Friends, allow me to introduce myself. I am Alchemist G. G. Wilkins — kin in spirit to the original Dr. George Granville Wilkins of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, born up in Antrim in the year 1819. The old doctor pulled teeth, cut hair, sold firearms and pelts out of his famous "Fort Wilkins," and ran an eating house and saloon with a caged bear chained out front. He was also, history records, twice convicted of selling spirits the authorities would rather he hadn't. A fitting forefather for a copper man, wouldn't you say? I carry his name, his stubborn streak, and his conviction that a thing made by American hands ought to outlive the man who made it.
So you have decided to buy your first copper still. Wonderful. Let me walk you through the choosing of it the way I'd talk a neighbor through it across the counter — plainly, honestly, and with no nonsense.
Before we size anything, understand why we build in copper. Copper is not decoration. As the alcohol vapor rises through the still, copper chemically binds with sulfur compounds produced during fermentation — the same compounds that make a poorly-made spirit taste of rotten eggs and struck matches. Copper scrubs those sulfides out of the vapor. Stainless steel cannot do this. That single fact is why nearly every fine whiskey and brandy on earth touches copper somewhere on its journey. Build in copper and you build flavor into the spirit from the very first run.
The first question every beginner asks is "how big?" — and the honest answer is "smaller than your ambition." A still's gallon rating refers to the boiler capacity. You should only ever fill a boiler about two-thirds full to leave room for foaming, so a 6-gallon still comfortably processes roughly 4 gallons of wash per run.
My counsel: buy the size you'll actually use most weekends, not the size you imagine on your most ambitious day. A still that's the right size gets run often. A monster that intimidates you gathers dust.
You'll notice our pot stills come crowned two ways. The shape of that dome is not mere style — it changes how your spirit behaves.
The classic Alembic onion shape offers very little reflux. Vapor rises, turns, and heads for the worm with minimal copper contact on the way out. This gives a fuller-bodied, flavor-forward spirit — exactly what you want for whiskey, rum, and brandy where character is the whole point. This is the time-honored profile of the old distillers.
The broader mushroom dome encourages a touch more natural reflux — some vapor condenses on that wide ceiling and falls back, gently purifying as it goes. It nudges your spirit a little cleaner and a little higher in proof. A fine choice if you lean toward neutral spirits. Compare the two on our 6 Gallon Mushroom-Top page.
Here is where most cheap imports betray you, and where I will not bend. Thin copper dents, conducts heat unevenly, and wears through. We build with thick, heavy 20-ounce American copper — Forged in New Hampshire, Hand Built, and Built to Last. A still is not a frying pan to be replaced every season. It is an heirloom. When you heft one of ours you'll feel the difference in your forearms before you ever feel it in the glass.
A still alone won't make spirit. You'll want a proper heat source, a way to measure your proof, and a vessel to catch your fractions. New distillers consistently forget the burner until the still arrives. Browse our accessories on the shop page and outfit yourself properly the first time.
We live in a golden age of small-batch craft, a true Distillers' Renaissance, and the doorway to it is a good copper still made by people who give a damn. That is what we build here, one seam at a time. Choose honestly, run patiently, and you'll be rewarded.
Forged in New Hampshire and built to outlast us both,
— Alchemist G. G. Wilkins
Keeper of the flame, hammer of the seam, and far better behaved than my namesake — most days.