StillDragon® Community Forum

Welcome!

Be part of our community & join our international next generation forum now!

In this Discussion

Product & Process Inspiration

2»

Comments

  • @floridacracker. Yes mate. Well when I first started looking at home distiller and their size limit was 100litres I think about two weeks later I had ordered a 150l still for gin and a 240 for whiskey. I guess how big your still is does matter to some people. Still its not how big your thing is its how you use it. Ha ha ha ha. I cant wait for my tank guy to finish my 1000l boiler. I would buy SD but you cant put something like that in a suitcase. I know a guy here who bought a chinese still. It cost him US$8000 to buy and US$15k to get it out of customs. Anyway thats OT to this thread.

  • @Richard, only 2 come to mind.

    One was the first know it all. Then he seemed to acquiesce, and take a more subdued tact after observing how the most recent know it all comes off more like a sleezy punk ass used car salesman,,,and a straight up liar and thief.

    Looks bad. Suprising he doesn't get baited into exposing his actual lack of knowledge, then called out onto the rug for some of his less than instructive claims.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited August 2019

    @Smaug said: Richard, only 2 come to mind.

    One was the first know it all. Then he seemed to acquiesce, and take a more subdued tact after observing how the most recent know it all comes off more like a sleezy punk ass used car salesman,,,and a straight up liar and thief.

    Looks bad. Suprising he doesn't get baited into exposing his actual lack of knowledge, then called out onto the rug for some of his less than instructive claims.

    Lol I know who these guys are.

    Honestly I like Odins posts and grim is characteristically helpful, but really that group is mostly a waste of time. Anyone asking for help is usually given a non-answer or referred to the Internet. It’s a bit tedious and arrogant.

    The assumption by every self made distiller is that they are discovering some new proprietary miracle and they are loathe to share it lest they lose a portion of the 1/1,000,000th of market share they have in the region. Worse yet, someone might “steal” the idea and actually develop it into something else or move the craft forward.

    You want all my secrets? Here they are: I research the ingredients I can buy at the store or market all year round to find those that provide enough nitrogen and b vitamins to make sugar ferment in less than 9 days. Basically that’s gonna be soy and peas and cucumbers or some other green veggie. Then i filter the shit out of every less than desirable liter until it blends with our liqueur. Sooner or later I’ll get a decent neutral that doesn’t need to be filtered and that I can make with cheap and available ingredients all year round in 80-95f temps and an inconsistent supply chain.

    In short, even if you gave me all your secrets and recipies I still couldn’t make them work COST EFFECTIVELY because my situation is different. Just like every distillery. And that’s the whole point. We go out and discover how to beat our challenges and come up with something cool and unique that is the product of our struggles. (Here’s a funny dichotomy. It’s actually cheaper for me to import ingredients and make an agave spirit than it is to use local dalo/taro or cassava or even fruit to make spirit)

    So please. Share your “proprietary” processes. They help expand the art and it will actually get information and experiences to flow back to you helping you move forward later.

    TLDR. What goes around comes around.

  • edited August 2019

    @fijispirits. Absolutely. The only process that I have come up with to help expand the art is using alternative woods for different wood flavor combinations, by putting them in beer kegs in lingotes and then sealing it up and putting it in the sun. But the thing I discovered with that is that you still have to age them in oak barrels for the spirit to breath and age. This process is probably illegal in most parts of the world but here in Argentina you can age spirits on alternative woods. I would bet in Fiji mate you could find some alternative woods that don't kill you if your making any barrel aged rum. I really liked Odins posts on Gin as well. Very inspiring.

    One funny thing here is there is this guy floating around Argentina giving whiskey making classes. But he only teaches people how to make a off grain ferment scotch type of whiskey. he never puts them in front of his still and basically says malted barley is the only way to make whiskey. A mate of mine went to one of his courses. The amazing thing is he does all these classes charges a lot of money from all these punters but there is lots and lots of info on then net if you have the time to research and study. But it is in English. I love learning here and I also like to contribute where possible. This website is great and if I had another kid I would call him or her @ StillDragon.org . My wife will be furious when I suggest the name but she will get used to it..... Maybe.

  • Put a '99Liter' sticker on your still and post it.... like putting a 9.9 outboard cover on your 25hp motor for that lake with a 10HP limit..

  • I knew someone that lived in a community that did not allow "commercial" trucks to be parked over night no matter how nice or clean they looked.

    He pulled off the F350 badge and reinstalled an F150 badge. Never had a bit of trouble after that.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited August 2019

    I put a “Hybrid” name plate on my 69 Beetle to tweak all of the virtue signalers out there. Claim it’s retrofitted. You should see all of the looks of approval and envy I get.

    Technically, the nameplate IS retrofitted... ;<)

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • @DonMateo said: zymurgybob. No it wasnt you it was a couple of other assholes and I am certain it was on Home Distiller. All of the posts I have seen you write have been great. You got me into potstilling both runs on my ongrain ferments. I am a true believer. My first couple of runs I did with my SD 4 plate column. Then I read a post you write about pot stilling and I did two runs with my whiskey helmet and I was converted to potstilling. Anyway as Punkin said there tends to be more guys who are actually producing and have their own distilleries here. I think Home distiller has a few guys who are never going to make it to the big leagues and probably have some issues about the small size of their...... stills. Anyway back to my estimate review. Underground mining, the world of rock apes.

    Hey, thanks for the feedback, and I'm glad it's working out for you. I'm completely hooked on multiple-run potstilling, and customers like the quality.

    Zymurgy Bob, a simple potstiller

    my book, Making Fine Spirits

  • @actually about 4 weeks ago I got back to Argentina and on the way back I bought couple of bottles of Jack Daniels Rye and Gentlemen Jack. Which used to be some of my favourites. Sadly I pull the top of both of them had a couple of shots of each one then opened up my potstill quinoa bourbon and then got into my latest charter whiskey aged on 4 woods. I should do a post on that technique. Ongrain ferments and double pot stilled is just more flavor, more good stuff. I prefer woodford reserve but I think for my favourites bourbons now I will just have to make my own. Thanks for the inspiration @zymurgybob and @grim.

  • You're welcome, and I'm a big Woodford fan also. Aside from what the normally sell, they have 3 old copper potstills in their distillery. Pint tells me this is where their very best stuff is made, and also that I can't afford it. Potstills rule!

    Zymurgy Bob, a simple potstiller

    my book, Making Fine Spirits

Sign In or Register to comment.