Who out there have multiple stills?

[fyfo]

Hey all, I can see myself having more than one still in the future (I currently have a 25litre pot still) but was curious as to who had multiple stills and what you use them for (size/type etc)?? Cheers Fyfo.

[woodshed]

I run a dedicated four plate and a modular which combined with my four plate gives me 8 plate to pot still. I have yet to run an 8 plate setup but the capability is there. I run the four plate for my Smoke Shine and the modular for my Eagle Mtn.& Bentfinger Bourbon.
Both are charged with a mash of 24 gallons. Took my 50 gallon boilers and turned them into storage. Much easier and a shorter day for me.

[skow69]

Wow. Following that post is like taking the stage after the Stones finished, but I suppose somebody has to break the ice.

I've got a Corney keg vacuum potstill that I use for stripping (with thumper) and for absinthe and Chartreuse (without). And a 1 1/2 X 50 VM/LM combo for whiskey spirit runs (ala Ian Smiley) and neutral. I gotta admit those flutes capture my attention more all the time.

[moosemilk]

I've got a 12 gallon pot still that I've been running for a year now. Addition of a 7.5 gallon thumper using a 1/4 barrel stainless keg will be up and running soon. Also (finally) acquired a ss 1/2 barrel keg and am in the process of building a CCVM. The colum I am making is going to be done modular so I can more easily change to a boka head, or others if I decide without having to change the entire column. Pot still is propane heated. Keg will be electric.

Future plans are to build a flute, but that won't be for at least another year.

[googe]

I've only got one now, boiler, 3 plate section and packed section. I've got enough in the scrap bin for another 3 plate, packed cm, pot still, packed lm, or a Frankenstein with modular sections. I've build more stills than I can remember . Don't get started on accessories and play ideas!!!!. Its never ending !!!. End note, once you go plates, you won't go back, hence all the stuff left in the scrap bin lol.

[Yummyrum]

Guilty......Its a problem isn't it googe

Started off with the Still spirits with 5 liter boiler ( I pissed off the plastic outlet hose .......before the abuse starts )
Then upgraded to 25 liter boiler

Then built this LM/VM combo

Built my first Pot still so I could strip from with gas burner under it

Improved pot head

Started to build this but got sidetracked with general life

Built a bigger Pot head and stuck it on a keg

[Yummyrum]

Then there's the Mods
Trying a SS Reflux head on a packed column

Trying to run a SS CM head as a LM head

Making a CM head

[jedneck]

I got one still but it can be co figured 8 differant ways.

[Danespirit]

I have one 25 L milkcan as a boiler.
My gear is all modular build with ferrules and threaded pipes, so everything is interchangable.
I have a potstill, a VM column, a LM head ..and when the parts arrive here soon a proportional splitterhead.
All very compact (2") and takes 5 minutes to set up the rig.
Edit: Almost forgot, my CCVM also in 2"

[Bushman]

I have a 2" VM that I haven't run for 2 years and currently running a 4" CM.

[Nutmegmooner]

I have 1 electric keg boiler and a 3" pot still with a Leibig condenser and a 3"x48" Boka that I've only run once. I still have the first one I built a decade or so ago, the cooling lines go straight thru the column. I forget what it's called but I haven't used it since I upgraded to a keg. Hmmmm, maybe I should pull it out again since my understanding is lightyears ahead of where I was then....

[Kegg_jam]

5 gallon stock pot boiler hopefully soon to be up sized to a keg. Started out with 1.5" because that's what I had. Modular with lots of options. So it can be a pot still, CM, concentric LM or a combo CM/LM, or a CCVM. Almost finished the change up to 2" for the CCVM. Also a stainless bubble ball that can be thrown into the mix.

[still_stirrin]

I have an electric 1/2 barrel boiler with concentric reflux head for a combination LM/VM takeoff. I also have a pot head for this boiler.

And I just built a hotplate heated 20 quart pot boiler with a pot still head for running gins and macerations, when the big still is just too big.

Gotta' have the right tools to do the job right.
ss

[S-Cackalacky]

Just have my little 5 gallon stock pot still and thumper at the moment. I hope to do a keg build, but it will be a long time coming. I have some of the materials together, but most of the higher ticket items are on hold for now. The goal is to build a 3" CCVM using mostly stainless pipes and sanitary fittings. I have a 1/2 keg, some CSST, and 10 gauge cable for an upgraded controller. The keg has some serious damage to the bottom skirt. I'll need to remove it and plan to flip the keg and use the top flange fitting as a drain port on the bottom. I keep procrastinating on fixing up the keg - maybe one of these first days.

I keep sabotaging the new build by spending my money on upgrades to the 5 gallon setup and other hobby related items. Anyway, goals are nice to have.

