Is a Water Distiller any good for alcohol, or do I need the Air Still?

Is a Water Distiller any good for distilling alcohol? They are cheaper, but are they too cheap?
What are the Pros and Cons of them compared to the Air Still from Still Spirits.

[@MrBobcat1957]

You're joking right? Passing judgement on something you haven't even used for alcohol? Then you proceed to tout the advantages of the air still. Sounds like a paid promotion to me. BTW, if you do decide to use the water distiller for alcohol, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The greater power is an advantage, the lack of gin basket is only valid if one has no imagination. My basket hangs from a wire strung around the top inlet plate. Works perfectly. Please don't present things as fact unless you actually experience them.

[@brewingadvice]

Hi @MrBobcat1957, I am sorry you feal that way. No, this was not a paid or non-paid promotion for any product or company. My issue is that when you use a 500W+ heating element for such a small wash (meaning 4 litres) the wash temperature raises far too quickly. No, it is not a problem going from room temperature to 82C quickly, that part is very helpful. My issue is that once it starts to distil it will gain in temperature far too fast. It will be harder to make good cuts and the different 'zones' will smear and the quality of the spirit will be reduced. If it was being used to create just neutral spirit, then it won't be too bad, but anything with flavour, the quality will be reduced. If you could fit an SCR to it, so it could run full-power on heat up, then you can turn it down once it starts dripping, then you would have one great mini still. I like you idea of a botanical basket, great thinking. Sure some people will be happy to do this, but the average person just wants a still they can fill up, then switch on. They don't want to have to adapter it or create extra things to get it to work as other do out of the box. As to your last comment about fact, normally I would agree with you, but I don't need to run a 4 litre still that has a 1,000W heating element to know that it will raise in temperature far too fast and will smear the cuts. That is common knowledge and not something that I need or want to experience. A water distiller with a 300-400W heating element would be a great product and the price saving would make it very worth while. Sadly I have not seen a water distiller with a heating element that low as water needs higher temperature to turn to vapour, which is why they have such high power.

[@annscookworld]

@@brewingadvice kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYXZipR3apiDbZY this gives you answer

[@brewingadvice]

Hi@@annscookworld, Jessie is a great guy and explains the issue very well. If you note what he says about power, he does comment about having too much power in a still. This is why I have an issue with Water Distillers, as generally the majority are over-powered for ethanol as they are designed for use with just water. As Jessie states, you need more power when dealing with water, hence why a water distiller needs a higher power output. But when you have ethanol in with water in a still, you need a lot less power.

[@mohammedabushoog4898]

If I get this device only for stripping runs, can it do it properly?

[@brewingadvice]

Personally I think for stripping runs they will work a dream as it will get the ethanol out quick and fast due to the high wattage heating element they have.

[@tommyperez6022]

My vevor water distiller does a great job. You can adjust the temp. Once you learn the curve, it’s incredible. I think the fact that you can control the temperature gives you the upper hand. but do not recommend it and never even try it?

[@brewingadvice]

If you are happy with your Vevor and it works well, then that is great. You have saved a lot of money over buying an Air Still or something similar. No, I have not tried my water distiller with alcohol, the reason why is because I have heard far too many people who have tried and it failed badly for them. I have also been contacted by many people who bought one and who were very upset with wasting money over the bad quality ethanol that came out, and they asked me how they can fix it. I advised those who did buy one to run their spirit through it 3 or 4 times as after each run it will get a little cleaner. This is why I don't need to try it myself. My water distiller, I bought it so I could install an SCR and a microcontroller so that it would be my dedicated gin machine where I could program it to run how I want to distil gin.

[@LeviPeters-vq8xo]

100% agree.

[@user-rg9ok1hc5q]

Do you know of any counter top distillers that are NOT made in China ?

[@brewingadvice]

I am not aware of any counter top distillers that are not made in China. Most things these days are made in China. Australia are very good at producing many things, but sadly it just isn't cost effective to make a lot of things locally compared to the lower cost in China.

[@looneycrow7978]

For those looking for real info.. YES WATER DISTILLER WORKS PERFECT for alcohol.

[@brewingadvice]

Agreed, many people love them for spirit distilling. It it is the same as somebody could slate Volvo cars (or any make) and many would agree with them, but many will disagree saying that Volvos are the best cars ever made. I personally do not like water distillers for processing ethanol. Since this video, I have used my water distiller twice with two different washes I made (one Kale, one Turbo Yeast) as some are right, how can I say they are not good when I haven't tried it myself. In all honesty, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I did get a lot of off flavours (mainly from the turbo yeast) which I wasn't happy with. You could say that it is because I am used to the 95.5& ABV I get from my T500 column, so I am used to cleaner spirit. So, I compared it to the Air Still Pro running in pot still mode (which is the same as a standard Air Still) & the Alembic condenser on my 25 litre boiler. The water distiller did add in a lot more off flavours than I personally would be happy with compared to the other stills that I have.

[@NetworkGeek280]

What if you’re making gin from your hearts from a larger still? Apart from the first 10-20ml there are no cuts.

[@brewingadvice]

Some will do no cuts, while others would. I for example make my neutral spirit from my 25 litre boiler/reflux column. I then macerate my botanicals, then will throw them and the spirit into my Air Still and will power it up. The first part coming out will be too heavy, so will be thrown away. I will then take cuts every 100ml, and will do this until the ABV reaches 20% or when I notice there is no flavour. I then leave the cuts in sealed jars over night, then will sample them the next day. Sometimes all of the jars will go into the final drink, other times I may choose only 5 out of the 8. I think it all depends on what ingredients you use and the quantities.

