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Hi. I am a new distiller and have a question about running my 8 gallon Mile Hi still with a 3” column as a pot still. I’ve stripped roughly 10 gallons of fortified apple cider in two runs. I ran the stripping runs hot and fast collecting to about 20% ABV/204 degrees F and yielding a little over 2 gallons of heads/hearts/tails. Now, as I get ready to make my first low and slow spirit run, I am wondering how the output of a 3” column should differ visually from a 2”?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

TIA,

-hopper

Will you be doing the spirit run in pot still mode or reflux mode? Do you mean the lpm output or "visually" (how it actually looks)?

If you're talking about a pot still, the diameter of column won't make any noticeable difference in output rate.

Thank you Salt! I will be running in pot still mode hoping for drinkable apple brandy-ish liquor. I am asking visually how the output should look. I gather from your post that it should be something like drip-drip-spurt, no thicker than a pencil lead, etc.

Yeah, a lot of people describe it a bit differently like a broken stream, a trickle, etc...

Got it. Thanks!

If you are using the same size condensor with the 3 inch as you are with the 2 inch then the output from the condensor should look exactly the same as the two inch run (if they were done on the same boiler and you were happy with the product)
A bigger riser on the same size boiler doesn't necessarily mean that you can run faster during a spirit run and retain the same quality.
The speed of the run is a constant, the variable is finished volume based on boiler size.