Vevor Stills

[Coilface]

Hey. So I am thinking of the Vevor football still. Does anyone have the football still aswell as the other one ? Also I found out the 70 litre one which I was about to buy, has a 2.5 inch fitting, Not 2 inch. I suppose that dosent matter as one can just flip it sideways, Does anyone know if the smaller sizes go down to 2 inch fittings ?? I want the taller column, However I also want versatility. to be able to frankenstien. say I wanted a bigger boiler one day, Say I wanted to add an offset collumn where the condensor goes, add a boka column offside or something, not that its nesesary. I just like to play with ideas and experiment. see how much proof i can get and such. I use to still about 20 years ago so Im not a complete noob.

[Saltbush Bill]

Your getting what you pay for, cheap Chinese rubbish imo.

[Ridgeback816]

I start with a vevor football still. I ran it added column. Ran it added a sight glass. Ran it added a dephlag. Ran it added copper mesh packing. Probably Ran it 15 to 20 times I learned what to do and what not to. Then I bought a different still. I still use the still head an condenser for stripping (i use a liebig for spirit runs) still use the pot too for collection of low wines and blending and proofing. I know some people just hate them but here's my 2 cents.

What was your first car mine was a peice of shit and I learned how to drive then I bought a nice car but still have my peice of shit for snowy days.

Buy it to learn plan on upgrading

[Saltbush Bill]

Every Vevor still I've ever seen has needed modification in one way or another, most need more than one thing changed.
Why even consider supporting a manufacturer or brand name who obviously builds an inferiour product and preys on customers who know no better.
Buy once and buy something that works properly from the beginning, or for the same money and amount of time build your own pot still that will last for ever and work properly from the beginning.

[Copperhead road]

Must say, got to agree with salt bush bill.

[Coilface]

Ya but affordability lol. Does it make a less quality alcohal or something ? Bad job distilling out a yeasty taste or anything like that ? or its just cheaply made, needs teflon tape and such ? atm i thinjk it will be an improvement to what I have. a 2 gallon pressure cooker still with quarter inch collums and a stainless braided coil. would sure be nice to be able to do 5 or 10 gallons in one shot, rather then 5 or 6 or 7 at about 5 hours at a time lol. teflon tape isnt such a big deal for me, and I ont neeeed over 90 percent, Its just cool to be able to do. arethey any recomended affordable stills yall can point me toward ? theres a turbo 500 near me on marketplace, but its 500 and i cant afford that. also I dont like how u cant control the heat source. if yall can link me a still for say under 400 range ? Ill see how they are, what they r, what shipping is and such ? Vevor is apealing to me because i can work with that budget. And I think the football one looks cool too lol. however I dont want a problem still. yo ridgeback do u use it as a reflux aswell as a pot still ? is the football still worth the extra money vs the one with the worm ? what can it yeild proofwise ? which model do u have ? ( how many gallons ) and im open to suggested things too, but like i said affordability is my problem. I agree the buy once thing. Id also like to get my ball rolling though if u know what i mean
Also I was asking if the ones smaller then 70 gallons are 2 inch fitting because I was planning at some point to potentially put a different, taller column on it. that is if it was found nesesary. can u taste steel in it or anyth
ing ?

[howie]

on a budget, have a look at some of the 2" stuff on aliexpress.
like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... ry_from%3A
add another 600mm column to this, packing and insulation and it will get 96% with practice.
try and find a vender with an better (more tubes) deflag like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... ry_from%3A
it does not include boiler obv, cheapest option is build a keg boiler or buy a digiboil.

[SW_Shiner]

A column like that, plus something like a T500 boiler and a $20-$50 plug and play power controller should come in roughly the same price, if not cheaper than vevor stills. And produce a much better spirit, as well as having the option of running both in reflux and as a pot still without the need to buy anything extra. There are plenty of people that have similar gear as their final setup.

[Coilface]

Oh ya. Shotgun condensor too !

[Fletching]

You also can’t go wrong with a keg.

If you were looking at the Vevor, you likely already planned on cooking over a flame. If that’s the case, you can use the keg right off the bat after removing the spear and doing cleaning/sac runs. If you wanted to go electric later, you could.

If I had a buddy with $400 in his hand, didn’t want to build anything, and wanted a pot still within the next couple of weeks, this is what I would direct him to:

•15.5 Gallon Keg: (Usually can find used ones around $50 or brand new on Amazon for $135)
•2” Shotgun Condenser: There are plenty online. Still dragon has a 7-tube 20” long one that will knock down anything you will ever need on a hobby scale. ($200 on Stilldragon, but cheaper options out there)
•2” Tri-clamp Spool Piece: A 24” long one will work until you want to extend it for a reflux column. Amazon or Aliexpress have well-priced spools (About $35)
•2” Tri-clamp Tee: By buying a Tee spool and putting it on top of your column, you can later add a reflux condenser to the top of your column, or have extra options for other accessories (About $15 on Amazon or Aliexpress)
•2” Tri-clamp 90: This would connect your Tee from your column to your condenser (About $13 on Amazon or Aliexpress)
•A 5 pack of gaskets and tri-clamps: These will connect all of your pieces. Be sure to either wrap the existing gaskets in a good amount of Teflon, or order PTFE gaskets and toss the silicone ones out. (About $30 on Amazon)
•2” Tri-clamp Caps: This would cap the open end of your Tee. (A 2-pack is around $10 on Amazon or Aliexpress)

I know this is probably closer to $450, but this will get you close. With this setup, the opportunities would be endless and you won’t outgrow any of the parts.

