Home Distiller

Am looking to purchace a hobby size pot still.
I have about settled on a 10gal pot set up from ng stills.
Does anyone have any experiance or feedback on their products?
They look good and I know u get what u pay for but, I have more xp running a pot and really like the flavor and nostalgia. I will be heating with gas and doing mostly corn, maybe a fruit run now and then. Thought about a tower/reflux but have minimum xp (have a friend who runs one) on them and would rather just spend my time on a pot still.
Thanx in advance for replies.

Did you ever decide on a still? i bought one from North Georgia as well as another forum member. Trying to get any modifications or upgrades done with those guys was a pain in the behind. the owner touts his military background as an asset but in his case i'm not so sure? i told him trying to get information on upgrades so i could "pay him more money",,, was the equivalent of working with the "corps of engineers"! Instead of a pleasant experience it was an unnecessarily stressful one. As i suspected and another member also discovered,,, the size of the tubing as well as the size of the thumper and condenser they sell are barely sufficient and could be dangerous with a clog in one of their 3/8" dia lines. A forum member described how his cap blew off with a resulting 6 ft ring of fire,,on his North Georgia still, which is the same as my 20 gall one i just purchased from them!

One of the first things that caught my eye (besides the unnaceptably short stubs of tubing they leave you to make your connections) was the width. i.e. mass of these solder joints! Wow,, never seen 1/2" beads of pure solder! In hindsight i'm not sure that's a good thing? I just finished cleaning and re-checked and re-cleaned the kettle and thumper. I was shocked to discover a quarter size flake of solder in the thumper which could have easily clogged up the 3/8" line and led to an explosion! I cleaned some more and discovered even more filings in the bottom of the kettle that could also lead to a clog and an explosion! (pic attached! don't they clean anything out before shoving them out the door?). the little copper filings were never picked up with a brush or during any of my pressure washing; due to their weight these little copper fragments settle back to the bottom and don't drain (like panning for gold). They are basically invisible to the naked eye when laying/hidden in and against the solder joints in the kettle. North Georgia touts "the ability to get your arm in there to clean". unfortunatrly the inside edge they left me around the inside of collar is razor sharp!! i destroyed my hands getting in there on the first cleaning such that the wife asked me what happened and "who won the fight" %-) . I nearly lacerated my arm getting in there just a moment ago but kept discovering more cooper filings which could have definitely led to a clog so i kept at it! They do a great job of polishing up the outside for sure! however the width and mass of the solder joints (and obviously the solder!) leave a lot to be desired. I'd go with someone else if i had to do it over again.

Contact Chris Kelly at Rockypointcopperstills.com or via Facebook at either the name or business. Very well made by someone who knows how to operate and build a still. Don't let the website discourage you as he builds smaller sizes also.

jb-texshine wrote:Contact Chris Kelly at Rockypointcopperstills.com or via Facebook at either the name or business. Very well made by someone who knows how to operate and build a still. Don't let the website discourage you as he builds smaller sizes also.

The copper CM still they advertise in the reflux still section is a very old design that is not very efficient.

Bushman wrote:

jb-texshine wrote:Contact Chris Kelly at Rockypointcopperstills.com or via Facebook at either the name or business. Very well made by someone who knows how to operate and build a still. Don't let the website discourage you as he builds smaller sizes also.

The copper CM still they advertise in the reflux still section is a very old design that is not very efficient.

He will build anything you want however you want it.

jb-texshine wrote:Contact Chris Kelly at Rockypointcopperstills.com or via Facebook at either the name or business. Very well made by someone who knows how to operate and build a still. Don't let the website discourage you as he builds smaller sizes also.

know of a fella that had awful problems with em, in saying that I bet it would be hard to find any a builder with flawless feedback, except me , I'm flawless.

well he can't be as bad as north georgia still co who will knowingly send you out the door with an undersized product. if you try to ask questions you will be cut off and replies to emails, texts and phone calls will mysteriously stop! You will be entertained untill you place your order but made to feel as if you only get one request or question and anything else is "out of line"! Don't expect any questions, calls, texts or emails to be replied to after you have placed your order,,, even if as in my case it's 2 weeks since i upgraded to heavy copper! You won't hear anything more untill right before your still is ready for pick up or to be shipped!

