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Cheers and bottoms up
Home brew spirits
Marty Ireland
I have been home brewing beer wine and spirits for a long time. Like many hobbies and interests you can keep it simple or get into it seriously.
My home brewing of beer and cider has been from a can or kit which has included stout, various ales and lagers, Hazy Ipa (opaque, juicy beers), and apple cider.
Wine has been from a variety of fruits, vegetables, even coffee and ginger, however grapes are the natural best thing and it just happens without too much intervention.
Spirits happened by chance when an entry-level air still called a Vodka Maker came up in a Buy Sell Swap paper for $150 ($300 new back then).
Already having a brew barrel to start a ferment, in went 6kg of sugar, a sachet of liquid carbon and a turbo yeast, giving a total volume of 23 litres. Sit it on the dining table or kitchen bench if you have no dedicated room or area to do this.


At room temperature this may take a week, more in cooler months, but a heat pad will achieve fermentation in 2 or 3 days ➊ ➋.
With ferment complete, stir in Part A clearing agent then 1 hour later, Part B and wait 24 hours ➌.

Now the magic happens in the still, fill it up to the set level, add some copper gauze ➍ some ceramic beads and a small amount of conditioner.


In picture ➎ at left is a heating kettle that boils and produces a steam that condenses in the fan-cooled coil in the head and drips out into a collection jug.
Unlike a more complex still (like a column still, such as Turbo 500 ($500–700), which need constant attention with temperature and flow, discarding the first 50mls etc, this one has a continuous run of 4–6 hrs and you are done.
With an air still, like this one ➎, you just wait and collect the first 750mls then stop, which takes about 3 hours, and you need to do 6 runs for 23 litres of fermented product, so to be practical, I do 3 one day and 3 the next.

This raw spirit is then run thru a carbon filter and diluted back to 1 litre ➏ and is now ready to flavour. There is a range of flavours available in a brew shop or Bin Inn ➐.

A general spirit of whiskey, rum, gin vodka etc works out at about $15 a bottle, Irish cream, Khalua or Galiano around $22 ➑.
Joining a local club and talking with other brewers will expand your set up, process and what you make.
This hobby has been shared with many visitors , and of course fellow campers, so keep and eye out and we might share a tipple with you at a camp near you.
Cheers and bottoms up.

©2024 Marty Ireland

8 Winter 2024
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