As someone who already invests a lot of time brewing beer the last thing I want to do is invest even more baby sitting a still. Being able to set and almost forget this unit in my kitchen while I do other things is what makes this unit so appealing. This is also prefect for people who let's face it, aren't angling to become an alcoholic with the litres of distillate they can make with a T500
Hi Jessie, extrapolating from why computers have the fan spins up when powering on... as a part of Power On Self Testing it is best practice to use the safest mode for whatever conditions may be required, the Still may already be hot and until it has fully initialized, and confirmed if it is, it is safer to operate under the assumption that it is already hot. - thanks for the review
I already had a air still (not a real one) and could reach 80% abv with that after several distilling runs of nice clear alcohol. I got my pro today, my first batch got me 93% abv, what a amazing machine. (It took way longer then advertised (like 8 hours) for 4 liters of diluted pot still product. Ended up with +/- 1.7 liters of 93% clear alcohol, happy with it!
Got mine and it has been well worth that price in the last couple of weeks I have been using it. I mostly do small batches (750 to 1075ml) of gin or flavored vodka and its size is mostly perfect for that. While the basket is small, I tend to do a mix of in the pot and in the vapor so it has worked fine for me. Now I have a collection of 750 and 375 bottles with varies types of gin and flavored vodka sitting in my bar. Some are sweet desserts while others are rich and savory. "Apple pie" (apple cider, vodka macerated pan seared apples and spices) blended whiskey (has a few shots of bourbon and whiskey added to the finished product), "Cajun Holy Trinity w/ the pope" vodka (green onion, parley, Louisiana bells, garlic, spices, fat washed in bacon grease), "Tri Citrus" gin, "Real Beef Eaters" gin (beef tallow washed spicy gin), and "peppermint patty" vodka (with mint leaves and cocoa nibs) just this week.
@@michaelpozzi3654 I actually really like it. It is very rich and savory, so you need to be careful if you use it to mix anything. The vodka base I used is made from locally grown rice and sweet potatoes. If you like Cajun cooking, you will most likely enjoy its flavor profile.
This solidifies for me that the original air still will be the ideal solution for test purposes in a commercial setting. The pro innovation is still super impressive, thank you for the non-biased and super informative review, Jesse. Happy distilling.
I pulled the trigger. This is a hobby I've been interested in for ages now + I live in a tiny apartment (400 sq ft/37 m, excluding the kitchen & bathroom). Part of me would prefer a more "tweakable" setup, something that I could augment/modify as (if!) my interest in this grows...but again, tiny living space ain't exactly conducive to getting fancy. Volume wise is all good...'tis just me + some gifts for friends. Thanks for the honest review my dude...truly appreciated!
After your last video of the AirStill Pro I was really interested in it as I'm just starting into the craft. This review has cemented my decision to get one was correct for me even at AUD875 for the full kit (10l fermentor, temp guage, spoon, carbon filter for spirits, alco and hydrometers, 2.2kg dextrose, Turbo - yeast, nutrient, carbon and clear sachets, 3 essences and a conditioner). As I'll probs only do small batches and given I'm retired, time's not an issue for me so this looks to be the prefect solution. I'll do a cleaning run and then try their sugar wash that came with the kit this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes but i do like your adapted fast vodka receipe. Cheers and keep up the great work 🙂
@@bomberproductions296 It went pretty well for my first attempt. Managed to get 1 3/4 bottles of 42%ABV Lemon myrtle gin. Nice taste and mouth feel. Just waitiong for my next fermentation to finish. Used Jessie's adapted FFV recipe and hopefully a stripping run this weekend :-)
Love the video, there’s another camp of people, those who already own the pot still and just need to buy the pro head unit. I’m one of those and bought mine today. Love it
I have something to share here, i know people that have been brewing since before my time who have gone to the retirement home and bought this product when it arrived in my country and they love this machine, it is a simple as making coffee bless them. So if you got time to hang around the Air Still Pro over the whole day/weeks you can be efficient in distilling your batch, also you can warm up your "sugar water" up to 60-70 celsius and put it in before starting, it starts faster in Reflux but dont over heat it.
It is mind boggling to see what Still Spirits accomplished reflux-wise in such a small footprint. However, the price-point is hard to palate. I'd consider just the head unit (I started on the original Airstill), but even that is a tad too much. But great review vid!
@gardencity3558 true you'll save money with a real still but you aren't allowed to distill in Canada without a permit so the airstill let's you still follow the law because it can be used for water and essential oil distillation for plausible deniability.
My old man has a t500 and I have a vevor air still and I've decided not to buy an air still pro. A few cons for me is its price and small gin basket, say I had a t500 or can use one whenever I need to and I have a vevor air still. That's all I need to make decent gin. What I'd do is keep the majority of my distillate undiluted in small stainless steel vats and then when I need to make a couple of bottles of gin I'd macerate some of the botanicals in jars or carboys for x amount of time and then run it thru the air still, so that said, thats what ive been doing.I have a wicked recipe for a gunpowderish gin. Per litre I use 10g juniper, 5g coriander seed, 4g meadowsweet, 2.5g caraway seed, .5g angelica root, .25g oris root, .07g cardamom pod, half a star anise and those are all macerated and boiler infused, I also use 12-13g T2 gunpowder tea, half of a lime zested, quarter of a lemon zested and quarter of a grapefruit zested and those are vapour infused. Tastes similar to drumshanbo gunpowder gin, if only a bit less intense. I've been working on this recipe for a while and feel like I have something similar that you would like if you like drumshanbo's and it's quite nice with fever tree Mediterranean tonic! I also make RTDs and I find that the tasmanian tonic company Mediterranean tonic syrup works too, I add 45ml 43% abv gunpowderish gin and 15ml of tonic syrup to clear 330ml homebrew bottles, add carbonated water and cap immediately and place in the fridge, basically I'd only make it when I dont want to take a bottle of gin with me so like a barbecue or something, make the morning of. Cheers
I've just bought an Air Still Pro, essentially due to Jessie's review. I'm band new to distilling, and didn't have any equipment to start with, I first started to look into this a couple of months ago, was just going to buy the Air Still, then the Air Still Pro was released. I don't have a garage, shed, spare room to setup and run a T-500 so the Air Still Pro is perfect for me, also I don't really need to be making liters and liters of spirit, more than happy with producing what I need and can store. Just finished my first run, I had two liters of 20% Alcotec Base Spirit which is what i've been drinking before (don't judge me, I know its awful) put this through the Air Still and out came 70% and already tasting 100% better. Can't tell you how excited I am being able to produce my own spirits. I've made home brew Beer and Wine in the past, but the holy grail was always making Spirits. Going to try the Buccaneers Rum recipe this weekend, i've got my black strap molasses and ready to roll. Loving the video's Jessie. Working my way through them all. Man you have changed over the years. Boomshanka everyone.
