The theory behind your post is one of pure distillation, but i would be skeptical using that for the finished product, as it would be difficult to monitor and differentiate between the foreshots, the heads and the tails. I also, see no refrence to any type of tempature monitoring of the distallate, which adds to my concern.
Without monitoring the tempature, you will have no real way to know when the foreshots, containing all the nasty elements like the metanol and other crap possesing a lower boiling point are done exiting to when the ethanol is coming out. The foreshot amounts can be estimated with a mathmatical formula, but to do this you need to at least know the base % raw alcohol in the wash. I wouldn't feel comfortable relying on that. Also, using the wrong type of fruits, especially those high in pectins like raspberries and grapes will produce considerably more methanol than a pure sugar, yeast and water combination. Basically, this type of pot still, used in the manner described, may be ok for the 1st stage distillation, but i wouldn't drink the finished product on a bet.

Skeptic? Not really. Last time I checked, the boiling point of ethanol ,the desired product, was 78.4 degrees celcius. Obviously then, a tempature of 50 degrees celcius must not only be reached, but exceeded. Also, here in reality, isopentanol and 2-methyl-1-butanol, isobutananol and n-propanol and small amounts of other alcohols, aldehydes and esters are all by products of yeast fermentation. Coincidentally, they are all unwanted in a distillation, bad for drinking and YES, they all possess a boiling point lower than ethanol, making them Volitle and subsequently present in your early stages of distillation if not discarded. The yeast selection is important in overall yeild of raw alcohol in your wash, as certain strains are more tolerant to alcohol, and can produce more before being killed off. This has little to do with the congers and VOLITLES produced however. The main area of concern is, as mentioned earlier, is in the pectins. Any plain sugar, water and yeast wash will produce no methanol. This is not withstanding other undesireable compounds. However, any fruit based ferment will produce foreshots containing methanol. Grain mashes will also produce some methanol, although not as much as fruit mashes.
I am not argueing with science here. These are recognized facts that, if not followed, may not kill you, but will definately effect your finished product's quality. Anyone can get a buzz drinking rot gut moonshine or mouthwash for that matter. If you want something of at least semi-quality. I would take what I said, into a little consideration. If nothing else, discard the first 20 ml of distallate in a 20 liter run.

A public fourm, is a public fourm. I personally enjoy reading all that everyone has to offer because i admittedly am far from expert. Keep 'em coming.

The whole idea of pot stills is to retain the impurities that mr spirit fears. rum whiskey rye brandy tequilla sometimes even gin and vodka to a lesser extent are all impure drink that retain flavors. Only gin vodka everclear or neutral spirit for blending and liquer making require or benefit from the purity mr spirit seeks. thanks for the cheap pot still idea seems a lot like amazing still pioneered by thirsty swedes I think. As to making cuts stills operated for several centuries with out accurate thermometers and people relied on things like smell and taste and experience to know when to make cuts. those are still valid methods temp is just another referance or indicater used in conjunction with the already mentioned tried and true methods. to cut tails some still use flamability test. temp taste smell apearance ,cloudiness,texture or feel to the fingers bubbles when shook flamability alcometer reading volumes experience even sounds of the gear all are valid indicaters used by operators. I reject mr spirits comments as too narrowly focused. valid concerns but just a narrow yet valid methodology applied too broadly. It may be a valid method with consistant wash and neutral spirit as the goal but that is not always the case. Even those who focus on temp should become familiar with all the other indicaters that lead to timing cuts. If you have ever consumed comercial distilled spirits chances are you have consumed similar impurities to the ones a setup like this may let over. Aging and exposure to wood burnt wood and charcoal particularly oak wood or maple or activated charcoal will often reduce impurities to less objectionable chemicals or remove them with filtration absorbtion.

I take it that the whole concept behind the Amazing Still is that alcohol,s, evaporate faster than water, right? If you pulled off the first 3%, wouldn't that catch the foreshots? But how about the tails?
I have never been terribly picky about shine, but I don't drink so much as to give me a hangover anyway. As long as some old shiner did not use lead in his pipe joints, or run it through a car radiator, it did the trick. So far I have not fared too badly, and as far as brain cells go, it is survival of the fittests ;-D

How 'bout it Brewman34, aren't you willing to share the secret of 'Pot Yeast' with the rest of us? I don't think I'm the only one who is ignorant of this miricale yeast, but I'd sure like to get my hands on some! So c'mon, ante up with a little info. What is it and where can we get it?
Thanks in advance,
An interested Guest

I have used the pot distillers yeast from Brewhouse with very favorable results. It has a pretty high yield without bad aftertastes. You can see it at
http://www.brewhaus.com/Turbo-Yeast.asp
I make cheap wine from it for my wife using grape juice concentrate. She loves it because she says it tastes 'just like Mad Dog' ,As you can see I did not marry her for her taste or culture,;-D

I am not sure if the Prestige WD is the same or not. On the Brewhaus site they call it Pot Distillers Yeast, and it says it will ferment fruit or sugar mash to 18%. I know it works well with juices or home-made fruit mash. But if you are using store-bought fruit juices, make sure they don't have any preservatives. They will kill the yeast. I learned that the hard way with 'fresh' cider, which had preservatives and killed enough yeast to ferment the whole orchard.

I don't have electric heat source. I use propane and just use alot of caution.