Serious Distilling With Brewcraft, Still Spirits T500 and Grainfather

Over the past couple of months our short course in brewing and distilling has covered all the basics from freeze distilling to very basic pot distilling. Today is the start of the serious stuff with unboxing of the Still Spirits Turbo 500 distilling system.

Designed in New Zealand and sold across the globe, in South Africa this system is supplied and serviced by Brewcraft. All of their contact details are below in the description, and on our website. I contacted Ryan from Brewcraft and he has very kindly sent us a full T500 system and a full Grainfather brewing and distilling system to complete this series. The series will run at 1 episode per week for the following 16 weeks and by the time you’re finished the course, you should know just about everything you need to know about brewing and distilling, and both of these magnificent brewing and distilling systems.
In this first of the series, we are going to introduce the Still Spirits T500 in all it’s glory, and get real close up and personal as we unbox the unit. The system does come in various configurations, and you can find these details on the Brewcraft website.
The core of the system is the boiler. Immediately the quality of the build is apparent. The brushed stainless steel is at least 800 microns in thickness… certainly not a flimsy unit. There is a solid, quality drainage tap fitted, and the double spring loaded lid clips are superb. The finish on the edges and in fact everything so far is amazing.
The following item is the column reflux condenser. Once again, the build quality is outstanding. This comes with all of the required piping. Included is the digital probe thermometer and all of the various tap fittings you could possibly need to hook up the cooling system. You also get a complimentary bottle of distilling conditioner and a pack of reusable ceramic boil enhancers. All of these will covered in much more detail during the course of this series.
Next up is the alembic dome for pot distilling. Beautifully finished in heavy gauge brushed copper, the finish is protected with a good coat of heat resistant polymer. This fits to the top of the boiler and is capped off with the copper condenser. This option also comes with all the necessary piping, the matching digital probe thermometer and all of the necessary tap connections. All of the aforementioned equipment comes with full and comprehensive operating manuals.
Other very useful optional extras include the water flow regulator which will control the flow in the cooling system and the EZfilter System for filtering your reflux distilled alcohol. In our next episode we will be covering the differences between pot distilling and reflux distilling, including the different types of yeast used, additives and clearing agents.
In summary, when you see this system first hand, you cannot help being impressed. Stick with us for the next 15 episodes where we put all of this and more through it’s paces while you learn just about everything you need to know to distill amazing drinks at home. For those viewers not interested in distilling, our regular food programming will continue as normal.