Spirits

[reviled]

Hey guys, I have recently found at that its illegal to distill alchohol in Australia??? Sucks for you guys! Distilling alchohol is legal over here in NZ, allthough that doesnt stop a still from costing between $400-$600...

So I thought I would turn to you guys for some advice, I understand you guys can make spirits at about 20% alc and was wondering what your guy thoughts are on this in regards to taste and overall product etc...

Im interested in making spirits, but dont want to shell out $400 plus dollars just to get started, maybe after a few batchs... So any comments are appreciated...

Cheers

 

[Adamt]

From what I've heard, brewed "spirits" with essences taste horrible, many shades worse than kit beers taste over mash beers.

I'm brewing sake at the moment, it is very cheap to make ($2 a litre) and tasty; well I enjoy it.

 

[mika]

The wash was OK, I didn't get anywhere near the supposed alcohol content. It just didn't ferment low enough, but then I was fermenting in the summer in a bathtub, so not ideal. As such...it tastes kinda OK, but you need a lot of flavouring to be able to drink it and then some of the flavourings bring in their own peculiar tastes to it. It's not an ideal solution, but worth giving a shot just once to make your own mind up. I used table sugar too, not DME, that might make a difference, it was starting to get expensive so I went cheap...probably a bad call.

 

[~MikE]

there's plenty of how-tos on making stills, some basic models don't look too hard.

otherwise you can always freeze still your 20% swill, then treat with oak and activated carbon (yes i've done some reading )

 

[edoeven]

the 20-23% wash tastes like some terrible form of goon. I wouldnt bother putting essences or anything in it, just drink it with some solo or orange juice!
pretty bad tho, pretty much everyone I know who makes spirits has made a simple still or bought one. (sold for "water purification")

 

[brettprevans]

like all things the end result is only as good as what you put in (ie use good ingredients). If you used grain to make your wash it will taste infinitely better. maybe check out Liquorcraft's site. they have info on spirit brewing.

yes in Australia its illeagal to brew spirits. but its legal to distill water. it just so happens that the equip you use for water distillation is the same as distilling liquor.

 

[Hutch]

The 20% wash tastes shocking, probably because it's all sugar and yeast and yeast nutrients and dead yeast and fusil alcohols, etc. etc.

I would not want to force this stuff down my throat, however once you put it through a good reflux still (so I've been told ) a few times, and sat it on carbon for a while, it is VERY clean, and can be mixed with whatever you like.

Also, you don't need to fork out so much cash to get a system set up - there's plenty of material in the interweb for building your own, so all you'd need to spend the cash on is the electric boiler itself, plus copper pipe & fittings to piece it all together.

...so I've been told ...

 

[pint of lager]

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