StillSmart

hi guys hopefully in the next week i will be ordering an airstill
but at the moment im getting lost(been reading different intresting threads)
im getting lost with cutting,seen the video of the geezer from winework and he never mentioned owt about cutting the spirit,also my mate who been making his spirits for a good 6 months,says he dosnt cut the spirit,but a poster on here mozr (i think)he mentions cuttin and distilling twice,i can see the reason why to distill twice (to get a better quality flavour)but when he says he take the heads and tails and uses them later and use the heart for main spirit run

would i need to go this way or go the way that winework says
also how many times would i wash and clean the airstill from a 25ltr wash
and how often would i need to change the carbon cartridge,(trying to get most of the wash distilled)

is there a numpties guide for this

sorry for stooopid questions but its a all new to me and gonna be a steep learning curve to me, i dont want me first attempt going to pot lol (pardon the pun)

Hi Magnu,

Your questions are not stupid, there is a lot to learn and it is very frustrating reading different peoples opinions - you do not know who to follow. Take it one step at a time, keep reading and all will become clear, and when you have actually made some spirits you will wonder what all your worries were about.

Yes, the wine works system and the one described by Mozr are totally different, the first one is about squeezing as much alcohol out of the product as quickly as possible, which is apealing to some. Mozr on the otherhand describes a proceedure that will produce a smoother, better tasting, hangover free drink.

There are many threads about the filters, most do not rate the ones supplied with the kit and many people end up buying a better one or making there own.

Hope that helps.

Toodlepip

Brian

I've run my AirStill both as the vendors suggest and following Mozr's procedure. It is the difference between drinking something cheap, nasty, and hangover producing versus paying more for something that is much nicer and leaves you with virtually no hangover. No hangover? Why is that? The truly nasty part of hangovers comes from the non-ethanol parts of what you drink. Making proper cuts gets rid of a lot of this as you are not drinking the heads and tails.

So you have to ask yourself, "What am I personally after? What do I want to drink?". If you are like me, when you start out the answer is "I want to see alcohol coming out of my still and I want to guzzle that which I made myself! Drink!" (think the old Priest on Father Ted) Well, we are not patient creatures are we?

So my advice to you is to squeeze what you can out of the first washes, satisfy your desires, then strive to produce a better product. Start LOTS of wash. I can have over 250L at a time going in my basement. When you have that much, and the wash is waiting for you not the other way round, it is MUCH easier to be patient and send some of the product back for a re-distill or down the drain. Your mouth will thank you. Your head will thank you. Your liver, er, well, not so much. But if you make lots of wash you WILL be awash in ethanol!

I mostly make rum and whiskey things so I don't do a lot of carbon filtering. For gin and vodka, I do carbon filter. That is mostly to get rid of the sweetish taste that comes over with an AirStill. Not sure what you got with it for a filter (I got some useless tea bag things) but you need a real filter to do any good. The Essencia gets good remarks, or you can make your own. I use a big chemical resistant funnel and cotton wool. It is not a great system but I can live with the results.

Chuck

On my limited experience, the 'advertised' method is more than adequate to create a drink that most would be happy with (and I dont mean just cheap awful tasting stuff)

However, reading this forum, its clear that a much better quality can be achieved using the method Mozr uses.

Dont be put off with the SS way by what people say here, but progress as soon as you can onto the more comprehensive method would be my advice.

Im still on the SS method because it suits my situation atm, however I do throw away the first little bit of each run, as Im not too bothered about the quantity I produce.

thanks for the input guys i think il stick with the winework way till
i get used to it and know what im doing then il probably take mozr route
stripping and double distilling but a couple of questions been bothering me
i know some people make couple of washes up and have a spirit run day
after these washes have finished fermenting you put turbo clear in then leave for 24 hours then rack into another bin how long can you store this cleared wash before distilling cos ive ordered a couple more turbo yeats and clearing im thinkin about getting two washes on the go and a load of flavours etc lol

does it matter if you have taps on fermentin bins or is it better to syphon the wash into the racking bin

after every 4ltrs of wash gets distilled do you have to wash the airstill out everytime you finish a 4 ltr run

when you are diluting your spirit to 40% is tap water better for diluting or bottled water

you say that a custom made carbon filter is better then what comes with the airstill is they any tuts on how to make them i do like the idea of essencia carbon filter but a bit pricey but ive found summat which might do http://www.fruugo.co.uk/ez-inline-filter/p-1520534?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product%2Bsearch has anyone experianced this type of filter

i did have some more questions but lost them while typeing this out (i need to write them on paper)

tia...

It's up to you and it is dependent on how much equipment / space / money you have.

I use two fermenters and stagger them.

If I started 2 washes at the same time I would need two racking bins at the same time.

I start one wash and after I have racked it, I use the original fermenter to start the second wash. While I am clearing / distilling the fist wash which is now in the racking bin the second batch is fermenting away. By the time the second wash is finished and ready to be racked I will have finished distilling the first batch and the racking bin is available. Rack the second wash from the fermenter into the racking bin and start the third .... ad infinitum, It works for me as I am very limited for space, I am sure that once you start you will develop a technique that suits you.

Taps on the fermenters are sometimes useful, but for racking use the syphon tube with a cup on the bottom of the tube to save disturbing the sediment. Using the tap at the bottom of the fermenter will only flush all the sediment at the bottom of the fermenter into the racking bin and make the clearing process take that much longer.

If I get out of sync and have clear wash ready for distilling but needs to be stored, I keep it in 5 litre water bottles that I buy for diluting the spirits, the water is only £0.90 and the bottle comes free.

Answers to some of your questions:

how long can you store this cleared wash before distilling?

If it is in a clean, airtight container with little air room it should last for months. The less yeast etc sediment at the bottom the longer it will last.

after every 4ltrs of wash gets distilled do you have to wash the airstill out everytime you finish a 4 ltr run?

I give it a rinse out with water but I don't wash it. When I clean it, every month or so, I just use a stainless steel counter top cleaner on the inside and wash it out well.

when you are diluting your spirit to 40% is tap water better for diluting or bottled water?

That depends on the quality of your tap water! I use tap water filtered through a Britta filter. If your tap water does not taste good to you, I would use bottled (but not distilled) water.

Chuck