Home Distiller

I am a homebrewer of beer and have everything I need to distill other than the still itself. Are there are cheap or easy to make stills out there? I am really not looking for "great" product, just something with a high proof.

Hi fish fool try reading over sights you see listed in my signature. or use search on this one. when ya have a better idea what your after youll find plenty of help

fishfool
we are you in the world

tater wrote:Hi fish fool try reading over sights you see listed in my signature. or use search on this one. when ya have a better idea what your after youll find plenty of help

Sorry, n00b mistake , trust me though, I will be back with many many dumb questions!

my cheap n first n current still consists of the cheapest stainless stockpot i could buy, it even has a glass lid i just removed the handle and dremmeled the hole to take my copper pipe, the copper pipe is the soft pipe bought in a big role shaped accordingly as on the home ditiller site with a larger copper jacket around the outside, cheap simple to make and producing real tasty rum that i have to water down from around 60%,,, it depends what u want to make? neutral spirit or rum whisky brandys ect. One thing i might suggest is to but a bigger stock pot (boiling vessel) i run 1 gallon at a time n make just over a bottle in a go, i make it on demand but it gets to be a sod stillin in the english winters im soon to upgrade to a larger size boiler.

Whoa Brett, that's getting back to basics there, but it works so go for it! Actually, my first "lil still" was a tiny 4-liter pressure cooker that I "scotched" from my wife when she wasn't looking. It was set up very similar to yours (with the exception of the lid of course) and still works for me today when I want to run off a "second" (consequently smaller) run from my larger still. My next still is also a pot, but I used a 20 liter ss stock pot (cheapest thing I could find and only cost $10.00 US) for the boiler. To keep the metal lid in place, I placed a 10 lb iron (barbell) weight on top. Works great and I can't blow my self up this way! I do use a bit of flour and water paste to help seal against leakage though. Pot's are a great starter "still" especially when your after flavor (rum, whiskey, brandy etc.), but I am now building a reflux tower to use with this same boiler, simply 'cause it's the next logical step in this ever more compelling hobby of ours. "Fishfool" you should be able to put something like this together for next to nothing cost wise, but "tater" is right when he admonishes us all to "read, read and read some more!" Even though you are experienced at fermenting wine and beer, you still need to read up on distilling so you understand what you are really making, what you can safely drink and what to toss out! I'm sure you have already seen plenty of warnings about methyl alcohol, but that's just the beginning of the potential dangers one may encounter when you distill that wash! So go ahead and make yourself a simple little starter still so you can enjoy this hobby to the full, only do a little more research before you operate it.
I wish ya th verrry best! Enjoy, but do it safely,
Spiritmaker (one of yer friends jis across th pond)

Spiritmaker wrote:Whoa Brett, that's getting back to basics there, but it works so go for it! Actually, my first "lil still" was a tiny 4-liter pressure cooker that I "scotched" from my wife when she wasn't looking. It was set up very similar to yours (with the exception of the lid of course) and still works for me today when I want to run off a "second" (consequently smaller) run from my larger still. My next still is also a pot, but I used a 20 liter ss stock pot (cheapest thing I could find and only cost $10.00 US) for the boiler. To keep the metal lid in place, I placed a 10 lb iron (barbell) weight on top. Works great and I can't blow my self up this way! I do use a bit of flour and water paste to help seal against leakage though. Pot's are a great starter "still" especially when your after flavor (rum, whiskey, brandy etc.), but I am now building a reflux tower to use with this same boiler, simply 'cause it's the next logical step in this ever more compelling hobby of ours. "Fishfool" you should be able to put something like this together for next to nothing cost wise, but "tater" is right when he admonishes us all to "read, read and read some more!" Even though you are experienced at fermenting wine and beer, you still need to read up on distilling so you understand what you are really making, what you can safely drink and what to toss out! I'm sure you have already seen plenty of warnings about methyl alcohol, but that's just the beginning of the potential dangers one may encounter when you distill that wash! So go ahead and make yourself a simple little starter still so you can enjoy this hobby to the full, only do a little more research before you operate it.
I wish ya th verrry best! Enjoy, but do it safely,
Spiritmaker (one of yer friends jis across th pond)

I am reading and everything I have read say through out the first 5%, is this right?

What is the part in red and why is it thicker?

Thats the condenser, dude. Its a jacket over the output with water running through it. Run a search for leibig condenser to learn more.

That's not a condenser!! THIS IS A CONDENSER!!

Show off, just kidding.
Wish I could do work like that.

Uncle Remus wrote:That's not a condenser!! THIS IS A CONDENSER!!

Did you salvage that from a nuclear reactor? Looks more like a linear accelerator.

Nice, Remus.
Your work area looks alot like mine but cleaner and more organized.

Each time I see UR's potstill rig, I get condensor envy.

I know UR lives in the great white north(-22 DEG F), but that condensor would make a great wort chiller.