THE HOME OF

My name is Louwrens van der Merwe and I live in Hamilton, New Zealand. Being a dedicated home distiller I started building my own stills many years ago and also being cash strapped and frugal (stingy!) I am a regular visitor to scrapyards and metal recyclers to find affordable stainless steel and copper to use in my stills. I soon noticed that huge amounts of recycled stainless steel, and to a lesser extend copper, from upgraded or scrapped dairy sheds and factories go through these scrapyards and metal recyclers to be crushed and melted down.

To me, it was such a waste to see all these perfectly fit tubes, plates, connectors, brackets and fittings go off to the smelter and I decided to start building stills out of as many of these old dairy shed materials as I could. It is such a pleasure for me to repurpose these materials, create useful things and add value to it.

The problem of repurposing old dairy shed/factory materials are that they are not always treated with “respect” and “kindness” and end up in the scrapyard very “unloved”. They are dirty, scratched, bent and dented and it takes me a while to select, clean, sanitize and polish them to a state where I can use them in the building of stills. It is much more effort than just buying the materials new and building a perfect still, but I am dedicated to repurposing these excellent materials into something useful like a still column, a still parrot or a condenser.

VERY IMPORTANT: Because these  columns, still heads, coils and fittings are fabricated using RECYCLED METAL they have SUPERFICIAL SCRAPES AND MARKS on them and there are small variations in the dimensions, but that does not have any effect on their function and gives it “character” and makes it unique! I try my best to sand, polish and buff all the scrapes and marks out and the final product is clean, bright and shiny, BUT you will still SEE some faint buff and polish marks.

THESE COLUMNS & STILL HEADS ARE BUILT TO BE VERY ROBUST AND WILL LAST A LONG TIME.

I use the professional services of SOLUTIONS ENGINEERING in Te Rapa, Hamilton for stainless welding and fabricaton on some of my still parts and columns.

If you are a SERIOUS HOME DISTILLER that would like the best quality of alcohol that you can produce, it doesn't matter where you start, you will end up with either a VM (Vapour Management) column or a LM (Liquid Management) column like a Boka. The Boka is known for both ease of use and quality of product (95.6% Alc - The maximum alcohol percentage achievable with distillation alone.)

WHAT IS A BOKA DISTILLATION COLUMN?

For the visitors who have never heard of a Boka here is a short description from the Home Distillers website :

“The Bokakob (Boka or Bok for short) is the common name for a Dual Slant-Plate Single Column In-line Reflux Still designed by Alex Bokakob in 2001. This still is popular with many novices for its simplicity to build and operate, while being able to yield 95% ABV neutral spirits. The single in-line reflux column of the Boka is meant to carry vapors from the boiler up through packing material for reflux and up to the condenser.  The distillate will fall to the dual slanted plates which can then overflow (allowing the distillate to fall back into the packing, which is the basis of the reflux design) or be drawn-off for collection.”

(From the Home Distiller forums.)

BOKA STILL COLUMNS

PRICE NZ $490 + P&P

(New Zealand  & Australia only)

COMES COMPLETE WITH EVERYTHING TO CONNECT TO YOUR T500 OR COPPERHEAD BOILER (or keg).

The still columns and still heads are true dual slant plate Boka stills.

No two still columns are ever the same as they are all handcrafted and I have to use what recycled metal/materials are available at the time. I try to build the columns in batches when I have enough materials together, but most of the time I build these columns to order.

Columns are ± 128cm tall (from bottom to top cap - coolant tubes extend a few mm more above the top cap) and consists of:

1. a Removable compact still head with a ferrule and reducer at the bottom that slides into the column and lock in place with a seal and tri-clamp.
2. a 1m stainless column with a boiler seal, nut, SS connectors (to connect your column to a T500/Copperhead boiler or Keg) and packed with high quality stainless steel scrubbers and strips of pure copper mesh to give you the best results and a clean taste.
3. a Stainless needle valve and outlet tubes.

NO THERMOMETER included.

Thermometer in picture is just to indicate where thermometer sits on the column.  I can include a high quality digital stem thermometer for NZ $40 extra.

Condenser coils are double wound from 3 meters of 6mm copper tube. Most of the 6mm tubing for the double wound condenser coils I buy as end of rolls or off-cuts from air conditioning and refrigeration companies. The tubing is new, but was, in the majority of cases, destined for the recycle bin.

I clean the copper coils with a non-toxic pickle made with vinegar and table salt and and after cleaning, I dunk them in a baking soda bath and thoroughly wash them in running water.

This still column will produce 95% alcohol (neutral spirits) at a rate of 500ml/hr on a column packed with SS Scrubbers and 1500ml/hr on a column packed with SPP (Spiral Prismatic Packing). You do NOT HAVE TO FILTER the alcohol from these columns with carbon, charcoal or anything else. The alcohol is pure and clean tasting right out of the still.

These still columns and heads are of all stainless construction with TIG-welded outlet tube and thermowell.

All soldering/brazing on the columns are done with Harris Safety-Silv Silver Solder Brazing Alloy and all heat joints are pacified with nitric acid gel.

This still column is designed for use on boilers with a volume of 20-60 litres and a constant heat source of 1500-2000W.

Please watch this short video on the operating of the columns.

PS: I use sunflower oil to lubricate the press fit fittings and, although I clean the column thoroughly afterwards, traces of the vegetable oil may remain in the column and I recommend that you do a cleaning run with vinegar before you use the column for alcohol or water distillation. The Stainless scrubbers in the column is also just "as is" out of the factory and that is another reason to do a cleaning run.

