StillSmart

Hi there

Got a airstill a while ago and have put about 12 or so 25l washes through it so far, followed aidenmac's advice and have made some very drinkable whodski! I was thinking of upgrading to a t500,to save a bit of time and work. Has anybody upgraded to a t500 from a airstill and regretted it I doubt it! but thought I would ask before I got one.

Hi Lucky.
I'm thinking the same about an upgrade, but can't make up my mind, either buy a T500 or have a go at making one myself. will watch this post to see what the others think.

Hi all

I did not upgrade from an airstill to a T500 but took a bigger plunge going from nothing to a T500.

If you want my twopeneth worth you can't go wrong going from nothing or an airstill to a T500, as a complete novice to this art the T500 is a no brainer - IDIOT proof so easy to use you can't get it wrong and from what Iv'e seen on the airstill going to a T500 will save you lots of time and effort and give better results.

Well that's my twopeneth for what its worth

Looks like the right thing to do then. I'll need to get xmas out the way first tho.

I have an AS as well as a T500. I first started out making DJ's of wash, then progressed to 25L washes, then started doing stripping and spirit runs with the AS.
I then went to visit a mate with a T500, I was awestruck at the simplicity and volumes, so I bought one.
The next thing I did was to buy a pressure control valve and plumb it in, this gives me a stable supply of water no matter what else is used.
Although I'm now building a pot head for the T500, I would not hesitate to recommend the T500 as it stands.
MY SETUP:

This idiot managed to bugger up a T500. Turned it on having forgot to put the wash in.

Managed to fix it by being a bit naughty. Whew!

+1 on the pressure control valve. I didn't plumb mine in but have it inline with the water inlet tube using 15mm/8mm reducers plus 2 short lengths of 8mm pipe.

In reply to the OP, I haven't used my airstill since getting the T500 (no point, the T500 is way better) although I do fancy trying a Schnapps with it. 2L of 40% neutral from the T500 plus 2L of preservative free fruit juice and run that through the airstill very very slowly. (Using a 300w light dimmer as power controller.)

Hi all

Thanks for your advice,just ordered a t500.I will probably keep the air still for a while as i have loads of plums that I want to turn into a brandy,I think it would be better putting it through the air still to keep more flavor,until I get a pot still head for the t500 in the future.

Just one question,can you do a spirit run right away or do you need to run through a vinegar and water mixture to clean the still out?

I may be shot down for this, but in my opinion;

The vinegar and sacrificial junkahol runs are generally aimed at self build / copper stills that have lots of horrible flux and other nasty's left over from the build that need flushing out, whereas the T500 / Airstill both look very clean and shiny out of the box.

It's up to you, but if you follow the instruction that come with it and I do not think you will go far wrong.

Have fun

One of the main advantages of learning this craft on an Airstill is that you will actually learn how to distill spirits in a way that allows you to learn from small mistakes before moving on to a bigger still where mistakes can be costly and even dangerous

It's a Walk Before You Run thing

The T500s and the Self-Build amazing VM, CM, LM or whatever Hybrid Stills will be there when you're actually ready for one of them.

AM

I was in the same position - Airstill should I upgrade?

I did - best thing I've done as well The quality difference is very noticable even when doing it the lazy way.

You'll love it. I've got an abundance of spirits maturing in my cupboards now.

T500 is the best Machine Ever! 40 Batches so far and 193% every time. I have learned to not use sugar washes though. If you use the turbo yeasts with charcoal you will get the off flavours no matter what (even with turbo Clear) but with Corn Sugar this has gone away and Flaked Barley and Corn make the highest quality. The triple distilled vodka yeast with corn sugar is WOW vodka!!!!

A few tips or lesson learned by me:
PH Balance your water for your wash! 5.2 is good if you want a really high quality. I did not worry about this in the beginning but now it really helps. Get your water ready add Gypsum then PH balance and ferment away.

Temp is key I have found that room temp of 18deg C to 19 deg C is perfect, over 21 deg C is iffy. Slow is a better quality product.

Dont forget to add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of Glycerine per Litre when bottling, it really helps smooth it out.

If you have the Still Spirits Filter I actually filtered my wash with it, due to using the Turbo Carbon in the wash, It helped reduce the amount of carbon during the distill cycle making a better product as well. Wash and boil the filter and dry in 170 deg oven and reuse....

Its it key to degas extremely well! in the videos you see people are simple stiring. You will need to do this for 30 min to an hour till all foam is gone. Trick: I bought a paint stir that fits to my drill. (only $9 vs the $35 one at a wine store) and mix well for 5-10 min till foam is gone. Degassing well makes for a better Turbo Clear!!!!

Hope it helps.