Brand Spanking new

[Landlocked Islander]

Hello all, landlocked island here. Brand new to this forum and distilling, Ive read through most of the "mandatory reading" and purchased and read half of " a home distillers workbook" but beyond that Im brand Spanking new. first off wanna thank everyone who contributes to the forum, I've been on lots of forums and its great to see one so well organized and laid out. so thanks! Im in the prairies up here in canada and look forward to getting to know more about what we all hope to love...or learn to hate? home distilling. i was initially interested because i like to do as many things by myself as i can, i raise chickens and hunt and fish for my food, keep a huge garden and collect eggs and honey from my own stock. Like to live as close to the land as possible, all the while missing the coast i grew up on.

I just finished building my very first pot still,. I used a big ol pressure cooker and have only run some water through at this point...
looking forward to learning.
thanks again.

[Bigbob]

Welcome Landlocked Islander, hoping that pressure cooker is stainless steel and no rubber gaskets. There's a post about them in what not to use. After you sort that out I noticed you have honey. One of the best things I've made was some honey shine, going to make more soon. Enjoy the forums!

[S-Cackalacky]

Welcome to the forums. Pressure cookers aren't considered the ideal vessel for a still boiler - especially if it's made of aluminum. Even if it's stainless steel, it's likely to be too small. A beer keg or a stainless steel stock pot would be more suitable. Don't mean to bust your chops at the git-go, but safety is an important issue here.

Sorry to hear that you're landlocked after having lived on the ocean. I live in the mountains of VA, but spent many years along the East coast of FL and miss everything about it even after 35 years. I feel your pain.

Good luck to you and stay safe.

Posted with Bigbob.

[Landlocked Islander]

unfortunately my pressure cooker is indeed aluminum. it does not have any rubber gaskets though, and is freaking huge. I have read mixed thoughts on aluminium use for distilling. Im curious if it is universally accepted as by no means an acceptable substance. please don't apologize for busting chops, i haven't grown any just yet. all thoughts will be appreciated. from what i read the use of aluminium is a bit of a hot topic and i don't me to stir anything up, just want some people who no more than me to speak into it. my current understanding is that as long as it is oxidized it should be just fine.
again thanks for your input.

[shadylane]

Aluminum isn't going to poison you. But the hot acidic wash/mash is going to corrode the Aluminum
The huge pressure cooker is more valuable than a beer keg. Don't ruin it. Get a keg.

[Oldvine Zin]

Aluminum isn't going to poison you. But the hot acidic wash/mash is going to corrode the Aluminum
The huge pressure cooker is more valuable than a beer keg. Don't ruin it. Get a keg.

That's a nice way to say it shady.

[Landlocked Islander]

Thanks for the feedback. I will start looking for a keg. I assume I could still use the same worm condenser I already built. But I'm curious if you were starting over what condenser would you build?
Thanks for everything guys. I'll get this.

[likkerlover]

most on here use leibig condensers which is a large pipe over a small pipe with cooling water inbetween. plenty of examples in the build thread. worms are big and bulky and can cause huffing and pooling if not on a steady decline, but it will work just fine. welcome to the forums. read up to stay safe.
living off the land has to be very rewarding. i too would love to be as self sufficient as possible

[CaptMorgan]

Welcome Landlocked! Sounds like you are living a dream: hunting, fishing, gardening and living off the land in a beautiful country.

I started with a small aluminum pressure cooker for a still. It had a rubber gasket which I found out from this site is a big no-no. After a few runs, the aluminum became pitted at the wash level. I recently built a bokakob still from 2" x 38" copper pipe and use a 15 gallon still for a boiler, fired with a turkey fryer propane burner. Be sure to research how to use your keg without cutting a hole in it like I did. I wound a condenser coil from about 10' of 1/4" soft copper. It fits inside my column and is about 9" long. No vapor escaped when running a sacrificial cleaning run. Look at my other posts to see it if you would like to.

Have you made much drinkable product yet? You could use your honey and you probably have easy access to grains in order to make your mash.

Best of luck in your new hobby.

[Landlocked Islander]

Thanks so much guys. Got a lead on a keg hope to pick it up in the next couple days. Haven't made anything drinkable yet. Only ran a bit of water through my first still that I will now disassemble. I'm looking at the Liebig condenser just have to get a soldering kit with some food safe solder. I do in fact have lots of honey and will start looking for recipes to take advantage of this soon I think. I will look into how to build my boiler from the keg without a hole. I've been searching the site for build plans with keg and Liebig but having a tricky time finding the threads. New to forums. I'll find it or someone will post a link.

[CaptMorgan]

Do a HD Google search on "remove Sankey" or "remove spear" and start reading. A plain internet search my also work. YouTube is also a good source. I cut a large hole in my keg and now have to buy an expensive piece of Teflon sheet to make a gasket.

[Landlocked Islander]

thanks found a few guide on removing sSankey. Looking through lei big guides now.