My 40th Birthday Present.

[ToySS]

My girlfriend's 30th and my 40th birthdays are just two weeks apart. So we decided to buy each other a joint birthday present. One of the Air Still complete setups.

We both love bourbon. So we'd go through a 700ml bottle over a Fri & Sat night. Also recently experimented making vodka jelly shots for a party too. And like similar liqueurs & cocktails for a change up, eg. Frangelico, Margaritas, Irish Cream.

We've got some friends who already make their own fortified wines and spirits. And we'd been talking about doing that ourselves for soooo long now. It just seemed stupid to keep paying AU$40 a 700ml bottle when we could be making the same stuff ourselves for $5/lt.

The fermenter is coming to end of it's first 10lt wash, and I'm checking the hydrometer every 12hr now to see when it remains unchanged. I am keen to use the distiller the first time and see how all this liquid carbon & triple distilled yeast they recommend for the Air Still goes in producing a neutral spirit. Richard from Winework's videos have been enourmously helpful and gave me some info that was not mentioned in the manuals. Likewise with the few post I've already read on your forums.

Two things I wanted to mention that I've noticed about using the Air Still setup so far. (1) The fermenter does not seal well enough. My garage smelled like 'white wine on carpet' during the middle of the fermenting. I'm going to try cutting a gasket for it and sealing the lid down with ratchet tie-downs, so the carbon air filter is forced to work. (2) The polyethelene washers don't seem to be an effective solution. So I'm going to try a reusable non-porous (latex?) foam instead.

Well that's it from me. I'm sure I'll be picking your brains at some stage during the refining of what is already a simplified process, and finding out what works for me. Thanks for this forum existing, Jimmy.

ToySS
Brisbane, Australia.

[Jimmy]

Great to hear you're getting into it - welcome to the forum and welcome to your new obsession, you'll soon be hopelessly lost to booze making like the rest of this lot!

[metalmickey]

Welcome to the finest airstill resource on the internet. Theres a wealth of experience and expertise on the site.

I wouldnt worry too much about the seal on the fermenting bin. You only really need to make sure that the bin is covered to prevent airbourn nasties getting in your must. Some people just cover their bin with a tea towel, but its a good habit to cover the bin with something a bit more robust.
Ive made plenty of wine without an airtight fermenting vessel without too much trouble.

MM

[Phantom]

Welcome to the finest airstill resource on the internet. Theres a wealth of experience and expertise on the site.

I wouldnt worry too much about the seal on the fermenting bin. You only really need to make sure that the bin is covered to prevent airbourn nasties getting in your must. Some people just cover their bin with a tea towel, but its a good habit to cover the bin with something a bit more robust.
Ive made plenty of wine without an airtight fermenting vessel without too much trouble.

MM

Yes, concur with that. I just mix the sugar and water at any temp warm enough to dissolve the sugar, then I just leave it till the next day and just mix in the usual stuff i.e. yeast etc. That's all in a 27 litre bucket. I don't get much smell when the ferment is going on.

Then I just follow the intructions for the rest.

Dunno if being in Aus might be a pain, as it get's bloody warm at time doesn't it..... So either a swamp cooler or getting the yeast that works well in hotter temperatures might do the trick.

I do like to try various flavourings, but the Still Spirits Tennessee Bourbon is one of my fave's. Not bloody bad at all :-P

And welcome to the forums etc......

[Capt-Cudellez]

Some people just cover their bin with a tea towel, but its a good habit to cover the bin with something a bit more robust.
Ive made plenty of wine without an airtight fermenting vessel without too much trouble.
MM

I do that - I use 60lt barrels to ferment in. I cut a hole in the lid first one, fitted a grommet and a 13mm pipe going into a jam jar as a bubbler.
Got the ferment going, not a peep from it. Turns out the lids are far from air tight, so I just place a tea towel over it, and jam the lid on top to hold it in place. Stops anything getting into it.

Carbon Dioxide is a heavy gas ToySS, so forms a blanket over the wash, that's why its a good idea not to mess with it too often.
I leave a hydrometer in each fermenter for the duration of the ferment, so I can just sneak a peek to see how its doing.