Home Distiller

Thanks, I'll do that and see where I land.

Hi SBB! I finally got around to making my third batch of this recipe and doing a spirit run with it. I took a cut of hearts and tossed it all into a jar to meld together. The ABV is sitting at 66%. It's been sitting for a few days, and smells pretty decent in the jar, but when I watered some down to...

Good to hear!

@kakashi since you have both heads, how do your darker spirts compare between the two? I have both as well, but have found myself mainly using the pot still. I haven't gotten around to making any yet. I had a shot at making a white rum a while back but threw it out because I thought it tasted wrong...

have you thought about re-wiring the 1900w element. i wired it so, at the flick of a switch, i can change it from 'normal' to being connection to a voltage controller. among various other equipment tweaks, it's probably the best and most effective thing i've done. I might consider doing that one da...

I have no complaints about the KL pot still. For the size, it does a pretty decent job. It clears a 25L batch in about 3 hours from cold (using only 1900 watts, 2.5 hours for full 2500 watts). If you're handy with solder and have enough pipe you could make a better one, but for the price it's really...

I do a stripping run first with the pot still, then run it through my reflux still. You can also do this by de-tuning the reflux still, remove the packing, use the 1mm fitting. The pot still runs a lot faster though, so if you are seeing yourself sitting by a still for a lot of hours, consider the p...

I did a vinegar run, but didn't have anything handy for the sac run. In the end, the first thing through it was done with a turbo, so it was pretty much all sacrificed on account of it tasting awful Subsequent runs have been TPW and Wheatgerm, and they are very drinkable.

Are you still using yours in pot still mode by taking the packing out? Have you ever made the 1mm jet larger for this? I actually bought the pot still version of this still and use that instead for stripping runs. I think it's about 3 hours to strip 25L of 10% ABV right down. I could even reduce th...

Good luck with it. Mine is still going strong, though I do sometimes pine for a larger more flexible still. I'll just have to build one with the savings from these ones

Yes. The temp can't go above the boiling temp of whatever you are boiling. Water boils at 100c, alcohol at 68c (I think, IIRC), and who knows what the boil temp is for vinegar and water. Keep the boiler temp set to 102 or so on the console, and let it run. It will release vapour in time. If you keep...

I use a submersible Ozito pump from Bunnings. It goes in my water tank and I pump the hot water back into my gutters so it returns to the tank. It doesn't have a lot of water pressure, but it's enough to do the job.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-350w- ... p_p4816179

Actually, I was just looking into that, and then I saw the bloody thing was sold out. So yes, considered it, thought it was a decent idea...can't get it.

Thanks! Yeh, pretty happy with how it's all going now. It's pretty capable, given the size and cost of the gear. Deathgerm is a good recipe, but I saw Jessie, from the StillIt channel did a recipe recently that was rye and a few other ingredients. I figure I might give that a try, since he seemed ve...

Last run I did was using the pot still to strip my beer into low wines. That's pretty quick and I've now found that with a good liquor I can put 24L into the still and boil it on either 1900 / 2400watts the whole time. Next step is the reflux of the low wines. Since this has been distilled once alre...

Appreciate the comments, guys! Last week I added the Alcoengine Pot Still to my collection. It was my plan all along to eventually get both stills so I could make whiskey and rum as well as vodka and gin / absinthe. Adding flavour packets to a vodka makes a pretty decent Caribbean rum and a decent e...

Whew, I just read a lot of posts to get to here. I've done a few TPW runs so far, and they are pretty good, but I find a hard candy flavour in the liquor. That is quite possibly because I am a noob and was too greedy when doing the head cuts. I'm trying this recipe out. I settled on a much shorter c...

Jim Beam just burned down a couple of rickhouses of new make, so they have some catching up to do if they want to keep their profits up in the next few years. It'll all be insured and not likely to affect their bottom line. Cynics might even say that fire is a good way to get rid of a bad batch and...

A lot of the information quickly summarised here will be learnt if you're reading up on home brewing, especially if doing it from grains. It's useful here to spark questions about the processes, but there's way too little actual detail on the mash and ferment side to be relied upon. I also think thi...

I clean immediately after use and so most things I can just use clean water and a little scrubbing action to get clean. If it needs a little soap then I use a tiny amount of low suds cleaner or whatever is on hand. It's such a small amount I don't even bother worrying about the price of it. I recent...

If you can take over a corner of the kitchen for the day, that's a good option. I basically do mine in a hallway with a sink nearby. I can't use that hallway for that period of time, but I have a couple of ways to scoot around it. I have a corner in my kitchenette that seems like it's a good choice....

Suggest you think carefully before buying either of those stills....look at what other options there are. Both look like expencive toys to me for what you get for your money. It's pretty good advice. The column is fairly small compared to home built stills I've seen here and on YouTube. It would be...

I have that setup with the reflux still head. I actually just posted about my first triple batch (3x fermenters) stripping run followed by a spirit run on that setup which you can read here . For that run it took roughly 16kg white sugar, 210g yeast, 900g tomato paste, and insignificant amounts of e...

I've just completed my first big run of Birdwatcher's on the Robobrew. I was expecting it to take two days, but it ended up taking three to get it all done. If you're thinking of doing a batch of stripping runs followed by a spirit run; here is what you can expect using this equipment. As per the or...

Ignorant of your setup short of just going by photos, I do not recommend running a power controller on your Brewzilla. Controllers are terrific when hooked up straight to heater elements, but will not play nice with whatever sensitive electronics that are in there. Simply my 2¢. That's my basic con...

Good report with very useful tips! Get yourself a power controller kit and afterwards you ‘ll wonder how you ever managed a reflux run without one :thumbup: I've been wondering about getting something I can use for power control, but am worried it will interfere with the electronics on the boiler. ...

This post is here to document my learning experience using the Brewzilla Robobrew 35L 3.1 system with the Alcoengine Reflux still. This is my first still, so if you are just beginning, it may be worth the time to read to see what I did wrong. While this setup is designed to be sold together and work...

Quick update on the first two washes and distillation... I'm happily sipping the TPW right now. I managed to get 2L @ 40% dilution that I thought was worth drinking; the rest is in the feints jar with 1 tbsp of bicarb / litre. It's been there for about 6 days now. I've popped open the demijohns for ...

I have the 35L version which I presume is pretty much the same thing. The lid is definitely strong enough to support the reflux column, and I assume the other one they offer. It's attached to the lid by screwing on a large nut like thing on the other side of the lid. It holds it in place solidly eno...

I ordered my Brewzilla stuff from Kegland who list that item for $10 less. Not sure if they ship to the US.

Same lid but cheaper