I'm so darn perturbed i gotta go spend another couple hundred damn dollars in addition to the $600 +,, for solder, couplings, fittings, and new parts, etc. just to make this thing safe before i can run it again! what makes me angry is i sincerely tried to "pay" that "jack ass" to help me get it right the first time but was cut off at the knees while trying to do so. i knew just enough to be dangerous and asking the right questions with the guy only serves to piss him off. Beware if you are buying a product from North Georgia still co their thumper and consensor,, it will not be safe to run untill you upgrade it!!!! It's shameful, pathetic and the height of irresponsibility for them to operate in such a manner! Unfortunately my guess is someone's gonna get hurt and sue the hell out of them before they do it right or go out of business.

piddler wrote:...my guess is someone's gonna get hurt and sue the hell out of them before they do it right or go out of business.

It’s a “catch 22”, because if you try to sue...what’s the basis....distilling alcohol? It seems like you might have more trouble from the law than he would with the liability. He’s gotcha’....and your money.

Only thing you can hope to do is to “black list” him. And warn as many potential buyers of his design shortfall and customer service.
ss

North Georgia and vengeance stills are partners.
Also
Distillery network and importstills.com are the same co. Distillery network claims to build their stills but they come from India. I have a copy of the metallurgy testing paperwork from New Delhi metallurgy showing 5% lead in the copper.have also been in contact with the builder in India who built them and confirmed that. They were ordered as essential oil distillers,that's why the lead. Makes north Georgia still co seem good in comparison huh.
But wait...
Distillery network/importstills is owned by the same guy as stills/stevezstillz but ran by his partner and son.
All shit stills. Undersized thumpers and worms and flat seams on boilers. The brass drain plugs are also not for potable use. Also all builders from here to top of post should be blacklisted. All also sell undersized stills. As in ten gallons is to the top of cone. Not bottom.
Crazy huh?
Then there's whiskey still company, bigbobs got one... they are not made in Texas or anywhere else in the United states. Their supplier is al-ambique the Portugal company. Good stills just falsely advertised. Small worm diameter though.
The only builders I know of that will build you exactly what you want and it be safe by HD standards and mechanical standards are Chris at rockypoint And Todd at stampede stills. Both have some base model stills and will do custom order anything you want.
Be careful who you buy from.
Or just build.
Jbt

according to chris purdy with vengeance stills,, jeff warneke of north georgia stills is a former employee whom he fired! they do not have a cordial relationship and it sounds like their next meeting may be down at the courthouse! so far they have been very responsive to giving me feedback on my proposed upgrades and seem willing to work with me to upgrade North Georgia’s undersized contraption. It’s early so i’ll let you know how it goes but i’d like to get a tri-clamp installed to take off my cap,, larger tubing, a new thumper and a prv valve installed.

piddler wrote:according to chris purdy with vengeance stills,, jeff warneke of north georgia stills is a former employee whom he fired! they do not have a cordial relationship and it sounds like their next meeting may be down at the courthouse! so far they have been very responsive to giving me feedback on my proposed upgrades and seem willing to work with me to upgrade North Georgia’s undersized contraption. It’s early so i’ll let you know how it goes but i’d like to get a tri-clamp installed to take off my cap,, larger tubing, a new thumper and a prv valve installed.

I'm glad I saw this thread as I am looking at vengeance for my first still. Glad I looked away from NG and Stillz. I'm going to give Chris Purdy a call and have a better informed conversation with him. Piddler, is he helping get things
straightened out?

I have owned quite a few copper stills and use them here in Missouri, By far the best built still I have bought is my Stillz 20 Gallon. The craftsmanship is Amazing! Steven knows how to build stills. 20 oz copper and uses 1/2" unions to connect the thumper and worm. The thumper is perfectly sized and even has a 1" port on the bottom. Hose connections on the worm and a drain on the pot. I couldn't find anyone else that offers that as standard on their stills. For the past ten years or so I've been involved in following these builders and see a lot of bashing going on and can plainly see that these are jealous builders and their friends trying to discredit other builders to sell more stills. Grow up! As far as I'm concerned (and I'm no expert by any means but have a lot of experience) Steven Stillz has been a leader in the still building industry for many years and no one can touch his work or guarantee. Iv'e seen Stillz come up with improvements like the cap logic system and the electrical upgrade and then shortly after other builders copy his work and start offering the same thing. As far as I'm concerned people only copy the best and thats Steven Stillz. I defiantly recommend buying from him.

Stay the hell away from Vengence, they're pure crap. Built assbackwards, raw edges, undersized pipes and shit fittins.

Pretty sure North Georgia and Vengeance is the same company. Their work is exactly the same. Vengeance's sales must have plummeted after people caught on so they went under a different name.

I have NG's 2.5 gallon pot, 1-gallon thumper, and worm/flake. I did have to solder a "beam" between the thumper's ears to make them more solid. I cleaned the dickens out of everything by running distilled vinegar and salt real hot through the system then rinsed it all out and ran straight water. Got a LOT of burnt flux and copper sulfate out of it but it's clear, now. Yes, you can get your arm in there but I probably will have some scar tissue to show for it. So far I've produced excellent whiskey out of it but I, too, would go another direction had I the chance to do it over.

Figured I would pop in here to help clear some things up.

First being,
North Georgia Still Company is not associated with Vengeance in any way,
nor has anyone from North Georgia Still Company EVER been associated with
Vengeance. I read above that Vengeance owner claims to have fired Jeff... physically that isn't even possible.
We dont generally like to get involved in all the drama
between still builders, and we are usually too busy, anyway. However I felt
as though this was definitely something that needed to be corrected. We also are not the same business as I saw someone suggest.



I want to apologize to the other poster above who says he couldn't get through to
make some upgrades. We are usually pretty quick to answer phones and
emails, however with how busy we are things can happen. I will say, that it
takes two weeks to get a shipping notice, because that's usually about our
lead time. We keep our lead times posted everywhere we can, but sometimes
people dont see them. I will also say, we do not hide from our customers. We make ourselves very available and have several contact methods posted everywhere we can. If ever there is an issue with something you received from us, we want you to contact us. It let's us correct the mistake for the customer, and let's us know if there is something happening in our shop we need to correct. We are humans, and everything in our shop is made by a human. We acknowledge that mistakes can happen.


To the next point of worm and thumper size. Guys, every combination we sell
has been tested (many, many, many times) We would never sell something we
believe was inadequate or "dangerous". We use our own equipment too. As does our friends and family. All of our basic kits are designed
to get beginners into the hobby as economically as possible. As far as we
are concerned, the more folks who enjoy our hobby, the better, the bigger
it will grow, and maybe one day, the more the .Gov will realize how arcane
some of our laws are... Not everyone has a grand to drop on equipment. For those that do we have options for them too.

We offer many different setups. We have a page dedicated to selecting
everything you want, and have some of the upgraded setups on Amazon and Ebay as well. Folks who start out and eventually outgrow their basic setups, can have them upgraded very easily. Most
of the time they wont even need to send their still in.


I think that covers most everything.
We want people to be successful, and enjoy the hobby as much as we do. We hope other builders are successful too. Again the bigger the hobby grows, the better it is for everyone.

If anyone has questions, feel free to
contact me.

Thanks,

Andrew Warneke

I never had any problems getting answers to questions I had. Service was prompt and I got what was advertised. I've been making good, consistent half-gallon batches of fine liquor out of my 2.5 gallon still.

Is anybody running this still. How well does it work?

just received my 10 gal today, tri clamp was mistakingly left out of the shipment but 1 phone call it is it being shipped straight away. Couldn't be happier so far.

Has anyone had any recent experience with NG Stills?
These posts are 5 years old, and they may have improved.
They seem to have quite a few customers at this point in time (2023) with a 6-8 month lead time.
Have they improved their product or just better marketing?
I know someone who wants to acquire a good copper pot still. They don't want to build one.

A 6 to 8 month lead time does not really sound “better”, at least to me. Part of good “quality” is customer service and half a year (or more) is simply lousy service. Gamble if you prefer, but this is the reason North Georgia Still is NOT RECOMMENDED here. PERIOD.
ss

still_stirrin wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:36 am A 6 to 8 month lead time does not really sound “better”, at least to me. Part of good “quality” is customer service and half a year (or more) is simply lousy service. Gamble if you prefer, but this is the reason North Georgia Still is NOT RECOMMENDED here. PERIOD.
s

I don't see North Georga Stills on this list yet.

Links to these sites and videos are not welcome here and will be deleted:
American Copper Works
HILL TOP COPPER OR DEEP SOUTH STILLS
Powder River Copper works
copperflutes.com
Stilldrinkin
realmccoymoonshinestills
Rkhelp,
Hillbilly Stills
visionstills
woodshed distilling
Agenzymes.com.
Youtube channels: Barley and Hops Brewing.===These sellers have a poor reputations regarding advice, service, delivery or workmanship. Caveat Emptor.
Other links to vendors may be left for user's convenience but are not endorsed by the forum. If any vendor become suspect, they will be added to this list and the links deleted. Users repeatedly linking to these vendors may also be banned.

Jaclamar wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:24 am
Have they improved their product or just better marketing?
I know someone who wants to acquire a good copper pot still. They don't want to build one.

I like Copper Moonshine Stills for all copper stills.

For making a double-distilled whisky, rum or brandy, you sure can't beat a 2" or 3" copper still on a keg or milk can for durability, speed and spirit quality.