choosing a flute

[Shovelhead89]

Looking to get a 4" flute very soon. I'm open to any suggestions, price is a consideration. I'll be using it for whiskey and brandy.

I was thinking either mile hi, still dragon or brewhaus. I like the latter two because they use bubble caps but are not available in full copper construction. Brewhaus seems to be the most cost effective but can't seem to find alot of info on them. Looking to buy, not build.

Any advice or suggestions are very much appreciated.

Ref:
http://www.milehidistilling.com/copper- ... 3-windows/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.brewhaus.com/Flute-Distillat ... tions.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://stilldragon.com/index.php/configurations.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[woodshed]

I would go stilldragon.

[LWTCS]

SD does have full copper tees.

[Yummyrum]

Have you considered Empyglasses ones . Custom copper still components

IIRC US still sales have to have your name and address recorded . May be worth checking out an import

And as Empty glass says " Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten "

[Shovelhead89]

Found a local supplier that has, what looks to me as the same design as still dragon but at about 40% off their price once tax, duty, shipping and exchange rate are considered. He said his manufacturer is from China and claims his stuff is as good or better then any Mile Hi or Still dragon stuff. He can also get copper or SS tee's. His website has tons of pictures and if someone more knowledgeable or familiar wouldn't mind taking a look and giving me your opinion that would be greatly appreciated.

http://brokenoardistillingequipment.com/gallery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Badmotivator]

It's weird when mods delete your posts with no warning or message. I'd be interested to know why mine got zapped, if anyone knows.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found the mod's message. I get it. I mentioned a banned seller.

[goose eye]

Like I said before. Dam them thangs is pricey.

Close to 6 grand. Dam. 1st house an 150 acres didn't
cost that much. Course that was then an this is now.

They all say reflux. That mean it strippin flaver ?
Ole boys just can't rap there head around how it work
with a big doublin keg.

So I'm tole

[moosemilk]

Can't speak for a flute as i'm going to be building mine, but I have bought parts from SD and had excellent service, all parts shipped fast and packed well. I'll most likely turn to SD for some parts for my flute build as well that i can't fabricate.

[sungazer]

Please if you don't mind give the reasons that you want to choose a 4inch flute. As you and other have said they are very expensive. Personaly I dont get them coming from a hobby point of view.

[Badmotivator]

Please if you don't mind give the reasons that you want to choose a 4inch flute.

I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but what drove me toward 4" is the rule of thumb that says "height->purity, diameter->speed"

[Oldvine Zin]

Please if you don't mind give the reasons that you want to choose a 4inch flute.

I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but what drove me toward 4" is the rule of thumb that says "height->purity, diameter->speed"

+1

[LWTCS]

Like I said before. Dam them thangs is pricey.

Close to 6 grand. Dam. 1st house an 150 acres didn't
cost that much. Course that was then an this is now.

They all say reflux. That mean it strippin flaver ?
Ole boys just can't rap there head around how it work
with a big doublin keg.


So I'm tole

They won't strip all the flavor Goose but it ain't like it would be if it came from a doubler.

You could run it on a doubler if it where elevated enough to manage a drain back to the primary kettle. The reflux in would fill the doubler up pretty quick so you would at least need a window to see where the liquid level rises.

With out the drainback though I reckon you'd end up leaving some likker behind.

Not 6k at all. What diameter?

[Yummyrum]

Not wanting to derail this thread but Last night I stuck 4 plates on a thumper and I had 37 liters of 10.5% wash and feints in 50 liter keg , 5 liters of dunder in the 20 liter Thumper . 4 liters came out the Flute , 23.5 liters stayed in the keg and 14.5 liters stayed in the thumper ...It can be done with out over flowing if the Thumper is big enough ( and mine bearly was ) but after cuts it was pretty clean ...was nowhere near as much flavour as the flute on a keg..The heads was really compressed heads the tails was really compressed tails ..so nasty you couldn't add them

[LWTCS]

Not wanting to derail this thread but Last night I stuck 4 plates on a thumper and I had 37 liters of 10.5% wash and feints in 50 liter keg , 5 liters of dunder in the 20 liter Thumper . 4 liters came out the Flute , 23.5 liters stayed in the keg and 14.5 liters stayed in the thumper ...It can be done with out over flowing if the Thumper is big enough ( and mine bearly was ) but after cuts it was pretty clean ...was nowhere near as much flavour as the flute on a keg..The heads was really compressed heads the tails was really compressed tails ..so nasty you couldn't add them

inclined vapour tube.jpg

Nice.
Did you start with an empty thumper to give yourself as much head room as possible?

Yeah the forced reflux does such a good job of squeezing that heads-n-tails are hardly worth a shit.

[still_stirrin]

... 5 liters of dunder in the 20 liter Thumper...and 14.5 liters stayed in the thumper...

