Hello fellow distillers and potential ex-reddit users. This is the new space on Lemmy for all things distilling!
Hopefully we can grow the community and learn this new Lemmy thing together.
The space is looking pretty bare, but with some help, it’ll be home in no time. Here’s a pick of my setup to make it look less bare. It’s a reflux still from AliExpress sitting on top of a grainfather. The needle valves that it came with are rubbish and need replacing, as I can’t close the reflux condenser all the way anymore. Regardless of its flaws I still love it and it can produce some tasty (tasteless) vodka.
And I stress the “learn this new Lemmy thing”… My image didn’t attach for whatever reason.
Is that a Grainfather with a still attachment? Nice high-tech setup.
I find the process fascinating, though the legal formalities are iffy in places around the world.
Do you barrel age or anything like that?
It is a grainfather! it’s super useful to be able to dial in the power output through the app. I also use the grainfather for homebrew, so it’s nice to share equipment between hobbies. I’m lucky enough to live in New Zealand, the only legal country in the world, so I have no issues having this visible to the neighbours. That being said, I feel like I’d have a go (more discreetly) if my situation was different. The hobby is extremely rewarding.
I usually make gin, so no barrel aging there. I have made a rum from a bucket of molasses I bought, that was aged. With the scale of home distilling is often a case of putting the oak in the spirit, rather than the spirit in oak. It’s to do with the surface area to liquid ratios of small barrels being way too high compared to a commercial barrel.