Vevor Rectifying Column Still

[bobleflaad]

I have bought and used one of these https://m-eur.vevor.com/alcohol-distill ... gLfYvD_BwE

I feel like it is a good still, I have added some copper to the rectifying column.. I recently did 70L of BW and ended up with (by my cut skills) with 10L of 43% of the cleanest “vodka” that I have tasted..

I did the “stripping” runs with materials in the column and ended up with 12L of 64% then diluted that to 40 and ran the 17L again ended up with 5L after cuts of nearly 80 which I diluted down to 43 and it is cleaner than anything i have ever tasted..

So what I am doing wrong or why does everyone think that this still is shit ?

[bobleflaad]

Sorry it is not the 70L it is the 20L I have bought..

[Sporacle]

If you liked the product that comes out then whatever you are doing is right.

[howie]

personally, i 'think' most of the condemnation is aimed at the other cheaper Vevor still with the mini thumper etc?
i have read of others that are happy with your particular model, and even added a column.
it is what it is.

[Saltbush Bill]

Let's start just with the crappy marketing name....."rectifying column".
What could be further from the truth? ....its nothing more than a badly designed pot still......there is no column.
A column still has a column......those things have a riser shaped like an over sized grain of rice.
I guess unless you've ever run a better still then it's hard to judge good from bad. As for the super clean product, the same stuff put through a better still would be even cleaner.

[Salt Must Flow]

These stills are the bottom of the barrel. It hooks people for the least amount of money and has JUST the right amount of bull shit in their description to hook people that are interested in the hobby and provides the least amount of investment. I get it ... it's a good business model since it hooks enough people to make it profitable enough. Once they realize that they've been duped, it's too late to return it. Now people are trying to modify it to make it effective. Just ask if anyone has any questions.

[Yummyrum]

So what I am doing wrong or why does everyone think that this still is shit ?

You aren’t doing anything wrong , you are just using the tool you have at hand .

I started off with a still that produced about the same as yours is doing , thought it was absolutely fantastic .

Only when you get yourself a real tall packed reflux still and compare product will you realise why folk are bagging the Vevor

[JAMAWG]

I am one of those people that have and enjoy this still. It does have a lot of goofy unless bits and features. But it makes some great high abv runs. I personally have gotten output as high as 180 proof on a first run with it.

I upgraded to a digi boil and an alcoengine pot still. I have the alcoengine on an alembic dome for my whisky and brandy. Everything else i run through that. Had a welder cut the connection off the old lid and and add it to the new lid that fits the digiboil.

It's not a bad still. Its just that in this forum anything cheap and not copper is looked down upon. Regardless of how well it performs. I am all for the hard core members they keep a lot of the old ways alive and push stuff forward. But for those of us in the casual side, its a great still.

[Saltbush Bill]

I personally have gotten output as high as 180 proof on a first run with it.

180 proof = 90% ABV.......any still that cant do better than that should not be advertised as a "Rectifying Column"
Any of the better made commercially available columns stills, even those with short columns such as the T500 reflux and the Alcoengine Reflux still, can put out at least 92%.
What is an extra two percent you may ask ? ....its easy to not know what you don't know if you've never run anything better .
Try and get that extra two or 3 percent from one of those stills.....it will be a struggle to say the least......the next 3-4% to Azeotrope is even harder to obtain.......but it does make a difference.

But for those of us in the casual side, its a great still.

One thing Ive notice over my time in this hobby is that , the cheaper the stills get and the easier they are to obtain , the busier our Welcome Centre becomes.
As that has happened the less serious about the hobby a percentage of the newbies become.................I'm not sure that , that is a great thing for this hobby.
A lot of us here started out with stills less than perfect........but we were mostly happy to admit when they were POS and moved along.

[JAMAWG]

It is for sure not a rectifying column! Lol
Saltbush I hate to break it to you. But there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. With the explosion of "micro" distillers. Stills on Amazon. Then tv shows like Moonshiners and its far more entertaining little brother Master Distiller. Youtubers like whisky tribe,, bearded,, and still it. Still it is what lead me here. The flood will just keep coming.
I have been part of web communities that were small and then blew up. It can be kind of a bummer and annoying to the long term members. But on the bright side all of us newbies will be what pushes the needle towards legalization. Then the rest of the world can join the enlightened kiwis.

[Sporacle]

Youtubers like whisky tribe,, bearded,, and still it. Still it is what lead me here. The flood will just keep coming.

That's a very interesting point, if I'm not mistaken Jesse actually started from this site.
So there must be some good advice here

[JAMAWG]

Indeed he did. While digging through old posts I came across the thread where he brought up the idea. No idea where to find it. But if you haven't gotten deep enough into older posts to come across it. Then keep reading! So much good info buried down there. Even the repeat topics. Often another good nugget of info. Not sure how many rum and sugar wash posts I have read at this point. But always seem to learn something new.