Complete newbie question - any and all advice welcome.

[BuckeyeShine]

I'm looking to start and only produce extremely small batches for personal use. Not going to go beyond what I can consume myself.

I would like to try the small, very inexpensive design that uses 8mm of copper tubing, a plastic bucket and a stovetop pressure cooker that can be bought for around $30 US at walmart.

My question is how good of quality can I create with this kind of setup? Also how much can I make per batch if the pressure cooker is 6 qts?

Once my mash is ready and I start the process how much time will a batch of this size take?

Thank you for your help and attention.

[rad14701]

Stop what you're considering doing and do ample research here in these forums and the parent site... No pressure cookers... 3/8" - 1/2" minimum for a worm... No ice in a worm bucket... Blah, blah, blah...

Every question you have asked has been answered many many times already so giving you personal help, repeating the same information, is fruitless... We can't give the same basic advice to every new member here... We consider independent research here mandatory, not optional...

[mmmmmm]

Well, the simple answer is that you're not going to get much from a 6 quart pot. I use a 16 quart pot, and I'm considered the extreme small-side of the hobby, and I have to agree that any smaller and I'd be wasting my time.

You're going to get a very small amount from a six quart pot. And it's not like you can run it a whole bunch of times to get more liquor, unless you just dump foreshots and drink everything else that comes out. And that's just nasty.

I mean.. quality of your liquor depends on how much of it you keep to drink and making sure it comes from just the right part of the run. For a six quart pot, you'd probably get like a shot of the really good stuff (if you really knew what you were doing.. and.. I don't think that's the case) and the rest would be crap. You could drink the crap and get drunk, but it would taste like ass and give you a wicked hangover.


That's just talking about a hypothetical six quart pot. That's not mentioning that none of the setup would really work at all.

You need at least half inch copper worm. The 8mm would probably work, but it wouldn't work well. You really shouldn't use a pressure cooker because it's made of aluminum. The only thing that your liquor should really touch as far as your pot and still goes, is stainless, and copper.

[Prairiepiss]

What quality will you get with that little bitty toy still?

Bottom shelf airplane bottles of crap.

Build a good size learning still. And quit toying with the YouTube play toys.
5 gallon boiler 3/8" or larger worm. In a bucket as large if not larger then the boiler.

[slow trickle]

I started with a 13 gallon boiler and that is a good size to start at in my opinion. Once you get started in this hobby you will wish you had something bigger in no time. Just making it for yourself is what we do here. Once you get started you will want to try different recipes. Smaller stills will take forever to get enough to age. You will be running it once or twice a week to get enough to age. Even if you don't age it on oak about a month in a glass or stainless storage container will make a big difference in taste. The longer the better. A keg makes a great inexpensive boiler that you can put any type still head on and easily hide in plain sight.