Can you review the Vevor "water" distiller i use it but i'm a nooby so i don't know if its ideal for the prise around 80$ Usa bills. I also just want to see how a pro thinks of it. i use it for Rum, Brandy, and other spirits.
Hi Jess, loved the review and I placed my order hear in the UK for a head only price or of £290 but that price seems to have vanished with lots of companies offering the head for £300. I have run a couple of air stills over last year and then upgraded to a T500 when disaster struck my glass back and hips gave out and I had to pack my brew stuff away. Three surgical cancelations later due to UK strike action along came the Pro still and will be just perfect for what I can physically handle. Yet another reason to have one..
This is exactly the answer for small batch spirit runs. Sometimes I make a 5 gallon batch of expensive mash and running it on a spirit run is always tricky to water it down enough to have a large enough mass of liquid to be temperature stable but not watered down to much to get a decent Abv out
I'm sitting here half pissed off my very first run (G&T) and I gotta say - I've watched so many Still It videos over the last month or so as my brain gobbles up all this info. Cheers Jessie for opening my eyes to a hobby I never knew I needed in my life but am now fully committed to (and obsessed with) XD
Yeah, well, paying through the nose for the over-priced crap in stores; it's not too hard to get obsessed with buying one of these babies. Plus, the finished product is of a far better quality than store bought, IMO.
I have no plans of distilling alcohol any time in the future (I don't drink much hard liquor), but here I am watching everything on your channel 😂 I love cooking, baking, bottling, preserving food, and I recently started brewing kombucha. I can see myself spending the money to buy something this if i got into brewing and distilling, since I can use it easily and if it works reliably If people knew how much I have spent indulging in my hobby of cooking and everything food over the years, they'd be shocked 😂 To me, cooking and preserving and sharing food is a joy for me. So, dropping money on something I'm going to use for the rest of my life is no big deal if i can afford it. I don't smoke, go to bars, gamble, or waste money in general on things like fast food or going on vacation. Life is too short skimping on something that could bring me joy.
I bought a second hand air spirits still twenty years ago for $100. It still works fine! I only bought it because I was in a boarding house and didn't have running water in my room. I have nothing bad to say about it!
Thanks for reassuring me Jessie, I have the original Airstill and a T500 and I think I will stick with that setup. I was getting the hot's for the Pro but I think I have all I need with what I've got. Still Spirits do a brilliant product in all they do and this is no exception but It sits firmly with the beginner in my opinion. Regards, Steve in the UK.
The Air Still was my gateway into distilling and I still occasionally use it. I would absolutely love to have the pro head for those times when I have just a bit of strip run that won't fit into my T500 BUT there is absolutely no way I would ever spend that kind of money on one 😞
$500 for a countertop still..... I could see a place for it, but if I'm dropping $500+, I'll just do a 50L setup. If this thing was under $200 USD, I'd be wwwaaayyy more likely to get 1 just to mess with it. 26:55 YES!
Hi love my air still and use it all the time, I am a herbalist and use it to make the vodka for my tinctures and I have used it sooo much it has paid its self off 10 times over. For 1ltr of vodka here in Australia is currently $64 (joke). I buy 4 x 2kg of raw sugar for $3.20each and a pack of Yeast for $10 and get approx 8 ltrs at 50% ALV. I am really considering the new Air Still Pro because I know its worth it and so easy to use. Plus I know I will double my production. Highly recommend! especially if you live in Australia
Works great. I run two fermenters. I find I need to leave the still running for approx 3 hrs to get a litre at about 40 %. Flavour it with their air still whisky or burbon flavouring and its ready to drink on the day. I dont find a difference in taste if I leave it in the bottle for a few weeks or more. Truth is I only got this because I can make a 1 litre bottle of whisky or burbon for $14- all up compared to $68.00 at the liqure store and I am very happy with the flavour range.
I have an original Air Still. I have thought about upgrading to the Vevor model of air still which has temperature control and adding a rheostat to control fan speed. I have also thought about upgrading to the Pro. If there were a six or ten liter option I might upgrade for the prices being asked. I usually ferment my wash in a 5 gallon carboy or bucket, which means about four runs in my Air Still. Two runs would be more ideal. I don't have a way to run the water lines for anything more complex, nor the space, and my primary interest is in beer, wines, and mead. If I didn't already have the original, I'd buy the Pro first. But it isn't worth the upgrade now.
Fantastic review. This still does a wide range of things 'good enough'. I guess like an apple computer. Not the fastest, not the most brilliant at anything but it is very simple to use and does everything 'good enough'.
Dammit, why so much!? Jesse, your reviews are always top notch my dude! This thing would be a no brainer at half the cost, I have a Grainfather and reflux tower adapted for the locking lid and it works great! but this set-up would be sweet for doing the test runs, like you said; and space saving just to set it and let'er rip type small batch run... I can't get past the price, I love my current set-up and would rather put that money to scale up... and relegate my Grainfather for the test batches than pay $550US. I might still (no pun intended) go with the gen-1 however.
Question, you said in the video, and rightly so, that it's a pita taking the packing out. You also said you wont be taking it out again, if pot still mode is selected how will the.packing affect the run, will it be pot still or will there be some reflux? Thanks in advance.
In the US, Vevor markets a 4 liter "water distiller" for under $100. Not fancy but thermostat-controlled. I've ordered one and will let you know what it does.
That was a great all round review. Thanks mate. Appreciate the time you put into it. A friend directed me to you as he just bought himself an Air Still Pro and he knew I've always had an interest. I haven't made spirit before but this device looks like the way to go. I'm a whiskey lover and if I can make enough whiskey that'll be worth drinking I don't see how you can go wrong.
