Hi everyone,

I'd like to introduce DRAM – Alcohol Dilution Calc, an Android app I developed to bring the main calculations involved in alcohol dilution, proofing and spirit preparation into a single tool.

The idea is straightforward: calculations that often require spreadsheets, tables or several different online calculators can be performed directly on a smartphone.

What DRAM – Alcohol Dilution Calc can do

Dilution to a target ABV

Enter the starting volume and ABV, choose the desired strength, and DRAM calculates the required amount of water.

Reverse calculation after water has been added

If water has already been added, DRAM can calculate the resulting ABV.

Small and large volume calculations

The app can be used for anything from a tasting sample to batches of up to 500 litres.

Water expressed in ml or grams

The required water can be displayed either as volume or weight, which is particularly useful when working with a precision scale.

Temperature correction for alcohol measurements

Alcoholmeter readings depend on their reference temperature. DRAM can account for measurement temperature and calculate the corrected alcohol strength.

The calculations use recognised OIML R22 data and methods, rather than relying solely on a basic rule-of-three calculation when a more rigorous correction is required.

Why I developed DRAM – Alcohol Dilution Calc

I wanted one fast and practical tool that could be used for spirit reduction, proofing, measurement and preparation before bottling without constantly switching between spreadsheets, tables and online calculators.

The basic dilution calculator is available free of charge.

Android / Google Play

DRAM – Alcohol Dilution Calc

I'd also be very interested in hearing about your own workflows:

Which calculations do you regularly perform during distilling, proofing, reduction or bottling that still require a spreadsheet, reference tables or several different tools?

DRAM is already fully functional, but I intend to keep developing it around the real-world needs of distillers.

If you try it, I'd be very interested in your experience with the app and in any additional features that could make it even more useful in day-to-day production.

Thank you and have a good day!

Heard a whisper that the new owner of SDAU was willing to talk turkey on The Standalone system he has in stock....

I got me a couple of heelers to help bring in the cattle now, a breed from the other side of the world. These 2 are brothers. Their dad was a Blue heeler and their mom was a Red heeler.

The running style that we started with, is to charge the pre heater and the first chamber below with beer. This for expediency. No need to heat up additional mass. It just delays the time it takes to bring the still on line.

Turn the steam on at this point or even crack the valve open a bit while charging the top two chambers to get the still that much closer to running temp.

To get the thumper primed you can preload with what ever or wrap a wet towel around the bonnet to drop some early distillate out of suspension.

Each chamber has a thermometer but imo the only temps that matter is the preheater liquid temp and the bottom chamber temp.

We initially settled in on using 150ºF for the preheater liquid temp and 212ºF for the bottom chamber temp as our indicator that it is time to transfer liquid downward. 212º at thr bottom chamber of course ensures that we are not sending alcohol down the drain.

We did experiment with a 160º preheater temp but the spirit was more acrid and everyone agreed that the 160º was not optimal. That particular temp recommendation came from one of the craft industry figures btw. Makes me scratch my head sometimes.

In any case, the team on the floor has deviated from that 150º transfer temp and now more heavily relys on sensory awareness since they now have a good handle on the sequencing for the liquid transfer. Initially it is a little intimidating because if you forget to open the correct vent the chambers can pull a siphon and suck everything down to the bottom chamber. So the bottom and next chamber up end up completely flooded with zero head space for any kind of vapor disengagement.

So the priority initially is just to learn how to drive the still. Anyway Im not sure how many times they've run the thing now but they seem quite comfortable with its operation.

The distillate is really amazing. The spent beer smells nothing like batch effluent. Not at all stinky like stinky tails. And heads are not at all astringent. Fact I don't really know how anyone can even really make a heads cut at all if they are being honest with themselves. Maybe its just a ceremonial act to placate the "No Heads" purists that would rather drink thin insipid spirits? Conjecture intended.

In any case, any heads is simply not harsh and can without hesitation be added back into the feed imo. Any "excessive" heads constituents in the distillate from this still I feel would age out beautifully once in the barrel and laid down for a proper rest period.

Once everything is hot and you get the liquid transfer timing down, it only takes about 3 minutes to start drawing off distillate again once the steam is turned back on.

A complete turn over clocks in at ≈20 min or so. So by the time the beer in the preheater migrates to the bottom chamber and out the drain we're looking at 20 minutes.

This system is nothing more than a vertical double retort with a reverse process flow. Rather than the feed stock starting closest to the heat source, the feed stock enters the system the farthest away from the heat source. That's it. Period. Nothing mystical operationally speaking.

The best analogy for characterizing the flavor of the spirit is to think about an Italian Sunday Gravy. A pasta sauce that renders down and fills the house with an amazing aroma. When you first put those tomatoes in the pot and throw some heat at them they smell wonderful. But the more you let them cook down the better it smells,,,is the way I think about how this still works.

