Does anyone know about Stills?

[lethaldog]

This is this tools second post and if it is real then he is gettin off on the wrong foot by immediately bagging HB beer, i have no problem with talking about stilling but this post does seem like an advertisement hey!

[Biernut]

Would be interesting to know how you keep the damn fusal oil out of it or does the essence kill the taste.

[tazman67]

Ahh...a bloody good filter usually does the job...

[Biernut]

Yeah Taz a good filter known as rectification to clean out the dreaded fusal would cost many thousands of dollars. Carbon granules of which fusal oil has an affinity for, is the only way I know of to filter, and is commercially used in rectifiers by the big distillers. When I was in Auckland NZ years ago I was involved with a group who pooled all our resources, ideas and materials and built a 60L pot still out of and old hospital sterilizer. We had a lot of fun drinking the product it produced, but no matter what filters we tried we couldn't get that damn fusal taste out of it. So we masked it with additives like green ginger, pineapple juice, tomatoe juice or whatever your poison was. It was potent stuff and knocked over many so called experienced drinkers.
I believe distilling spirit for personal consumption is now legal in New Zealand obviously a more progressive country than Australia.

[Biernut]

Taz ......talking to Geoff at BBY today and showed me some neat little carbon and carb/ceramic filters and says they do a geat job separating fusal from distillate. I wasn't aware these were available. Now thats progression for you, wish they were around when I was into distilling.

Cheers

[tazman67]

I bought one off Geoff. Im drinking my first bourbon passed through it. Big improvement on the old Z Filter. Plus...no need to pack and wash carbon, just replace both the Ceramic and Carbon filters at regular intervals.

[RJB510]

Keeping fusils out is really hard. You can minimise them with the correct process of distilling, by making sure you have next to no sediment from the yeast in your wash when you distill. few other things also, but basically, you need to get a really good filter filled with active carbon. all the home brew shops should sell it.

I made my own, i have a 1M length of 40mm pvc with a 2L juice bottle hot glued on the top. At the bottom i have screw fittings that take it down to 19mm that will allow the connection of the black irrigation fittings. I have a 19mm socket off that, that way i can put a 13mm-19mm irrigation director on the bottom. This serves 2 purposes, 1. it slows the rate down for more contact time on the carbon, 2. lets me put a tube on the end or direct it into my demijohn. Just put coffee filter paper where the director screws into the socket. And fill the tube with the carbon.
Total cost of my little project... about $15.

If i could upload pics, i'd show you all.

Cheers