Home Distiller

Ok so just worked out how to upload images

Ive moved to the uk and have decided to set up a still over here.

In new zealand i had a t500

Here i went with something small from china it is a 12ltr boiler with a 1.5" column



Then i got a keg so that i can do stripping runs over a fire



This is my shed where i do my spirit runs and where my brew barrels are i run 2x 20ltr buckets and 2x 30ltr buckets



Im running my 12ltr boiler on a induction hob which seems to run realy well which i wasnt expecting as it is made of 304 stainless steel and a magnet wont stick to it.

Ive just finnished a spirit run on a rum using feed molasses which ive put chared stave fingers into at a rate of 1 finger per litre

Also ive finished a run of apple brandy from an apple tree that we found on the side of the road which is aged the same

I only have a small 1.5 inch condensor and dephlegmator which was finding a bit inefficient but read about putting copper through them which realy made a diffrence



I also put a small amount of copper in the column for pot still runs just to have copper contact in the system



With this pot still setup im getting about 70% finished product after cuts on my spirti run which is great and im pretty happy with the flavour so far

Im still working on my reflux system at the moment im looking at a glass column which hasnt arived yet which will be packed with lava rock

The cooling system im working on ive attached a flow meter and temprature guage to water out of the shotgun dephlegmator which will be a little like the t500 as i will be able to guage the take off by the out put flow and temp

Cool post crazy - appreciated all the photos.

Never seen copper used in a condenser / dephlegmator like that. I may have to give that a try.

Nice setup very discreet ever think of going electric ? On the keg.

I too am intrigued by the copper in the condenser. If you say the difference is noticeable, I'm eager to give it a go on my plated column/reflux setup once I have a good stock of whiskey heads and all feint tails to run.
Wish I had me some barrels like those - just wood inside glass for me at the moment, put in an open outbuilding in a Lowe's bucket so to not attract attention from nosey neighbors or get overlooked in the off chance someone in my area gets bold enough to burglarize (my mower should distract them from rummaging through plastic buckets).

Thats the exact same "hot plate" Im running , have you figured out the settings yet?

The only way Ive managed to run mine is to leave it on "hot pot" and adjujst the power through that.

and welcome.... to the country and the forum

I run the hotplate the same way with hotpot.

With regard to the keg im wanting to make a super efficient way of using wood to do all my stripping as it saves a lot on power and i get the wood for free from work

In nz i had a problem with people taking my product from the shed so i started writing poison on everything which did a great job of putting people off

Very nice little stove top still and keg boiler.

looks great , very organized shed + setup ,

doing a stripping run over a fire is interesting to me as it could be handy as a backup and I'd like to save money and butane . how long does it take to do a run ? and are you using a heat shield/diffuser on the bottom of the keg?

icrazy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 5:54 am Im still working on my reflux system at the moment im looking at a glass column which hasnt arived yet which will be packed with lava rock

I use a glass column with lava rock , it works well , its so good being able to see what happens inside the column when you change water flow , coil position or heat input . I got my lava rock from a website called specialist aggregates if you are looking for some , it seemed to be the only place in the UK I could buy any from at the time

Glad to know it works well im having problems getting the column at the moment but aliexpress has steoed in so i will be getting it from a diffrent supplier

Running on a fire is about the same speed as my 2.2kw element but ive got a diffrent design comming from a 44g drum which i will post pics of
That should give me way more heat and make for a fast strip

It is a nice feeling though sitting in front of a fire sipping hooch while the the still runs

if your looking for lava rock found diy place over in UK selling them working fine for me pass six months.

https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-l ... 064_BQ.prd

Thanks ended up getting lava rock from ebay







Finaly got all my parts for my column finished
First run im getting almost 94% (93.7) im thinking of replacing the scrubbies with prismatic springs to see if i can get any higher

The heads where verry minimal but there was still a bit of tails so im thinking of putting a double 4" bubble plate at the bottom to try suppress the tails a bit.

Compared to the turbo 500 i have in nz though this thing gives verry clean neutral

Still running the smallest boiler but it is fine for now

Im thinking of making my keg electric to as its a pain doing distilling outside at this time of year.

Ive got a mate in ireland with a tig welder so might take it over there and weld some parts into it

Hi Crazy
Welcome to the Uk , sorry the UK is shut today due to bad weather but will re open shortly (thats normal here in the UK bit of snow and everything stops hope no bad guys work this out and buy a couple of snow makers they would take over the UK in a week )
but anyway nice set up , i run a t500 and just putting together a keg set up to go in my brewing shed when i work out how do photos will put some pics up
enjoy
and stay stilling