[@AarreLisakki]

@@brewingadvice soo, in other words while you may prefer additional flexibility, this would in fact be a perfectly reasonable tool to make a rather large range of redistilled products that don't necessarily require much in cuts, like geists, gin, absinthe, akvavit, ouzo etc? However, prob not well suited for making the base spirits. I think that's a rather important clarification one could have made.

[@brewingadvice]

Hi @AarreLisakki, I think it all depends on the wattage power of the water distiller and what you are happy with quality wise. Many people hate the Air Still as they say that it produces awful quality spirit and you need to go to a bigger 25 litre 'proper boiler'. I personally don't like the idea of a water distiller as the heating element are very high. But, as you can see from some of the other comments here, many people love their water distiller and are happy with the quality of spirit that it produces. Are you ask, the quality may be very noticeable on some drinks you produce and not so noticeable on others. While very random, I for one would never buy a brand new car. The cars I buy are typically 1-3 years old. I think it is a waste of money buying a new car as they lose value too quickly. Some of my friends will only ever buy a new car, and will do so every 3 years. Then, I have other friends who will buy cars that are 8+ years old. Which one of us is right and who is wrong? We all have different thoughts and reasons why we do what we do. What suites one person won't be right for everybody. So, to take this back to distilling, personally I wouldn't recommend a water distiller. If somebody is starting out and they want a small still, then I would recommend an Air Still (doesn't matter who made it, it could be Still Spirits, or could be a cheaper copy). If somebody wants to spend even less and buy a water distiller, then by all means do. I hope that you will be happy with the quality. I would though hate somebody to start this hobby and buy something that they are not happy with, and that they think that everything will taste that way, and then they never do it again. If somebody has a water distiller and loves it, then carry on. I am sorry that I am dissing what you like to use. I though have been contacted by too many people who asked me why their spirit smells so bad and how they can improve it to not say anything.

[@AarreLisakki]

@@brewingadvice oh, agreed, warning people considering buying them that they run way too 'hot' and inflexibly for general usecase is important! But given the reaction, it may be that there's still a reasonable use for them for some of the drinks. I would hope people repurposing a device clearly not marketed for distilling any alcohol would understand they're taking a gamble as to how well that experiment might end up.

[@brewingadvice]

Hi @AarreLisakki, yes, I would have to agree with you. Most things in life can be used to do different things, but, as you say, you need to understand the limitations and issues as a result of using it for something that it is not intended for. While yes, I could have said that in the video, my issue is than so many people jump in and buy things like this without fully appreciating the problems, then shout at the KZbinr that it is their fault as they said it 'should' be ok.

[@joel4448]

so i can put vodka into my water distiller to purify the vodka ?

[@brewingadvice]

Technically you may be able to, but it depends on the wattage of your water distiller and how pure your vodka is already. I say this as the hotter the water distiller is, the quicker the vodka will come out. This is an issue as the 'impure' bits of the vodka will also come out quicker. Also if your vodka is quite good already, it would be hard to make it even better. To make it better you need to make cuts and then throw some away which isn't as nice. This will take a lot of time.

[@joel4448]

@@brewingadvice when I put the vodka through my distiller is definitely came out a lot quicker than when I usually put water though it. It left a brown residue at the bottom of the distiller. Hope it still safe to use as I’ve used that vodka for herbal tinctures

[@brewingadvice]

Vodka or alcohol in general will come out a lot quicker than water as ethanol has a lower boiling point. Vodka shouldn't leave any real residue behind when you distil it as vodka is supposed to be just ethanol and water.

[@DavideArzarello]

Nice and fair comparisono, just a doubt....the fact that 3rd party air still have a TEMPERATURE control is not a big PRO? you can set temperature and so heating power at a desired level isn't it ?

[@brewingadvice]

Hi @DavideArzarello, The issue with the temperature sensor on this, the DigiBoiler, Love Brewing boiler and any boiler is that it is not a good idea to use the sensor when distilling. The issue is that when the power goes off to the heating elements, the vapour production is severally reduced. When less vapour goes into the condenser, well, you get less liquid ethanol. So, if you use a boiler that has a temperature sensor, you need to set the temperature higher than you will distil at, so 98C or higher. Basically you don't want the boiler to turn off the power to the heating elements.

[@DavideArzarello]

@@brewingadvice thanks for the clarification....indeed you are right if the controller is a simple on/off thermostat you can't reach a stable and precise control. I think with a a PID controller and continuous regulation of the heating powere from 0 to 100% the temperature control should be a good solution to improve the process

[@brewingadvice]

Hi @DavidArzarello, I don't think a PID will work as they are still either ON or OFF. The only way to go is to use a SCR where the power is permanently on, but at a reduced rate.

[@DigbyGrayston]

thankyou o made my mind up

[@brewingadvice]

You are more than welcome @DigbyGrayston, glad you liked it.

[@sir.2015]

And what about the aluminium fan? Aluminium rots away by alcohol….

[@brewingadvice]

That I was not aware of.

[@mhakantekin3894]

Advertising is absolutely a waste of time

[@brewingadvice]

Depends on how good the advert is. For this video though, no advert. All my stills are mine, nothing to do with Still Spirits and I would be surprised if they even know my channel (or myself to that point) exist. I have never been given anything for free or at a discount to make a video or do a review on it. This and all my videos are my personal thoughts.

[@annscookworld]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYXZipR3apiDbZY is temperature an issue

[@brewingadvice]

Yes temperature is a big issue. In the link you gave, Jessie explains that you can send too much vapour to the condenser (as a result of too much power/heat), and this can cause some vapour not to condense when it comes out. IF you have a water distiller that does not get too hot and can condense everything, and you are using this for stripping runs, then it will be fine. I personally wouldn't recommend them for spirit runs though as they usually run way too fast.

[@TheScreaminBeaver]

Sounds like an ad for the air still.

[@brewingadvice]

I can assure you that it is not an advert in any way.