Did you start with an empty thumper to give yourself as much head room as possible?..

The way I read it, the thumper was 25% filled before the run. And the run added another (nearly) 10 liters (50% of capacity). Correct?
ss

[LWTCS]

... 5 liters of dunder in the 20 liter Thumper...and 14.5 liters stayed in the thumper...

Did you start with an empty thumper to give yourself as much head room as possible?..

The way I read it, the thumper was 25% filled before the run. And the run added another (nearly) 10 liters (50% of capacity). Correct?


ss

Ahh,
In any case, I would self fill the thumper by using the dephlegmator. Optimal purity and not wasting energy heating a charge that will ultimately gobble up needed space.

Unless the charge is intended to add more flavor/complexity to the product.

[Shovelhead89]

Please if you don't mind give the reasons that you want to choose a 4inch flute. As you and other have said they are very expensive. Personaly I dont get them coming from a hobby point of view.

Its the most common size for a hobby flute and this will be the still that I learn on before purchasing a larger column when I open up a micro distillery.

[bearriver]

I can only can speak to my appeals, but I am throwing down my tax return for a Still Dragon Dash. I respect the product and the people behind it. The dash series is a good value as a prospective buyer, plus they have a forum full of support and brilliant minds. They also have a solid return policy.

All purchases are decided ultimately by our emotions. It's all about how you feel... If you don't "feel right" about it then more research is needed. You never know what piece of the puzzle you might stumble across.

[LWTCS]

Here any time.

Larry
954-298-9505

[FullySilenced]

@shovelhead You showed Big Bert's stuff in your link... i pretty sure that the copper modular stuff shown with the 2" sight glasses were all Emptyglass's modular components ...

happy stillin,

FS

[rgreen2002]

LWTCS,
Is SD still required to report still buyers here in the US. I feel like I recently was reading some things are becoming less rigorous for reporting but I can't recall. Maybe that was a dream I had... probably a nice dream though .

[cranky]

Like I said before. Dam them thangs is pricey.

They don't have to be pricey Goose but if you pay someone else to do the work just like everything else the price goes up. I have lost track of actual costs of mine but I figure it is probably around $200 in the flute, I have maybe $500 in everything and granted I think that's a lot of money myself but it is sure a lot less than buying one. It was also a lot of work and a lot of time spent to make it.

[LWTCS]

LWTCS,
Is SD still required to report still buyers here in the US. I feel like I recently was reading some things are becoming less rigorous for reporting but I can't recall. Maybe that was a dream I had... probably a nice dream though .

All known venders received a letter from the TTB stating that they would no longer be collecting customer information. But they do reserve the right to reimplement data collection.

After talking with another well known vender, we feel that the TTB is simply under staffed and just does not have the resources to gallavant around the country for 4 jars of moonshine when fellers are standing in line and literally waiting to give them real legal tender now.

They were quite literally unprepared to investigate the hobby sector and also unprepared to keep up with the nessesary tracking and reporting of the legal side that has been ramping up these past few years.

I also believe that the HDA'S work is having an effect to some degree.

As per our instructions from our TTB contact person, individual parts were never on the included list of requisite reporting. Only full systems. The email we received from the TTB with those instructions is saved and we took the instructions quite literally.


About 3 weeks after we submitted the requested report, we called for follow up to see if they received it since they did not send any confirmation. Naturally we felt confirmation should be part of their responsibility! After all they were the ones sending me the threatening letters to comply.
Welp,,,,,,they lost the report....No trace.....So they made me send another......Do you see where this is going?

Within weeks we received the next letter that explained that they would no longer require any reporting.

[ga flatwoods]

Shovelhead perhaps a flute is NOT what you really want! Especially if you are looking to train on equipment to later be used in a startup microdistillery. Before you purchase, I recommend you look at iStill ( http://www.istill.eu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow). The base model has been established for the home distiller and the non-computerized version can be sent diretly to you for under $2k to Iinclude the catalyst that not only adds a nice touch of glass but adds copper to the vapor path to help remove sulfides. I own one of the units myself. Further, if you do end up going the microdistillery route, the product line and supoort go with you-as large as you want to be or as small. It can be as much hands on or hands off as you like. That is the beauty of the system. Plus these are made individually in Europe not China. Look up the iStill blog on FB.
edit: after thought. It is worthy of mention that the same still can make flavor rich, or neutral product! So whiskey, rum , vodka, gin, or neutral all in one easy to use system.
Ga Flatwoods

[Shovelhead89]

