Equipment for hobby distillation
Equipment for fermenting mash
Fermentation vessel. The easiest is to use a wine bucket. It is just as easy to ferment 8 liters as 25 liters in a wine bucket. If you only ferment 8-liter batches (enough for 2 distillations) you can use a 10-liter plastic container.
A syphon or hose for transferring the fermented mash to the fermentation vessel. Thus the bottom deposit can be separated. This gives a cleaner spirits but is not necessary.
A Rubber bung or lid with hole for the fermentation lock, if a plastic container is used. The wine bucket is provided with a rubber muff for the fermentation lock.
Fermentation lock. This is a water lock designed to pass out the carbon dioxide from the fermentation without allowing air in (which can contain vinegar bacteria).
Equipment for the advanced course
Hydrometer with measuring glass. Is a floating weight which is read off at the surface (like a vehicle battery tester), and shows the specific gravity. Available with a specific gravity/and or an Oechsle scale. By measuring the mash after fermentation one can see if all the sugar has been fermented to alcohol, or if the mash should be fermented further. One can do without a hydrometer but it is great to have control over the fermentation, so it is recommended anyway.
Equipment for distillation
Apart from the EasyStill distilling apparatus, the following are required:
1 metre tube, approximately 10 mm in diameter.
1 activated carbon filter unit comprising of a 500 mm long 40 mm diameter tube, funnel and tube cap.
Alcoholmeter 300 mm 0-100% or 30-60% with 250 mm high measuring glass.
Advanced course: Alcoholmeter 30-60% with thermometer and correction scale. This is really for distilleries but it is nice to have a real check on parts of a %. These are small once-only costs, but buy good quality – obtainable on the Internet from partyman.se.
A hobby bench is perfect for holding the apparatus. The apparatus up on the bench and the collecting vessel underneath. These hobby benches are inexpensive and can be obtained from stores such as B & Q. Recommended.
Equipment for final finishing
A funnel and a few empty bottles are all that is required.
Essences: There is only one make comprising of spirit industry essences in consumer packaging. This is Prestige, and is also obtainable from partyman.se. There are no better.