Hey everyone!

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. **

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Oxide
Novice
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2022 10:30 pm

Hey everyone!

Post by Oxide »

Good morning! I'm relatively new to the whole homemade alcohol thing, but after a few batches of mead and cider that turned out to be pretty decent, I wanted to think bigger. Especially as a bartender, I thought one of the better ways for me to improve my craft is to better understand the fundamentals of spirit and how it's made is to try the process for myself!

Still reading up on where to start and looking to source all necessary equipment, but I'm hoping this can turn into a long term hobby. I hope I can share this journey with everyone here!

Cheers from New England
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Saltbush Bill
Site Mod
Posts: 10442
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:13 am
Location: Northern NSW Australia

Re: Hey everyone!

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Welcome aboard Oxide.
The only and best advice I can give you at this point in time is to not buy anything at all until you have a good look through the forum and know exactly what still it is that you need for the job at hand. The most common mistake made by beginners is buying a cheap crap still that needs heavy modification before its of any use, or a still that doesn't work properly which in turn , turns the owner away from the hobby.
Plenty of people here will guide you if you ask the right questions in the right area of the forum.
Oxide
Novice
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2022 10:30 pm

Re: Hey everyone!

Post by Oxide »

Hell yeah, man. Been looking at all the threads I could find on the topic of equipment, don't wanna go cheap for sure. I have some ideas on what I want to grab, no solid plan yet, but I'll likely wait till the return checks come in before making a decision.
Saltpork
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Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:56 am
Location: The land of helmet free riding, Absurdistan

Re: Hey everyone!

Post by Saltpork »

It doesn't have to be expensive if you practice patience and search for the good deals or opportunities for the parts, bits and bobs, once you know what you want to do.
Welcome to the rabbit hole

Saltpork
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance -- Thomas Sowell
Rest in peace R.L.K. & R.H.L., my biggest influences and men I miss dearly
ginfitz
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Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2020 1:59 pm

Re: Hey everyone!

Post by ginfitz »

I recommend buying modular Stainless steel Tri clamp components, mainly 2”. Copper is a pain in the butt to clean and you can always add copper to a SS column in form of mesh. I have a 2” medium product SS shotgun condenser from Stilldragon that is super quality and that I’ve used for reflux, potstill and also for vacuum distillation. How can you go wrong? The 3 gallon Heavy Duty Milk Can boiler (with 2 Inch Dome Lid and Clamp, and 2 Inch Ferruled Fitting and clamp) made by Mile Hi is great (they have bigger ones and I also have one of those). Another good small (3 gal) boiler is made by hooloodistill.com. It’s not listed on their website but they do sell it and the price is right. Then for sanitary spool tubes, Dernord on the amazon website is great and also for clamps, gaskets, reducers, elbows, etc.
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