RUNNING AN

AIRSTILL

HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF IT

PLUS SOME DO'S AND DONT'S

AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO AIRSTILL OPERATIONS

For anyone new to or considering getting and Airstill I offer the following from my
experience using an Airstill over the past three years or so.
What follows here is tried and proven methodology for getting maximum efficiency from an Airstill.

The Airstill is a very small, basic but functional 'Compromise Pot Still'.

I call it a 'Compromise Pot Still ' because, although it's ingenious, it's a trade-off to accomplish certain things.
Certain elements of traditional still design have been 'modified' in order to make it small, simple to use,
affordable and accessible to the ordinary man or woman in the street.

It's small size makes it ideal as a starter still for beginners; for those who just want to make small batches; and
for those who have limited space to operate a still, etc.. Despite the fact that I run a 50lt Pot these days, I still
have my Airstill and use it regularly to test recipes on a small scale before committing valuable resources.

While its compact design has benefits it also creates some problems and serious limitations, most obviously its
4lt capacity which makes processing a 25lt Wash very labour intensive, and the fact that the operator has no
control over the unit other than to switch it on and off.

It Really Works – but Slowly

Despite the problems and limitations I can state categorically, without fear of contradiction, that if you stick to
some basic rules and principles you can make very good quality spirit with this equipment – albeit slowly.

Potential Serious Problem

Without question, the most serious problem with the Airstill, created by the design compromise, is the risk,
small as it is, of Puking which is potentially dangerous and must be avoided at all costs.

Puking is where the Wash being boiled starts to surge boil and this creates giant super-bubbles and foam within
the boiler. In a larger still this will cause flooding of the riser and, if unchecked, can end up with foam and
Wash running through the product condenser – a PITA – messy, time consuming to correct but not dangerous,
so for most distillers using standard designs it's a regrettable inconvenience.

When an Airstill pukes, the condenser tube in the lid, which is the compromise to the riser and condenser on a
larger pot still, is too small to take the rapidly expanding, heaving mass of boiling liquid and foam created by
the Puke and so, the lid gets blown off. In the worst case, the boiling Wash gets ejected, volcano style, into the
room and will scald anything it touches not to mention the danger of flying liquid contacting your electrics.

Prevention of Puking starts with Boil Enhancers, such as Ceramic Saddles, Copper Mesh etc., while these are a
must in an Airstill and will help prevent a Puke they will not completely eliminate the possibility on their own.

Before anyone goes chucking their Airstill out the window I have to add that Puking is rare and many users,
me included, have run Airstills without incident for years – I've only ever had one Puke and I was lucky.

That said, puking is a genuine potential problem which should not be ignored on the basis that
“Sure that hardly ever happens!” because if it happens to you once it may be once too often AND seeing as it's
absolutely avoidable and virtually cost free it would be foolish not to take the necessary steps to avoid it
happening to you and your family.

There are three stages of preparing a Wash that will ensure you NEVER experience an Airstill Puke.

1. Degas the Wash Properly 2. Clear the Wash 3. Use Distillers Conditioner on the Stripping Run.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? These are things that everyone does, the use of Conditioner may not be so universal
particularly with larger stills. However, to completely neutralise the potential threat of puking in an Airstill
these three stages have to be taken to a degree that's just not necessary in larger stills – again, this is as a result
of the design compromise. If you're running an Airstill these are things you need to make into your standard
routine, things you do automatically every time, without fail and without having to think about it.
The Wash recipe/type does not affect the running of the Airstill but the condition of the finished Wash
absolutely does affect the operation of the still and the quality of the final output.

Degassing and Clearing the Wash

Once your Wash is finished fermenting you need to seriously degas it two or three times to remove all CO2.
The Airstill does not like CO2 in the Wash and it is a major contributor to puking.

Every brewer knows that degassing is crucial to getting a wine or beer crystal clear before it's fit for drinking.
In the distilling world it's not considered so important as we won't be drinking the brew and distillers routinely
clear the Wash to a certain point to remove the heavy solids but most don't try to get the Wash totally cleared
because in larger stills it's not an absolute necessity.

In a perfect world, Wash would be crystal clear, no residual unfermented sugars, no starches, no Sulphides,
etc., – in a perfect world. The tolerances in a large Pot Still are quite wide and forgiving so if the Wash doesn't
meet this 'perfect' standard it's not a problem - the Airstill is a bit different.

A 'perfect' Wash isn't an absolute

requirement but, as a result of the design
compromise, users of the Airstill, in order
to positively exclude the possibility of
Puking, must strive for substantially
cleaner, clearer Wash than those using
larger boilers. This just requires a little
more work and time clearing the Wash
but every cloud has a silver lining this
too has an upside.

A beneficial side effect of achieving a

cleaner, clearer Wash is that maximum
efficiency from the Airstill becomes an
achievable target. So, getting the Wash as
clear as possible is more than desirable
and complete degassing is critical as CO2
supports suspended solids in a Wash.

