Here is Ivan from Argentina!
Cheers,
I have been working for 5 years in a portuguese copper potstill, making gin, grappa and I have been working the last 3 years in a perfect absinthe recipe without perfect results :-)
I want to start producing my own neutral and we are going to try to do it with a StillDragon .....
Ivan
Comments
Welcome Ivan.
StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Hey Ivan. I am in mendoza and i am making whiskey and gin with SD gear. I had to have my 240l boilrrs made locally, sorry moonshine. If you want to see the gear let me know. I love SD gear. Its modular so you can get it over the border too. Cheers. Matt
;-)
Of course! please show some pics of the setup, the keg is my next challenge, you use fire or electric?
@srpompon I use electric on all my boilers. Ok in another thread you wanted fotos so here they are. The first is my 150 boiler setup with a SD whiskey helmet in a pot still configuration. Makes great whiskey.
The next is the same boiler with my SD gin basket. Great value and great product. I have added an extension for more volume but still the base basket is great.
The third is my composite still set up with a SD 4" column and my SD whiskey helmet in a hybrid still setup with a SD 3" condensor. Thanks punkin. Great set up although after having it set up I did a couple of runs using the column but now I run almost everything through the whiskey helmet. I had the boilers made in Mendoza as I cant import stuff into Argentina as I am non resident and I cant put a 200l boiler in my suitcase or in the wheel well of my car.
@srpompon. Just as a comment I have no idea why you would want to make your own Neutral in Argentina. I can buy Neutral for a dollar a litre. So can you. Even with the most efficient of production my base cost for grain and energy is about $2.5 to $3 per litre for alcohol. Which is OK for whiskey but if your making Gin then use base neutral you can buy on Mercardolibre. To be honest I bought 2 x 6 plate crystal dragon columns from SD to make my own Neutral/vodka but I have yet to assemble them and put them on my boilers as I can buy neutral so cheaply. When I have my distillery I will set them up and run neutral just for bling and for fun but right now making gin I use commercial neutral because it so cheap. And the SD whiskey helmet is just the bomb. I am a huge fan of potstilling right now. The last few whiskeys I ran were great. Thanks SD and @punkin.
@DonMateo
Very nice setup, the 240L setup is awesome, very good job!
On why not use more commercial alcohol ...
I do not have a production to sell, it's just for my family and friends, I distil about 20 bottles a month, on different type of liquor every time, 100% hobby, therefore I try to get the maximum possible quality.
Today I use commercial alcohol, I re-distill it in my poststill and I leave it for 3 weeks with activated carbon, after filtering it the taste is good but it is not "rich"
Also I want to learn how to make whiskey !!!!!!!
I want to be able to make grape alcohol for my absinthe.
I want to buy the mash from local brewers and try to make whiskey with that.
For a hobbyist 4 plates and a electric 200L would be a world of possibilities.
@SRPOMPON. Making whiskey with my composite still was and is easy. Actually the distillation with this gear is the easist part. Learning how to mash and ferment consistently is what I have just been working through. There are a few guys starting to think about making whiskey in Argentina. A couple in Cordoba, and one pair of guys in Mendoza. I have the most modern gear from what I can tell. The only difficultly I have had with the electric is getting someone to make the boiler and the heating element controllers. Its a very small tank if you have to get it fabricated locally. I would have preferred a SD system but importing anything large was not an option. So I just had to get the columns and whiskey helmets and import them one or two peices at a time. The problem I am having now is that I am making whiskey in 60 bottle batches and its just accumulating in my garage. I am getting labels made up so I can start to sell it. As everyone says on the distilling web boards making good booze is easy. Selling it ( or getting people to pay for it) is the hard thing. All of my wifes family likes it for free. No one has offered to buy it yet.