Shine Still Alcohol Distiller Home Brewing Distillery Kit 8 Gallon Stainless 2 Pots Upgraded Copper Tube with Water Pump Home Brewing Kit for DIY Whisky Brandy Wine Making

Makes lots easy to use and easy to clean

I know what you're thinking. Should I go with the Vevor or one of the other kits? Is 5 gallons the right size, or should I go with 8? Do I need a thumper keg? After doing a lot of research, I can confidently recommend the DESENNIE 8 gallon, three pot setup (with thumper keg) for people who are asking themselves those questions.I'm going to start with general comments and then get more specific for people that want to go there. If you are looking to distill shine, then there are a few reasons why I feel this kit is the best choice on the market right now. For the amount of time involved with distilling, an 8 gallon pot allows you to start with 5-6 gallons of liquid and get a decent sized yield. Any more is hard to handle (yes you will need to lift it at some point), and any less gives too small of a yield. The thumper keg in this set has a copper tube that reaches to the bottom of the thumper keg, creating a true environment where the vapor must travel from the bottom out of the top. It also gives you a place to pack (the thumper keg) with marbles or rings for a fractional distillation effect. I don't know for sure, but it looked like some other kits had thumper kegs where there was no input tube that went to the bottom, which defeats the whole purpose of that pot. The DESENNIE also uses a full copper delivery system so that wherever the vapor travels it is always traveling through copper, all the way into the mason jar at the end.This is a complete kit, and a beginner does not need to purchase any additional materials outside of the consumables involved in the process. For the price, this kit is an incredible deal.I have corresponded multiple times with the seller. These guys are the real deal. They are quick to answer questions and they have a lot of experience. This was an unexpected bonus for me and more confirmation that I bought from people who really know the craft versus people who are just mass producing a starter kit.Now I'm going to add a few lessons learned for those who are getting started with shine.First, the gasket on the thumper keg is split, and you have to pull it apart (like a V) to seal it onto the lip of the thumper keg lid. I didn't realize that at first (and thought that it sat under the lid like on the boiler pot), and it took some back and forth before I figured it out.When you add flaked maize (or whatever grain you choose to add), don't worry about using a brewer's bag or metal strainer to get it back out. Leave it in there during heating and fermentation, and then at the end of fermentation, all of the sediment will have settled to the bottom. Pour the (fermented) wash out of the boiler pot into a holding container (such as another pot or food grade 5 gallon bucket), leaving the sediment in the bottom of the boiler pot when you do so. Then, after cleaning the boiler pot, pour the wash back in, and continue with distillation.When you are taking temperature readings, you are taking readings of the vapor, not the liquid. I thought it was a mistake that the thermometer didn't reach down to the liquid, but it is intentional. Use the thermometer as is for all temperature readings.Practice using the water pump before you get to the big first distillation day. It takes a little bit of getting used to and some adjusting before you get a nice even flow. Start with a slow flow and work up from there.Have a lot of ice handy to put in your condenser keg during distillation, and the larger the ice cubes, the better. The colder the liquid is in that condenser chamber the better the recondensing inside the condenser tubes will be.Let the fermentation go until it is completely finished, which can take up to 3 weeks. That way you get as much yield as possible!In summary, I am very happy with this kit and feel that it is a great kit for any beginner or intermediate shine producer.

Works amazing

For the cash best possible option I love researching before a new project and the glass thumper is a nice touch I plan on moding mine with a copper collom to run to the thumper wish it had a bigger condenser by a gallon or to pot and copper tube water had to be switched out twice in three hr. But like I said for the price great first still happy with the product.

Great compact unit.

I tried distilling water first. Worked well no leaks etc. not an elaborate still and hope to move into distillation of essential oils and some alcohols. Goid starter skill

I have it a 1 star because I was excited when it arrived all went well on the first run Then things Started to fall apart. The nuts on the hoses started to come off so I had to re flair them luckily I had a tool for that. I purchased the 13 gal pot and the thumper and worm are so much smaller than they should be they would be better with the smaller pot not the 13 gal pot. As for the water valves on the worm on the third run they are leaking out of the top where the levers are. So in short if you buy the 13.5 gal still your basically going to be just buying the pot because the thumper and worm are useless I have built my own thumper and bigger worm and used decent water valves and different hoses for the steam because the ones it comes with will leak and you will have to reflair the nuts back on.

Many reviews say it leaks. The trick is to use teflon tape on all the threads tighten it down really good and get rid of the garbage silicone washers that they give you and go to the hardware store and buy good rubber washers. The thumper is definitely too small but it'll do for small batches just needs some attention time and again because it will fill up. The condenser coil is too small but it's a good starting point. Just make sure you use blocks of ice in your water reservoir. Newbies don't realize this, myself being a newbie lol, a good run is going to take you at least 6 to 8 hours.When it's all said and done for the price I paid I can't argue.