Thank you for your clear honesty. I have an Air Still and love it and at the stage of taking the next step. Because of your review I now am clear about the way I need to go. 😊
Hey Jessie, Still Spirits must have watched your video, i just bought the Airstill Pro today and i was totally surprised i got 3 foreshot collection jars and 2 potstill tips and 2 reflux tips plus a bunch of the little seals that go on the tips.
I've had good luck so far distilling over the hill wine with my Vevor Air Still,. Has temperature control and under $100 US. Looks exactly like the Air Still you have.. Maybe there is a difference I don't understand.. I'm adding a voltage controller to it soon.. I bought a separate cord to do that. However, I mainly bought it to make DW for a CPAP machine.. Dual purpose.
Thanks Jessie. We've got a T500 and upgraded to a Grainfather mostly for whisky. Looking at an Air Still for smaller fruit brandies (as people want to give us stuff and I'll take it lol), and experiments. So yeah, we're kinda at the stage of deciding between the OG Air Still and the new one
Jesse, I’m totally brand new to this distilling thing, but I’ve grown a love for it watching your videos. I’m thinking about affording an original AirStill or the Vevor Airstill, I’d mostly be making fruit brandy and absinthe (I’m living in a tropical country). How would you rate these two, which one’s gonna be better for a complete newbie who doesn’t wanna have lots of alcohol around owning something like a T-500?
I've got the Alco engine reflux still from Kegland, and I'll use the Robo Brew/Brewzilla, to run stripping run with larger nozzle and then the reflux run is smaller nozzle, the only problem is maybe the batch size 7 to 11 liters, not 3 liters, Hope that will be a good product for a beginner
Great review but the glaring con for me is just how complicated it is. There are sensors for the foreshots vial, overheat, start of run, end of run. etc. Any of that plays up just a little and it'll be useless. The original airstill is really simple and so are other stills. I wonder how long before issues show up on these? (I'm sure SS have done great R&D on it btw, I just don't like things that you can't fix!) Also would be nice to see what packing is in the column and how it actually works? But maybe that's not easy to figure out without deconstructing it.
I've been watching some videos now for a minute, you popped up on my feed during my initial research into Mead making (thanks youtube). I've been thinking about getting into stilling small batches on the side of Vodka, maybe use some of my meads that are rough to drink to still into a workable Gin if possible. I felt like you were speaking right to me at the end of the video! Not a purchase I'm making today or anything, but something to look into for sure, as I think something like this would be best for me! Thank you!
As someone whose made a few small batches of home brew wine and beer and getting back into the hobby but wanting to also get a small little still I can run in my room. An air still would be the best option. I've been looing at some different stills some air stills, pot stills and even some all in one home brewing systems. This would be my first still and the air still is an easy still but not special also. The pot still is out of the option since I can't really run a pot still at home. The all in one brewing system makes more and would should be better later on but also costs around 3 times mor than the air still. Since it'll be my first still I'm leaning more towards the air still.
@@ackers33 yes, but the results are tbc - my makeshift measuring glass wasn't tall enough to read the Hydrometer - I dropped my good one😅 I would say it increased beyond 92%, but can't confirm the exacts - yet. The meter had zero buoyancy at 90-91%. I'm waiting for new glassware to arrive 😊
@@StillDrew982 That's a bit of bad luck! I've got plenty of leftover ssp from my t500 column, will try that on the pro when it gets to me in a couple of days.
Great review. Here in Australia my local homebrew shop sells them for AU$865 and they are selling out as fast as they can get them in. The same thing as the upgrade head. That kind of surprised me as like Jessie said, they sell T500s for less. I suppose because in AU/NZ due to the very high excise on spirits there is a group of customers who really are not into the craft side of distillation but just want to save money. Them having something that will produce quality neutral on a device that you can store under the kitchen sink, makes this an attractive proposition.
I saw one in my home brew shop in a little country town that I live in for around $748, or around $829 for the whole kit. I went in there for some essences and wood chips and happened to see one in the flesh.
I must be too Scandinavian to understand that... or you'd have to be a functional alcoholic to bother going down that route when it takes 4.5 hours of listening to a fan running to get a bottle of booze.
why NOBODY on the internet ever tells what's inside this thing? how does it work? where is actual "column" part? what kind of packing in there? etc... kinda confusing to get through the whole thing not knowing any of this...
because home distillers care more about the results. to get into the details, it uses the combination of pot still and reflux condenser design, pot still normally get up to 60abv, reflux condenser reuses non ethanol liquid back into the pot to distill again to get pure ethanol in layman terms which is why it is getting a consistent 90abv. me i’m more of an armagnac person single pot distill or cognac/brandy. since columns goes through countless filtering it’ll normally strip flavors and purify to ethanol at a higher efficacy
I have a Chinese Airstill. It runs on 110 Volts at 750 Watts and it smears the entire run together. But it only takes one hour for 4 litres start to finish. The biggest turnoff for me is the fact that it took Jesse almost 5 hours to run 2 litres on the Pro Still. I didn't hear Jesse address smearing either,. The next biggest turnoff is the price. You could get a really nice still for the of this thing.
But what about their warranty? Do they stand behind their product? The reason I say this is because I bought an excalibur dehydrator and wore it out during the initial warranty period and it was such a pain to get them to warranty my product. They had such piss poor communication that I just chucked the thing into the bin and forgot about it. They then sent me an email after the warranty period had expired telling me that I was not entitled to the warranty because the timeframe had lapsed, yet I have emails with timestamps inquiring about getting a replacement well before the warranty expired. I won't buy an AirStill if they don't stand behind their product.
If you break the foreshots jar and you can't turn off taking foreshots... then what? Does it just still dump 25mL anyways? Is there a sensor that keeps it from diverting the 25mL? Or a sensor that keeps the whole machine from running if the jar isn't in place?
So useful. Very, very useful as a review. I'm saving a lot of your videos because your explanations are clear, while providing me with the details that emphasize what I need to go out and research. No BS, and no long-winded explanations that are more confusing than helpful. I cannot afford this option, although I do not have space for a larger footprint. *However*, there seem to be options that are in the $200 range that would take some sweat equity to put together and would be functional in my space. You're giving me hope!!!
