Still options

[Jeeepman]

I am looking at getting into making spirits. Do any of you have opinions of what to buy as far as a still. I am in the country and on well water so I was told i should probably go with an air cooled system. I am really partial to the turbo 500 but people are not recommending for someone on a well due to the pump pressure issues. Do any of you have the turbo 500 and run well water? Any issues? Does it really fluctuate that much? What are your thoughts of a good still to make spirits? Keep in mind I don’t want to spend thousands. LOL

[mr x]

http://www.amphora-society.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforu ... 12b8dad589" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Araxi]

I went with a cheap one from China off of EBay, it works well enough but now that I have learned a lot more I would have gone with the Turbo 500 for sure.

[bluenose]

definitely check out homedistiller.org before you buy anything. That site has lots of safety related info which is too important not to read
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=27

you can build a still that's better than those air cooled ones for less than you think.

[GillettBreweryCnslt]

before you buy yeast or essence let me know, I have an account with the manufacturer of that stuff and can bring it in easily and quickly for anyone who wants it.

Thanks

Dave

[denislemieux]

Build one.Pretty simple to build a reflux still, and at a MUCH lower price than buying a premade one. They also tend to produce a higher proof and quality spirit than a lot of the bought ones.

Some good plans are here http://homedistiller.org/equip/designs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I have one 3/4 built, but haven't had the money and time to finish it up.

[mr x]

The amphora design is top notch. Book is excellent.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[Jeeepman]

Well almost 3 years later I am looking for someone in the moncton area that would be willing to show a newbie some water distilling basics. I have done some reading but it seems the more i read the more questions i have. Lol. Any locals or clubs around with this type of thing?

[spears104]

Go to the stillspirits website. Lots of good introduction videos if you are looking to get into the turbo yeast/ essence flavouring scene.

[Jeeepman]

Go to the stillspirits website. Lots of good introduction videos if you are looking to get into the turbo yeast/ essence flavouring scene.

Thanks for the reply.
I have been doing just that. I would just like to meet someone local with some hands on and that also does other washes not just the turbos and that may be able to show me some tricks of the trade.

[frost021]

For the most part stay away from the cheap knock off Stills from china that being said there is a few that are half decent ones there..,also I would stay away from the air stills as the amount of effort that goes into it for the amount of product you get..,I have ran a turbo 500 on well water with good results ,but have since sold it to a member on here as I moved up to a flute from https://milehidistilling.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ...as a few have already mentioned go to http://homedistiller.org/forum/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and there is lots of good reading ,read and read again as there is lots of safety tips as safety is the # one concern in distilling ...There is also lots of good reciepes there to get you started well on your way, The first question you should ask yourself is what type of spirits you want to make as that will help guide you as to your still of choice wheather you decide to buy or build one

[Jeeepman]

I received the turbo 500 for Xmas. Just looking at some mentor to help me with the newbie questions.
Like a good example is I did my first run. Instructions say to keep it between 50 degrees to 65 degrees. So I kept it hovering around the 60 degree mark. But the output was slow (one drop every 5 seconds or so). After 4 hours I had only collected about 750ml. Forums told me to expect 500ml an hours. After reading and reading online I saw some people say the turbo 500 is in-accurate in the output temperature and to increase until the output fluid was a (drip, drip, drip, flow, drip, drip, drip, flow) so I increased the temp to about 70 to 71 before that happened. Then things started to actually work. I hope the higher temps didn't mess anything up. Time will tell.
It is little things like that that I would love to have someone local to learn from. Being new at it you tend to follow instructions to a tee and that is not always the best way.

[spears104]

It takes 8-9 hours to run off a batch in the T500. Controlling the temperature in the T500 is the biggest challenge as any small change in water pressure will affect the cooling water outlet temperature that you are trying to control.

