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Here's some pictures of my first still and first ferment.

What capacity is that? You'll find it hard to make decent cuts judging by the image. My local brew shop has one exactly the same but for display purposes only? Has it been used before this by anyone else?

Actiontrent wrote:What capacity is that? You'll find it hard to make decent cuts judging by the image. My local brew shop has one exactly the same but for display purposes only? Has it been used before this by anyone else?

It's a 1 gallon, very small still and I will most likely upgrade after I get a bit more comfortable with the processes. Originally, I was trying to enter this hobby on a budget, but soon realized that wasn't going to be the case so it's then I made the decision that I had to have the confidence and available funds to go bigger. To my knowledge, it hasn't been used yet, (I bought it online). I know the quantity isn't going to be there, which isn't a huge deal for me right now.

Stills like this have been used by several HD members, It looks very nice for decoration but to make cuts/any type of volume would be very hard at a 10% wash you would only get 378 ML of 100% so cut in half 700ML total of foreshot/heads/hearts/tails maybe a lil more than 700ml but im just saying it wouldnt be much. I honestly wouldnt ever recomend going under 5gal for your 1st still, sense learning cuts are the hardest part IMO... But just think, after u get a new larger still itll be a bad-ass decoration lol if you get tierd of it send it my way

To be honest mate I think that is more of a display item. Your cuts will be almost impossible to achieve on this small a scale.
One of the HD mentors will clarify on this one?

Even store bought and that small, you should do cleaning runs on it. 50/50 water vinegar, them some alcohol that will be sacrificial, to be tossed. It will be hard to do cuts on a batch that small. Good luck to ya and when you decide to go bigger there are a lot of options here at HD that are open to ya.

That looks like a 1-gallon pot still from Whiskey Still Co. They make a great product, really a gorgeous work of art that also works just fine. A few buddies of mine run the 10-gallon versions, and they work swell. I just picked up one of the 2.5 gallon rigs, and am on my 2nd gen of UJSSM (I was all set to do a Birdwatcher's, but got a good deal on some cracked corn). The 1st went fine, and even though I am going to use all but the foreshots of the 1st run as feints in the 2nd, I collected the entire run in a series of very small mason jars and was able to identify the best part of the hearts (the contents of that jar may have mysteriously disappeared during the testing procedure... )

You have to be very careful on the cuts, as less volume necessitates more precision, But, bottom line, the principles of distilling remain the same at any volume: each of the different parts in your wash evaporate at different points as you apply heat. You have to babysit these smaller stills a lot more attentively, but good cuts can still be made. Use the "small jar" method mentioned elswehere in the forums (I forget which post it is in at the moment), maybe even a "micro jar" method! Just collect into small jars, keep them in order, let them air for a bit, and do some tasting. If it all sucks, run it again or toss it in with your next run. Experimenting is a big part of the fun, at least for me!

When I got this 2.5 gallon pot still, I was initially excited , then disappointed by a lot of the "poo-pooing" I was reading about "decorative stills" from guys running these huge, complicated rigs , then excited again when I produced some good product out of my fully functional, gorgeously crafted "decorative still." Anything bigger for me is really impractical for where I live, so I am determined to make the best product I can with what I have. So far, so good. I'm sure you will make it work, too. Us small-time operators gotta stick together! We may not be able to produce the big volumes, and it may take us longer, but dad-gummit, we'll make some quality 'shine if it kills us!

You're correct. That's where I bought it from. I hope to upgrade soon and it will be a nice decorative piece and a reminder of my humble beginnings. lol.

Well, did my first run last night and I couldn't be happier. It took me a bit to get the still to the right temperature with the burner that I have but once it was on cruise control it was a sight to behold. My little still held up with no leaks and worked flawlessly. *Throws hat into the air and fires off a couple of rounds.* It was quite satisfying.

I see what other members said about not needing a temp gauge. After about an hour I was able to determine the temp by the worm flow. I must admit, it's a nice option and extremely helpful on the first run tho. THANK YOU to everybody that's contributed to this site. Being a 'text-book' distiller, the info on this site gave me the confidence to pursue this.

Ribrob wrote:Well, did my first run last night and I couldn't be happier. It took me a bit to get the still to the right temperature with the burner that I have but once it was on cruise control it was a sight to behold. My little still held up with no leaks and worked flawlessly. *Throws hat into the air and fires off a couple of rounds.* It was quite satisfying.

I see what other members said about not needing a temp gauge. After about an hour I was able to determine the temp by the worm flow. I must admit, it's a nice option and extremely helpful on the first run tho. THANK YOU to everybody that's contributed to this site. Being a 'text-book' distiller, the info on this site gave me the confidence to pursue this.

That's fantastic to hear! So what's the final product taste like?

Actiontrent wrote:

Ribrob wrote:Well, did my first run last night and I couldn't be happier. It took me a bit to get the still to the right temperature with the burner that I have but once it was on cruise control it was a sight to behold. My little still held up with no leaks and worked flawlessly. *Throws hat into the air and fires off a couple of rounds.* It was quite satisfying.

I see what other members said about not needing a temp gauge. After about an hour I was able to determine the temp by the worm flow. I must admit, it's a nice option and extremely helpful on the first run tho. THANK YOU to everybody that's contributed to this site. Being a 'text-book' distiller, the info on this site gave me the confidence to pursue this.

That's fantastic to hear! So what's the final product taste like?

Sorry, should of mentioned it was a sacrificial run. My first actual run that I will be keeping will happen in the next 3 days.

Well, I did my first run last night. I had to battle some unexpected weather conditions but I did end up with 40% ABV / 80 Proof corn whiskey. I took a small sip and it tasted like a sweet corn with a very slight scent of beer. I'm saving it all as feints for my next run which will hopefully happen this weekend.

Don't know if you are still hanging around these parts, but if so, how'd everything end up? Did you wind up with some quality 'shine?