I have the standard air still but that pro still is as you say Jesse is too pricey, i'm quite happy with 80 abv from the original air still, i was tempted to buy the head at one point but that is more costly than a complete airstill. Personally combination of the t500 and a air still works best for me,
Hey great content. I have seen so many reviews on the air still but no one has covered the kinds of materials in the vapor path. That is my biggest concern of the unknown? Does anyone happen to know what materials they are? Like metal type? Gasket type? If any plastic comes in contact with vapor? Ect. Thanks if you have some info to share
It will be interesting to see how quickly you can get a replacement foreshots container - although I suspect SS will take special care on getting one to you
Interesting. I just crunched some numbers and 20L of finished product would pay for this new still, IF you were buying your alcohol from a retail outlet. So perhaps not as expensive as I first thought. Plus the added bonus of making it to your taste.
The only problem I have with the Pro version is the cost. I love my regular version of the Airstill and the highest I managed to get out of it was 160 proof which is 80% ABV. The cost of the pro version is just too high for only a slightly higher ABV. To give you some perspective, for $315 US Dollars I can get a brand new polished stainless steel dual purpose mighty mini tower from Milehigh Distilling that will fit both of my 15 gallon and 3 gallon stainless steel milkcan boilers that I already have in my possesion. All I would need after that would be a nice coleman cooler for some ice water and a pond pump and I'm ready to go.
i love my little air still. setting gup the keg takes time and the amount of water i need to run it gets old fast. i do want one but ill never pay that much for the head. with any luck with the way people get in and out of this hobby ill find it cheap on the second hand market.
in 2024 in the UK, both the T500 and the Airstill Pro are about £400 (389-399 ish) [~$841NZD]. That price gap seems to have disappeared, so guess it just comes down to size.
You have mentioned not being a big fan of PID controllers. Wouldn't reflux nod on this have an internal PID controller? In a more recent video, you talked about PID controllers changing either the cooling rate or heating rate. Without seeing the device in person, u could not tell if this is adjusting the fan speed or changing energy into liquid. Because boiling uses so much more energy than a fan, I'm wondering if you can put an energy monitor monitor on it and tell which method it uses.
Hey jess I use the stillspirts grainfather still I love it 🥃iv made some awesome rums with I don't see many reviews about this still I think anyone starting out should consider this still
If it had a timer for the stripping runs that would be great. I use my 1st gen air still on a 4hr 20 min timer for stripping low wines and its pretty easy.
Love your take on this. Can you comment on whether a headsy batch can be ‘touched up’ by running briefly to take the heads out, and then stop? Especially if it already has time on the oak!
this is nice. with the T500 the time investment per run is hard to find now due to 2 little kids running around. but a leave and forget would be nice. better to have to refill the pot 3 or 4 times with the wash instead of not being able to do anything at all.
If you lose or drop and smash the fore shots glass, is it game over? Will the spirit keep running to fill that glass if there is no glass to collect the 25ml?
do they have a temp control or did i miss that bit so i brew a lot of cider and want to use this for any extra i.e brewed 26l and bottle 20l then distil the rest 6l as a complimentary drink
I had been considering the original air still for test batches, but ended up deciding no. Unfortunately, this one will go the same way. First one bought was the t-500 (always get 95% ABV with it, as long as you follow the specified methodology. I also got the Alembic dome, which I'm having a bit of fun with, while setting up a 50L one. I've already figured what I want to do, how much I wish to make., and the bigger one will do that (Whiskey helmet, bubble pates, packed column, slobber box/botanical basket/thumper). I'm more into whiskeys than anything else, but I like having options for that odd item.
i bought the original a few weeks ago, what you fail to mention, its perfect for people making it for themselves, unless its for selling or an alcoholic, who is going to need to make more than 1 litre every couple of hours?
As someone who already invests a lot of time brewing beer the last thing I want to do is invest even more baby sitting a still. Being able to set and almost forget this unit in my kitchen while I do other things is what makes this unit so appealing.
This is also prefect for people who let's face it, aren't angling to become an alcoholic with the litres of distillate they can make with a T500
Hi Jessie, extrapolating from why computers have the fan spins up when powering on... as a part of Power On Self Testing it is best practice to use the safest mode for whatever conditions may be required, the Still may already be hot and until it has fully initialized, and confirmed if it is, it is safer to operate under the assumption that it is already hot. - thanks for the review
I already had a air still (not a real one) and could reach 80% abv with that after several distilling runs of nice clear alcohol. I got my pro today, my first batch got me 93% abv, what a amazing machine. (It took way longer then advertised (like 8 hours) for 4 liters of diluted pot still product. Ended up with +/- 1.7 liters of 93% clear alcohol, happy with it!
Got mine and it has been well worth that price in the last couple of weeks I have been using it. I mostly do small batches (750 to 1075ml) of gin or flavored vodka and its size is mostly perfect for that. While the basket is small, I tend to do a mix of in the pot and in the vapor so it has worked fine for me. Now I have a collection of 750 and 375 bottles with varies types of gin and flavored vodka sitting in my bar. Some are sweet desserts while others are rich and savory. "Apple pie" (apple cider, vodka macerated pan seared apples and spices) blended whiskey (has a few shots of bourbon and whiskey added to the finished product), "Cajun Holy Trinity w/ the pope" vodka (green onion, parley, Louisiana bells, garlic, spices, fat washed in bacon grease), "Tri Citrus" gin, "Real Beef Eaters" gin (beef tallow washed spicy gin), and "peppermint patty" vodka (with mint leaves and cocoa nibs) just this week.
How is that Cajun holy trinity? Worth giving it a try?
@@michaelpozzi3654 I actually really like it. It is very rich and savory, so you need to be careful if you use it to mix anything. The vodka base I used is made from locally grown rice and sweet potatoes.
If you like Cajun cooking, you will most likely enjoy its flavor profile.
My dad bought one a while ago. He makes "Whiskys" and "Bourbons" with flavouring things from the brewmart. It tastes really good and he loves it.
This solidifies for me that the original air still will be the ideal solution for test purposes in a commercial setting. The pro innovation is still super impressive, thank you for the non-biased and super informative review, Jesse. Happy distilling.
