Hi from Newfoundland

[BatGuano]

Hello,

I am brand new to this hobby. I bought a Mophorn airstill with temperature control earlier this year just to cut down on cost, however during my research, I became fascinated with the process of home distilling, and now wish to explore this further. I am about to order an 8 gallon still (with pro tower) from Mile HI Distilling and make my own PWM controller to start off with (will later go to PID, but want to get the feel for it first). From my lurking here, I realise a lot of people will say that I should make my own still, and I will at some point, but right now I do not have a workshop or garage for projects, and also want to get into the process of this before I start designing my own equipment.

I myself am in IT, and love poking around with old technology, so this hobby has a lot of attractions to me. I am a big fan of the idea that there are number of ways you can arrive at a solution.

Gin drinker, and my wife is partial to dark rum.

So Hi...

[Bushman]

Welcome and nice introduction. You have come to the right place, my wife likes gin, my son likes rum, and I am partial to whiskey thus I make it all. Enjoy the journey and from what I have heard MileHi makes a pretty good product.

[tiramisu]

I'm hoping for Gin by Christmas but putting together all my bits is a slow process. Good luck to you.

[Setsumi]

Welcome. I do hope you read a bit more before you go to the PID. the PWM will suite distilling better.

[Expat]

Hey Bat, welcome to HD!

Now that you've that found the best source for knowledge on this hobby, I'd like to strongly suggest that you ditch youtube as source, and all it's bad ideas (e.g. PID).

Lots of reading ahead but I guarantee the results are more than worth the effort. Once you've equiped, I would suggest rum would be your first area to work on. It's reasonably easy and the feints cna be refluxed into a nice neutral for gin.

Good luck, have fun and play safe.

[Saltbush Bill]

I am brand new to this hobby. I bought a Mophorn airstill with temperature control earlier this year just to cut down on cost,

Bat I don't want to seem negative here but you are going in all of the wrong directions as a few other members have pointed out.
An air still is not a great start .....but it can teach you things .....knew a bloke once who made a pretty good Scotch Whisky clone with one.
Run PROPERLY ..and that ISNT the way the fella who sold it to you said to do it ....you can make something reasonable with it.

I am about to order an 8 gallon still (with pro tower) from Mile HI Distilling

Is that what you really want or need ?.......what spirits do you want to make ........what have you got to loose by not ordering that still or canceling the order until you know more ?

(will later go to PID, but want to get the feel for it first).

Been watching Youtube stuff huh ?
Dont do it is all I can say......lots of bad infomation.

From my lurking here, I realise a lot of people will say that I should make my own still,

..do it and do it now.....you will regret buying a still as time goes on and you learn more.

[LWTCS]

Old Technology?
Mate, distilling is physics.
First things first.

[astro313]

Welcome! Why buy the 8 gallon milk pot for USD 250 + taxes + shipping when you can get a used keg of the same size for CAD 60-100? Kegs are stainless steel and work perfectly. There must be someone in kijiji near you selling a keg, or just call a brewery nearby and ask them if they can sell you a keg that it may not be of use to them anymore.

[BatGuano]

Old Technology?
Mate, distilling is physics.
First things first.

The old technology quip was the 'bit about yourself' bit, not specific to distilling. I love old rotary phones too.

[BatGuano]

Welcome! Why buy the 8 gallon milk pot for USD 250 + taxes + shipping when you can get a used keg of the same size for CAD 60-100? Kegs are stainless steel and work perfectly. There must be someone in kijiji near you selling a keg, or just call a brewery nearby and ask them if they can sell you a keg that it may not be of use to them anymore.

I have made things before with the thinking that I was saving money, only to realise that I didn't save and spent a lot more valuable time as well. I am interested in the process and want to get into to it quickly.

I will end up making my own still eventually, I will end up making a lot of things, but I need to have an understanding of how the process works first. The best way to get that is by doing. The final product is not my destination, it is the road to get there.

I have made a career in IT. I started by one day (in my mid 20's) thinking that I should get into computing. I never bothered with them before, we had some early Commodores and Apples in school... I was more interested in motorbikes and snowmobiles. But computing was something that I did not know, and that irked me. So I did some very preliminary research and went into my local small town computing store and told them what I wanted (AKA, spouted terms i got from PC Magazine).

Could I have done that cheaper? Yes. But the upshot is that I learned what I wanted to to learn and did not have to deal with the frustration of not having the proper tools to do so. Eventually, I did get into the hobby of collecting old computers, after having the foundation of learning what they were about, which led to a 20+ year career in IT.

When I have actual experience in distilling with a proper still, I will have that first hand knowledge that will allow me to design my own.

BTW: I didn't bother with MileHi after... I sent some Russian dudes a pile of cash late one night instead.

[BatGuano]

Welcome. I do hope you read a bit more before you go to the PID. the PWM will suite distilling better.

I agree, but I am more interested in the process as a way of learning. I will try a PID, and even try a software PID that I can tweak. However, I think the PWM will be what I use when I want try a specific product, and not just experimenting with the process.

[Saltbush Bill]

Some light reading for you Bat, https://homedistiller.org/forum/app.php ... itesearch= read the first 50- 60 threads .....you might then understand what people are trying to tell you about using a PID to run a still.