paulNL

I've never noticed any loss in flavour while filtering gin, jenever and ouzo/anis with it. For whisky or other wood finished products I would use a 5 micron filter followed by a 1 micron filter.

Yes the stainless steel version is a good choice, although I know quite a few distilleries which use the plastic one - polypropylene (PP) can withstand ethanol without a problem. Do remember that you can't get the "Tandem Filter Housing" in stainless steel, and they advertise it as being suitable for filtering spirits 😉

Any potstill will do, as long as the resulting distillate is >70% ABV.

Enolmatic, cheapest plastic model for wine bottles, 0.2micron inline filter. And get the optional Mignon kit if you want to fill tiny bottles as well.

@needmorstuff : you can ask these suppliers for a sample, that's what I've done before I decided.

Do check Brenntag UK, ask for "potable alcohol". In the Netherlands Brenntag sells it under the name "Nedalco", they bought the Cargill ethanol division.

I would say buy a bigger but still affordable boiler. A 200L milk can boiler with 4" top port from China can be brought to the UK for less than a thousand UKP, including transport and import duties. Yes not all NGS is the same: different grains, different number of plates used... One of the stranger things I found out was that a particular one had trace amounts of particles in it, probably caused by carbon filtering and not running it through a very fine (think 0.2 micron) filter afterwards. If you dilute it to 40-45% ABV and let the bottles rest for a few months a haze at the bottom would appear. Now if you would have distilled this NGS with your botanicals it wouldn't be a problem at all.

You're talking about gin production, right? Quite a few UK based producers do so, ranging from nano distilleries running a 25L boiler to most of the big names. I don't, and there is growing resistance against this. But the rules certainly allow it. Oh and you need to be sure your NGS/GNS is flawless.

Stills are a bit difficult to find second hand in the UK, new still with column in this size range would costs you 2.000 UKP new or more. Stainless steel collection and storage vessels are cheap, 100-200 UKP new for 100-300L. Enolmatic might be difficult to find second hand. Reverse osmosis you don't want second hand, <100 UKP if it doesn't need to be very fast. PM me for brand/vendor names.

You all use cheap, lightweight bottles I guess. 1 pallet of Saverglass Neos 75cl (960 bottles) weights in at a hefty 1812lbs (822kg).

@Still_Holler If no one replies over here just have a look at the iStill blog, you see postings about almost every distillery that has them. Just give the distillery a call or find them on Facebook. I don't have much experience with the iStill myself yet but can bring you into contact with someone who does if you can't find anyone.

No you're right, a competition has some substantial costs. Then again some people might find it profitable to organise their own competition to make a profit. As a producer you vote with your wallet, if you want a medal from a reputable competition you send your products there. If you want "any medal" just send it to the cheapest, nearest or first available competition. And as a producer you can always organise your own competition, having your local Rotary or Lions as the judges. Has been done. Not by me.

"I assembled a control panel" seems pretty clear to me?

I think ADI has a nice list for all states, with all the details about distribution, direct sales, tasting and what not.

*DON'T* grind 'm, ever. Crushing can be done but the result won't be reproducable. You can save on juniper (at the expensive of having to wait 1 or more days) by macerating as Glenlyon suggested. I don't.

Well you can come to the Complete and certified distilling training by Odin in the Netherlands. And if you're a bit unlucky meet me there as well 😂

10-15g/l of Juniper seems about right, enough room for the other botanicals. You can macerate both juniper and coriander for one or more days in 60% before you dilute everything to get to a safe ABV to start distilling, and add your other botanicals. jenschmunk: yes, 71.3g/l is excessive.

71.3g per liter of boiler content is a lot! 20-35g/l seems to be what most people use. Example: 35g x 600 L = 21kg of botanicals. That would be $273 at your prices, maybe slightly over a dollar a bottle (at .7L). If you buy some botanicals in bulk volumes the price might go down significantly. I know I spend a bit less.

Symbols for recycling, drink/driving and pregnancy are not a part of the European laws as specified in EU regulation 110/2008. Every country MAY introduce laws or guidelines regarding these symbols themselves, and most have done so. Example: in the Netherlands most of the big distillers are a member of the trade organisation SpiritsNL, and they ask their members to use these symbols. I'm not a member myself (and therefor not required to use them), but I do.

More info in fill levels in the EU: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A31975L0107

The "e" symbol tells the consumer that you've filled the bottle to almost exactly the amount as shown on the label. Without the "e" on the label there's a bigger margin allowed. And no, I don't have the "e" symbol on my labels, like most smaller producers of spirits and wines. Not a single consumer or shop has refused my bottles because of this. I've discussed this with a botteling plant, even though they can fill bottles to the "e" specification they said I can leave the "e" off just so I can use the same label design on everything I bottle myself. I don't know the exact margins allowed off the top of my head, but if you can't find it I'll try to help you.

@indyspirits - it's computer controlled, so it starts heating up during the night and keeps a safe temperature (below boiling) if it took less time than anticipated. Ready to start distilling in the morning!

Definitely have a look at iStill. 5000L fully automated still that does anything from a simple potstill up to 96% ABV in one go, excellent service and even better training. Highly recommended.

Can't see why not, depending on the volume of spirits to be produced a one-person distillery is certainly possible. Heck I do all the production work mentioned in my own distillery and these things as well: product development, sales, marketing, management, finance... 😁

indyspirits, how much botanicals do you use? 40g per liter or per US gallon? 40g/l would be too much, 30g-32g/l about the max. Heads cut <1% of boiler content, in fact I normally take around 0,5%. Total alcohol that ends up in the bottle is 90% of what I started with, I stop collecting hearts when what comes out of the still is at 45% ABV / 90proof. Bottled at 42% ABV / 84 proof, no problems with clouding. Lots of taste. Question: is there a possibility that you just distill too fast, and therefor get too much smearing? I sometimes did...