Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So once I've finished making the pot still & keg boiler I'm going to need to go shopping for:
fermenters
hydrometer
alcometer
stirring spoon
bottles
thermometer
ingredients to put in the still

Anything else I need, I'm starting from scratch?

I would grab a stainless steel strainer and a funnel would both be handy.
A glass pipett or wine thief will make life much easier and some ageing dominoes.
Temperature controller and heating belts for the wash as well as a voltage controller for your spirit run.
There will be more, there always is :)

Bottles is a bit generic, you need to break that into
Cut jars
Low wines storage
Aging storage
Finished product storage

Glass demijohns and various sized kegs are good for the last 3 of those

You may want to look at some kitchen things of your own like scales, spoons, measuring jugs, cleaning scourers and so forth (a complete seperate sink/prep area is ideal) depending on your domestic bliss stiuation

Wellsy wrote:I would grab a stainless steel strainer and a funnel would both be handy.
A glass pipett or wine thief will make life much easier and some ageing dominoes.
Temperature controller and heating belts for the wash as well as a voltage controller for your spirit run.
There will be more, there always is :)

Thanks Wellsy, like any hobby or sport there's always more.
And thank you Google, now I know what a pipett is.

RC Al wrote:Bottles is a bit generic, you need to break that into
Cut jars
Low wines storage
Aging storage
Finished product storage

Glass demijohns and various sized kegs are good for the last 3 of those

You may want to look at some kitchen things of your own like scales, spoons, measuring jugs, cleaning scourers and so forth (a complete seperate sink/prep area is ideal) depending on your domestic bliss stiuation

I have a spare keg with a tap that I will use for low wines but like you said I will need cuts jars, a couple of ageing demijohns & some final product storage bottles.
I am in complete domestic bliss, I've been single for the last 5 years.

Oak dominoes
Got your water cooling set-up sorted? Hoses, connectors

bluess57 wrote:Oak dominoes
Got your water cooling set-up sorted? Hoses, connectors

As far as water cooling goes I have a 3000 litre slimline rainwater tank on the side of the garage. I just have to work out what I'm going to use to pump it into the shotgun condenser & back out into the tank. Bunnings have a $28 submersible pond pump which pumps up to 9 litres a minute ????

I was thinking just 1/2" pipe inlet & outlet with the hose pushed over it & a hose clamp for a start. There shouldn't be too much pressure in it.
What do ya reckon?

FilthyPhil wrote:

bluess57 wrote:Oak dominoes
Got your water cooling set-up sorted? Hoses, connectors

As far as water cooling goes I have a 3000 litre slimline rainwater tank on the side of the garage. I just have to work out what I'm going to use to pump it into the shotgun condenser & back out into the tank. Bunnings have a $28 submersible pond pump which pumps up to 9 litres a minute ????

I was thinking just 1/2" pipe inlet & outlet with the hose pushed over it & a hose clamp for a start. There shouldn't be too much pressure in it.
What do ya reckon?

If you look at the water cooling setup thread in the newbie section it might give you some ideas. A lot will depend on how far you are from the water tank with the still as the length of hose slows the flow rate. 9 litres a minute might be a bit slow. I use the 3600 litres a minute and when connect to 20 metres of hose water flow was like 65 year old pissing. I shortened the hose to 5 metres and it is like an 18 year old. Massive difference in flow rate.

I hope that helps,plenty here with a lot more experience than myself let’s see what they say

Use a bigger bore for any distace runs, even if its larger than the inlet/outlet of the pump, this will reduce the flow losses from the drag caused by the wall of the hose

Are you doing a 3/4 over 1/2 liebig? The water flow path area in one of those exceeds the flow area of a 1/2 pipe, your best off jumping up to 3/4 piping and connectors to make the condenser the restriction, not the pipework.

Im using 1 1/2" for the 15m from my tank to shed and back, overkill for the moment, but I shouldent have to change much when i upgrade to bigger gear. Havent actually measured my output with the liebig conncted yet, but im pretty sure if you can keep the 9l/h to the condenser connection, it would handle everything of the average user, depending on length of condenser of course. If your looking at big power levels/ lots of gas , you might need to revise that

Wellsy wrote:I use the 3600 litres a minute and when connect to 20 metres of hose water flow was like 65 year old pissing. I shortened the hose to 5 metres and it is like an 18 year old. Massive difference in flow rate.

3,600 litres a minute, that seems like a lot of water in one minute?
When fuelling our locomotives at work it takes about 15 minutes to put 10,000 litres in & that's through a 4" hose.

RC Al wrote:Use a bigger bore for any distace runs, even if its larger than the inlet/outlet of the pump, this will reduce the flow losses from the drag caused by the wall of the hose

Are you doing a 3/4 over 1/2 liebig? The water flow path area in one of those exceeds the flow area of a 1/2 pipe, your best off jumping up to 3/4 piping and connectors to make the condenser the restriction, not the pipework.

Im using 1 1/2" for the 15m from my tank to shed and back, overkill for the moment, but I shouldent have to change much when i upgrade to bigger gear. Havent actually measured my output with the liebig conncted yet, but im pretty sure if you can keep the 9l/h to the condenser connection, it would handle everything of the average user, depending on length of condenser of course. If your looking at big power levels/ lots of gas , you might need to revise that

The plan is a 400mm x 2" shotgun condenser with 5 x 1/2" tubes.

FilthyPhil wrote:Anything else I need, I'm starting from scratch?

20 litre Handy Pails. The more the merrier.

FilthyPhil wrote:

Wellsy wrote:I use the 3600 litres a minute and when connect to 20 metres of hose water flow was like 65 year old pissing. I shortened the hose to 5 metres and it is like an 18 year old. Massive difference in flow rate.

3,600 litres a minute, that seems like a lot of water in one minute?
When fuelling our locomotives at work it takes about 15 minutes to put 10,000 litres in & that's through a 4" hose.

Errr would you believe an hour :angry-banghead:
Hours minutes are they not the same ?????
I thought they were the same cos my missus says I will only be a minute and it always feels like an hour lol

Go the big fitting on the shotty for sure, will futreproof you if you decide to go a lot of kw for pot stripping, the other advantage of a free flowing system is reduced wear on your pump.

Wellsy wrote:

FilthyPhil wrote:

Wellsy wrote:I use the 3600 litres a minute and when connect to 20 metres of hose water flow was like 65 year old pissing. I shortened the hose to 5 metres and it is like an 18 year old. Massive difference in flow rate.

3,600 litres a minute, that seems like a lot of water in one minute?
When fuelling our locomotives at work it takes about 15 minutes to put 10,000 litres in & that's through a 4" hose.

Errr would you believe an hour :angry-banghead:
Hours minutes are they not the same ?????
I thought they were the same cos my missus says I will only be a minute and it always feels like an hour lol

:laughing-rolling: That sounds better Wellsy :handgestures-thumbupleft: