Is it only posible to distill neutral with an airstill ?

[Myles]

Correct. It is a bad variation of what started life as a solar still. Not to be recommended.

[Frank]

...Yes, there is something that gets less respect than an AirStill!

@Chuck, I presume you mean on certain other forums? The Airstill is a well used, tool-of-choice on this site....and a good thing that is too

@Normski....sorry for the late entry here but...
IMHO most newly-distilled spirit (esp @higher ABVs and well cut) will smell vaguely neutral and taste quite sharp/non-flavoured. It is the airing/maturation process that better promotes the differences and, of course, a decent aging on oak will ALWAYS complement the endproduct, as applicable...in some ways the oaking will even more bring out the origins of the spirit too.

So...if your newly gotten spirit is of good quality, a few months will make it far more distinctive.

[chill]

@Frank. Yes, I was just trying to make a joke. My personal equipment is an AirStill, though I aspire to something larger. Used properly with a quality wash, you can produce decent spirits with an AirStill. Even when I get a larger still, I will still use the AirStill for test batches and my infusion gins.

Chuck

[Frank]

@Chuck....all good mate, I know how fond of the airstill you are (too)....
I find the airstill is also very useful for 'cleanup' runs...ie using with some of the (diluted) feints etc from a bigger potstill spirit run; mind you, as Normski says, it does tend to 'neutralise' the spirit a bit by that stage.

[Normski]

Thanks for the update Normski, are you happy with the final product?

Hi Uber
Yes, Im very happy with the quality of my Spiced Rum now.
The key things for me are. Use somewhere between a quater to a half of Mollasses and the rest cane sugar. Use bakers yeast. Leave soaking on Oak.
Soak a small amount of Rum in a jar with a chopped up vanilla pod. Blend this with the finished product.

My lattest experiment has been with Cassia bark. I have soaked some rum in a jar with the bark for a week or so and it has a fantastic Red colour and a familiar smell. I think a blend of Vanilla and Cassia will be my spirit of choice.
Norm

[Gaztops]

I have made quite a few rums, the first one had hardly any taste, but that was expected, because to make a good rum you have to use dunder (8 litres if brewing a 25 litre batch) from your first run and half of the lees from your first ferment.

Make sure the dunder is hot before you add the sugar and molasses, helps it dissolve better.

You can make the taste stronger by either adding more molasses or more dunder, they both work.

If you keep regenerating dunder from your runs, each generation of rum will also give more flavour.

[jeremypaulwagg]

My first post. I've only been distilling with an air still for 6 months, but utilising the carbon filter packs, have produced a very clean spirit on the first run through. I've then produced great gin (by maceration) and whisky (by maturation in 3 litre oak barrels). If anybody knows how to produce a good calvados using these methods, I'd love to hear.

[chill]

utilising the carbon filter packs, have produced a very clean spirit on the first run through.

The little tea bag carbon packs that fit into the spout? Those are for distilling water. They are totally useless for our needs. Try double or triple distilling and proper carbon filtering for a much better result.

The only decent apple brandy that I have made was from an apple and sugar wash. Apples only (or fresh apple juice) would be best. Leave out the carbon filtering (tea bag not counted ).

Chuck

[John51]

I made an amazingstill but 2 or 3 runs later I learned about plastic.

If ever I stop being lazy, I fancy making a non plastic one as the product was gorgeous. Does about a litre a week. lol