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[red_p30]

Hi folks. I'm a newb here, but have been doing some reading so slowly getting these concepts in my head. I'm trying to decide which still to get. I like vodka, so from what I gather, it looks like Reflux Still is the way to go on this. However I have a two concerns, I was hoping to get some advice:

1. I'm tight on space. I don't have a lot of garage space and have limited kitchen counter space, so I'd like to keep the size of the device as small as practical. From what I've read, a standard wash size is approximately 25L, which yields over 7 liters of 40% alcohol, after the distillation and dilution is done. This amount of alcohol would probably last me a year, so I'm not in need of large-scale equipment. I'm also leaning towards buying a still, preferably with minimal assembly. I'm not the great with soldering, drilling, cutting etc, so if something is easy to assemble, all the better.

2. My other concern is I may not have easy access to running water source. The reason is my kitchen tap has an attachment that does not easily come apart, so this makes it challenging to connect the kitchen tap directly to the condenser. Are there ways around this? For example, if I fill a large plastic container with ice water bath, is there a way to make this continually flow through the condenser unit and recycle the water? Or perhaps adding ice to the condenser unit to keep the water cool as it does job?

Thanks for everyone's help. PS: If there are folks out there who have purchased stills, and would recommend it, I'd be open to that. Feel free to PM or reply to help other folks out.

[TunaSquat]

I'm new as well, so I'll just briefly touch on point 1.

25L of 10% wash (close to the recommended max) contains a total of 2.5L of alcohol. 7L of 40% is 2.8L, so the math doesn't work there. Additionally, most feel that getting to drink 50% of what's in your wash would be a pretty generous estimate, so out of 25L of wash, you may get 3L of 40%. But again, it's likely that even my numbers are high, and they assume sugar washes and not grain mashes (which would be a lower yield).

Also, if you are buying and not building, I do recommend you post it up here first. I bought a ready-to-go still and it ended up being a big mistake. It was actually a safety hazard and I had to upgrade components just to get going.

[jon1163]

1. I started off with a small one gallon Chinese pot still for a stove top and quickly realized it was way too small. I moved up to an 8 gallon still and it was perfect. It doesn't take up all that much room unless you need a countertop stove in which case it might be too tall.

What year describing sounds like maybe a 3-gallon still would be right up your alley. But I would seriously recommend something a bit bigger if you can handle it. When you make your 5-gallon wash or Mash especially if you do any all-grain Brewing like a vodka the grain will suck up a lot of that liquid. So if you make a 5-gallon All Grain wash you might get about 4 gallons of liquid out of it and the rest is stored in the grains even squeezed.

Also bear in mind that an 8 gallon still is not going to be filled with 8 gallons of mash. You want to feel you're still roughly about three-quarters of the way to compensate for foaming and the like. If you feel you're still to the brim you're asking for trouble.

Also bear in mind that when you make your own you'll probably give some away and you'll probably end up drinking a little more because hell it's fun to drink something you created.

If you get an 8 gallon still you can always fill it with less but you can't fill a small still with more. If you mash 5 gallons you're going to get 4 gallons of beer. When you distill that you can guess you're going to get roughly half to three-quarters of a gallon of low wines? That means to fill a 3-gallon still you're going to need to do about four stripping runs before you can charge your still again for a Spirit Run. Say you charge your still with two gallons of low wines, you can expect to get around 40% of hearts out of that ( mind you this is all rough estimate) so now you're looking at about half a gallon two three quarters of a gallon of good liquor. Proof that back and you have a bit more. Now vodka you're going to give some away and drink some immediately with a little bit of rest maybe. But if you're doing any other kind you're going to want to let it age and then you're going to want to drink some of that while as aging. The point is small Stills kind of suck because they don't produce near as much as you think.



If you charge a 3-gallon still

2. I ran into the same problem of cooling with my stove top still long ago. What I figured out was just as you described I'd fill a vessel with ice water and circulated through the condenser. You're going to need a pretty large vessel say like an Igloo cooler or a big plastic barrel. To start out just get a cheap Chinese made submersible pump drop it in the bottom of your ice bucket and hook it up to your condenser. Run the outlet of your condenser to the top of the bucket and recirculation. The pain is just when you have to drain it after your run.

3. You say you like vodkas but trust me when you start to brew if you get into it you're going to want to experiment. I had a blast with my dual-purpose still. I am in no way affiliated with them but my still was from Mile High distilling and it serve me well for a very long time. I'll only speak to that still because that's the one I had before I made my own but the quality was great I could run reflux somewhat and as a pot still.

