Purchasable still reviews?

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Purchasable still reviews?

Post by spiff »

I'm sorry, I tried searching this site... but is there any threads on reviews of available purchasable stills? Or, comparisons, ratings., pro's and con's. things like that?

I'm interested in an all Stainless steel setup that's good for highest purity vodka. Could someone suggest one for me? I did some investigating on the various types and I thought that one with a reflux riser would be best for this.. But when I asked about a model I found that had this it was ripped on as not a very good one.

http://moonshinedistiller.com/moonshine ... -13-gallon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


I would much appreciate if someone could suggest a better one than this one....

TIA

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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Euphoria »

If you're looking to buy, I highly recommend Mile Hi in Colorado for good quality "store bought" equipment. I have been one of their biggest customers (LOL,) but I don't have any affiliation with their company, other than being a satisfied customer. I have three different sized s/s boilers, a s/s Pot Still w/thumper setup, a 4" six plate s/s Flute column setup, along with a plethora of various and sundry equipment and distilling supplies, fittings etc, that I have procured from them. I am very happy with everything I've gotten there. I'm sure there are several other manufacturers/vendors out there that people like, and I'm sure others will be added to this thread by them. Good quality equipment and excellent service. Here's a link to Mile Hi Distilling:

https://milehidistilling.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by spiff »

Beautiful! Thank you.. exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

Checked out the site and their reflux riser setups are almost identical as this other places... is it just the reflux riser setup that is the undesirable thing here?
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by dieselduo »

I'm a fan of Brewhaus because Rick was the initiator of the Hobby Distillers Association
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Euphoria »

When you say "reflux riser", do you mean their Flute columns?

I also have gotten a lot of stuff from Brewhaus as well, but more so for my mashing and fermenting equipment. Also nice stuff.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

For highest purity vodka, you should buy or build a LM or VM setup. No potstill with thumper or a CM setup or something with plates.
Your link is a CM.

Edit: The cheapest LM in know is the istill 50 Base manual. But it's much more expensive, that the CM of your link. Anyone knows an alternative? LM or CM? Besides of building yourself?
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by MDH »

I have to agree with others here. You will have to do a lot of "patching up" of flaws from Mile-Hi or Brewhaus equipment. I am not saying you cannot make good spirits - you certainly can - but it takes much more effort than is really necessary.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Euphoria »

der wo wrote:For highest purity vodka, you should buy or build a LM or VM setup. No potstill with thumper or a CM setup or something with plates.
Your link is a CM.
Well, in fairness to CM style Flutes, I've managed to pull off some really clean 96% ABV neutral from my plated Flute (using 6 plates) and it is a CM setup. I do agree that you won't achieve that with any Pot Still, even with a Thumper. But for those liquors that I desire to have the flavor carry over in the distillate, (rums and whiskeys mainly,) I only use 3 plates so as not to strip off the flavor I worked hard to build. The nice thing is that I can still bring the flavor over and not have to do both stripping and spirit runs. With my Flute, I can get there in one pass and not have to run it through twice. The joys of a modular setup.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by bearriver »

All of my Still Dragon gear is nothing short of perfect. I've spent over $700 there in the past 2 years.

I am gonna get a dash when my finances are alligned. Was gonna do it with my tax return this year but life got in the way. :evil:
Last edited by bearriver on Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Euphoria »

MDH wrote:I have to agree with others here. You will have to do a lot of "patching up" of flaws from Mile-Hi or Brewhaus equipment. I am not saying you cannot make good spirits - you certainly can - but it takes much more effort than is really necessary.
Could you elaborate a bit on "patching up" these rigs?
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by spiff »

Guess i have more reading to do.. yeah, don't know the difference between the flute tower or the distiller tower.. other than one has sight glasses. They both allow you use packing, right? Which would be better for purest vodka on a single pass?

Are the flute towers harder to clean due to those sight glasses? Vs a cylinder viewing chamber...
also, are all flute tower CM?
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Liquid-Managemen ... 1468871923" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

http://www.olympicdistillers.com/compou ... operation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Anyone knows this company?

The valve is cheap brass I think. The gaskets, ok you can wrap them in ptfe tape.

Here another option:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-in-1-Copper-E ... xyCSRSGtPK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
SS valve. But I can see not many details.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

Euphoria wrote: Well, in fairness to CM style Flutes, I've managed to pull off some really clean 96% ABV neutral from my plated Flute (using 6 plates) and it is a CM setup.
Yes with many plates you can achieve the same purity. But the fine control is not so easy like with a LM or VM. And a flute with many plates is more expensive I think.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by spiff »

So, read the thread about differences between LM, VM and CM.. but all it does is create more questions. It seems they're all doing the same thing but in different ways... no real info as far as which one is better for situation A,B,C.. ect. I'm guessing CM ones are easier to control, to keep the reflux balanced.. would that be an accurate statement?

Is there a thread that gets into the pros and cons of each?
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by rad14701 »

Which reflux still design is best is subject to personal preference... A VM is only good for neutral spirits, primarily... LM is usually easier to learn to run than a CM... Both the CM's and LM's can be converted into quasi pot stills...

