So theres no "best" still...

[Landlocked Islander]

hello all, very new to the forum but I have read through the spoon feeding, as well as some info on bokah stills, vm vs lm and flute stills. my question is this, if you were just starting stilling. and you knew you wanted to make mostly gin, and you wanted to make a goodly amount of it. what type of still would you build? knowing what you know now. Ive looked into bokah bobs and just started reading up on flute stills, went through pot stills but passed them right over. already have a ss keg to convert into boiler, i removed sankey already and just wanna get going. but i am full of hesitancy in wanting to make a still that will last me a good long while. thoughts?
i am not too intimidated by the difficulty of building the thing, just want to build the right thing. ill be heating with propane i suspect.
thanks for your thoughts!

[masonsjax]

I strongly recommend considering electric heat. It's well worth the investment.

As for still design, I'd say go modular if possible using tri clamps so you can easily swap heads, remove columns and/or packing, and use it as a pot still if you ever decide you want whiskey. Check out DAD300's CCVM design. It's what I built and it couldn't be simpler.

[NZChris]

For the gin you need a pot still with a gin head, or something that can be run in that mode.

For the base spirit, you only need fancy equipment to run to very high proofs if you are selling it in countries that have some legal requirement you are bound by. The home distiller only needs to make a base spirit that compliments the botanicals they want to use. A pot still is fine for that.

[sungazer]

You have sort of pointed yourself in the correct direction by deciding on what you want to make and that is Gin. The next question you need to answer is how do I want to make it. That is am I going to make a base neutral spirit ? and then flavour it?

Actually this is probably what you would do no matter what. The flavor either coming from a store bought essence or one you make yourself.

The first part is making the neutral spirit. Personaly I like the offset head type as described on the parent site a lot of people here have ruled it out as it has an extra fitting which they deem to expensive I like it as it keeps everything separate and easily identifiable. The Boka design is also going to provide you with equally good results. This takes care of the neutral spirit part just water this down with nice water.

Then you have to flavor it make your own by distilling the botanicals a small 5l stove top still will do the job to make an oil extract or just add a store bought and your good to go.

[still_stirrin]

+1 to what masonjax and NZchris said.

A potstill head is great for stripping your basic wash. Then a reflux column (LM, VM, CCVM, or even an old school CM) will get you a good clean neutral for the gin. And then, a potstill with a place to put your citrus in the vapor path will bring it home for a fantastic gin.

So, as masonjax suggested, going modular gives you maximum flexibility. Versatility is the best solution and build options enhance that opportunity.

Start with a potstill and Liebig condenser. You can double distill and make some good neutral spirits for your gin base. Then, as you progress you can add a packed column and a reflux head, again utilizing the Liebig for a VM, CCVM, and a CM. And you can add a little scrubbie in the base of your potstill riser and put your gin citrus on top of that to run your gin distillation.

The secret here is to understand how things work. With practice you'll get to where you want to get. Read through as many of the builds as you can...to get an idea how to build your own.
ss

[IanD]

For the gin you need a pot still with a gin head, or something that can be run in that mode.

Isn't it possible to make a gin by infusion followed by re-distillation? Probably slightly different product.

For the base spirit, you only need fancy equipment to run to very high proofs if you are selling it in countries that have some legal requirement you are bound by. The home distiller only needs to make a base spirit that compliments the botanicals they want to use. A pot still is fine for that.

Is this true? I only have a pot still and I've told my so that I can't make gin for her since I have the wrong sort of still. I'd have a go if it were possible.

Are there any threads about gin making with a pot still?

[still_stirrin]

....Are there any threads about gin making with a pot still?

Yep....the best! Check out Odin's Easy Gin in the Tried & True Recipe forum.

The key to a good gin is the ability to make a very clean neutral. With a potstill, you'll probably need to do at least a couple of distillations.

Personally, I strip with a potstill, then make the neutral pass with my combo LM/VM marble packed column. It produces 95% ABV neutral, compressing the heads and tails, leaving a very good hearts distillate. Then, I macerate the botanicals and add them to the boiler of my gin still, a 16 quart stock pot with a potstill head on it. And I put a little SS scrubbie in the base of the riser and add the citrus peels above the scrubbie so they're in the vapor path.

Odin's recipe is exceptional and the gin is delicious.
ss

[Landlocked Islander]

ok, feeling a little more confused than before. Im just a little daft i suppose. it was my understanding that you wanted as neutral a spirit as possible for gin. also I had thought that to obtain a nice neutral spirit in the most time and energy efficient manner was the use of a reflux column. thank you all for your feedback on this, just not quite understanding why a pot still would be recommended for neutral spirits? it seems that most people agree that versatility is a great thing and i will definitely attach my column or head to my boiler with a try clamp for future alterations and options, so thanks for that. Just don't feel any more clear on what would be a good route for me to go at this point.
again thanks for your thoughts and feedback, i am learning.

