"Craft" distilling...

Anyone with experience?

Only drinking it !

One of our local wineries (Cedar Ridge) has done it for several years and makes some very fine products-- though the best of them (bourbons, dark rum, single malt whiskey) need at least a year or two in barrels to finish.

If you're doing something for your own consumption, you're likely better off sticking with gin, vodka or perhaps a liqueur of some kind-- this place makes a limoncello one of my friends refers to as "liquid panty remover."

No, but I toured a distillery in Holland, MI a couple of years ago. I'm not a big whiskey guy, but I did find the process interesting.

Home distillation? Or small, local, craft distillation? I've got a decent amount of familiarity with both. Although I've never done either personally myself, I've got solid relationships with three local craft distilleries and had a coworker at a previous brewery I work for build a very nice home still.

Home distillation can be hazardous. Stills can blow up. I mean, you basically have a pressure producing a flammable liquid. You need to be sure you have well made equipment and know what you're doing.

For small, craft distilleries... there is some good stuff out there. Whiskies are a bit tougher because it takes so many years to age a whiskey to the point it's good. Then you have the question on if you're going to blend barrels (which you probably will), so you don't really get to learn to perfect that art until you've already been at it several years. Where it took me as a knowledgeable brewer ~3-4 months to get my process dialed in on a new system, figure ~4-5 years for a new distiller to do the same.

Because of the lag on whiskies, that's why you'll see distilleries starting with clear or light spirits-vodka, gin, moonshine, grapa-that don't take the same lead time.

Keep an eye on if they are actually a craft distillery with their own mashing kettles and still, or if they do "craft spirits" where that either get the spirits from a major distillery and just barrel them, or even buy aged whiskey from a distiller and just do their own blending.

Do the Googles, lotta information out there these days on home distilling. You can do a stove top still or shop still w/ NG or propane burner. Don't bother w/ a pot still, too inefficient, go w/ a reflux still. Totally doable w/ GRM DIY skills.

Find an old timer w/ a proven family recipe or scout the sites. Everybody claims they know how to make whiskey but few really do, find the veteran. Trust is important.

not saying i'm intending to do anything, but i have a couple stainless kegs, a tig welder on the way, and a bunch of 50' long coils of copper tube

In reply to patgizz:

Something to think about- if you have high amp 220- consider using a high end electric heater for it. No fire adds some significant safety.

I did some looking awhile back, home fermenting is A-OK, but home distilling alcohol isnt by the BATF

http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/faq.shtml

Now, I doubt that they would really devote much in the way of resources to going after it.

That being said, I fear the wrong people finding out when they are looking for an excuse to get you.

It was a bummer, so many of my friends do their own beer and I was rather interested in doing spirits. Just gonna stick to grinding sausage.

Beer Baron wrote: Keep an eye on if they are actually a craft distillery with their own mashing kettles and still, or if they do "craft spirits" where that either get the spirits from a major distillery and just barrel them, or even buy aged whiskey from a distiller and just do their own blending.

Vikre (Duluth, MN) used to get their fermented mash from Bent Paddle and then distill it themselves. Now they do the whole thing. Make some tasty gins and aqauvit, due top aging requirements whiskey is largely a work in progress. They recently bottled up a batch of younger stuff that was actually pretty good, but most of its got quite some time in the barrels still.

I have sampled, in a far away land, some pretty awesome brandy that was distilled from a couple of cases of Chelois. The pot still was rather crude, being based on a stainless steel pot from Walmart that was held together with black binder clips and sealed up with flour and water glue. All told, it was said to cost under $100.

Heads. Hearts. Tails.

http://homedistiller.org/

Lots of info in the forum. More about home-distillation than craft, but still. They DO expect you to do LOTS of reading though (like till your eyes bleed, rest, then till your eyes bleed again) but it's understandable once you see how often the same 5 questions get asked (how do I build a still, is it legal, what recipes do you guys use, why did I go blind the last time I drank my hooch, etc)

I went the TTB route though and got a license to make "fuel alcohol". With that I legally built a reflux from a stainless column and a keg. The rules in Washington state are such that you don't have to "denature" your alcohol unless it leaves your property. So basically I make vodka for "fuel". Then every year I report how much I made to the TTB and everybody's happy.

There was a fund going on homedistiller to hire a lobbyist in DC to get legislature pushed that would allow hobby home distilling. I think it cost bout $35k and was primarily funded by a craft distillery. It was looking promising a few months ago, and sounded like it had a lot of support from the politicians involved with such things, but haven't heard anything for a while. Maybe I should check back in.

PS,

If you move to Hungary it's completely legal and they sell small pot stills in grocery stores

Hungary Bill wrote: http://homedistiller.org/ Lots of info in the forum. More about home-distillation than craft, but still. There was a fund going on homedistiller to hire a lobbyist in DC to get legislature pushed that would allow hobby home distilling. I think it cost bout $35k and was primarily funded by a craft distillery. It was looking promising a few months ago, and sounded like it had a lot of support from the politicians involved with such things, but haven't heard anything for a while. Maybe I should check back in.

Chuckle....

Anyway, I would imagine that there will be safety issues brought up for home use. I'd love to try, too, and will start checking local reuse shops for large coffee percolators- as that appears to be a lot safer. Line the inside with copper sheet, good top, and done. Could make a pot style top or reflux style. Since I have wine to distill, the pot style is more what I want. Or even better, flute....

Every once in a while, I go over to that website and read around more and more.

Most brew shops around here sell "Turbo 500"s if you're just looking for a grab and go with no fuss. Kind of a "Mr. Beer" of distilling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiQUUF6cQZ8

As far as "exploding stills" go, I think the people on this board are the type that could easily design a pressure bleed system. A quarter over a large hole in the top of my column is what I have on my reflux. If you get to the point that it's gonna blow, you've done many things wrong already.

In reply to Hungary Bill:

Stills are not pressure cookers, nor should they even be under pressure. The system should be 100% open.

If the systems are under pressure, they are doing something wrong.

But leakage IS a big deal. Alchol is heavier than air, so once a leak starts, even warm, it will sink, and come down to the flame. Then you have a nice fire.

I do like the Turbo500, but pretend that I can fabricate that for a lot less money. And using more copper (which I also need for wine...)

agreed.

The charge is cooled by my coil well before it reaches my "quarter system". It's basically there "just in case".

All this talk about distilling is reminding me I haven't run a batch in almost a year! holy smokes, where does the time go?