Stills?

[Road kill]

Anybody here got a still ?.

Thinking of making my own spirits but am wondering how well home made and flavoured ethanol really stacks up against traditionally produced commercial spirits.

[Katman]

A number of years ago a mate of mine used to make his own bourbon.

My early Kiwibiker days attest to the effectiveness of it.

[Drew]

A number of years ago a mate of mine used to make his own bourbon.

My early Kiwibiker days attest to the effectiveness of it.

I don't like the implication that you are any different, drunk or sober.

[Katman]

I don't like the implication that you are any different, drunk or sober.

I can type faster when sober.

[Drew]

I can type faster when sober.

Ah! Fair enough.

[scissorhands]

How hard is it to use real fruit or vegetables and grains, instead of just opening packets from a brew shop?

[oneofsix]

How hard is it to use real fruit or vegetables and grains, instead of just opening packets from a brew shop?

Methanol is a key difference, the cane sugar based mixes from the shop don't make it so you don't have to ensure you bleed it off according the nice chap at the local brew shop.
Speed would be another as you skip the mash step and just add flavour at the other end. Whiskey you first basically make a beer minus the hops then distil the spirit and store in oak wine casks for at least 10 years to give it flavour and colour. Brew shop method is to mix some yeast and sugar, distil that and add some essence for flavour.

[brendonjw]

My old man has a still, the flavours are pretty good (you can mix different whiskys to get closer to a brand name one as well as doing things like adding wood chips to get the barrel aged flavours etc, its not spot on (if your trying to duplicate originals) but still very tasty, we have found the trick is to let it age for about 9-12 months after you have bottled it and it gets a lot smoother and tastier

[slofox]

I have a still RK. I have had one since it became legal back when.

The quality of the spirit is pretty good in fact. You just have to take your time over it and do everything right. Especially the carbon treatments and filtering.

Incidentally, I wouldn't be too sure about no methanol - all the books I have ever read insist that you discard the heads to get rid of any methanol - it comes off first. For a 25 litre pot the recommendation is to chuck the first 50ml. I take off the first 100ml myself. Keep it to use for cleaning etc. After all, it is dirt cheap to produce.

I don't use flavouring essence. I found them to be a little synthetic in flavour. Instead, I use toasted oak chips to give colour and flavour. I call the end result "Mid-Atlantic Whisky" since it is somewhere between scotch and bourbon in flavour.

You wanna know anything more, just PM me.

[MIXONE]

I used to have a still and produced about 8 litres evry couple of weeks at about $7 per litre.I found that I could never get the flavour as good as the factories and that becoming an alchie is real easy...

[slofox]

...and that becoming an alchie is real easy...

I tried leaving some of my "whisky" at 60% once...every time I drank it I fell over. Must've been earthquakes or something...

Always break it back to 40% nowadays.

[oneofsix]

Incidentally, I wouldn't be too sure about no methanol - all the books I have ever read insist that you discard the heads to get rid of any methanol - it comes off first. For a 25 litre pot the recommendation is to chuck the first 50ml. I take off the first 100ml myself. Keep it to use for cleaning etc. After all, it is dirt cheap to produce.

Makes what I was told kind of scary. Think I would go your way for safety, eyesight is degrading enough with age as it is and some real meths is always handy, instead of that watered down purple stuff they are legally allow to sell you, (thanks Jim Anderton MP for alecies and druggies).

[MIXONE]

I tried leaving some of my "whisky" at 60% once...every time I drank it I fell over. Must've been earthquakes or something...

Always break it back to 40% nowadays.

I, too, experimented with various strenghts before deciding that 50% was enough.Got the desired result but not too quickly.
I used to use the first half bottle off the still as parts cleaner.

[3umph]

Yip correct about yhe head of first fifty mills... ive had a still for many years now and enjoy naking diffrent tastes.. giing to do some experiments on bourbin soon... also best to leave a few weeks before drinking aftet mixing up

[oneofsix]

what strength does the bike run on?