My suggestion is to take some more time to do research here in the forums, paying close attention to the different rigs than members are running, and go from there... I'm partial to LM reflux columns...
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by spiff »

Thanks rad.. can I ask what you like about the LMs and why?
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Euphoria »

spiff wrote:Guess i have more reading to do.. yeah, don't know the difference between the flute tower or the distiller tower.. other than one has sight glasses. They both allow you use packing, right? Which would be better for purest vodka on a single pass?

Are the flute towers harder to clean due to those sight glasses? Vs a cylinder viewing chamber...
also, are all flute tower CM?
The term "Reflux Tower" can be used to describe several variants of plated or sleeved columns, including one piece columns, Flutes or otherwise, but overall the modular assemblies are much easier to take apart for cleaning. I can disassemble my 6 plate flute tower, break it down, wash and dry, and reassemble the whole thing in about an hour, and not rushing it. Squeaky clean too because it all comes apart and I can deep clean each component. All my portholes are unscrewable from the flute sections for deep cleaning and I can pull my perforated copper downcomer plates (and any other copper in the vapor path) and soak them in Citric Acid for a few minutes, then scrub them lightly with a greenie pad, and they are bright and shiny like new. Some columns, especially one piece towers, are not so easy to clean, so there is a definite benefit to modular components as to ease of maintenance. One piece columns are usually less expensive, and so might be a personal choice of those who want to save some money. On the down side, plated Flute columns are generally more expensive as der wo mentioned, but then, if you buy good equipment the first time instead of "learning curve" not-so-good equipment, then you only cry once.

As to fine control, yes, "straight out of the box", most CM Flutes need to have their cooling water routing and control tweaked a bit, and my Mile Hi was no different here, but it wasn't hard to turn into a well balanced setup. The biggest gains in efficiency and ease of operation I have found with mine was splitting the cooling water lines to provide separate cooling water feeds to the Dephlegmator and the Shotgun Condenser, which allows greater temperature and reflux control, and by adding a good adjustable metering valve on the Dephlegmator cooling line, (needle valve,) I can really fine tune the reflux action.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by rad14701 »

spiff wrote:Thanks rad.. can I ask what you like about the LMs and why?
Mainly due to the fact that once up and running all I need to adjust, if need be, is the take off needle valve... And keep and eye in the heat input towards the end of the run as it may need to be increased... Never been as fond of the hobby scale CM's, aside from the flutes built in recent years, but might be building a CM configuration in the future... I'm also interested in trying a VM considering how I have so my CSST kicking around, but that would be further down the road... My LM works great as a full reflux column, as a hybrid with a shorter column, and as a pot still... But I have a pot still head now that I use for stripping runs and flavored spirits so I only run the LM as a full reflux column for neutral spirits...
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

A LM reacts fast. You have the direct control of the product output.
With a CM it's easy to control "a bit" reflux. But if you want much reflux, that the distillate goes mainly back into the column, it's hard to control the water lines so exact, and changings of the water line valve need long to affect the reflux. The LM is the go-kart, the CM the oceanliner.
A VM also reacts slower than a LM, but it has the plus, that it increases the reflux ratio when the abv drops a bit by itself. The LM does the opposite: At the end of a run, the reflux goes down, what can cause a very sudden dropping of the abv (but if this happens, you can react very fast).
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by flyweed »

I'll second Mile Hi...I have one of their Stainless columns that I can run either Potstill mode, or Full Reflux. I've packed the column full of copper mesh for reflux runs, plus I added a site glass to view the reflux. I am fairly new to distilling, and I pulled off 180 PROOF neutral on my first reflux spirit run. I recommend Mile Hi.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by still_stirrin »

Excellent summary der wo.

spiff, my reflux head is a combo LM/VM.

The reflux condenser is a concentric and the liquid cup is annular in the center, collecting liquid condensate as it drips down the inner wall of the concentric condenser. The VM branch is via a side outlet (Tee) and has a valve to control the vapor flow.

I start with both valves closed so I get full reflux up front. Then, I open the LM valve and collect fores and early heads. Running LM compresses the heads, packing them with the foreshots.

After that, I close the liquid valve and continue full reflux for a bit while it stabilizes. Then, I open the VM valve and it adjusts the reflux ratio based upon how far open the valve is. The VM head will produce hearts for a long time, until it is almost done. Then, the vapor all but quits. I'll close the VM valve and continue full reflux for a short period and then collect the remaining product off the LM valve. It usually doesn't produce much more good product because the VM operation compresses the tails very well.

Commercially built stills are typically not this type of combination. So, building it was the best option. Plus, I have time, copper fabrication skills and design experience far in excess of my bank account. So, it is much more economical to build...plus, I got a system that I wanted. I know it...inside and out.

Buying options, if the only option, have improved significantly in the past 2 to 3 years as independent manufactures are springing up all over the world to capitalize on this accellerating (and booming) industry. Many individuals, like you, have seen the Discovery shows and figured, "why not...it looks easy, since these clowns can do it". Well, there is more to "the iceberg" than what you see on the "boob tube".

