Frequently asked questions
On this page we try to answer frequently asked questions. Naturally, we do our utmost to assist you properly and correctly. Should you still have any questions, comments and/or complaints, please email them to info@distillationsupplies.com.
- What is (fruit) mash?
Mash, or wash, is wine used for making spirit. Mash has a low alcohol percentage and is prepared by adding yeast, tap water and sugar and allowing it to stand for a few days. The mash is used to distil spirit in our copper stills.
- How do I start distilling alcohol?
If you start making spirits, you must first make mash. You make this by combining turbo yeast with tap water and sugar in a fermentation vessel. There are fermentation vessels with and without airlock. For our Turbo Yeast and our Whisky Turbo Yeast, an airlock is not necessary and our 30-litre fermentation vessel will be sufficient. See the instructions on the turbo yeast packaging for the correct ratios.
- How do I get my homemade drink to taste right?
There is an infinite number of recipes for making your own alcoholic drink and liqueur, many of which are quite complex. However, for making rum, coffee liqueur, whiskey, amaretto, liqueur43, gin, and other (fruit) liqueurs, you can also add an essence to your home-brewed drink. These can be found under accessories.
- Why are stills made of copper?
Copper is a good heat conductor, which helps the mash to heat up evenly. The length of the distilling process effects the taste. Over the years it has been shown that copper, in combination with the specific shape in which the still kettles are made, benefits the taste. We therefore only sell copper kettles that are manufactured in Europe and not stainless-steel pot stills, which often come from China.
- Which still is best suited for making essential oils and hydrosols?
The copper column stills and copper Alquitara stills from distillation.com are ideal for making essential oils and hydrosols. These stills are ideal for making beautifully scented lavender oil. In addition, these stills can also be used for distilling beverages.
Read more about making essential and hydrolates and making essential oil by steam distillation.
- What are the differences between the copper column stills and the Alquitara stills?
The Alquitara still is of a more compact design than the column still as its condenser is placed on top of the head. The column/grids are equipped with a for distilling herbs, plants and flowers for making essential oils. As for the quality and process of distillation, there is no difference.
- How much essential oil is left after distillation?
This is a difficult question to answer. It depends on a large number of factors, including the type of plant material, the pruning phase of the plant material, the moisture of the plant material and the distillation process. From lavender branches, you are left with roughly 4 to 7 percent of the weight of plant material as lavender oil. But this can also differ per lavender species within the lavender family. To get an idea of different yields of essential oils, we refer to our blog: Making essential oil by steam distillation.
- I would like to make fruit liqueurs from apples, pears, grapes, plums, etc. Which still do I need?
You can make fruit liqueurs with all stills by adding fruit to the mash. The moonshine alembic still is certainly suitable for this. However, if you want to distil a lot of fruit, a somewhat thicker fruit puree/pulp may develop. In that case, the Hobby still for distilling fruit may offer a solution. This still contains a mixer which you can operate by hand so that the fruit puree/pulp does not get burnt and stick to the still.
- Which still is the best sold?
The Moonshine alembic still is our best-sold still. We also sell this still as part of a complete set.
- What is the difference between the moonshine alembic still type A and B?
The models differ slightly from each other on the outside. The operation, quality and price of types A and B are the same. Type B stills are only available with a capacity of 15 to 30 litres. Type A stills are available with a capacity varying from 2 litres to 50 litres.
- Which still is suitable for making Gin?
There are roughly two ways to make gin. One way is to process all ingredients in the mash, then no column is needed and the Moonshine alembic still is sufficient. The other way to make gin is by placing the ingredients on a grid above the mash. For this method a column is needed and we recommend the Column still.
- What is the advantage of a Charentais alembic still?
The big advantage of a Charentais alembic still compared to other stills is that the distillation process is much faster. This is because there is an extra copper pot still in the middle of the setup that already preheats a second batch of mash during the distillation process of the first batch of mash. So while the first batch of mash is being distilled, a second batch of mash is automatically heated. This allows you to distil different batches of mash much faster in succession and saves you a lot of time. More about this special still can be found here.
- How much drink is left after the distillation?
This depends on a number of things, including the process of distillation, the alcohol percentage in the mash and the alcohol percentage in the final product. Roughly speaking, we apply the rule that you are left with about 10% to 15% of the mash as an end product. You fill a still up to a maximum of 80% with mash. So you can fill a 10 litre still with a maximum of 8 litres of mash. Of this, you will be left with about 1 litre of finished product (liqueur, whiskey, gin, etc.).
- Which barrels are best for ageing homemade whiskey, wine, rum, liqueur and other drinks?
We recommend our oak wooden barrels from France to age your homemade whiskey, rum, liqueur and other drinks.
- How can I heat the copper still?
Stills with a capacity of up to 10 litres can be heated on our electric hob. To reduce the heating time, the 10-litre still can also be heated on a gas flame. You can heat larger stills on a gas flame on a gas stove in the kitchen or on a mobile camping stove / gas burner. You can also heat the smaller distilling kettles on a gas flame if you do not have an electric hob. The distilling kettles can also be heated on a ceramic hob. It is not possible to heat the copper still on an induction hob.
- How long does it take to make a drink?
Obviously, this question is difficult to answer because it depends on many factors, including the amount of mash, the alcohol percentage in the mash, and the heat source. Our electric hob can be used for stills with a capacity of up to 10 litres. When you fill a 10-litre moonshine alembic still with, for example, 7 litres of mash and heat it on our electric hob, the heating time is approximately as follows:
-After 60 to 75 minutes, the temperature has risen from 20 degrees Celsius to 82 degrees Celsius.
-Then it takes about 45 minutes before most of the alcohol is distilled.
-In the example above, both the mash and the heating environment are at room temperature.
-You can continue for a second firing if necessary. You can read more about this in our blogs.
-For smaller still kettles on the electric hob or heating with a gas flame, the heating time is of course shorter.
- Is distilling spirit dangerous?
No, distilling spirit is not dangerous. If you make mash by adding yeast, tap water, and sugar using our turbo yeast, no hazardous substances are released. If you add fruit to the mash, a small amount of methanol will be formed during the distillation process. Methanol can be unhealthy in high percentages. This is why you should discard the first glass of alcohol, or “heads”, from your distillation run.
- How do I separate the heads (foreshot), hearts (middle cut) and tails (feint)?
For the answer to this question, we refer you to our blog.
- Which countries do you ship to?
We ship our products to all euro countries except Germany and Austria. We also ship to Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia. For orders over € 100 shipping is free within the Netherlands, to Belgium and France. For orders under € 100, shipping costs within the Netherlands are € 6.50, € 9 to Belgium and € 15 to France. Shipping to other European countries is always € 19.95 per order.
- When will my order be delivered?
The items are delivered within 3 to 5 working days. However, we always remain dependent on our carriers and are not responsible for orders that are delivered late.
- Can I pay securely?
All online payment methods accepted by us are offered to you via a secure and encrypted SSL Extended Validation connection. This means that it is not possible for third parties to intercept the data during the transaction. If you have a secure connection, you can see this by the green-coloured address bar with the padlock icon.