Building a stovetop; pot or reflux?

[Erichimedes]

Hello everyone, I've been lurking here for quite a while and I can't even tell you how much I've learned. It's quite a knowledgeable group here

A bit of background: I rushed into this hobby and didn't do my research before building my first still. I'm not proud of it, but it is what it is. I build the offset head design from the stillmaker-pdf. Quite expensive, but it works quite well so I'm sticking with it for now. My boiler is a 15.5G keg, and all in all the system works great. I welded a basic propane burner for it and she stands tall and proud in my garage, knocking down vapor!

My main goal in distilling is whiskey. Not the easiest, but it's what I enjoy the most and with a background in homebrewing, I'm willing to put in the extra work. I also want to make rum, and certainly some vodka to flavor in the future as well. I've enjoyed using the reflux still for the few batches I've put through it. I recycled some old homemade wine through it as well as a sweetfeed whiskey recipe. Good results so far, my engineering seems to be holding up (so far . I've got a 15g rum wash on the way, and am going to try a couple different ways of distilling it to see what the differences are. Remove packing for one and run it 100% pot still mode, and reflux the other and see how the flavor changes.

Now, finally, for my question! I run my still in the garage, and being quite high in the mountains and of course it being winter, it can be hard to hang out out there for hours in the 10 degree weather. I also have to spend quite a bit of time cleaning and assembling the whole thing every time I do a run. I want to run more, smaller(6 gallon-ish) batches so that I can get a hang of the whole distilling thing without having to invest in 50$ worth of ingredients per batch. It's also much easier for me to brew smaller batches when doing grain. So based on these things, I'd like to build a small stovetop still that I can run in my kitchen. I figure this will be great to use after stripping runs.

Sorry to ramble...

The bottom line:
It sounds like many of the whiskey makers here are using basic pot stills. I personally like the option of reflux, and I have interest in refluxing some of the whiskey I make, as well as experimenting with 3-4 times pot stilled whiskey(see? I want to try it all!). I'm trying to decide between a basic liebig condenser pot still and a 1.5" Bokakob mini-column. I did the math at our hardware store, and I think it will actually be cheaper to build the mini-column. My plan is to use a 12 quart stainless stock pot, because our grocery has them on sale for 12$.
My questions are:
-Is there a big enough disadvantage to using a reflux when making flavored beverages that I should build a pot? or should I just go with the mini-column and experiment with packing, no packing, reflux and all that jazz?
-Am I right in thinking that I can run more, smaller batches (after the stripping run) through a stovetop and experiment easier? Or should I just grit my teeth, put on an extra jacket and run my main still out in the garage more?

Thanks for everything guys! This site has been an incredible resource for me, and I hope to become a part of the community here. If anyone thinks I should post this on another forum, let me know.

-Erichimedes.

[Ayay]

Your current boiler is perfect size. It will take the wash from 2x20 or 25L beer fermentors and can be stilled slow an carefull in a long day. Shutting down and re-starting next day only needs a little extra fuel to recover the heat lost while sleeping.

I'm moving from a 18G boiler to a 13G boiler so as to get a taller 48" column under the ceiling. The main expense is time and heat energy, not the ingredients.

[rtalbigr]

I have 2 stove top pot stills because I have to distill on my stove (no garage, live in town, nosy neighbors, etc). From charging to finish it take 3-4 hours with my 5 gal. In my opinion, if you want to do whisky or rum a good pot still is the only way to go. I just do whisky but may do rum at some time, just to try it, but I can't find a good source for molasses where I live.

My pot stills are easy to use, easy to put together and break down and clean. After a run I can break down and clean in about 15 minutes. With what I have I can run from 3/4 gal up to 6 gal depending on what I'm working with. With the limited space I have it's ideal. My biggest problem is having enough wash to distill.

Big R

[rad14701]

The right tool for the job of making whiskey is a pot still... Considering how you already have a reflux still for neutral spirits it only makes sense to build a simple pot still, whether stove top or attached to your keg... A pot still runs almost 3x faster than running a reflux column...

Also, your cleanup times shouldn't be all that bad as you really only need to give everything a quick rinse as it has already been sterilized during the distillation process... Don't go getting anal about cleaning your still... it's your fermentation equipment that requires the extra attention...

[Erichimedes]

The main expense is time and heat energy, not the ingredients.

I suppose I'm lucky enough that I have the free time. I heat with propane, which is lasting me really well so far, I haven't even put a dent in my supply. It's the grain that's expensive for me. Like I said, with a brewing background I'm leaning towards malted barley from the homebrew shop, and it ain't cheap.

Also, your cleanup times shouldn't be all that bad as you really only need to give everything a quick rinse as it has already been sterilized during the distillation process... Don't go getting anal about cleaning your still... it's your fermentation equipment that requires the extra attention...

That's really all I have done is rinse it all. However with the ambient temps I'm working in, I have to reheat the rinse water every time, and the particular keg-to-still setup I'm using takes a little while to assemble and disassemble. I guess I'm just complainin.

The main thing I'm hoping to gain with a stovetop is the convenience of doing lots of small batches easily. For instance, after I do my first stripping run of the 15 gal. of rum wash I've got on the way, I'd like to try distilling the low wines 3 different ways. One simply pot stilled again, one pot stilled with packing, and another refluxed with packing. I like the idea of doing lots of small experimental batches. The easiest way I see to do this is with a stovetop.

[myles]

Working indoors, 5 or 6 gallon capacity, and you want whisky.

IMO the BEST tool for the job is an electric double boiler to distil on the grain.

[Thorn_veritas]

Ooooo how I envy you myles I wish I could go double boiler on the grain.

lucky bugger

[Ayay]

I have to agree with myles and Thorn_veritas...There's an awful lot of alc in the grain or fruit-mush that can be got by stillin on the grain/mush; plus a whole lot of extra flavour. Pot stillin of course and it's faster too.

Refluxin needs cleared wash/low wines/feints, plenty of time, lots of energy, and it delivers high purity first time.

Erichimedes, you are going to try it all I can see it! Go pot, reflux, then double boiler pot...all on the stovetop except for one thing...the heat source is best if it is very constant and finely controlled. Great if your stove is gas fired. If it's electric then a double boiler will smooth out the heat fluctuations and may be the ideal answer for the grains you like to do