[HDNB]

look up (member) DAD 300 and find his CCVM design and instructions. makes neutral and if you pull the RC, it is basically a potstill for whisky and rum.
you can bild it fully modular with SS spools and Tees and SS corrugated tubing all easily accessible parts. zero soldering and tools required.

a 20 $ pond pump will recirc water out your kitchen sink.

think more along the lines of 4 or 5 stripping runs to get a full spirit run charge. 20 litre of 38abv low wines on the spirit run will net you about 12 litre of finished, cut and diluted hootch.

happy reading!

[fizzix]

If you buy over build, prepare to spend a little more. This is the 8-gallon, 2-inch reflux I have, for instance.
Absolutely pleased as hell with it and it makes a fine vodka. Converts into a regular pot still too. I use a modified 1500-watt hotplate so it's a small footprint.
There's lots of vendors out there competing for your dollar so shop around if you're buying. I just like showing the one I've got.
Good luck to you!

[Twisted Brick]

This is the 8-gallon, 2-inch reflux I have, for instance.

Where's the pic?

[TDick]

Hi folks. I'm a newb here, but have been doing some reading so slowly getting these concepts in my head. I'm trying to decide which still to get. I like vodka, so from what I gather, it looks like Reflux Still is the way to go on this. However I have a two concerns, I was hoping to get some advice:

1. I'm tight on space. I don't have a lot of garage space and have limited kitchen counter space, so I'd like to keep the size of the device as small as practical. I'm not the great with soldering, drilling, cutting etc, so if something is easy to assemble, all the better.

I was in a similar situation last year and after looking at Youtube, I got here and somewhat straightened out. I prefer whiskey with a small 5 gallon pot still so others can give you better advice on your still. I will tell you I feel much more comfortable about builds after spending a lot of time here.

2. My other concern is I may not have easy access to running water source. Or perhaps adding ice to the condenser unit to keep the water cool as it does job?

My (cheap) condenser is not plumbed for water lines. The size does allow me to to sit it in a larger pot to keep from making a mess. Then put a frozen 2 liter drink bottle inside the coil, then add water. I keep a few bottles in the freezer to swap out and it is easier to me than fooling with water lines.
Good Luck!

[Pesty]

I started in the kitchen with a 3 gallon pot crafted from RADs apartment reflux setup. Basic soldering and I use the pot for cooking to this day. Made some fine product and was very easy to use. Made a pot still head for it, made a small thumper and ran that 3 gallon to its limits before I upgraded to an 8 gallon electric setup with all 2” pipe going through 2-3 gallon thumpers.

[jonnys_spirit]

I hemmed and hawwed until I went with a 13gallon potstill from milehi. This turned out to be a pretty good size for making whiskies and similar flavored... What I have found that others have also stated here is that I'll go through three to four stripping runs (and related ferments) to get a good charge of low wines for the spirit run... In that 13g still charged with low wines I get about 2 gallons of cask strength liquor after cuts that I then age - and if I can keep the aging stock full enough i'd like to have reserves of at least a year+ old... It get's way better with some age on the oak.

I have also started putting together a DAD300 ccvm to run neutrals for vodka's and gin's / etc...

Now I'm eyeing and considering some further upgrades - a larger boiler / thumper setup so I can optimize my stripping runs and ferments to ferment and thump on-grain right into the 13g spirit still... Of course really looking what I need to do to get a plated column running on the spirit still so I can swap the plated column in for whiskies and the reflux ccvm for neutrals...

Some folks mention the rabbit hole.

Cheers and good luck!
-j

[cede]

Maybe something like this for your faucet :

[Pesty]

I like that. I just put a new valve on the water line under the sink and ran a second line for my cooling needs.

[trebor66n2]

Go with an 8 gallon. I bought a 3 gallon traditional copper still and it isn't big enough. It holds 2 gallons of beer, so to do a 5 gallon batch I have to run it 6 times. That's about 16 hrs for me using the stove top. To do it all over again, I would go 8 gallon with a heater element in it.

[red_p30]

Maybe something like this for your faucet :

Cede: where would I get such a device? What’s it called?

I found a pic of the pullout hose at home. For those reading, I figured it’s easier to post a photo. Is this pull-out faucet type compatible with the store-bought still?