Why Buy a SmartStill?
Jimmy | May 23, 2008In 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?
Understandably, those who have laboured over constructing their own still are going to look upon them with a certain pride, and for those who can afford the time and have the skills it is undoubtably a rewarding option. Not everyone is in the same situation though, and there are many who are interested in home distillation but live in apartment buildings, have limited space, etc. For those people, a SmartStill is the ideal solution - it’s small, quick, quiet, safe, easy to clean - perfect for small scale usage.
But what about the quality? Again, the traditionalists make a good point - a full reflux column still is capable of distilling alcohol at a very pure level, 95% ABV or even higher. A SmartStill cannot do that. The reason for this is that a SmartStill is effectively a pot still, and no pot still can distill to those purity levels. However, the results from a SmartStill are very good for a pot still, and it is certainly possible to get 80% ABV or more.
We triple-distilled a vodka wash using our SmartStill and got 88% ABV the other day, so good results are not hard to achieve - even the second distillation was at 76%. Besides, some alcohol is actually better when produced using a pot still, notably those requiring more flavour such as whiskey. If you want ultimate purity, in a vodka for example, you’ll need to get a reflux column still. If you favour simplicity but still want good quality, a SmartStill is easily capable of achieving this.
Another advantage of the SmartStill is that it is very predictable in operation. Once you get used to how it works, you can set it off using a plug-in timer device (like you would use to control a lamp in your house when you go away) and you can be sure that you’ll get the results that you expected. It is very dangerous to leave traditional stills unattended, and while I would still advise you to keep an eye on your SmartStill, it doesn’t require anything like the same amount of babysitting.
A SmartStill is also a bona fide water distiller, and so there is no need to hide it from the authorities if you happen to live in an area where they frown upon such activities. It distills water very well, which gives the benefit of allowing you to store bottles of distilled water for diluting your spirits as they’re required. The entire unit is quite compact, so there is no need to store a bulky column or fragile pipework either. It will fit in a kitchen cupboard, or on a shelf with your pots and pans.
Hopefully you can see that there are many good reasons to buy a SmartStill, just as there are good reasons to buy/build other types of still. For me, the SmartStill is the smart choice, and I would recommend one to anyone. If you’re convinced, why not check our suppliers page to check prices and availability!
I'm happy to say that after two runs with my
Canyon Cat | June 6, 2008I’m happy to say that after two runs with my EasyStill I have made clear, relatively clean-tasting and strong ethanol. Despite all the naysayers, putting the semi-cleared wash into the EasyStill, plugging it in and watching the steady drips out of my carbon tube made me feel almost as happy as when I enjoyed the fruits of my labors afterwords.
I used 3.5 pounds (~8 kgs) of plain white sugar, filtered tap water and Turbo 48 yeast. It stopped bubbling by day four and I made my first run on day six.
Wait 3 weeks to clear? Not thanks!
Despite what the purists say, I did not wait for my wash to clear completely. I took the top 4 liters (like waterery milk) and poured it directly into the EasyStill. Distillate came out clear as water and with only the faintest bouquet of banana/yeast. The next day I did the same thing and got the same results. I should get another three runs from my wash before I hit the sludge–we’ll see.
My only regret is that I didn’t purchase an alcoholometer with my kit so I can only guess at my ABV per 500 ml cut. I tasted the first 500 ml “cut”: very potent, guestimated about 50-60% ABV. Second cut of 500 ml was less potent and had more yeast/banana flavor. Third cut of 500ml was definately weaker and more strongly flavored. I stopped both runs after collecting 1500 ml. I combined all three cuts and just put it in the freezer. I am a happy camper! Cheeers!
Good Lord! I need to check my numbers. Make that 17.6
Canyon Cat | June 6, 2008Good Lord! I need to check my numbers.
Make that 17.6 pounds (3.5 x 5-pound bags) or ~8 kilos sugar. Didn’t mean to confuse anyone….
Great stuff! There are a few tricks you can use
Jimmy | June 6, 2008Great stuff! There are a few tricks you can use to take an educated guess at the ABV - taken from the Home Distiller forums :
“As long as it lights easily in a spoon it’s over 100 proof. When it won’t light in a spoon but will light on a plate it’s under 100 proof but over 75 or so. If it burns clear and blue and steady with a flame you can’t see in sunlight it’s very pure. If it burns with a yellow “beard” it’s got some fusels and impurities… the bigger the beard the more off it is.”
It all depends on how strong the stuff you put in was, but with the Alcotec 48 I have used, you’re probably looking at around 51% ABV on a first distillation of 4 litres.