A further reason for getting the Wash as clear and clean as possible is that, in the confines of the small Airstill
boiler with such a small volume of liquid, any suspended solids will add off flavours and create unpredictable
effects when heated and will definitely NOT add anything desirable to your finished spirits.

Clean and clear – what exactly does that mean?

As a general guide, a 25lt Wash is cleared sufficiently for Stripping in the Airstill if you can see to the bottom
of the fermenter. Once it reaches this level of clarity you can safely Rack & Run.

Crystal clear Wash, pictured above, is not necessary although, it should be noted, that the clearer you can get
the Wash before putting it in any still the cleaner and more pleasant your final spirit will be and this is
especially true of the Airstill.

Why use Distiller's Conditioner?

Always use Distillers Conditioner on each 4lt batch of the Stripping Run. This magic additive breaks down the
surface tension of the liquid and prevents bubbles/foam from forming. It will not add any flavours or smells
and when I add it to my Airstill I use a small SS hand whisk to ensure it is distributed throughout the still
charge, this also makes sure there is no residual CO2 in the Wash.

Distiller's Conditioner is only used on the Stripping Run and would serve no purpose on the Spirit Run as all
the elements that could potentially cause Puking have already been removed from the Wash.

This brings us to what appears to be a contentious point with a small number of people.
The Airstill, as a very small, basic but functional 'Compromise Pot Still' is just not physically capable of
producing high quality, drinking spirit from a single run of any Wash through that still. This is not to insult or
upset anyone, it's just plain fact – not opinion – FACT!

If the Airstill design was capable of producing high quality drinking spirit from a single run then all pot stills
would be modified to that design specification!

I have elsewhere labelled the product of the first run from the Airstill as being 'not fit for human consumption'
because it's nothing more than cleaned up wash or Low Wines as we normally refer to them.

While I stand by that label I'd like to clarify that in doing so I am not suggesting that the product of the first run
is poisonous or specifically dangerous in any way, that's NOT the case but rather that the product is not yet
sufficiently purified by the compromise distillation process, inherent in the Airstill design, to be fit for
consumption at that point – it's incomplete & only part distilled.

It's a bit like part-cooked chicken – you can eat it if you want and you may not have any ill effects but we all
know why you should never eat chicken that's not properly and thoroughly cooked and the same safety
concern attaches to alcohol that is not yet clean enough to drink.

Perhaps the problem stems from the fact that we put pretty murky looking liquid into the Airstill and with one
run crystal clear liquid comes out the other end leading some people to the mistaken conclusion that it's clean
and pure enough to drink. Couple this with Carbon filtering and some very strong flavouring and you'll never
notice the difference!

As a direct result of the truncated, 'compromise' design of the Airstill and the inherent inefficiency of pot stills
generally, the product from a single run in the Airstill is simply cleaned up Wash and retains a huge amount of
undesirable congeners smeared throughout the first product irrespective of cuts made.

Bottom line, the Airstill is only capable of producing drinking quality spirit by double distilling. That means
you run the Wash, 4lt at a time, and collect everything from each batch – no cuts - until the output drops to
20% - these are the Stripping Runs which produce the Low Wines from which we can distill drinkable spirits.

When it's all done and you put all the distillate collected together, measure the ABV, then dilute what you have
to 30%ABV and run it through the still again, 4lt at a time, and this time make cuts to remove the fores, heads
and tails – these are the Spirit Runs. If you've ever tasted the product from a single run Wash and compare it to
the product from a second Spirit Run you'll never touch the single run Low Wines again.

My main still is a highly efficient 50lt Pot Still and Thumper – efficient for a Pot Still that is! When I run a
Wash for the first (Stripping) run, after the first litre the output becomes very clean smelling and if I dilute a
sample it tastes OK. The output from a still that size is 100% cleaner than the output from the Airstill but I
wouldn't drink it because it's not sufficiently purified to be suitable for consumption either. On that basis it is
simply not sustainable to suggest or to believe that product from a single run in an Airstill is of sufficient purity
to be fit for consumption.

Producing a safe and enjoyable product with the Airstill is well within your reach and capacity. By following
these guidelines you can produce spirits that are cleaner than commercial spirits. However, taking shortcuts,
for the purpose of getting some kind of alcohol in a glass quickly to get drunk on, compromises safety – your
safety – don't do it!

On the following page is a diagram that illustrates the processing of a 26lt wash (2lt gets lost to the lees
leaving 6 X 4lt batches. This data was from a single wash I processed earlier this year. I want to acknowledge
Mozr who came up with the original chart layout which I borrowed (sic:hijacked) for this diagram. The exact
output achievable will vary depending on Wash clarity, actual ABV and pH of the wash.

Note: Because I've been asked this question before I'd like the clarify the the diagram does not suggest that
you need 6 Airstills to follow this procedure.