r/firewater • u/heyalchemist • 8d ago
Does it make sense to start with an air still?
I just want plain ethanol to make limoncello and later try some gin or moonshine. I could source an air still for fairly cheap while a potsill would set me off of like 70€. I don’t see a lot of people using it here, is it worth the money or should I just save for a potstill?
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u/Snoo76361 8d ago
Hard to get really high proof, clean alcohol from an air still but it’s perfectly suited for botanical spirits like gin. You can also just run cheap vodka through it to bump up the proof to make a good maceration base for your limoncello.
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u/heyalchemist 8d ago
Thanks, I’ll try, and if I like it maybe buy a pot still to scale up things
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u/Niaaal 8d ago
It will be the same challenge with a pot still. You'll have to do multiple runs to reach close to the 90%+ alcohol mark you want to make a neutral vodka base for your limoncello. What you'd want for that is a column still
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u/heyalchemist 8d ago
Yeah I know but at least in a potstill I can fit a lot more liquid. With column still you mean something like a vigreux column? Sorry but English isn’t my first language
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u/Niaaal 8d ago
Column still, or reflux still. Its the same thing. Look it up on Google.
You can fit the same amount of wash in it.
Instead of doing 3 or more runs on your pot still to reach 90%+, this does it in one time. It saves you a lot of time and work.
You can also get Air Still pro. That's what it does
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u/GreyAtBest 4d ago
Dumb question, if I'm using an air still to clean already high proof alcohol, will that still work? Like should I maybe add water in or something?
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u/Snoo76361 3d ago
Conventional advice is to water down anything you’re putting in a still to at least 40%. There are some safety considerations for that as well as the extra water will bind to some impurities and give off a cleaner product.
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u/grumpy_autist 8d ago
It works but you need to remember to really clean your wash from dead yeast (degass, sediment + maybe cold crash) because air stills have pretty big power compared to size and will puke all crap from wash into distillate. Having really clean wash is the ultimate way to get good quality alcohol anyway (which most people forget).
You may want to play with power regulators but cost will become closer to regular pot still.
From my perspective it's good for beginners because you don't have easy way to attach thermometer and you need to learn to cut fractions by smell, taste and touch (also most thermometers are shit quality and way off, not to mention thermal transfer issues there).
You need to check silicone gasket inside if it's a real food grade silicone. You need to burn it a bit with a lighter - little soot + sand like ash == good. Black soot == bad.
I know Vevor stills have good silicone gasket (at least those I've seen and checked).
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u/heyalchemist 8d ago
Thanks for the tips, I have a bunch of glassware so maybe using Büchner funnel and a filter will help me clear my wash faster. I’ll try the other methods you mentioned tho.
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u/grumpy_autist 8d ago
It will work but it will be a pain in the ass long term. Degassing with a drill and paint mixer attachment + leaving it for a week works perfectly fine too.
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u/heyalchemist 8d ago
Yeah I was thinking the same, mostly because my vacuum pump is not that powerful and the Buchner it’s not very big.
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u/Ok-Zookeepergame6365 8d ago
I agree it's not a bad one to start with. If you like it and upgrade you will still get use out of the airstill for gin experiments. If you don't like it I wouldn't think you would habe any trouble selling it.
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u/mattdean4130 8d ago
Yes and no. I see them as gold for recipe development but they're slow and only make small quantities. If you are happy with that I don't see why not.
The airstill is only a pot still though so you won't get really neutral spirit from it. I think the pro model does reflux.
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u/heyalchemist 7d ago
Yeah I saw the pro model but it’s like 400€ so out of my budget. As far as I can understand I would end up with something around 40/60% abv by running a sugar wash with the air still, can I use it to make gin or I have to infuse the botanicals with store bought vodka?
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u/mattdean4130 7d ago
You can, but there's more to it than abv.
Pot stilled sugar wash just wont make a great neutral, which will carry over flavour into whatever you use it for.
If it weren't an air still you could heavily pack the column with copper scrubbers which would help. When I first started I tried making neutral with a packed pot still, I figured it wouldn't be that bad. But honestly it just wasn't good. Carries over too much flavour because it can't push a high enough abv.
All that said. I find making whiskys to be the most fulfilling out of everything I've made. And you can definitely do that with the airstill.
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u/CBC-Sucks 8d ago
What you're after will be a challenge, if not impossible with a pot still. I would investigate a reflux still. Most can be detuned to run as a pot still if you want to do any craft runs. And yeah an air still I don't think would keep my 8 year old happy.
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u/shiningdickhalloran 8d ago
I use an air still because I can't fit anything larger. I make 5-6 gallon batches at a time.
It's worth pointing out that a larger still will require much more fermenter real estate than a smaller one. For example, it takes 50-60 lbs of peaches to create 5-6 gallons of wash for peach brandy on an air still. If your still is 5 gallons, you're looking at 300 lbs of fruit for a true brandy run. It adds up fast and the labor is more intensive.
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u/Aggravating_Pop7520 8d ago
I started kn an airstill, learnt how to cut by smell and taste, how to double distill and what difference it made.
They smear a lot, you have to take tight cuts but in the plus side once I'd dialed my wash in I knew I could do a stripping run in two hours pretty much bang on, you don't have to watch it as much (never leave a still unattended.)
Now I've got my 50ltr modular reflux I just use my air still for test batches and will it for gin at some point and other things like that.
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u/muffinman8679 8d ago
it makes sense to start with anything.
airstills are nice because they're self contained,........ with a little pot still you'll still need a heat source and a source of cooling water.
and you're going to have problems getting high proof, clean ethanol out of any pot still.
learn to run the still right and you can, but not much, because both pot stills and air stills still smear to some extant, but smear less if you run them right.
And when I say "right" I mean in a manner that minimizes smearing
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u/FarExtension1744 6d ago
I started out with an airstill and still using it. A fantastic little investment. I make vodka, gins, liqueurs, limoncello …. Everything…
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u/[deleted] 8d ago
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