New member in NZ keen to learn

Damo

Hi everybody,

It is nice to be posting here for the first time. I am a newbie distiller and bought a T500 still about 9 months ago. While the T500 has been a wonderful way to start and an easy way for me to learn I really do want more so I started searching online. Obviously I found Stilldragon and here I am. Firstly the reason for my research was that I want to be able to make proper spirit without using essences. Corn whiskey and rum but also gin and super clean vodka. When I came across flute style stills their beauty was captivating and the modular dragon system appeals greatly. I have searched and searched and there isn't a lot of info about the final product however. I'd really like to know what people think of the spirit they collect. How is their whiskey? Is the flavour full even when distiller at a higher proof? I have read that these kinds of stills provide a full flavored product even at high proofs but is there any in depth reviews online that could give me more info? Can any members here share their experiences with me?

What I was thinking of was putting together a hybrid pot still with a pair of bubble plates at the base. Does anyone have a set up like this? What do they make and how does it tastes. I'd love to know.

Cheers, Damo.

punkin

Welcome Damo. The answers to all your questions will be provided by the members here. :)>-

LunaBrille

Welcome, Dano. I'm sure you will be happy with the SD products.

I have an SD 3 plate hybrid with a 20 inch (2") section packed with stainless steel wool, big baby refluc condencer and the large shotgun condencer. Ive only been making neutral and vodka with it so far (there are more than a few around here with the same setup making great rum and whiskey). It a great system that makes a fine tasting spirt and super easy to run. Actually, Its "Spirt Run Saturday" today and I'm running off a batch as a type this. Cheers!

Smaug

Hi Damo, It sounds as though Punkin wants to insure that the answers to your questions are indeed answered by satisfied customers rather than SD retailers. The plated systems are on the one hand not as efficient at separation as say a system that relies on structured packing. One plate level only represents one distillation cycle ( excluding a high reflux ratio) compared to the many 100s of potential distillation cycles that structured packing offers. But more often than not, it is this inefficiency that plated column users are trying to exploit! Flavor congeners get trapped on the plate and in effect are forced to re-infuse with incoming vapor. The result is relatively high abvs and a very good amount of flavor that carries over to the final product. ON TO THE HYBRID,,,,,,,Even though the liquid bath on the plate only represents one measly distillation cycle, the liquid does a better job of coping with what will become un-needed heat entering the packed section of the hybrid system. As such, there is a minimal temp split between the top and the bottom of the packed section compared to the packed section being mounted directly to the boiler. This behavior may not allow for higher purity levels but does seem to allow the operator to throw more heat at the boiler and collect faster with out compromising purity. Hopefully others will chime in soon to help clarify this hybrid behavior,

Damo

Hi guys,

LunaBrille, nice to hear your report like that. I will still always want to make a nice neutral so it's good to hear that. Smaug, thanks for that insight into the plates effectiveness. These are the sorts of answers I have been searching for.
So, if I set up a two plate still with dephlag, packed column and 180 degree bend down to the shotgun condenser with parrot for instance, would I be lacking anything to make neutral? Would I really want more plates or could I get away with it by running it more slowly? Should the packing contain some copper or ceramic saddles like other systems use?

If I was then going to run whiskey or rum, would I take out the packed column? Or the dephlag and then use it more like a straight pot still?

Cheers, Damo.

P.S. if there is anyone in NZ with a Stilldragon system, I'd love to see it!

punkin

There's quite a few Dashes and Hybrids over there now, and a stack of Potshots. At one stage i was shipping potshots to NZ at 1 a week. You guys love your potstills.

googe

Welcome mate, I have a 3 plate single bubble cap, non sd though sorry. Makes a beautiful rum at 90%, havnt tried whiskey yet as I'm to busy making rum lol. There's quite a few people with hybrids now, so shouldn't be hard finding info about it. Good luck. Oh, and the.more plates the better for neutral, I do 2 runs through mine and it produces a passable neutral.

crozdog

Hi Damo, welcome.

I hace a 4 plate dash1 which I use for stripping neutral wash as well as flavoured spirits like rum/bourbon (i reduce the number of plates for them). When I have stripped a couple of neutral washes, I do a spirit run by adding a 510mm straight section on top of the 4 plates. I produce nice clean 95% using this.

checkout the recipes section for UJSM & tomato paste wash. they will get you making top product from day 1.

The modularity of SD is awesome, you'll love it too.

Cheers crozdog

Damo

We'll I have to say that I have enjoyed reading your responses, I've also enjoyed reading about the gin baskets and the vodka arrangement on this site. It is good to see that more developments are coming all the time. It sounds like there is nothing that I won't be able to do with a Stilldragon! I appreciate the responses. Only thing is that I have spent too much money lately so it might have to wait a few months!

Cheers, Damo

crozdog

Thats one of the beauties of SD modularity, you can start out with say a simple pot still, then grow it when you can afford more bits. your previous investment is not wasted.

cooperville

G'day damo good to see you found the SD forum I have a dash 2 so 6 plates I don't have much neautral experience but my last run was a whiskey run and I used 2 plates to ensure full flavour

So I did a stripping run to 180ltrs of wash in post still mode (no plates) then I did a single spirit run with two plates looking for a constant 85%abv which worked really well

I had two freinds try this whiskey yesterday and weren't sold on it but its only 5 weeks old I think in a year hey will be saying otherwise

On the other hand my freinds tried a 6 month old ujsm which was distilled with 4 plates and they couldn't stop raving about how smooth and how good a quality it is

The good thing is I have so much stock ,waiting 6 months for something to age properly is half the fun

He best thing abou SD is the ability to play around with different set ups and see what comes of it

But remember to take notes so you can rectify a recipe if need be

cooperville

@crozdog, what do you put in the 510mm length for rectification?

emptyglass

Hi Damo. You wont go wrong with a flute. The SD products afford you the chance to build as you can afford. And change the results you get as you want. No turning back now mate. A big step up in product quality than a t500 can produce, besides, they don't make a great whiskey.

Damo

Thanks guys, whiskey is something I'd love to make properly. I also have no problem waiting cos I don't actually drink very much funnily enough. I am a cigar aficionado too and manage to age all my Cubans before getting into them so I'm sure I can put spirit away and leave it. Cooperville, the results you have mentioned help give me an idea of what I can do, eg. Running two plates and getting 85% and so forth. Exactly the sort of thing I'd like to know.

Cheers, Damo

crozdog

@cooperville said: crozdog, what do you put in the 510mm length for rectification?

Large "Oates" brand SS scrubbies from Bunnings - they come in a 3 pack