This is just my opinion and hope it is helpful.

-Fletching

[Coilface]

when u say better spirit do you mean higher proof ? ahh thanks Fletching

[MooseMan]

I'd advise you slow down a little, read up a little on still builds here, and use some of the suggestions to make a plan.

Fletchings advice is solid, although I'd save £200 and teach yourself how to make a copper Liebig, it's easy, and gets plenty of copper in the vapour path.
That saving can pay for electric elements in the keg, then you have a still that could do you perfectly well for life.

[Yummyrum]

I think I agree with the last two posts . . I like the Idea of a keg on gas or a fire , but I don’t like the idea of a Shotgun condenser exiting distillate from above it . …… never have since I had to huff and puff to put the flames out .

That is why I like Mooses suggestion of build your own Liebig condenser . It keeps the flames well away from the tasty end .

I would also think you can build a copper Liebig for way cheaper than you can buy a SS shotty , even if you had to buy a gas torch to do it .

[Copperhead road]

You can do a shotgun with very long tube on the end yummy like I did with my potstill.
that’s about 3 meters from still maybe more.
Never had an issue. Just my opinion

[Steve Broady]

Ya but affordability lol. Does it make a less quality alcohal or something ? Bad job distilling out a yeasty taste or anything like that ?

As far as the affordability argument, how much do you drink? Realistically, I doubt I’ve saved any money over buying the same amount of booze, once I add in the cost of the still, all the changes I’ve made, the fermenters, ingredients…

My philosophy is that if it’s a hobby, I don’t calculate the cost. It’s either within my hobby budget or it isn’t. Vevor has a small advantage here in that it lets you spend a little and have a (barely) function still right away and then spread the rest of the cost out over time. But as others have said, for roughly the same money you can likely get something far better and almost as quickly.

Does it make a lower quality product? In your hands, probably. In my hands, maybe. In the hands of some of the more experienced guys around here, definitely not. But it will definitely be an inferior experience. It takes a lot of skill and experience to be able to get the most out of a low quality tool.

[Coilface]

There's another local still posted. He said he'd give me it for 300. How do u post pics on here.abet somone would recognize it and have an opinion. My pressure cooker was leaking like crazy. I borrowed my neighbors vevor. I think I see what y'all mean by " proper still comparison. It's ways better then the pressure cooker. Lest yeasty taste to. And a better still improves even moreso. Damn. I'm doin it lol. That is. Getting a decent more reputable still. Right away I thought that vevor needed a better condenser . Too small in my opinion. But it's doing ok. Also no thermometer uptop. But I'm running it really slow today. Mang. I'm exited. Next run I'll be inverting my sugar

[Coilface]

Anyone recognize this still or have an opinion ? He said he'd do me 300 throw in the element and stuff. I might go electric though.
https://www.facebook.com/share/15X4G8Ww64/

[Yummyrum]

Anyone recognize this still or have an opinion ? He said he'd do me 300 throw in the element and stuff. I might go electric though.
https://www.facebook.com/share/15X4G8Ww64/

I don’t think it is but the head looks mighty similar to one Steve broady made a while back .

viewtopic.php?p=7737798#p7737798

[SW_Shiner]

when u say better spirit do you mean higher proof ? ahh thanks Fletching

Better quality. Better taste and possibly better proof, if going reflux route.

There's another local still posted. He said he'd give me it for 300. How do u post pics on here.abet somone would recognize it and have an opinion. My pressure cooker was leaking like crazy. I borrowed my neighbors vevor. I think I see what y'all mean by " proper still comparison. It's ways better then the pressure cooker. Lest yeasty taste to. And a better still improves even moreso. Damn. I'm doin it lol. That is. Getting a decent more reputable still. Right away I thought that vevor needed a better condenser . Too small in my opinion. But it's doing ok. Also no thermometer uptop. But I'm running it really slow today. Mang. I'm exited. Next run I'll be inverting my sugar

That's a good step, now you can taste yourself what we mean by a better spirit. Also, don't worry about a lack of thermometer, you'll do better learning to run without one until you know the correct way to interpret what its saying.

Anyone recognize this still or have an opinion ? He said he'd do me 300 throw in the element and stuff. I might go electric though.
https://www.facebook.com/share/15X4G8Ww64/

Looks like a decent unit, only suggestion if you do get it, would be to get rid of what looks like silicon hose on the output. Much better to replace it with some copper tubing.