Consider this when trying to down select a system you want. Consider what you want the equipment to produce, what your budget is, how much control you want, or need, heat input and recovery options, assembly/disassembly and storage provisions...that sort of thing. Know and understand your requirements (all of them) before selecting a solution. I suggest a systematic approach. And of course, spend the time reading and learning all about it first.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by FullySilenced »

Without Question.... STILLDRAGON I have two systems a Baby Crystal Dragon and a Dash series both are amazing...

if you want gear that can grow with you, can adapt to anything you can throw at it... and at some point if you decide to turn pro, would be more than usable in a craft distillery setting. StillDragon is the gear you should own.

Talk to LWTCS here in this forum, or call him at StillDragon let Larry share a few success stories with you.

until then "Happy Stillin",

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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

But the Stilldragon stills are all CM. Mile Hi the same. And CM is not the preferred tool for vodka, not only in my opinion.
There are only few sellers for LM or VM stills. And a VM LM combo like still stirrins still you will not find to buy I think. I had a LM VM combo and when I decided to build a new, I decided for an only LM system, because I like this system more. But I know and respect there are other distillers, which switched from LM to VM and don't want to go back.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by FullySilenced »

StillDragon is Modular.... add a 500mm packed section to the top and make great vodka .. remove it for flavored products... add a GB4 basket and make specialty products or gin...

modular columns rule...

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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Swedish Pride »

with a modular plated column why not add a section under the RC that holds a set off boka plates, then you can have a LM when you run Vodka, and CM for Whiskey.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

FullySilenced wrote:StillDragon is Modular....
Yes, Modular CMs.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by der wo »

Swedish Pride wrote:with a modular plated column why not add a section under the RC that holds a set off boka plates, then you can have a LM when you run Vodka, and CM for Whiskey.
Good idea. But who sells a LM/CM? Spiff wants to buy a still.
And why not using a LM for Whiskey? If the valve is large enough, you can run it like a potstill with zero reflux, exactly like the CM.

Edit: My needle valve has pipe connections for 8mm OD and an internal diameter of only 4.3mm. But I can use 2.6kW without reflux. Probably more, I can not try out, I have max. 2.6kW.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by Danespirit »

Over the last few years the still manufacturing all around the globe seems to have a boom.
Besides established manufacturers with proven designs, there are also a lot of newcomers wanting to have a piece of the cake.
Unfortunately not all of them sells quality equipment.
Frequently we see new members joining in that have already bought a still, which doesn't meet the standards on closer examination.
I would always vote for building one's own still based on the knowledge/experience on this site...let alone the fact of a very low risk to be caught by the law compared to buying a still.
For various reasons this can't always be accomplished and an "of the shelf" solution is needed.
Second to defining what need the new distiller has, is to recognize a good design for the new still.
It doesn't make much sense to buy a typical E-bay still, that resembles a rice cooker with a condensing unit on top and expect miracles to be done (see picture).
That kind of equipment has no more value than the metal it's made of.
Some of them may even be dangerous when used, due to design flaws or use of unsafe materials.
The best option before a purchase would be to read this forum and open a new thread, asking the membership for their opinions.
Who would buy a used car without having a person with mechanical skills as a consultant..?
Another option to buying from a known manufacturer, would be to buy from a member in here.
There are several members building with exceptional craftsmanship...the review could be a build thread on this forum.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by skow69 »

Well spiff, did that clear it all up for you? Har! I think the point here is that you will get as many different opinions as you have stillers. And you can't do too much research and study.

For the record, I built an LM/VM combo with a borosilicate column and offset head. I'm not sure I buy the hype about LM head compression, but I run it that way anyhow.

Once in a while we see a store bought column with a coldfinger for the reflux condenser. Avoid that one.
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Re: Purchasable still reviews?

Post by emptyglass »

When electricity came along, there was plenty that said "I dont need that"

Plated columns came along, and they are technically a CM still. Theres plenty of guys that figure a home made 2" VM, CM, VM/CM, pot still, nixon stone, can do a better job. Thats ok for them as they havn't ventured out yet.

A 4" modular plated column cant be beat. Thats if you want results and dont mind paying for them. Even if you make one yourself you'll get the rewards. But be prepared for a little work.
Or you could purchase one.

What can they do? The real question is what cant they do?

3 plates for a funky rum, 4 plates for a smooth rum and a nice whiskey, 5 plates for a clean refined store bought whiskey, 6 plates and a packable section for a clean as clean vodka, add a gin basket for...you guessed it...gin.

Oh, but my VM has the ability to compress heads....guess what.
But my pot still can carry flavour...guess what.
But my oh so slow boka gives a nice clean vodka...guess what.

And for the nah-sayers, I suggest you attend a meet, contact someone with one, got to a distillery thats running one and take a look for yourself.

Like LWTCS, I have a vested interest in them, i will declare that, but that dosnt take from what a plated column can do. Maybe thats why theres so much talk about them.... :ewink:
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