I pulled the trigger. This is a hobby I've been interested in for ages now + I live in a tiny apartment (400 sq ft/37 m, excluding the kitchen & bathroom). Part of me would prefer a more "tweakable" setup, something that I could augment/modify as (if!) my interest in this grows...but again, tiny living space ain't exactly conducive to getting fancy. Volume wise is all good...'tis just me + some gifts for friends.
Thanks for the honest review my dude...truly appreciated!
I live in a tiny apartment too and have the original. It’s awesome. Thinking of grabbing the whole air still pro for faster stripping runs
After your last video of the AirStill Pro I was really interested in it as I'm just starting into the craft. This review has cemented my decision to get one was correct for me even at AUD875 for the full kit (10l fermentor, temp guage, spoon, carbon filter for spirits, alco and hydrometers, 2.2kg dextrose, Turbo - yeast, nutrient, carbon and clear sachets, 3 essences and a conditioner). As I'll probs only do small batches and given I'm retired, time's not an issue for me so this looks to be the prefect solution. I'll do a cleaning run and then try their sugar wash that came with the kit this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes but i do like your adapted fast vodka receipe. Cheers and keep up the great work 🙂
How'd you go? Hopefully you are enjoying it and the craft
@@bomberproductions296 It went pretty well for my first attempt. Managed to get 1 3/4 bottles of 42%ABV Lemon myrtle gin. Nice taste and mouth feel. Just waitiong for my next fermentation to finish. Used Jessie's adapted FFV recipe and hopefully a stripping run this weekend :-)
Love the video, there’s another camp of people, those who already own the pot still and just need to buy the pro head unit. I’m one of those and bought mine today. Love it
I have something to share here, i know people that have been brewing since before my time who have gone to the retirement home and bought this product when it arrived in my country and they love this machine, it is a simple as making coffee bless them.
So if you got time to hang around the Air Still Pro over the whole day/weeks you can be efficient in distilling your batch, also you can warm up your "sugar water" up to 60-70 celsius and put it in before starting, it starts faster in Reflux but dont over heat it.
It is mind boggling to see what Still Spirits accomplished reflux-wise in such a small footprint. However, the price-point is hard to palate. I'd consider just the head unit (I started on the original Airstill), but even that is a tad too much.
But great review vid!
Maybe just maybe once the "new" wears off,the price might drop.
This unit is like $720 on sale here in Canada. For that money I'd get a real still.
@gardencity3558 true you'll save money with a real still but you aren't allowed to distill in Canada without a permit so the airstill let's you still follow the law because it can be used for water and essential oil distillation for plausible deniability.
get something different... after my experience ... read above... by from someone else..@@gardencity3558
@@Gamerzsociaty Hi there. Nobody cares here as long as you don't sell it or make anyone sick. To be honest the government can go fly a kite. Cheers.
My old man has a t500 and I have a vevor air still and I've decided not to buy an air still pro. A few cons for me is its price and small gin basket, say I had a t500 or can use one whenever I need to and I have a vevor air still. That's all I need to make decent gin. What I'd do is keep the majority of my distillate undiluted in small stainless steel vats and then when I need to make a couple of bottles of gin I'd macerate some of the botanicals in jars or carboys for x amount of time and then run it thru the air still, so that said, thats what ive been doing.I have a wicked recipe for a gunpowderish gin. Per litre I use 10g juniper, 5g coriander seed, 4g meadowsweet, 2.5g caraway seed, .5g angelica root, .25g oris root, .07g cardamom pod, half a star anise and those are all macerated and boiler infused, I also use 12-13g T2 gunpowder tea, half of a lime zested, quarter of a lemon zested and quarter of a grapefruit zested and those are vapour infused. Tastes similar to drumshanbo gunpowder gin, if only a bit less intense. I've been working on this recipe for a while and feel like I have something similar that you would like if you like drumshanbo's and it's quite nice with fever tree Mediterranean tonic! I also make RTDs and I find that the tasmanian tonic company Mediterranean tonic syrup works too, I add 45ml 43% abv gunpowderish gin and 15ml of tonic syrup to clear 330ml homebrew bottles, add carbonated water and cap immediately and place in the fridge, basically I'd only make it when I dont want to take a bottle of gin with me so like a barbecue or something, make the morning of. Cheers
I've just bought an Air Still Pro, essentially due to Jessie's review.
I'm band new to distilling, and didn't have any equipment to start with, I first started to look into this a couple of months ago, was just going to buy the Air Still, then the Air Still Pro was released.
I don't have a garage, shed, spare room to setup and run a T-500 so the Air Still Pro is perfect for me, also I don't really need to be making liters and liters of spirit, more than happy with producing what I need and can store.
Just finished my first run, I had two liters of 20% Alcotec Base Spirit which is what i've been drinking before (don't judge me, I know its awful) put this through the Air Still and out came 70% and already tasting 100% better.
Can't tell you how excited I am being able to produce my own spirits. I've made home brew Beer and Wine in the past, but the holy grail was always making Spirits. Going to try the Buccaneers Rum recipe this weekend, i've got my black strap molasses and ready to roll.
Loving the video's Jessie. Working my way through them all. Man you have changed over the years.
Boomshanka everyone.
Can you review the Vevor "water" distiller i use it but i'm a nooby so i don't know if its ideal for the prise around 80$ Usa bills. I also just want to see how a pro thinks of it. i use it for Rum, Brandy, and other spirits.
Hi Jess, loved the review and I placed my order hear in the UK for a head only price or of £290 but that price seems to have vanished with lots of companies offering the head for £300. I have run a couple of air stills over last year and then upgraded to a T500 when disaster struck my glass back and hips gave out and I had to pack my brew stuff away. Three surgical cancelations later due to UK strike action along came the Pro still and will be just perfect for what I can physically handle. Yet another reason to have one..
This is exactly the answer for small batch spirit runs. Sometimes I make a 5 gallon batch of expensive mash and running it on a spirit run is always tricky to water it down enough to have a large enough mass of liquid to be temperature stable but not watered down to much to get a decent Abv out
I'm sitting here half pissed off my very first run (G&T) and I gotta say - I've watched so many Still It videos over the last month or so as my brain gobbles up all this info. Cheers Jessie for opening my eyes to a hobby I never knew I needed in my life but am now fully committed to (and obsessed with) XD
Me too ✋
Cost twice as much for the pro at $800 nzd.
