Making your own spirits at home, and whether it's worth it

People ask about this at the counter more than almost anything else in the brewing section, and the honest answer has two halves, because there are two completely different activities sitting behind the same question.

The two ways in, and they are not the same thing

Flavouring a base spirit. You buy a neutral spirit, add an essence, leave it a day or two and you have a gin or a whiskey character in the bottle. No still, no ferment, no licence. This is what most people mean when they say they make their own, and it is where nearly everybody starts.

Distilling. You ferment a wash and run it through a still. This is the real craft version and it is also the one with a rule attached to it.

Owning a still is lawful and so is selling them, which is why they sit on our shelf. Distilling spirits at home is what needs an excise manufacturer licence from the Australian Taxation Office, and that applies whether you sell any of it or drink the lot yourself. Beer, cider, wine and mead are a separate thing and none of that applies to them.

So if you have been putting this off because you assumed the whole lot was off limits, half of it isn't, and the half that is has a process you go through with the ATO rather than with us.

Does it save you money

Going the essence route, yes, and fairly obviously so once you look at what a 50ml essence makes against what a bottle of the branded equivalent costs. The essence does a full bottle's worth and you are buying a plain base spirit underneath it rather than paying for the name on the label.

I'm not going to put a figure on it, because the price of the base spirit moves and the price of whatever you are comparing it against moves too. Do the sum with today's numbers and you'll see it quickly enough.

Distilling is a bigger upfront spend and it takes longer to pay itself back, so it earns its place on the craft rather than on the arithmetic.

You get to decide what it tastes like

This is the real reason people stick with it. Like your gin with more citrus in it, that's a decision you get to make. Want a rum that leans sweet and spiced, same. You're not choosing between four bottles somebody else designed, you're adjusting your own until it's right.

And the adjusting is most of the fun. A bit more of this, a day longer on the oak, and by the third go you have something nobody else has got.

It makes you slow down

Measuring things out, waiting on a ferment, checking on something that isn't ready yet. It's a hobby that runs at its own pace and won't be hurried, and after a week of everything else being urgent that's worth more than it sounds.

It's a good thing to hand somebody

A bottle of something you made is a better gift than anything you can buy on the way over, and it costs you less. That's most of the appeal right there.

Where to start if you've never done it

Start with an essence and a bought base spirit. It's the cheapest possible test of whether you actually enjoy this, it's over in a couple of days, and if the answer is yes you've lost nothing and learned what you like.

Nobody starts out knowing which essence suits them or how long to leave a thing alone, and there's no reading that shortcuts it. Come in and tell us what you normally drink and we'll point you at the nearest one to it, and if you want the longer version I wrote it all down in The Definitive Guide to Getting Started with Homebrew Spirits.

Shop related products

• Edwards Essences GB Gin Essence. A straightforward London style gin and a sensible first try.
• Edwards Essences Single Malt Whisky Essence. Malty rather than sharp, and it takes well to a bit of oak.
• Samuel Willard's Irish Cream premix flavour. The one that converts people who thought they wouldn't like any of this.
• Still Spirits Gold Rum Liqueur 50ml. Sweet and spiced, and good over ice with nothing else in it.

Did you know the essence wall in the shop is a fair bit bigger than what's on the website, and we also stock glycerine in 125ml and 1 litre, bourbon barrel chips, 2 litre glass flagons and spirit dispensers. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf before you drive in.

The online part of the range is in the homebrew collection, and Brewhilder will help you narrow it down if you'd rather do that first.

Read next

• How to flavour a spirit at home with essences
• Home distilling myths, and where the law actually sits
• 3 ways to age and flavour whisky at home

I'm firmly on the essence side of this argument, largely because it means skipping straight to the part where you get to taste it.

Cheers

Candeece