Are Plated Columns "All Rounders"?

[emptyglass]

MyGuessIsAllOpinionsWillVaryPunkin

Those that make flavored stuff, generally aren't interested in vodka, vodka drinkers generally aren't tring to make flavored stuff.

I've found my olddog based perf plate flute makes a great flavored product. The closest I come to making a vodka like substance is doing a feints run, but even then I run it fast, trying to keep some flavor. It dosn't seem to keep much flavor, if any, after its been through a five plater twice.
My thoughts are all you would have to do is run it a third time, and it would be as clean as you could practicaly achieve without taking the plate count to 10 or 11. Three times through a plated column would be quicker than once through a bok. If you want a true neutral, I think you need to make it a true neutral still from the start, but a 3,4,or 5 plater could do it with some work (redistilling).

The good thing about this design is you can piggy back a section on top with the extra plates you think you need. Now you got a 2 trick pony.

The original designer of these hobby flutes came up with 3 or 4 plates for flavor, 11 for neutral.

[R-sole]

I like your thoughts but would generally disagree with your first statement. I've found that most people who do flavoured spirits mainly, have two stills.
As i do atm, a pot still i use mostly and a column i use once a year or so to make neutral for redistilling, macerations and giving away to the vodka lovers in the family. I also use the column to run mollasses ferment for light white rum every second year or so.

I also do flavoued vodkas in the potstill.

My intentions when i get my new bubbler are to use it to keep Bourbon Girl in the style she has become accustommed to, and to still do a neutral run once a year. I'm thinking i'll have to triple run through my five plates with cuts on the second and third runs, but it's all conjecture at this stage.

I don't think it will be any faster than a 3" VM. Not that that bothers me one day a year. :D

[emptyglass]

I agree with you 5Star, thats why I underlined generaly.
I make some vodka, strawberry pantie dropper and the like, but like you I only do that once or twice a year.
Hardly qualifies me as an expert vodka taster. But the girls like it.
I aslo make some slivovitz once a year if the birds don't get my plums, I plan on trying some rum one of these days.

I made my flute primarily for bourbon and it does a good job. I havn't used my pot or bok since.

And on your last statement, I think you will be pleasntly surprised at how quick a flute is.

[MacStill]

My intentions when i get my new bubbler are to use it to keep Bourbon Girl in the style she has become accustommed to, and to still do a neutral run once a year. I'm thinking i'll have to triple run through my five plates with cuts on the second and third runs, but it's all conjecture at this stage.

I reckon double run doing cuts both times will provide more than satisfactory results, specially if using something like WPOSW :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[LWTCS]

5Star your vm does 4.5 liters an hour@ 90+ with a 10% boiler charge?

[R-sole]

My vm does over 4l hour on stripped low wines. if i was planning on running my bubbler for neutral i'd be using stripped low wines in the first instance. I'd be expecting around the 4l/hr mark with the bubbler, but i suspect it will take an extra run with extra cuts to get something close to what the VM produces. Therefore, probably a little longer than a VM run.

However, i am not talking from experience with the bubbler, and it just doesn't matter to me for a once a year run.

[MR-E]

Guy's, that was what I was talking about in my mongrel plate thread.
I like making & drinking rum, the missus cant drink any soft drink at all, so I make neutral for
making liqueurs that she can mix with milk.
So I cant wait to get the issues on my build sorted & get some results.
Success or failure, I will post my results.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[R-sole]

Make her Punkins Muck. Just use your rum :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Rockchucker22]

I've played around with plated columns many different variations. With a small amount of packing above 6 plates refluxed properly will make a very clean neutral, to me cleaner than my boka ran for 200 hours per drip :puke-huge: :puke-huge: 8-}

My theory is with enough cycles/reflux and time the wash will clean up. I bet most get so impatient and just run the piss out of it the wonder why it's smeared. To run a plated still it's best to know other stills and what they produce. Then it's quite easy to tune a plated column to run any type of liquor.

It's the driver not the car!

[MR-E]

I've played around with plated columns many different variations. With a small amount of packing above 6 plates refluxed properly will make a very clean neutral, to me cleaner than my boka ran for 200 hours per drip :puke-huge: :puke-huge: 8-}

My theory is with enough cycles/reflux and time the wash will clean up. I bet most get so impatient and just run the piss out of it the wonder why it's smeared. To run a plated still it's best to know other stills and what they produce. Then it's quite easy to tune a plated column to run any type of liquor.

It's the driver not the car!

Is the packing above the top plate or all six plates :?:
+1 on the driver.

[MacStill]

I bet most get so impatient and just run the piss out of it the wonder why it's smeared.

These are my thoughts too, specially when you read outrageous take of speeds.

Around 2.5L to 3L per hour has been the sweet spot using around 3.6kw on all the bubblers I built, and I've ran all 15 or so of em in various ways/configurations.

[Rockchucker22]

Packing on top.

[crow]

Yes i was going to ask that , if you were to pack say the last 2 plates shouldn't this then act like a normal refluxing still > mean with modular stills this should take no time and may save a run or 2

[MacStill]

It'll work better with a short packed column above the plates, dont think a scrubber on each plate would do much at all really... but I never tried that.

Like this sorta

P3031976.JPG

[emptyglass]

5Star, I am only guessing on the three times through thing.
By the time its been through my column twice, I cant taste much flavor, but the purists might.
3 times would definatly knock all of it out.

I run mine slower than most seem to, about 2.5L/hr, and stripping is a thing of the past for me. 10% to 95% in one pass, no need to strip.
For a 40 litre charge at 10%, I'm done in about 3 hours, depending on how hard I go boiling it up, how cold the wash is, blah, blah.
I get about 4.5 litres at 95% with flavor.
Diluted back to 40% for another run and it would be about 10-ish litres (say 12 to be safe)
That would be done in 1.5 - 2 hours I guess. Not much flavor by now, if any.

To do it a third time, i guess at worst it would take another 1.5 hours. I have never intentionaly done a third run.

If you made cuts each time, these times would come down even more. You could comfortably do it in an evening. And thats from a bourbon wash, not a wash mde for neutral.

As far as the op's question, I think they are not technicaly "all rounders", but they are as close as hell to it.

[MacStill]

As far as the op's question, I think they are not technicaly "all rounders", but they are as close as hell to it.

This I'll agree with :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I'll also add that for a true neutral 6 plates twice may still not be enough, just ask the VM enthusiasts ;-)

If you want a rig that'll do everything well a 4,5 or 6 plate :D "bubbler" :D is the way to go

[emptyglass]

OK mac, we found something we can agree on :dance:

What made you come to the conclusion that bubblers work every bit as well (if not better) than caps?
For me, it was that they more resembled a pot still, where caps seemed to more represent the column fraternity (art V's fact)

Do you think that caps or bubble plates makes a difference to them (plated columns) being "all rounders" ??
After all, you have played with both styles.
I'm in no position to know as I have only played with bubblers.

[MacStill]

OK mac, we found something we can agree on :dance:

What made you come to the conclusion that bubblers work every bit as well (if not better) than caps?

errr uhm, running em for 2 years and drinking the outcome... perhaps.... I dunno :laughing-rolling:

[emptyglass]

Sweet bloke,

But I only came up with the right answer buy luck and good guess.

All the guys on the pommy site seem to prefer caps.

What is different in the taste from a same given wash from caps to bubblers?

I only ask 'caus you have treid both ways?

[MacStill]

Sweet bloke,

But I only came up with the right answer buy luck and good guess.

All the guys on the pommy site seem to prefer caps.

What is different in the taste from a same given wash from caps to bubblers?

I only ask 'caus you have treid both ways?

None that I can find.