Shovelhead perhaps a flute is NOT what you really want! Especially if you are looking to train on equipment to later be used in a startup microdistillery. Before you purchase, I recommend you look at iStill ( http://www.istill.eu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow). The base model has been established for the home distiller and the non-computerized version can be sent diretly to you for under $2k to Iinclude the catalyst that not only adds a nice touch of glass but adds copper to the vapor path to help remove sulfides. I own one of the units myself. Further, if you do end up going the microdistillery route, the product line and supoort go with you-as large as you want to be or as small. It can be as much hands on or hands off as you like. That is the beauty of the system. Plus these are made individually in Europe not China. Look up the iStill blog on FB.
edit: after thought. It is worthy of mention that the same still can make flavor rich, or neutral product! So whiskey, rum , vodka, gin, or neutral all in one easy to use system.
Ga Flatwoods

I'm quite familiar with istill. Beautiful products. I've talked a bit with Odin and there's actually a number on them running locally. For now I don't have the option of running an electric unit and I'm not sure if you can direct fire an Istill. 50L is also smaller then I want for now. But for my next still I will definitely be considering them when I go legal.

[heartcut]

Copper bubble caps for me, though there's lots of ways to get there. SD's products are high quality and the one problem I had was handled quickly.

[rgreen2002]

LWTCS,
Is SD still required to report still buyers here in the US. I feel like I recently was reading some things are becoming less rigorous for reporting but I can't recall. Maybe that was a dream I had... probably a nice dream though .

All known venders received a letter from the TTB stating that they would no longer be collecting customer information. But they do reserve the right to reimplement data collection.

After talking with another well known vender, we feel that the TTB is simply under staffed and just does not have the resources to gallavant around the country for 4 jars of moonshine when fellers are standing in line and literally waiting to give them real legal tender now.

They were quite literally unprepared to investigate the hobby sector and also unprepared to keep up with the nessesary tracking and reporting of the legal side that has been ramping up these past few years.

I also believe that the HDA'S work is having an effect to some degree.

As per our instructions from our TTB contact person, individual parts were never on the included list of requisite reporting. Only full systems. The email we received from the TTB with those instructions is saved and we took the instructions quite literally.



About 3 weeks after we submitted the requested report, we called for follow up to see if they received it since they did not send any confirmation. Naturally we felt confirmation should be part of their responsibility! After all they were the ones sending me the threatening letters to comply.
Welp,,,,,,they lost the report....No trace.....So they made me send another......Do you see where this is going?

Within weeks we received the next letter that explained that they would no longer require any reporting.

...

This is like a dream come true.... I i don't really have the workspace and facilities to build a flute... I just guess I need to decide if I WANT and or NEED (sometimes these are strangely synonymous) a flute. My boka is doing great for now but that bonus check around the corner might be headed somewhere.

I certainly hope the work the HDA is doing pans out for us REAL soon and I hope everyone here is a supporter in some way.

Thanks LWTCS for this great news.

[Antler24]

Please if you don't mind give the reasons that you want to choose a 4inch flute. As you and other have said they are very expensive. Personaly I dont get them coming from a hobby point of view.

Have you done any research on flutes?
1. A flute that's modular is VERY versatile and can pretty much do it all. 2-3 plates for a full flavoured rum/whiskey or 6 plates for a clean nuetral. Can be run as a traditional pot still as well by turning off reflux water. Can add or remove plates/gin baskets etc as time/money allows.

2. The ability to go from a 10% wash to azeo in a single run. While azeo is a high target a lot want to get there. At any case you'll get cask strength from a single run, which I can't do on my pot still.

3. Heads/tails compression. The plated columns are great at compressing the heads and tails which mean you get to keep more product.

4. The biggest benefit to me would be speed. A 4" flute can do all of the above and do it at pot still speeds. A 12g 10% wash to 90%+, start to finish, cleaned up and put away in 4 hours.

[sungazer]

I have done my research on Flutes and that I guess is why I am asking the question as personally I don't really find the attraction. Ok you say a versatile still, and I will give you that they look very fancy and scientific with all the sight glasses ect. I also understand the first motivations to build one being a scaled down version of a commercial built still. However for me I would rather have several stills each for designed for different jobs. I also think that for the cost of the build of some of these stills that you could easily build 5 different stills. So while I don't begrudge anyone building what they want I am just interested in the why. From that I may learn something more.

[Antler24]

I have done my research on Flutes and that I guess is why I am asking the question as personally I don't really find the attraction. Ok you say a versatile still, and I will give you that they look very fancy and scientific with all the sight glasses ect. I also understand the first motivations to build one being a scaled down version of a commercial built still. However for me I would rather have several stills each for designed for different jobs. I also think that for the cost of the build of some of these stills that you could easily build 5 different stills. So while I don't begrudge anyone building what they want I am just interested in the why. From that I may learn something more.

That's fair enough I see where your coming from. I love my 2" pot still and would probably just settle for a 3" Boka for neutrals but run time is The biggest selling point for me. It would likely take me longer to build than save the money to buy one lol

I somehow PM'd you this identical message, please disregarde lol