ULTRA PURE STILL

[Matty3241]

hay everyone i am in the market for buying a still and i came the "ultra pure still" and i was wondering if anyone can tell me wat there like.

also i am setting up 3 x 25L washes and i was wondering what is the beast yeats to use

What is the best type of carbon filter

thanks for your help
Cheers matty

[theholymackerel]

hay everyone i am in the market for buying a still and i came the "ultra pure still" and i was wondering if anyone can tell me wat there like.

You can build a FAR superior still for a fraction of the cost of ANY purchased still. I guarentee.

also i am setting up 3 x 25L washes and i was wondering what is the beast yeats to use

The best yeast is often dependent on the wash/mash yer fermentin'. Basically you haven't given us enough info, but bakers yeast bought in bulk is often the cheapest solution.

What is the best type of carbon filter

Yer plannin' on makin' fine hand-crafted booze right? Better stuff than ya could buy in the bottleshop, right? Then why the carbon? Carbon is for cleanin' up nasty, skanky crap that yer nose won't even let get to yer mouth. Good booze is as easy to make as nasty booze, why not make the BEST?

I suggest that ya take a breather, and hold up on the startin' right away. Trust me, ya don't have enough info now and if ya start doin' builds/fermentations right now yer gonna kick yerself in a few weeks when ya have a better idea of what's goin' on. Spend a couple weeks readin' all the stickys here to start with. That'll give ya enough of the basics to ask questions.





I wish ya luck.

[junkyard dawg]

Good advice there...

carbon polishing sounds like a great idea but when you get right down to it, its a messy unnecessary pain in the ass.

[jdonly1]

Good advice there...

carbon polishing sounds like a great idea but when you get right down to it, its a messy unnecessary pain in the ass.

and bloody time consuming

[As-Ol-Joe]

Welcome Matty, don't do anything until you understand what you are about to get into. This is the most addictive hobby out there.

Take the time to do some serious reading then build your own still (it will surprise you how cheap it can be).

While you are building your still, start some UJSM. It makes a good drink and is a great starting place.

[Oaty]

Take it from somone that made every mistake possible on my own before I came here. I agree with all the above posts. Read the home site and the stickies- they are the posts with the light bulb- in each forum before you do anything.

[VicBill]

I have one of those 25 litre ones.

The ultra pure still is basically a bokakob, but a little short in the column. I have only used mine once for the good stuff and I got 92.5% abv, from a birdwatcher sugarwash.

I'm currently fermenting another.

This still seems to make good neutral spirit, but I'm only a novice so maybe don't know what good stuff is like.

I'm looking for parts to make my own pot still, as that seems to be the advice from those that know this stuff.

Keep reading this forum, I've been doing it for weeks and have probably already forgotten more stuff than I ever knew about distilling.

[VicBill]

Just as a bit of extra information for anyone who has one of these stills, you can literally throw the 'instruction manual' away, and follow Husker's advice on how to run a reflux still. It's one of those 'stickys'.

[cpas]

i've owned the ultrapure still for a few years now and am very happy with it, the alcohol quality is perfect, it's fast and easy to use, i will say that if you do get it then once you see it and pull the condenser coil out of it you will see how easy it would be to make. The only problem with it is that it is very flimsy around the column base and the column leans to one side when you plug the hoses into it, so you have to try and get it straight somehow.
there way over priced but work better then any other still i have seen or used, i get 93 to 95% every run,
You find you won't need to carbon filter it,
Lowans baker yeast ferments sugar to about 14% as long as you put a few nutriances in with it (vegimite, epsom salt and a cup of tea is enough) costs $3.50 for 280g from wollies,

[Sunnmoring]

How is this still compared to a PDA-1? Which of them make the purest product? What makes one of them better than the other? They are both LM design.

[absinthe]

the PDA-1 is a MUCH better product.. but again could be made for about 1/3 the cost most likely even less

[blind drunk]

the PDA-1 is a MUCH better product.. but again could be made for about 1/3 the cost most likely even less

Are there build pics somewhere for one of those? Thanks, BD.

[LWTCS]

http://www.amphora-society.com/The-Amph ... p_0-9.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Not a build pic as such

[JimD318]

Why is pda1 better than ultrapure?
I got an airstill two months ago. Going by the manufacturers" instructions you'd think it'd be the ants pants.Far from it- Heap of contradictory instructions esp re pitching, clearing & filtering { some in the one paragraph} - Can only use one yeast- gotta have every thing chocka block with carbon - can't clear natural -gotta use prawn chit or whatever - no need to cut heads ( so where does the metho end up - in your head that's where } and 18 hrs full on to distill one 25l wash yielding, eventually, 6lt @ 40%, barely drinkable when disguised with whisky essence and dry ginger but mixed with vodka essence and added to tomato juice you can't taste the tomato.
Hunted about and it seemed an ultrapure coupled with a boil a beer electric kettle would be the ants pants but then I come upon Homedistiller forum where some say ultrapure not as good as pda1 you can home build a better stil than either for much less.
Well as time is of the essence 'cause by consuming too much crap out of the airstill a bloke won't be capable of using an 'off the shelf' still let alone building one.
I know where to get and how to use and the performance expected from an ultrapure but no idea of where to get ,how to use or what to expect from a pda1. Hope someone can advise.

[pHneutral]

I had a PDA-1 given to me for xmas (best way to get one! and so I've been using it for a bit now.

The PDA-1 is a Vapor Management column still with reflux. It is a complex device. Sure, you can build one yourself for half the cost or less, depending on how you source the copper, but you'd need one on hand to design it.

If you want a vapor management reflux still with a packed column, look around here for still designs. There are plenty of them and they are easier to build than a PDA-1. You'll get a better rate with them as well, since the PDA-1 was designed to run off a small kettle.. takes a long time to get 150+ proof spirits out of a wash with it (like 8+ hours or more for a 10 gallon run) since you cannot overdrive them.

Far better to start with is a simple pot still (if you're going to build) and just do two runs.. one stripping run and one spirit run. What I am doing now is planning to put together a pot still head or my 10 gallon kettle, and moving the PDA-1 to a small, stainless pot or stove top use. That way I can run 3 gallons or so of stripped wash through the column in a hell of a lot less time overall.

I would say look around here for advice on pot stills and how to run them. understand what a stripping run is, and understand how to do cuts on your spirit run. Then decide what sort of still you want to build/buy based on your available space and resources. I got the PDA-1 as a gift so i jump started the process, but if I was doing it over again I would make a pot still first for sure.

[rad14701]

pHneutral, according to what I've read, the PDA-1 is a Liquid Management column, not Vapor Management... It took some time to locate pictures, but I found some in this review... If you Right Click on the image and select View Image you will find that the picture is much larger than displayed on the page...

[SaltUbar]

Hi Mate,

Best advice, spend the next month reading all the post you can on this site.

Learn and be patent.

Regards Ubar