Greetings from BC, Canada

[NorthernAussie]

Hey all - I’m NorthernAussie, based in BC, Canada. I’ve lurked these forums since I got my first still in 2019. I bought a second-hand T500 with reflux column, right before the pandemic kicked in. Through the pandemic I made a bunch of neutrals; they always needed filtering but I enjoyed learning and trying to make them more acceptable to my wife lol. At least we didn’t have to buy sanitizer!

We moved to BC in 2020, right near the interior wine region. As a result I decided I wanted to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps and make grappa. I picked up an alembic head for the T500 and have made grappa for the past 3 years. I think my year 2 batch was better than my year 3 batch, sadly.

I’m now looking to upgrade my still, and have decided it’s time to learn how to build the one I want. I’ve bought (and read!) “The Compleat Distiller” and Riku’s “Designing and Building Automatic Stills” but (of course) there remains a lot to learn.

Thanks for reading!

[quadra]

Welcome aboard ! I am a few hours North... there is a Hella lot of good reading here, and if you don't change your mind at least three times as to what type of Still you want to build... you probably need to read more.

what type of Still are you thinking of building?

[Yummyrum]

Welcome to the forum Northern Aussie
Guess’n grandpa was Italian . The world’s a big place getting smaller .
Never pictured Canada as a wine region . But then again , they grow some excellent grapes at the bottom of New Zealand .

Happy distilling.

[NorthernAussie]

Welcome aboard ! I am a few hours North... there is a Hella lot of good reading here, and if you don't change your mind at least three times as to what type of Still you want to build... you probably need to read more.

what type of Still are you thinking of building?

Thanks Quadra. I’m currently leaning towards a 3” CCVM modular so I can use it as either a pot or reflux still. I recently got a 220V 20A circuit put in specifically for this hobby, so now I need a unit that can take advantage of it! I’m pretty happy with a ~25L boiler (although I might go a little larger), so I’m mainly looking to decrease the time a run takes, whilst hopefully improving the quality of my product.

[Bradster68]

Welcome neighbor and

[quadra]

Glacier tanks have most of the SS parts you will need for that build and are great to deal with. I have had them ship regular mail instead of courier and the landed price was pretty competitive ... even better if you manage to hit a sale!

[MooseMan]

Welcome to the forum.

A 3" modular CCVM is a great choice in my opinion. But I'd suggest you go to a bigger boiler for it, more like 50l minimum.

Moose

[NorthernAussie]

Thanks for the welcome and comments all. MooseMan I hear you on the boiler size, part of my learning will be to figure out what length 3” column that I can pack with SPP and still achieve my aims, given my basement has an 8ft ceiling. Hopefully it can all work, the boiler I am looking at (Anvil Foundry) stands at 35”.

[MooseMan]

Start a thread for it man, you'll get plenty of input to help you out before you commit to anything.

[quadra]

SPP will get expensive quickly, have a read up on scoria or lava rock packing. Building a 50L keg boiler should be your first priority, there are lots of good examples here to guide you.

[Bushman]

The Okanagon region of BC is a beautiful area and produce a lot of Grapes. Most of the Halmark movies that highlight a winery are filmed in that area. Welcome from a member closer to the coast and just below Canada.

[zach]

Welcome! I remember skiing around Kamloops in my younger days. It's beautiful!