Oh, and carbon filtering will take a lot of that yeast flavour off if it bothers you. Dilute to around 40% first and then run it through, even putting it through a Brita filter helps - I’m doing a full article about that though so stay tuned!
Outstanding, well done Canyon Cat. If you dig around the site
Fatbloke | June 7, 2008Outstanding, well done Canyon Cat.
If you dig around the site here, I’ve only suggested making sure that the wash is completely clear, because of the explosions/burps I’ve had from my small still (the first one was quite sore for about a week - I wasn’t anywhere near for the second - phew!).
Now from my experiments, specifically with the Still Spirits brand “Triple distilled turbo yeast/carbon”, 6kg of white table sugar normally gives a finished wash of 14% ABV, one run through the still then gets it to about 60% ABV (ish), well actually I’ve had one that measured 58%, another batch that measured 59% and one that measured 61%.
I get better results from my Still Spirits “Super Reflux” still i.e. a 14% wash, comes out at about 85%, but instead of the 5 litres @ 60% suggested by the SS literature, I get about 3.5 litres @ 85%.
If you haven’t had any problems with excessive bubbling/over boiling/burps/explosions from your still that’s even better. I’ve just been following the instructions closely because of my ignorance when it comes to this distilling lark.
The bloke who imports them here, told me that he’s going to include some of the ceramic rings as standard now, as there’ve been a few people other than myself that have reported burps/over boils/explosions (explosions that haven’t actually ignited of course - thank f**k that the electrical element/heat source is completely enclosed). It seems that this might be connected with the increased surface tension of a cloudy wash and the way the bubbles rise etc - though I’ve also been digging around a few organic chemistry websites and they allude to liquids that don’t always show boiling activity when heated (think of heating stuff in a microwave, but when you put a spoon or similar into it, bubble over the top - milk and sometimes water etc). So hence they (in the organic chemistry world) use a “spinning agitator” that also has a heat source. Oh and did I remember to mention that it’s done as a vacuum distillation ? and that because it’s done in a lab it’s a lot more small scale than what we’re trying to do to make booze
Thanks for all the helpful info, guys! I ordered a
Canyon Cat | June 7, 2008Thanks for all the helpful info, guys! I ordered a 30cm alcoholmeter and 250ml graduated cylinder from Brewhaus yesterday, so I guess I’ll be more accurate on future runs.
I just recently noticed that I’m not supposed to run 50%ABV through my carbon filter. On my recent two runs after tossing the first 50ml foreshot I ran the entire run through the carbon tube. Was that not advisable? I have to say that the banana/yeast bouquet on the second and third 500ml “cuts” was very subtle–not objectionable to my palate.
Now here’s kind of a goofy question: I took my first “cut” of 500 ml and mixed it with 250 ml of water. I put it into the freezer and got an ice slush? WTF?? I thought it would all blend together and not freeze?
Anway, this is fun stuff . . . talk at you later.
Carbon filtering works best at around 40%, and it works
Jimmy | June 7, 2008Carbon filtering works best at around 40%, and it works best if you chill first. It still works at 50% though, so you’ll be fine!
As far as the freezing is concerned - sounds about right, that’s 1/3 water so it makes sense that it would make slush. I’ve had that with store bought vodka when it’s the cheap stuff!
I think I need to put a forum on this site, pronto.
Thanks again for the tips! I learned my lesson after my
Canyon Cat | June 9, 2008Thanks again for the tips!
I learned my lesson after my first run and on the second run I did three cuts of 500ml. I then took 250ml from each cut and poured into two 750 ml Skyy vodka bottles (I love the color!). Even Steven for both bottles. Tastes great!
One of these days I’ll do a second or third distill to make rocket fuel, but for now I’m happier than a pig in thatwhichcannotbenamed.
What a hobby . . . .
Don't forget that the easystill/smartstill type devices are basically pot
Anonymous | June 29, 2008Don’t forget that the easystill/smartstill type devices are basically pot stills and only have a certain ability to remove water - if you read about, you’ll see that they’re not very efficient.
There are a few “off the shelf” reflux still’s that will up the % ABV from your wash/mash mixes. Even then, they have a limited ability to remove water and only get to a certain level/strength/concentration.
I’ve been looking around to see if I can find out about modifying some kit to make a vacuum still, as it would appear that if I can manage that, I should be able to get some very high purity ethanol, but run the still at a much lower temperature (I’m no expert but I think I’ve read it right).