[Bobdoe]

One 5 gallon for now. But......one day I just know I'll be a two-still kinda guy!

Bobdoe

[ben stiller]

One 5 gallon boiler with electric element and two inverted bowls. One bowl has a one inch column for a pot still. The second has a
1.5 inch triclamp fitting for my modular concentric column. Keg build in the future with plated column. It never ends. I enjoy the builds.

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

I hope to one day have two boilers, multiple columns. A 2" pot still for doing stripping runs while doing a spirit run on the other still ( 1-6 plates depending on what I'm making.) that will probably be a few years away though. Haha

[crazy]

Hmmm....Let me say first this hobby is addictive ....lol I have 2 electric keg boilers , a 15.5 gallon thumper & 3 still heads. My first 2" pot still head , A 3" ccVM hybrid that I can run as a VM or cap the top & run as a pot still . My latest creation is a 4" bubbler , as soon as I make a packed section for the bubbler I will have no use for the other stills as it will be able to create all the spirits I like !

[mason jar]

I have three complete stills. All pot stills which I run on natural gas on my kitchen stove.

Started out with a cheap 5 gallon Walmart stock pot a few years ago. The condenser is a 3/4" over 1/2" leibig. Worked great, but I wanted a faster takeoff rate and some more capacity so I built a 1" over 3/4" leibig
and bought a 10 gallon stock pot. I used that one for about a year but, of course, I had to go bigger
Plus I was tired of all the water-cooling mess.

My current set up is a giant 15 gallon stock pot I picked up at the local homebrew store. The condenser
is air-powered and was built from a 5 foot section of steam heating element. Here it is:

My 15 gallon pot and air-cooled condenser

[skow69]

Way cool. I think air cooling may have gotten somewhat of a bad rap in the past. Just for clarity let me ask:
1 So the total power input is one household burner of natural gas, right?
2 Does the heat exchanger have any trouble handling that, or does it seem to have plenty of capacity for it?
3 Is that a single tube, manifold, or loops?
4 How many fans, and how are they arranged?

Sorry, OP, I promise to not hijack you any farther than this.

[ben stiller]

Check out the link at the bottom of Mason Jar's last post for all of the answers to your questions.

[skow69]

Thanks. I better get some new glasses.

[ga flatwoods]

I use one ten gallon gasoline cans connected with the metal flex hose a and a fitting to the same type hose on a five gallon can used for a thumper. Pop rivited and soldered a 1/2" outlet to a Liebig. Usually get 75% off any run no matter the SG or recipe. Amazing and I thought of it all by myself. Only one I own!

Edit: this is a joke newbies! Do not try at home! I own no stills.

[mason jar]

Way cool. I think air cooling may have gotten somewhat of a bad rap in the past. Just for clarity let me ask:
1 So the total power input is one household burner of natural gas, right?
2 Does the heat exchanger have any trouble handling that, or does it seem to have plenty of capacity for it?
3 Is that a single tube, manifold, or loops?
4 How many fans, and how are they arranged?
Sorry, OP, I promise to not hijack you any farther than this.

skow69, I posted replies to your questions in my thread so as not to hijack this one any further

[ben stiller]

GA I hope you used galvanized gas cans and JB Weld on those pop rivet joints. Was it difficult to clean those used gas cans?
I also own no stills LOL

[fyfo]

Some great responses so far. Yummyrum thanks for taking the time to throw up some fantastic photos! You have been busy

[fyfo]

It sounds like building stills could be the one thing in this world more addictive than actually distilling!!

[bellybuster]

I've been a bit of a closet builder. I now have a 1.5" pot still. a 2" Nixon Stone, a 2" CM and am presently working on a thump keg to go on my pot still. The Nixon stone is destined to be something different soon. All on an electric keg boiler.

[ga flatwoods]

GA I hope you used galvanized gas cans and JB Weld on those pop rivet joints. Was it difficult to clean those used gas cans?
I also own no stills LOL

Not difficult at all ben. Preiously they had 10% ethanol gasoline so only 90% was tainted by petroleum. I threw a pint of fores in each and burnt out any remaining residues! I aint no stupid redneck- just a redneck!
Ga Flatwoods

[shadylane]

A 16 gallon pot in the process of being made from a SS sand filter
Three 15 Gallon keg pots, one has a removable top with a water seal
One 10 gallon korny keg pot on wheels
Two 5 gallon korny pots
One pot made from a double SS sink that has been cut in half and welded together.
A pint sized pintoshine copper potstill.
30 to 40 pounds of assorted still heads and condensers
+ the failed experimental stills in my scrap pile
Edited: Not counting the stills I've made and given or thrown away.