New starter

[Al co]

Hi all. I'm wanting to have a go at distillation and wondered if anyone could suggest the best kind of still that is not too expensive and a place to get it??? I have been looking at an air still but wondered if the spirit it produced would be tasteless???

[John51]

Welcome to the site.

Have a read here:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1216

An airstill is a great stopgap while you learn to build your own or research which larger still you should buy. It also means that all your distilling mistakes are little ones.

Used airstills get a good price on the bay if ever you don't want it anymore, so keep the box it comes in.

Might as well get a wash started now rather than wait until you've got a still. Vodka Star is a highly rated yeast, (it's all I use now,) will give you nice clear wash in 2 to 4 weeks depending on room temperature. Cooler/slower gives a nicer drink.

[chill]

The most important question is, what kind of drink do you want to make?

Chuck

[Al co]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look at the link and see what I can find out there for a still. In the first instance I am going to try a vodka but if I show any promise, who knows??? Vodka and rum are my usual drinks of choice

[chill]

I find the AirStill good for rum, much less so for vodka. It is a pot still, and a more or less runaway one at that. So it carries over flavours. Modern vodkas are made in a reflux/fractionating still and probably mostly carbon filtered as well. You can make a maybe acceptable vodka by triple distilling and then carbon filtering, but I doubt it will ever satisfy you are a truly neutral drink.

Rum is supposed to have flavours, so the AirStill produces a more suitable result.

Chuck