Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I'm still mulling over the design for an upgraded still and I saw a comment in another thread that any money not spent on bubble plates is wasted money.
I've done some reading and watched a couple of youtube videos and have a basic understanding of how these plates work. They certainly make a lot of sense in a neutral spirit setup.

I see a few people seem to be running bubbler plates to make their brown spirits (bourbon, single malt, rum etc.).

1. I haven't been able to grasp if you use a reflux condenser for the brown spirit runs, or only on neutral spirits?
2. How many plates?
3. Does this make stripping runs redundant?
4. How do runtimes vary between more traditional pot still setup and bubbler plates?

One of my goals is to make a good Jamaican style rum. Jamaican rums traditionally use a "double retort" pot still. i.e. A pot still with 2 thumpers. One of the thumpers is often charged with tails from a previous run. I read somewhere that the bubbler plates can collect congeners and allow the spirit to re-distill through these flavourful compounds. Would a couple of bubbler plates loosely mimic that double retort kind of distillation? At one point I was thinking I'd have to end up adding a thumper, but I'd rather avoid it to be honest.

I typically run brown spirits over 4plates on a single pass

But have also run the same config in potstill mode without using the RC (so only passive reflux) Ive done strip runs and then spirit runs. Ive done a mix of a strip then readded that strip to a fresh wash and done a pass over 4 plates and then cut etc

I like to experiment based on the style of spirit I am making and to see what the differences are. I have really consistent washes so am able to do good comparisons on non aged spirit and have now got product aging to see how that goes.

The main benefit of running a modular plates setup is you have many options and can work out what works for you to get what you want.

I recently made a rum that I added old rum tails/heads to the boiler charge and ran over 4 plates and its the best rum ive ever made. (dunder and generations are part of this as well)

Anything I don't want to re add to enhance flavor on brown spirits gets mixed together and turned into either a hybrid, or a "vodka" or a neutral

Which is also why the plate setup is so good, you don't need to do 3 runs on a pot still to make a vodka/neutral etc

Thanks Clickeral, you've cleared up most of my confusion. Sounds like I should be heading in the bubbler plate direction before any thumper ideas are entertained.

Clickeral wrote:I
I recently made a rum that I added old rum tails/heads to the boiler charge and ran over 4 plates and its the best rum ive ever made. (dunder and generations are part of this as well)

Just for clarity - did you have the reflux condenser going, or was it just natural reflux on this 4 plate rum run?

You'll never load plates properly without an RC

There is a " how to run" in the plated section that should help clear things up.

I run my molasses washes through four plates of 5-Star bubbler goodness. Loads of flavour retention.

The still is run pretty much exactly as per the "running a bubbler" guide on this site (https://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=268).

I'd never go back to multiple stripping and spirit runs. The bubbler is one and done!

Dude wrote:There is a " how to run" in the plated section that should help clear things up.

What a great thread! How did the search bar not lead me there?!? :angry-banghead: Thanks.

indenial wrote:Thanks Clickeral, you've cleared up most of my confusion. Sounds like I should be heading in the bubbler plate direction before any thumper ideas are entertained.

Clickeral wrote:I
I recently made a rum that I added old rum tails/heads to the boiler charge and ran over 4 plates and its the best rum ive ever made. (dunder and generations are part of this as well)

Just for clarity - did you have the reflux condenser going, or was it just natural reflux on this 4 plate rum run?

Unless I am in pot still mode the RC is always on to an extent, I tend to balance between power and cooling management to get what I want

What I was saying is that there is always alittle passive reflux due to the temp difference from the metal of the still and the liquid until its heated up, ive also never had my plates go empty during a full potstill run (no RC on the column)

That how to run a plated column is a great guide

southern45 wrote:I run my molasses washes through four plates of 5-Star bubbler goodness. Loads of flavour retention.

The still is run pretty much exactly as per the "running a bubbler" guide on this site (https://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=268).

I'd never go back to multiple stripping and spirit runs. The bubbler is one and done!

:text-+1:

Same, run mine as per “running a bubbler” guide. Hasn’t failed me yet and stopped me from tinkering too much, get consistent output using the guide no matter what wash I’m using or config on the still, 4 plates, 5 plates with packed section.