StillSmart

Hmm..don't remember seeing this thread before.

So, I'm late to the party as it were.

Hi my name is GB2 and I'm an alcoho....oh wait, not that kind of intro huh?
Been here a while now, enjoy it as it's another place to gain/spread knowledge.

Any day you can learn something is another day you go to bed a little less stupid, eh?
(speaking of stupid, when I posted this I noticed it went to the top because it\'s a sticky, DUH!) LOL

hello to everyone,i\'m recently back into brewing and have recently recieved an air still from the wife for my birthday :-) first wash is bubbling away nicely and after 6 days has reached 1002, hoping for the 990-980 that i was told to expect. i really cant wait to fire up the still when its ready. do i need to sterilise the bottles as usual? or is the spirit gonna do the job on its own? will probably sterilise anyway as its 2nd nature but would be nice to know if im wasting time and money. am fascinated by the allinsons wash recipies on here and the rest of the help and advice, cant wait till ive learnt enough to be of use.

Not pinching Jimmy\'s job but welcome to the forum. Everyone on here are a friendly bunch and always willing to help.

Opus 27

[quote]Not pinching Jimmy\'s job but welcome to the forum. Everyone on here are a friendly bunch and always willing to help.

Opus
thanks for the welcome, can you help with my question on sterilisation? im new to distilling, but have brewed many successful beers.

thanks for the welcome, can you help with my question on sterilisation? im new to distilling, but have brewed many successful beers.

Another welcome......
And it\'s entirely up to you.
Don\'t forget, with beer (and some wines etc for that matter), it\'s of paramount importance to sterilise the bottles, because in the "beer range" of % ABV, there\'s not enough alcohol to have any particular preservative properties.
Those tend to start from about 10+ %ABV.
Your initially distilled wash is gonna be in the region of 60% ABV, and even when you "let it down" to 40% so you can carbon filter and flavour it, it\'s still plenty to kill off just about anything that might want to cause spoilage.
Oh, and if you take your initial distillate and then let it down to 40% and then re-distill it, you will manage about 80% ABV, which is excellent for good absinthe....
Have a read around the forums, stuff that\'s handy to know, like over boiling, particularly with the table top smart/air/easy still type devices and why it\'s relatively important to get the wash cleared.
Plus stuff like why it\'s handy/helpful to use "distillers conditioner". Or stuff like ceramic saddles, rashig rings, etc in the boiler to help prevent over boils (think about where you put the still while it\'s running - safety, especially kids, pets and partners/wives etc).
There\'s even valid points about making distilled water for letting down distillate, etc etc. It can be rather an addictive hobby. Oh and if you\'ve brewed before, you will learn that it can also be the quickest type of home brewing ever........

I\'m a bit confused by your comment of carbon filtering after distilling, my ss filters as it goes into the collecting bottle, are you saying that I need to filter it again before flavouring?

If your SS Filter/collector container is the one with the black round cartridge that goes in the bottom, that is a carbon filter and you wont need to do any further filtering. What you will find is that it\'s very slow dripping through.
Opus 27

Yeah thought so, thanks for the advice, I\'m being a bit cautious as this is my first attempt and after convincing the wife to get me the still for my birthday she is very interested in the results. 1st wash been bubblin nicely for 8 days now, gonna check the sg again tonight and if its ready ill get the finings in

Hi hopinmad

welcome to the best hobby going,if you have got the type of carbon filter that uses the little carbon discs that look a bit like an oversized polo mint,that is the same as what came with my set up when i first started,sorry to say it mate but they are a bit hit and miss with regards to how tight you do up the plastic screw that holds the disc in place,i found it was either to tight and there was no flow at all,so you slaken it off slightly and it pours through much to fast.

A slight mod you can do which was posted on here a while ago is to cut a few groves down the sides of the plastic screw but only cut them down so that they finish about half way through the carbon disc when its screwed in place,that way i found you can do it up tight and get a steady drip through the filter.Even then its not that good i soon gave up and got a Z filter which is a fantastic piece of kit,or you can if you like make your own filter with a bit of tube,funnel and filter paper.So it sounds like you are nearly ready to do your first run,phantom was spot on as usual with his advice about safety when doing a run,you will find like everyone by the time you have run the first wash everything will start to become second nature.

Optic

Thanks for the advice optic, No my filter is the white plastic barrel that holds the t-bag style carbon filter, works a treat, ran the first 8lts of wash last night after finings had cleared and it produced 53% which I promptly watered down to 40 and flavoured with smoky whisky, mmmm pretty good, and I know it will only get better :-o gonna finish the wash off tonight and make some brandy n voddy for the wife.

Keep at it and you should get 60%+ out of an air still usually 700ml from a 4 litre wash of 14%. The higher alcohol % you can get then the cleaner the spirit and a better taste or lack of it remembering of course that you will always be cutting to your prefered drinking strength. This principle is why you will hear on the forum of people cutting to 40% and then putting it back in for a second run the first run being the \"Stripping Run\". The best way to look at it is if it\'s 60% Alcohol then it\'s 40 of other stuff so if you cut it back with water and do it again the 40% other stuff is mostly water. Hope that makes sense?
Opus 27

One other point I think this thread should continue in the distilation theme and perhaps not in the welcome to the forum slot.
Opus 27

Thanks opus and fair comment

Hi all,

I\'m from NZ, and while i\'m not big poster on forums, i am big reader.

I when looking for a forum to anwser some of my question when i purchased my airstill and few months ago, and found them here, no need to ask questions twice and all that.

Now, like many air still owners i have upgraded to the T500, now back to my dark little corner.

Hi all

Just a quick hello to introduce myself, Im usually a beer brewer but thought id give the dark arts a go. Ive just got a smart still last week, the wash should be ready to go in the next few days, will let you know how things pan out. Hope to talk to you all soon, cheers.
Regards Otis