Bugga that, will stick with the original!
Yeah, well, paying through the nose for the over-priced crap in stores; it's not too hard to get obsessed with buying one of these babies.
Plus, the finished product is of a far better quality than store bought, IMO.
I have no plans of distilling alcohol any time in the future (I don't drink much hard liquor), but here I am watching everything on your channel 😂
I love cooking, baking, bottling, preserving food, and I recently started brewing kombucha. I can see myself spending the money to buy something this if i got into brewing and distilling, since I can use it easily and if it works reliably
If people knew how much I have spent indulging in my hobby of cooking and everything food over the years, they'd be shocked 😂
To me, cooking and preserving and sharing food is a joy for me. So, dropping money on something I'm going to use for the rest of my life is no big deal if i can afford it. I don't smoke, go to bars, gamble, or waste money in general on things like fast food or going on vacation. Life is too short skimping on something that could bring me joy.
thanks Jesse. I'm off grid so the relatively small power consumption of the air still is grand for me
I bought a second hand air spirits still twenty years ago for $100. It still works fine! I only bought it because I was in a boarding house and didn't have running water in my room. I have nothing bad to say about it!
Thanks for reassuring me Jessie, I have the original Airstill and a T500 and I think I will stick with that setup. I was getting the hot's for the Pro but I think I have all I need with what I've got. Still Spirits do a brilliant product in all they do and this is no exception but It sits firmly with the beginner in my opinion. Regards, Steve in the UK.
Thank you Jesse for taking the time to make these videos. Super freaking helpful for me as I am considering of getting into this hobby
The Air Still was my gateway into distilling and I still occasionally use it. I would absolutely love to have the pro head for those times when I have just a bit of strip run that won't fit into my T500 BUT there is absolutely no way I would ever spend that kind of money on one 😞
$500 for a countertop still..... I could see a place for it, but if I'm dropping $500+, I'll just do a 50L setup. If this thing was under $200 USD, I'd be wwwaaayyy more likely to get 1 just to mess with it.
26:55 YES!
As a small mead maker and Apiarist i have brought this unit and happy with the price, yes my mate has the t5000 but i didn't want the size.
Hi love my air still and use it all the time, I am a herbalist and use it to make the vodka for my tinctures and I have used it sooo much it has paid its self off 10 times over. For 1ltr of vodka here in Australia is currently $64 (joke). I buy 4 x 2kg of raw sugar for $3.20each and a pack of Yeast for $10 and get approx 8 ltrs at 50% ALV. I am really considering the new Air Still Pro because I know its worth it and so easy to use. Plus I know I will double my production. Highly recommend! especially if you live in Australia
Works great. I run two fermenters. I find I need to leave the still running for approx 3 hrs to get a litre at about 40 %. Flavour it with their air still whisky or burbon flavouring and its ready to drink on the day. I dont find a difference in taste if I leave it in the bottle for a few weeks or more. Truth is I only got this because I can make a 1 litre bottle of whisky or burbon for $14- all up compared to $68.00 at the liqure store and I am very happy with the flavour range.
I have an original Air Still. I have thought about upgrading to the Vevor model of air still which has temperature control and adding a rheostat to control fan speed. I have also thought about upgrading to the Pro. If there were a six or ten liter option I might upgrade for the prices being asked. I usually ferment my wash in a 5 gallon carboy or bucket, which means about four runs in my Air Still. Two runs would be more ideal. I don't have a way to run the water lines for anything more complex, nor the space, and my primary interest is in beer, wines, and mead. If I didn't already have the original, I'd buy the Pro first. But it isn't worth the upgrade now.
Fantastic review. This still does a wide range of things 'good enough'. I guess like an apple computer. Not the fastest, not the most brilliant at anything but it is very simple to use and does everything 'good enough'.
Dammit, why so much!? Jesse, your reviews are always top notch my dude! This thing would be a no brainer at half the cost, I have a Grainfather and reflux tower adapted for the locking lid and it works great! but this set-up would be sweet for doing the test runs, like you said; and space saving just to set it and let'er rip type small batch run... I can't get past the price, I love my current set-up and would rather put that money to scale up... and relegate my Grainfather for the test batches than pay $550US. I might still (no pun intended) go with the gen-1 however.
Question, you said in the video, and rightly so, that it's a pita taking the packing out. You also said you wont be taking it out again, if pot still mode is selected how will the.packing affect the run, will it be pot still or will there be some reflux? Thanks in advance.
In the US, Vevor markets a 4 liter "water distiller" for under $100. Not fancy but thermostat-controlled. I've ordered one and will let you know what it does.
How has it been for you?
That was a great all round review. Thanks mate. Appreciate the time you put into it. A friend directed me to you as he just bought himself an Air Still Pro and he knew I've always had an interest. I haven't made spirit before but this device looks like the way to go. I'm a whiskey lover and if I can make enough whiskey that'll be worth drinking I don't see how you can go wrong.
Thank you for your clear honesty. I have an Air Still and love it and at the stage of taking the next step. Because of your review I now am clear about the way I need to go. 😊
another point at 5:30 regarding the fan, would be increasing usable fan bearing life by not running when not needed
Hey Jessie, Still Spirits must have watched your video, i just bought the Airstill Pro today and i was totally surprised i got 3 foreshot collection jars and 2 potstill tips and 2 reflux tips plus a bunch of the little seals that go on the tips.
I've had good luck so far distilling over the hill wine with my Vevor Air Still,. Has temperature control and under $100 US. Looks exactly like the Air Still you have.. Maybe there is a difference I don't understand.. I'm adding a voltage controller to it soon.. I bought a separate cord to do that. However, I mainly bought it to make DW for a CPAP machine.. Dual purpose.
Thanks Jessie. We've got a T500 and upgraded to a Grainfather mostly for whisky. Looking at an Air Still for smaller fruit brandies (as people want to give us stuff and I'll take it lol), and experiments.
So yeah, we're kinda at the stage of deciding between the OG Air Still and the new one
Is there a benefit to the putting the t500 on a grainfather instead of the crab pot?