COMPACT BOKA STILL HEADS

PRICE NZ $365 + P&P

EXPORT ONLY

NOT FOR SALE

IN NEW ZEALAND

To send complete still columns overseas is a real hassle and the shipping costs from New Zealand is eye-wateringly expensive. To send a complete column to the United States is sometimes equivalent to the cost of the column! You will find an indication of international postage for a compact still head at the bottom of this page.

To keep the shipping costs down I decided to start building just the still heads with a 64mm stainless ferrule at the bottom that will fit on any 50mm stainless tube with a 64mm weld-on or press-on ferrule. That way I only have to ship the still head and the customer can supply his/her own column, boiler connectoin and thermometer.  The still head comes with an extra ferrule that you can weld onto your column. I also include a seal, but only ONE tri-clamp (tri-clamps are heavy!).

These still heads are of all stainless construction with a TIG-welded outlet tube and thermowell.

This still head will produce 95% alcohol (neutral spirits) at a rate of 500ml/hr on a 1 metre column packed with SS Scrubbers and 1500ml/hr on a 1 metre  column packed with SPP (Spiral Prismatic Packing). You do NOT HAVE TO FILTER the alcohol from these columns with carbon, charcoal or anything else.

The copper condenser coil in the Still Head is very efficient and will give you full reflux (on a 25L boiler with 2000W element) with a flow of approx 2 litres of water per minute.

The condenser coil is attached to the head with a tri-clamp and can easily be repositioned or removed for cleaning. See gallery.

Still heads come with a needle valve, but NO THERMOMETER and only ONE TRI-CLAMP. I can include a high quality digital stem thermometer for NZ $40 extra.

Thermometer in picture is just to show where the thermometer sits on the head.

Compact still heads are ±27cm tall and once fitted to a column the still head will stand ±29.5cm above the column pipe (the coolant

tubes extends a few cm above the head) .

These still heads are easy to clean and easy to store. When you remove the still head from the column your still is only a water boiler with a tall outlet pipe and not legally a still.

COMBINATION STILL

PRICE NZ $650 + P&P

ALL THE ALCOHOL STILLS YOU WILL EVER NEED IN ONE COMBINATION!

1 x 1 METRE (50MM) DISTILLATION COLUMN WITH TWO (2) QUICK CHANGE STILL HEADS. A  LM (LIQUID MANAGEMENT) STILL HEAD AND POT STILL HEAD COMBINATION.

With the LM reflux head on the column you can make 95.6% neutral Alcohol and with the POT STILL head you can do your strip runs and make your own RUM, WHISKEY, BRANDY and GIN.

Column with LM head on is ± 128-130cm tall (from bottom flange to top cap - coolant tubes extend a few cm more above the top cap).

The 1 metre stainless column has everything you need to connect your column to a T500/Copperhead boiler and packed with high quality stainless steel scrubbers and strips of pure copper mesh to give you the best results and a clean taste.

THERMOMETER NOT INCLUDED. Thermometer in pictures is just to show where thermometer sit on the heads. I can include a high quality digital stem thermometer for NZ $40 extra.

VERY IMPORTANT: Because these  columns, still heads, coils and fittings are fabricated using RECYCLED METAL they have SUPERFICIAL SCRAPES AND MARKS on them and there are small variations in the dimensions, but that does not have any effect on their function and gives it “character” and makes it unique! I try my best to sand, polish and buff all the scrapes and marks out and the final product is clean, bright and shiny, BUT you will still SEE some faint buff and polish marks.

THESE COLUMNS & STILL HEADS ARE BUILT TO BE VERY ROBUST AND WILL LAST A LONG TIME.

THE ECONOMICS OF HOME DISTILLATION

A WHOLE INDUSTRY SUPPORTING HOME DISTILLATION

For more than two decades it has been legal to distill your own alcohol in New Zealand and a whole industry has been built around Home Distillation of alcohol.

Various companies now produce flavourings and essences of high quality with which you can make a bewildering variety of drinks for any taste and that is just as good as, or even better than, the stuff you can buy in the bottle store. I would add just one condition to that : that is provided you use high quality neutral alcohol! NOT the stuff you have to filter through several feet of carbon to just make it safe to smell!

THE ECONOMICS OF HOME DISTILLATION

In New Zealand today you can buy a good bottle of Bourbon (86 Proof) for around NZ$40 (NZ$28 of that is tax!).

For about $9/litre you can make your own neutral spirit of 95% ABV (190 Proof) and if you water that down to 43% ABV (86 Proof) you've got a bottle of 1 litre neutral spirit for NZ$4.50! If you add a sachet of high quality bourbon flavouring (like Still Spirits Classic Tennessee Bourbon) at NZ$8 to that 1 litre of neutral spirits, you have made yourself 1 litre of very nice bourbon for NZ$12.50c.

You can make yourself 1 litre of fantastic Peach Vodka for just NZ$9.50c (Still Spirits Peach Vodka Essence) and so I could go on and on. You can work it out for yourself. Overall home distilling is a much cheaper alternative, provided you have the right equipment.

1 April 2020

Below is an indication of international postage from NZ for a Compact Still Head.  Please contact me for a precise quote on the postage.

NZ to Norway = ± NZ $65

NZ to Canada = ± NZ $60

NZ to United Kingdom = ± NZ $59

NZ to Australia = ± NZ $28

NZ to USA = ± NZ $60

NZ to Germany = ± NZ $59

NZ to Argentina = ± NZ $63