Still Smart

In home distillation circles, the accepted practice is to construct your own still, either from a published design or from scratch using your own ingenuity. There are some places that will sell you a ready made column or a complete still, giving similar results for those without the required metalworking skills. The whole scene is full of interesting and varied approaches to making and distilling alcohol. However, there is a tendency to look down upon the SmartStill, but why is this?

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When we first started making our own spirits, it was done partly from a desire to save money on alcohol but also for the fun of finding out how it worked, experimenting with different methods, etc. Something that didn’t cross my mind until a little too late was the fact that as we were no longer buying alcohol all the time, we wouldn’t have a source of usable glass bottles. As I’m sure many of you will be aware, the urge to give a bottle to visiting friends is all too great, and before you know it you can’t find one when you need it yourself.

How do other people cope with this? I’ve considered using wine bottles and a corker, sticking with plastic ‘PET’ bottles, buying old bottles from flea markets, charity shops, etc - I’m just curious to see how others have handled this issue. Leave a comment, it’d be great to hear your views!