Great review I'm just getting into the hobby and like the simplicity and compact size of the unit which meets my personal needs.
Is this something I could make a true rum with? I only need a few bottles a month for friends and family. It looks like the perfect size for that.
Very nice review but I was hoping to see the column and packing.
I wanted it for my original air still, until I saw the price. But I am impressed how good it is for such a small column.
What i like about this product, not that ive tried it, but it seems easy to make alot of small batches with for testing purposes
Thanks for the thorough review Jessie. Gave the enough information to decide the v1 airstill will do what I need.
Jesse, I’m totally brand new to this distilling thing, but I’ve grown a love for it watching your videos.
I’m thinking about affording an original AirStill or the Vevor Airstill, I’d mostly be making fruit brandy and absinthe (I’m living in a tropical country). How would you rate these two, which one’s gonna be better for a complete newbie who doesn’t wanna have lots of alcohol around owning something like a T-500?
Had mine for a couple of weeks and despite the price, I am very impressed with it.... great review Jessie
I've got the Alco engine reflux still from Kegland, and I'll use the Robo Brew/Brewzilla, to run stripping run with larger nozzle and then the reflux run is smaller nozzle, the only problem is maybe the batch size 7 to 11 liters, not 3 liters, Hope that will be a good product for a beginner
The airstill is great for flavouring spirits a bottle at a time. Like gin, orange liqueur and stuff.
Great review but the glaring con for me is just how complicated it is. There are sensors for the foreshots vial, overheat, start of run, end of run. etc. Any of that plays up just a little and it'll be useless. The original airstill is really simple and so are other stills. I wonder how long before issues show up on these? (I'm sure SS have done great R&D on it btw, I just don't like things that you can't fix!) Also would be nice to see what packing is in the column and how it actually works? But maybe that's not easy to figure out without deconstructing it.
As a potential buyer, i wanted to know if you put 4 litres of sugar wash in it how much spirit at what %
I've been watching some videos now for a minute, you popped up on my feed during my initial research into Mead making (thanks youtube). I've been thinking about getting into stilling small batches on the side of Vodka, maybe use some of my meads that are rough to drink to still into a workable Gin if possible. I felt like you were speaking right to me at the end of the video! Not a purchase I'm making today or anything, but something to look into for sure, as I think something like this would be best for me! Thank you!
Wondering if spiral prismatic packing would work in the column…
Thanks for reviewing the Air Still Pro Jesse! Sorry to hear you broke your foreshots collection vial. Good thing the Air Still Pro comes with a spare!
Great video :) You're meant to remove the packing materials when doing pot still mode. Will likely be faster then....
We would love to see a teardown video so we could see how it all works!
Mine has arrived from you Jessie. Am yet to run it. So far size and function seems simple. will let you know how it goes
The fans probably turn on at the start as a pretest to make sure its going to run within spec and not cause thermal runaway or other issues
As someone whose made a few small batches of home brew wine and beer and getting back into the hobby but wanting to also get a small little still I can run in my room. An air still would be the best option. I've been looing at some different stills some air stills, pot stills and even some all in one home brewing systems. This would be my first still and the air still is an easy still but not special also. The pot still is out of the option since I can't really run a pot still at home. The all in one brewing system makes more and would should be better later on but also costs around 3 times mor than the air still. Since it'll be my first still I'm leaning more towards the air still.
Swap out the packing for SPP - brings it's peak to 91-92% @40%. I'm tempted to fill the gin basket too 😊
SPP looks easy to make! 🤣
th-cam.com/video/C2GbpiQoPgo/w-d-xo.html
I got a spare collection jar with my version. I can see me smashing both 😬
Did you fill the gin basket? Where the results a higher abv?
@@ackers33 yes, but the results are tbc - my makeshift measuring glass wasn't tall enough to read the Hydrometer - I dropped my good one😅 I would say it increased beyond 92%, but can't confirm the exacts - yet. The meter had zero buoyancy at 90-91%. I'm waiting for new glassware to arrive 😊
@@StillDrew982 That's a bit of bad luck! I've got plenty of leftover ssp from my t500 column, will try that on the pro when it gets to me in a couple of days.
Great review. Here in Australia my local homebrew shop sells them for AU$865 and they are selling out as fast as they can get them in. The same thing as the upgrade head. That kind of surprised me as like Jessie said, they sell T500s for less. I suppose because in AU/NZ due to the very high excise on spirits there is a group of customers who really are not into the craft side of distillation but just want to save money. Them having something that will produce quality neutral on a device that you can store under the kitchen sink, makes this an attractive proposition.
I saw one in my home brew shop in a little country town that I live in for around $748, or around $829 for the whole kit. I went in there for some essences and wood chips and happened to see one in the flesh.
I must be too Scandinavian to understand that... or you'd have to be a functional alcoholic to bother going down that route when it takes 4.5 hours of listening to a fan running to get a bottle of booze.
why NOBODY on the internet ever tells what's inside this thing? how does it work? where is actual "column" part? what kind of packing in there? etc... kinda confusing to get through the whole thing not knowing any of this...
because home distillers care more about the results. to get into the details, it uses the combination of pot still and reflux condenser design, pot still normally get up to 60abv, reflux condenser reuses non ethanol liquid back into the pot to distill again to get pure ethanol in layman terms which is why it is getting a consistent 90abv. me i’m more of an armagnac person single pot distill or cognac/brandy.
since columns goes through countless filtering it’ll normally strip flavors and purify to ethanol at a higher efficacy
I have a Chinese Airstill. It runs on 110 Volts at 750 Watts and it smears the entire run together. But it only takes one hour for 4 litres start to finish. The biggest turnoff for me is the fact that it took Jesse almost 5 hours to run 2 litres on the Pro Still. I didn't hear Jesse address smearing either,. The next biggest turnoff is the price. You could get a really nice still for the of this thing.
The slower you go the cleaner the cuts. Yours is probably nice for stripping runs.
But what about their warranty? Do they stand behind their product? The reason I say this is because I bought an excalibur dehydrator and wore it out during the initial warranty period and it was such a pain to get them to warranty my product. They had such piss poor communication that I just chucked the thing into the bin and forgot about it. They then sent me an email after the warranty period had expired telling me that I was not entitled to the warranty because the timeframe had lapsed, yet I have emails with timestamps inquiring about getting a replacement well before the warranty expired. I won't buy an AirStill if they don't stand behind their product.
