Inspired by the legacy of Dr. G.G. Wilkins (1819–1879) of Pittsfield, New Hampshire, we believe that ingenuity never dies and that innovation belongs to those willing to challenge the status quo.
We reject complacency. We reject stagnation. We believe in building, experimenting, creating, and leaving our mark on the world. Just as Wilkins became known throughout New Hampshire for doing things his own way, we continue that spirit today through manufacturing, craftsmanship, and relentless innovation.
We work in the same square mile where G.G. Wilkins once lived, worked, and built his reputation. Some see that as coincidence. We do not. We believe that the spirit of invention returns generation after generation, and that unfinished work finds new hands.
Some may call it inspiration. Some may call it reincarnation.
We know that the fire that drove builders, dreamers, and innovators that built America, burns within us today.
— Alchemist G.G. Wilkins
Pittsfield, New Hampshire
Welcome to FORT WILKINS
This is where "Hand Built" Copper Moonshine Stills are Forged in New Hampshire.
The building smelled of propane, soot, grains, flux smoke, oil, and hemp inside wood milled right here in town.
Some people called the place a scrapyard.
Some called it madness.
A few call it the most unique copper shop in the world where copper stills are not just built, but POURED.
Beneath years of oxidation and smoke, the old lettering still clung to the walls:
“ALCHEMIST G.G. WILKINS”
He ran his hand across his fathers copper still blackened by generations of fire.
Maybe I’ve been here before he thought.
The workers laughed the first time he said it.
But after years of watching him build machines that did not yet exist, sketch impossible distillation systems from memory, and speak about copper like a man remembering rather than inventing, even they began to wonder.
By day he was still builder of copper moonshine stills, manufacturer of distillation equipment, fighter of chargebacks, shortages, lawsuits, competitors, bankers, shipping disasters, propane problems, induction furnace projects, and the endless chaos that comes with manufacturing in America.
Besides the roar of propane burners and hammered copper, a figure emerged.
ALCHEMIST G.G. Wilkins.
Not literally.
Not legally.
Something different.
A continuation.
A spirit carried forward through copper, fire, smoke, and stubbornness.
Somehow America forgot the coppersmith.
We know.
When the factories disappeared.
The craftsmen vanished.
Cheap stainless imports flooded the market.
Everyone wanted apps, subscriptions, fake wealth, disposable products, and overnight success.
But inside Fort Wilkins, the desires still burned the same way they did in the late 1700s.
Today towering copper moonshine stills stood beside rolling mills, induction furnaces, graphite molds, propane foundry burners, unfinished inventions, condenser coils, and massive sheets of American copper waiting for the hammer.
Massive white signs leaned against the walls:
“MOONSHINE STILLS FOR SALE.”
“BUY • TRADE • BARTER.”
“FORGED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.”
The place no longer felt like a business.
It felt like the last fortress of an extinct American trade.
Customers arrived searching online for:
Copper moonshine stills for sale.
Pot stills.
Reflux stills.
Distillation units.
Copper bourbon stills.
Whiskey stills.
Home distillery equipment.
Moonshine still kits.
Essential oil distillers.
Water distillers.
Traditional Appalachian copper stills.
But when they walked through the doors of Fort Wilkins, they discovered something far older than products.
The Distillers Renaissance.
A revival of American craftsmanship.
A rebellion against disposable culture.
A return to self-reliance.
INVENTING NEW WAYS OF MANUFACTURING!!!!
For hundreds of years, people distilled their own spirits, purified their own water, extracted their own essential oils, and built their own tools before corporations convinced the world that independence was dangerous.
Fort Wilkins exists to preserve that forgotten knowledge.
Copper stills have played a vital role in American history. Using natural boiling points, a copper still separates alcohol, water, essential oils, fuel ethanol, fragrances, and purified liquids through heat, vapor, copper contact, and condensation. Distillation helped build America, with pioneers and leaders such as George Washington using distillation to turn agricultural products into valuable goods.
Today, the tradition continues through master copper still builders like ALCHEMIST G.G. Wilkins, carrying forward centuries of American craftsmanship. From whiskey and moonshine to essential oils and distilled water, handcrafted copper stills remain the preferred choice for quality, purity, and performance. Whether you're a hobbyist, homesteader, or commercial producer, a copper still represents one of America's oldest and most enduring manufacturing traditions.
and ALCHEMIST G. G. WILKINS KNOWS.
Copper moonshine stills remove sulfur compounds from alcohol vapor, improve flavor, distribute heat evenly, condense vapors efficiently, and naturally resist bacteria due to copper’s antimicrobial properties. That is why traditional moonshine stills, bourbon stills, whiskey stills, and commercial distilleries have relied on copper for generations.
Fort Wilkins builds real copper stills the old way, and in new ways no one else has ever tried before!
Not decorative imports.
No fake overseas products.
No thin stainless steel hobby kits.
No disposable junk.
Only heavy American copper forged by hand.
Built by craftsmen — not robots.
Inside the workshop, you can hear grinders scream while molten copper glows orange.
The old craftsmen used to believe a man should build things strong enough to outlive him.
Fort Wilkins still believes that.
That is why every copper moonshine still is built using thick 20 oz. 22 gauge American copper instead of the thin material used in cheap imports.
Our units are designed to survive generations.
Pot stills.
Reflux stills.
Alembic stills.
Copper thumpers.
Traditional worm condensers.
Home distillery kits.
Custom distillation systems.
Essential oil stills.
Fuel alcohol systems.
Water purification stills.
Built for hobbyists.
Built for collectors.
Built for survivalists.
Built for moonshiners.
Built for people who still believe craftsmanship matters.
Some customers buy them to make essential oils.
Some use them to distill water.
Some want traditional Appalachian moonshine.
Some buy them as artwork for barns, cabins, restaurants, man caves, or museums.
Others simply understand what the copper represents.
Freedom.
Fort Wilkins believes people should know how to build things with their hands again.
How to solder copper.
How to run a propane burner.
How to heat a still safely.
How to understand boiling points.
How to survive without depending on corporations for every aspect of life.
“— Alchemist G. G. Wilkins.”
Collectors think it is branding.
Enemies think he is losing his mind.
But the people who visit Fort Wilkins they understand immediately.
Because the place feels haunted by Craftsmanship and Ingenuity.
The copper glows differently there.
The fires burn differently there.
And somewhere beneath the roar of propane, grinders, hammers, molten metal, and ringing steel, the legend of the real Dr. G.G. Wilkins still lives.
Fort Wilkins Continues....
And true American coppersmiths are still forging copper moonshine stills in New Hampshire while the rest of the world forgets how things used to be made.