[DAD300]

Modularity cost no more if it is thought out before building. Because you only build what you want as you need it.

Make a great boiler (15 gal keg) and a great Product Condenser (triclamps are nice). And make them so that you can use it with dif columns. After that anything is reasonably possible. A short column gives you a pot still. A taller column, a "T" , a Reflusx Coil, a 90 deg elbow and you have a CCVM.

There are three ways to make gin...

Distillation Infusion - Botanicals in the pot
Vapor Infusion - force vapor through the Botanicals
Compound Infusion - Macerate Botanicals and blend the essences into neutral spirits

I favor Compounding as it gives you more ability to repeat the final product. I can make a pint of Juniper essence, cloves, anise, etc...and blend them as tastes good to me. Then I can make gallons of drink from that essence.

Even those commercial distilleries (Big Boys) that claim to make Vapor Infusion Gin add essences at blending to assure the same taste batch to batch.

[NZChris]

ok, feeling a little more confused than before. Im just a little daft i suppose. it was my understanding that you wanted as neutral a spirit as possible for gin. also I had thought that to obtain a nice neutral spirit in the most time and energy efficient manner was the use of a reflux column. thank you all for your feedback on this, just not quite understanding why a pot still would be recommended for neutral spirits? it seems that most people agree that versatility is a great thing and i will definitely attach my column or head to my boiler with a try clamp for future alterations and options, so thanks for that. Just don't feel any more clear on what would be a good route for me to go at this point.
again thanks for your thoughts and feedback, i am learning.

As I said earlier, the need to reach high proofs for the neutral is only if you need to sell your products in markets that have those requirements. The insistence on internet forums and Youtube that you need to reach high proofs for the neutral is nothing more than a Chinese Whispers game. Just because you read it here, or on any other forum, doesn't make it true.

E.g. Odin's Easy Gin method only requires that the base spirit for the maceration is 43% ABV, so as long as you can dilute your spirit to 43%, that is enough. As long as the base spirit you make isn't a gross flavor mismatch, and can be diluted to 43%, it will be fine.

[Monkeyman88]

Id make a nice CM still. Run with no reflux to strip in potstill mode, re-run with reflux to clean it up, then run agian in pot still mode wioth either the botanicals in the vapour path or as per odins easy gin thread.

[Bushman]

Heritage Distillery adds directly to the boiler, juniper berries will float during the run so if you are running electric it will not burn the element.

[drmiller100]

you need reflux of some sort to make neutral. there are a bunch of different designs for reflux. All work. If one was significantly better, there would be only one best design.

pretty much any design can be made to have the reflux still run in pot still mode by pulling all the product and not having any reflux.

for gin, the "easiest" way is to make neutral and then add flavor.

IMO LM is easiest and cheapest to build.

[cob]

ok, feeling a little more confused than before.

have a look at dad300's reflux designs, simple to build, and once you build something to make neutral you can back into a pot still with nearly no effort.

[BaxtersDad]

I make very credible gin with just a simple pot still. I have an 8 gallon boiler, so I have to keep the charge under 7 gallons, and actually under 6 would be better, but so far I have gotten away fine with close to 7 gallons.

I ferment a sugar wash, last time 14 gallions. I then do two stripping runs, only taking off the fores. Then a spirit run, where i take off the heads and tails - last time a gallon of heads, but I was confident I had clean neutral. Plus that gallon of heads diluted down will go back into the next spirit run for gin. Finally, per Odin's Easy Gin, see several posts deep, I macerated the botanicals (I used Odin't botanicals but substituted dried orange peel and added fennel, since I like the licorice flavor) for two days, and add the botanicals to the pot for the gin run. The KEY to success with Odin's Easy Gin is that you only collect to 40% of the volume of the still charge on the gin run. He says collect 400 ml for a 1 liter charged, but that is 40% however you calculate it, I.e., collect 4 quarts for a 10 quart still charge. Collect past that amount, and it will not be fine gin (personal experience). Plus that 4 quarts is going to be pretty high in ABV and you will get a nice quantity when you dilute it down to drinking stregth.

So it can be done with a simple pot still. I guess I would like a reflux still that made heads removal easier, like a combo boka / VM, but don't be deterred by wishing for a better still. You are still going to be doing the striping and gin runs in a pot still anyway.

Read up and study Odin's Easy Gin, you can't go wrong.

[Prairiepiss]

There is a best still. But it's a secret and we can't just tell you what it is. You must set out on a magical journey of enlightenment like the many elders before you. And find the answers that will fulfill your needs of still knowledge. You will be challenged by many road blocks in your journey. And encounter many different people along the way. Some good some not so. But if you dedicate yourself to the path of copperness you will be rewarded with the knowledge to needed to choose the correct best still for the task.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I have not yet made a gin, but when I do, it will be entirely with my copper pot.