If you break the foreshots jar and you can't turn off taking foreshots... then what? Does it just still dump 25mL anyways? Is there a sensor that keeps it from diverting the 25mL? Or a sensor that keeps the whole machine from running if the jar isn't in place?
Dunno. I broke it so I guess I will find out before getting another lol.
So useful. Very, very useful as a review. I'm saving a lot of your videos because your explanations are clear, while providing me with the details that emphasize what I need to go out and research. No BS, and no long-winded explanations that are more confusing than helpful. I cannot afford this option, although I do not have space for a larger footprint. *However*, there seem to be options that are in the $200 range that would take some sweat equity to put together and would be functional in my space. You're giving me hope!!!
I have the standard air still but that pro still is as you say Jesse is too pricey, i'm quite happy with 80 abv from the original air still, i was tempted to buy the head at one point but that is more costly than a complete airstill.
Personally combination of the t500 and a air still works best for me,
Yup, if you have the room for the T500 thats definitly the go. Or another similar sized reflux still.
How about non alcohol distillation? Might be interesting.
Hey great content. I have seen so many reviews on the air still but no one has covered the kinds of materials in the vapor path. That is my biggest concern of the unknown? Does anyone happen to know what materials they are? Like metal type? Gasket type? If any plastic comes in contact with vapor? Ect. Thanks if you have some info to share
It will be interesting to see how quickly you can get a replacement foreshots container - although I suspect SS will take special care on getting one to you
Hey Jessy can you please do a review on a super easy fermentation gadget. Something that will also work in cold winter months.
Something that will work along with the air still.
Interesting. I just crunched some numbers and 20L of finished product would pay for this new still, IF you were buying your alcohol from a retail outlet. So perhaps not as expensive as I first thought. Plus the added bonus of making it to your taste.
The only problem I have with the Pro version is the cost. I love my regular version of the Airstill and the highest I managed to get out of it was 160 proof which is 80% ABV. The cost of the pro version is just too high for only a slightly higher ABV. To give you some perspective, for $315 US Dollars I can get a brand new polished stainless steel dual purpose mighty mini tower from Milehigh Distilling that will fit both of my 15 gallon and 3 gallon stainless steel milkcan boilers that I already have in my possesion. All I would need after that would be a nice coleman cooler for some ice water and a pond pump and I'm ready to go.
i love my little air still. setting gup the keg takes time and the amount of water i need to run it gets old fast. i do want one but ill never pay that much for the head. with any luck with the way people get in and out of this hobby ill find it cheap on the second hand market.
Thanks for this great comprehensive review Jesse.
in 2024 in the UK, both the T500 and the Airstill Pro are about £400 (389-399 ish) [~$841NZD]. That price gap seems to have disappeared, so guess it just comes down to size.
Great video Jesse. I love the idea of it as I have an original airstill but for a little bit more coin I would rather buy a T500.
I like this for its ease of use.
You have mentioned not being a big fan of PID controllers. Wouldn't reflux nod on this have an internal PID controller?
In a more recent video, you talked about PID controllers changing either the cooling rate or heating rate. Without seeing the device in person, u could not tell if this is adjusting the fan speed or changing energy into liquid.
Because boiling uses so much more energy than a fan, I'm wondering if you can put an energy monitor monitor on it and tell which method it uses.
Hey jess I use the stillspirts grainfather still I love it 🥃iv made some awesome rums with I don't see many reviews about this still I think anyone starting out should consider this still
I might upgrade my Air Still head if the price drops a bit
How long does it take to make 1 full batch, say of vodka?
I am consistently getting 94% from my t500 and i have both reflux column and the pot still dome ( which you didnt mention)
Sorry for my lack kf knowledge, but could i make a rum or whisky with this or is this primary for neutral spirit?
€ 489,= in the Netherlands. You can buy the air still pro head unit for € 349,= if you allready have the air still.
If it had a timer for the stripping runs that would be great. I use my 1st gen air still on a 4hr 20 min timer for stripping low wines and its pretty easy.
Love your take on this. Can you comment on whether a headsy batch can be ‘touched up’ by running briefly to take the heads out, and then stop? Especially if it already has time on the oak!
Looking at getting back into distilling. I'm a all grain brewer who likes his gin and bourbon. I wonder if this would be a good choice for me ?
I want to distill mead, and i really like the flavors i have in it will this keep the flavors?
Another thing to consider is safety. Got grandkids running around so maybe bench top is better where i can watch it? Appreciate any comments.
this is nice. with the T500 the time investment per run is hard to find now due to 2 little kids running around. but a leave and forget would be nice. better to have to refill the pot 3 or 4 times with the wash instead of not being able to do anything at all.
Yeah I feel you dude. I mean you dont want to just totally leave it. But its definitly easy to run while still being in dad mode haha
If you lose or drop and smash the fore shots glass, is it game over? Will the spirit keep running to fill that glass if there is no glass to collect the 25ml?
I would love to see you make the three grain drink with barley rye and corn
do they have a temp control or did i miss that bit
so i brew a lot of cider and want to use this for any extra i.e brewed 26l and bottle 20l then distil the rest 6l as a complimentary drink
When you say 90% vodka, do you mean 45% water and 45% alcohol or really 90% alcohol?
Great review. You have to pay to play. It is a bit pricey but it looks like it does a nice job for the size.
I had been considering the original air still for test batches, but ended up deciding no. Unfortunately, this one will go the same way. First one bought was the t-500 (always get 95% ABV with it, as long as you follow the specified methodology. I also got the Alembic dome, which I'm having a bit of fun with, while setting up a 50L one. I've already figured what I want to do, how much I wish to make., and the bigger one will do that (Whiskey helmet, bubble pates, packed column, slobber box/botanical basket/thumper). I'm more into whiskeys than anything else, but I like having options for that odd item.
i bought the original a few weeks ago, what you fail to mention, its perfect for people making it for themselves, unless its for selling or an alcoholic, who is going to need to make more than 1 litre every couple of hours?
Would the difference make it worth upgrading?
How much power does it use? I'm on stand alone solar power and a very limited water supply so it may suit my needs!