New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
** Your first post MUST go here. Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your interest in distilling. Any posts asking distilling questions will be deleted. **
Just getting my first post out of the way so I don't forget to introduce myself!
I've never distilled anything before. I don't brew beer or make cider or wine. But I'm really interested in distilling my own spirits, to drink myself and to share with friends, so I'm learning what I can while I save up enoough money for the required equipment. I'm sure I'll learn a lot here and hopefully will avoid a few mistakes as a result.
At least in New Zealand it's easy to get what I need without having to pretend it's for something else
You've dropped into a great site to accomplish all your distilling dreams.
Take the blue pill to believe all the myths..
= or =
Take the red pill and accept all the realities of the hobby through reading and research.. (..alas, that's just a metaphor because the cops told me they better not catch me pushing pills again)
Good luck with the hobby, and let's see if we can help you move forward.
Welcome to Home Distiller!
Keep your wallet in your pocket until you know what you want to make and what equipment you need to make it. Do you homework on material safety, as some commercially available stills are made with dubious seal materials, so you need to know what to look out for and/or how easy it is to fix it.
The worst place to go to for distilling advice is home brew shops. I've heard proprietors telling customers complete garbage about how to run the stills they sell. I used to only go to them for glassware and cheese starters, but it's cheaper to import both, so I don't even use them for those any more.
If you and your friends have some skills, you should be able to put together a better still than you can buy and for a lot cheaper.
Thanks, yes my wallet has stayed in my pocket so far! Unfortunately I don't have the practical skills/equipment for putting a still together myself (nor do I know anybody who does who I'd be comfortable asking for help), so I'll probably be restricted at this point to what I can buy ready-made. I know it would be better to be able to make a still myself but previous DIY efforts don't lend themselves to thinking I'd do a great job. Maybe in years to come I'll take a few classes or something that would help. My dad would have been brilliant at this but unfortunately he's on the far side of the planet and firmly anti-alcohol so I can't even ask him for advice over Skype.
I'm okay with throwing money at the problem and taking the time needed to save up for what I should be buying. Obviously I'd like to dive straight in, but from what I've read this hobby requires a lot of patience so I might as well start by working on that
I now have a still ready to go. Copperhead boiler and pot head, Boka column that fits on the boiler. Just need my sugar washes to ferment (including a sacrificial wash for cleaning and practice) and I'm ready to become a distiller! Hope to have some successes to report soon.
Yep, an opportunity to move quickly came up so I grabbed it!
I've been reading like crazy on this site and taking copious notes. There is so much good advice here. Although I'm new to all this myself, I feel like I'm primed for success because I'm standing on the shoulders of giants!