[GrassHopper]

Look at em' all, understand them all. Dad300's CCVM is really simple to build, cost less, (compared to some others) and will do both reflux and pot with a good flow rate and is easy to operate. I would go modular. Oh sure, in the future I wanna have a multi-plate still, but it is outta my budget right now.

[moosemilk]

I can't say much about gin, I'm more of a whiskey/rum/brandy person. Ran a simple pot still on propane for a couple years, and now built DAD'S CCVM. I did it modular so I can run pot mode, or build a different head like a boka down the road if I desire. I also went electric. And if I want (for some odd reason) I could still pop the keg on top of a propane burner. Total versatility.

To sum up, and say what others have: build modular (makes future builds cheaper and easier because there WILL be future builds), build electric, even I you don't have a controller, you can pop it on a burner and easily go electric later.

[Hound Dog]

I agree with Still Stirin. Strip with a pot, neutral with a reflux then infuse with a pot again. Of course like NZCHRIS says, you don't technically need a reflux to get a neutral I would just say it is easier. It is definitely easier for the novice.

[moosemilk]

There is a best still. But it's a secret and we can't just tell you what it is. You must set out on a magical journey of enlightenment like the many elders before you. And find the answers that will fulfill your needs of still knowledge. You will be challenged by many road blocks in your journey. And encounter many different people along the way. Some good some not so. But if you dedicate yourself to the path of copperness you will be rewarded with the knowledge to needed to choose the correct best still for the task.

*BEST ANSWER!

It's long, but worthy of notable and quotable!

[rad14701]

Ive looked into bokah bobs and just started reading up on flute stills, went through pot stills but passed them right over.

If you've looked into them then you should know it's a "bokakob"... It's a palindrome... Bokakob spelled backwards is bokakob... A palindrome...

That being said, I'm a firm believer in stripping runs using a pot still and then cleaning up those low wines with a reflux column when shooting for near neutral spirits... My preference is a LM reflux column but, hopefully, will be experimenting with a CM configuration in the near future... A loose rule of thumb is that anything over 180 proof/90% ABV is near neutral, and neutral in the 190 proof/95% ABV range...

[apdb]

A question on the boiler for making gin....?

I read alot that guys are using their "gin still"...

Does it take a tonne of work to get the leftover botanical flavours back out of the boiler after a spirit run (oils). Say, i was to run a UJ or Booners afterwards, do I risk carring over a paticularly strong flavour or would it just be best to use a dedicated boiler for making gins?

Aaron

[NZChris]

A question on the boiler for making gin....?

I read alot that guys are using their "gin still"...

Does it take a tonne of work to get the leftover botanical flavours back out of the boiler after a spirit run (oils). Say, i was to run a UJ or Booners afterwards, do I risk carring over a paticularly strong flavour or would it just be best to use a dedicated boiler for making gins?

Aaron

The gin flavors should, in theory, be gone by the time you've got rid of the foreshot, but I don't leave anything to chance. I give my gear a wipe down with foreshots and the condenser a pull through when running grains or rum after gin, the same as I do if it's stinky from rum or grain tails and I want to run a gin or neutral. There's no need to go overboard with the cleaning, like sacrificial runs etc..

[Landlocked Islander]

thanks for all the responses, I'm trying to find a solid thread with one of "dad300" designs, seen some threads that have comments on them but having a hard time nailing down a build plan. anyone have the link?
thanks again all.

[masonsjax]

The CCVM head is just a TEE fitting with a coiled condenser in the top that you can slide up/down. There really aren't any build details that can't be seen in a picture.

[GrassHopper]

thanks for all the responses, I'm trying to find a solid thread with one of "dad300" designs, seen some threads that have comments on them but having a hard time nailing down a build plan. anyone have the link?
thanks again all.

Here's a good deal of information on Dad300's CCVM
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... d#p7104768

[DAD300]

Thus the biggest problem...I think it's so simple, some don't get it.

It only takes a coil or two below the takeoff to get 100% reflux.

One coil needs to be in interference fit with the column.

Never let the reflux coil touch the packing.

[GrassHopper]

I used a copper RC, but that stainless flex is way cheaper and simpler to make. It was really simple to build. Not sayin' it's the best build, but for the money it's just easy and it works! For pot mode just pop the RC out remove the packing, cap the column and run. Or, even better just remove the whole thing, slap on you extra pot column onto the boiler. Viola!

CCVM ( Cooling/Column Condensor Vapor Management )

[rad14701]

GrassHopper, I like the use of a plate to maintain RC adjustment settings... Either a plate or thin rod would work...