[frost021]

congrats you'll be on your way soon enough if it's new don't forget about your sacrificial run to get rid of any oils left from production, are you using the re flux column or pot still , I usually ran between 68 and 78 if memory serves me correct any lower you start getting some aldehydes and methanol (head ache causing) stuff ...I usually kept it around 72 to 74 for optimum performance ,it does take a bit to get used to the needle valve and try to stay away from the turbo yeasts ..your ferments will take a little longer but will taste much better...also don't forget to do your cuts

[Jeeepman]

I am using the re flux column.
There is a alembic head I really want to buy on Kijiji but the owner has the boiler and both reflux and alembic head and he does not want to separate them.
I did a run of water for a couple of hours to clean out the unit. Then my first spirits run like I said for the first 5 hours I kept it at 60 degrees. but the output was so slow I could not stop thinking of the instructions that said the batch was done once you were getting one drop every 5 to 10 seconds. That is what I was getting most of the first 5 hours. LOL. After reading I let it rise t0 70 to 71 it was burping along nice.
So do you think I should just dump this first batch and start over a second run this time running 70 to 71? I did buy the spirit still pump to help keep the water pressure more constant, Also according to my local brew shop when I asked about cuts, he said just dump the first 50ml and everything is good. I dumped the first 100ml but collected everything else. Is that OK? I am more worried about quality and not quantity.
My first wash was the turbo the brew shop sold me but I have had a birdwatcher wash fermenting since between the holidays and I am just waiting for it to clear up before running it. I wanted to see and taste the difference between the two (turbo's and Birdwatcher's)
Thank you very much for any advise, Just trying to start the new hobby off on the right foot.

[spears104]

With the reflux column you don't have to worry about cuts so much. There are heads but there are no tails. You set your quality by the temperature control. Yes it is slower but that means what is getting over the top of the distillation column is purer alcohol. The higher you run your temperature the more water and/or impurities will get over.

If you used the classic 8 turbo with 8 kg of sugar, you should get between 4-4.3 litres of 91-93% product. Like I said above, that takes about 8 hours to run it off.

Stillspirits recommends dumping the first 50 mL and from what I understand there is a safety factor built into that.

[Jeeepman]

With the reflux column you don't have to worry about cuts so much. There are heads but there are no tails. You set your quality by the temperature control. Yes it is slower but that means what is getting over the top of the distillation column is purer alcohol. The higher you run your temperature the more water and/or impurities will get over.

If you used the classic 8 turbo with 8 kg of sugar, you should get between 4-4.3 litres of 91-93% product. Like I said above, that takes about 8 hours to run it off.

Stillspirits recommends dumping the first 50 mL and from what I understand there is a safety factor built into that.

After 9 hours I shut it down. It was still dripping out at a constant drip but I had 3.5L and according to the instructions that is what it said to expect. Plus I was tired and wanted to go to bed. LOL. When I emptied out the boiler I was amazed at how much wash was still left. I expected more to have boiled off.
So a slower drip is not a bad thing? I was worried but will keep reading and hopefully learn.
Again thanks for the advise.

[spears104]

Yes there is quite a bit of wash left. The turbo yeast ferments up to 18-20% and your final product is about 4 litres of ~92%, so it makes sense.

They describe the relationship between quality and temperature in the manual.

Cheers!

[frost021]

as you are saying your more after quality and I'm not disagreeing by any means what spears and still spirits says I'm just saying what worked for me, I believe in doing cuts as I learned the ol fashion way , on your next run collect in 50ml jars cover each over with cloth or coffee filter and let them stand over night and the next day smell each and you will know where your cuts should be ...being on a well my self I have to be careful of the water I use I also did my cuts with 100ml heads ,and the next 50ml and the tails would go in to the charge. That being said I never used the recipes that are suggested as I used ones that were passed down. I wouldn't throw your firsts sacrificial run out as there are many uses for it .. I had my run time to 3.5 hours and after proofing to 74% I would get about 4 liters, I did run it for 8 hours but for the amount of product it wasn't worth running my well dry.

[Jeeepman]

I am now waiting for the Birdwatcher wash to clear to run it. I am really curious to taste the difference. I have not flavored the turbo neutral yet because I want to taste the difference between the two. Water consumption is not really a concern. I am on a well but after doing the math I used roughly 50 gallons of water for 9 hours of running. That is not going to hurt my well. And with the spirit still pump it help keep it a bit more constant as far as pressure.
Any good site you guys recommend as far as recipes to make flavors?