast sedim...

I bet I get popped for this, but you could use an enameled pot for your boiler. As long as you don't cut into it, and don't chip the surface, it will fine, and will be about a third of the price of stainless. I would still use the stainless steel bowl for the lid, however, since you will be sawing a...

I've been making wine for a few years myself, and just recently got into this side of thins. If you are looking to get a few runs under your belt to see if you like distilling, I would say go ahead and build the pressure cooker setup. I have one, and it 'works', but I really can't do anything seriou...

I just started adjusting the pH of my washes. I've made some wine before, and those fermentations would always take about 3 weeks. I thought that was normal. I tested my tap water and discovered that the pH is over 8! When I adjusted the pH down with lemon juice my fermentation times dropped down to...

If you need to cool your wash, you might want to try this little gem:

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/38DD ... on-Chiller" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

It seems to work pretty good.

That is lovely. It's funny, seeing something so nice and professional sitting next to the Home Depot bucket! It must be nice to have friends with such great skills.

Actually, this is exactly the sort of thing that a high school chemistry student should be working on. What I mean is, it's a relatively simple exercise in terms of doing the math. Converting this idea into practice is also fairly simple, but tedious as well. Power consumption can also be easily mea...

I know I'm are smart azz, but cars use radiators and fans for a reason; they work within the parameters set by the operating environment in which they exist. Think about this a little differently. If your coil is long enough you can put a box fan on it and skip the water altogether. I've done it and...

I KNEW I was going to get popped for that comment. Yes, I know it's pretty sutpid to not attend a still while it's running. I mean, it's only producing rocket fuel, right? What could possibly go wrong, I checked everything twice before plugging it in...KABOOM! To take this in a slightly different di...

I think this will work, only because I run my very small still at very low power, so the risk of flooding should be minimal, and I should get some reflux. The pot itself is insulated with R-20 fiberglass batting, including the lid. I've found this really helps the efficiency, just like it should. In...

What about freezing? I know it's generally poo-pooed here, but it does work. Do a search for Apple Jack if you aren't familiar with the idea. Does it give the same result as distilling? Yes, and no. The basic results are the same, you concentrate alcohol in the solution, but the approach is differen...

Rad and Wildbill, Thanks for the replies. I was sure someone had tried a similar approach, whether intentional or not. The idea of running such a small column is a function of availablility (I can get the parts at any hardware store) and balancing power as I run my still at very low power input. I r...

I would have to guess that this has been covered before, but I didn't see anything, so I'll risk the embarrassment and ask anyway: I was running my little a gallon sized pressure cooker pot still last night, and enjoying the outpot, when it occured to me that I should be able to improve on it by sim...

Regarding a worm, I was in Lowe's today looking at tubing, and I can't believe how much prices have dropped. Copper seems almost reasonable again. A twenty foot section of 3/8 OD tubing can be had here, in Ohio, for less than $12. I would just go with that. Twenty feet might be overkill, but it cert...

Buy a proofing hydrometer. Listermann's sells them for $6.95, or any brew shop should have them.

I've brewed some beer with extraacts before. The liquid is cooked down into either a syrup or powder for later use by you, the home brewer. The profiles of these are almost always nutritionally complete and only require the addition of water and yeast. If you have to add sugar to the extract then, s...

but will this brewers yeast i threw in there make it taste like ****? i mean its just sitting in the bottom...Shuold i just pitch 2 ounces of bakers yeast on will my distiller take away the nasty smell or flavor of this old yeast??? proofing must be different then adding water and letting it sit fo...

You should really 'proof' your yeast if it has been sitting for a while to make sure it is viable. However, you should still be able to pitch new yeast into your wash and get fermentation. Baker's yeast, brewing yeast, wine yeast, whatever you can get should work as long as it's still good. Your loc...

Congratulations, PaulN... Also glad to hear that you are using a stainless steel pressure cooker instead of aluminum... Not sure I'd agree with removing the safety pressure relief plug, however... It was put there for a reason... I'd rather have to deal with a high pressure vent issue with potentia...

So, I finally went ahead and assembled the parts for my first still, a very small pot still. It consists of a 4 quart stainless pressure cooker, 10 feet of 1/4 inch tubing, and a 20 inch box fan to cool the worm. I started my wash about 4 weeks ago, a simple sugar wash with some champagne yeast that...