This here.

Its just a little bit bigger that the prototype. The prototype is 18" D x 24" H per chamber.

This one here is 24" D x 32" H per chamber. This one here is set up to process up to 500 gallons per shift.

Just bumping this thread as there have been other discussions on other platforms.

1. Chambers a bit larger the the first iteration so that we can get through 500 gallons in a single work shift (assuming you have an adequate boiler). These things are steam pigs btw.
2. Increased the height of the of the stand piping in order to reduce the risk of syphoning during liquid transfer.
3. Elevated the thumper to eliminate the risk of pumping Chamber 3 liquid into the thumper.
4. Added an HX to the liquid transfer vent manifold to ensure zero vapor escape during liquid transfer if venting does not get extended to the exterior of the building.

The custom flanges that act as the deck for the thumper. This also significantly reduce the footprint despite the chambers being larger than the original model.

Snap 51 now sold.

For anyone who is a heavier user of their Buchi, you might start running into an issue where the speed control knob is erratic, changes speeds regularly, or drifts around.

There is an internal potentiometer that is a very easy fix, and it's a readily available part - Bourns PCW1D-R24-EAB503L - $10

This is an easily damaged part when these things are shipped. All it takes is a good knock to the control knob and that's enough to start causing issues. If you are looking to buy a used one, if the knob is missing on the unit, I will guarantee you the pot is damaged and will cause problems.

It's pretty quick and easy to disassemble, remove the board, and desolder/resolder the new potentiometer.

If you thought the outside of this thing was impressive, wait until you see the interior build. Clear why this kit cost thousands of dollars when new.

Hello, I’m interested in DMA 51

• 1 New 380 StillDragon steam jacketed distilling tank, 8'' column flange, with included agitator motor and agitator prop
• 3 each used 5 plate 8'' Crystal Dragon column sections
• 18 each new 8'' copper plates for ProCaps
• 216 each new copper ProCaps with flow director
• 3 each new 8" x 8" x 3" Copper Sight Glass Union Tee with Spray Ball
• 3 each new 8" x 8" x 3" stainless steel Sight Glass Union Tee with Spray Ball
• 1 each new 8" Stainless Steel Dephlegmator
• 1 each new 4" Stainless Steel Product Shotgun bundle with Parrot Mount
• 15 each used 8'' Stainless Steel perforated plates with down-comers
• 1 each new 8" x 2" Bowl Reducer
• 35' of red and 35' of blue pex type hose
• Miscellaneous 2'' triclamp pipe lengths and bends, gaskets, and hoses
• 1 each used 4 head bottle filler RV-25
• 1 each used electric bottle heat sealer Cirio Germano model TT ECO
• 2 each new poly 150 GALLON ACE ROTO-MOLD 45 DEGREE CONE BOTTOM TANK - FLAT TOP with lid and stand. CB00150SASS

Selling as a package. $35000.00 plus shipping cost.

I can package and pallet for shipping. Shipping cost is additional or set up by the buyer. This system will need all safety devices required by your local codes.

Located in the Pacific Northwest.

OPTIONAL

• 1 each Parker 103-7 Kompact boiler with blow-down tank. $12500. This boiler was installed and then not used for its intended purpose. It has very low usage. I will sell the boiler separately if it does not sell with the still equipment.

rslick@inlandstandardequipment.com

Hope everyone has a fantastic 2026.

@richard I agree, 2025 wasn't good :-S

Hey guys, but before we get too far ........... A happy new year to all and hope it's way better than 2025 which has been "just crap"

Anton Paar Snap 51

£1,800

Current price is £3,872 + VAT from Anton Paar

Anton Paar DMA 35

£1,400

Current price is £2,960 + VAT from Anton Paar

In excellent condition in their storage boxes.

If anyone's looking for a cash deal on full systems, or bulk orders of one item hit me up at punkin@stilldragon.com.au.

I have 3 x Duck's Nuts, 3 x 8" helmets and a bunch of 4" helmets, 3 x Standalone 8" systems, and a bunch of milk cans.

Pick up near Grafton/Coffs Harbour NSW

• The Ducks Nuts 5" Dash 2, Six Plate Pro Model, 200l @ StillDragon Australia
• Copper Helmet 8" @ StillDragon Australia
• The StandAlone 380l Eight Inch 8 Plate System @ StillDragon Australia

Hey everyone,

Not trying to hijack the thread here but I'm dealing with a fruit problem as well.

Each year I make a winter seasonal gin - after distillation I do a maceration dehydrated apple and dehydrated cranberry. After pulling the bags out of the gin, we filter through pad filters and then a 0.2 micron column filter (part of our enolmatic bottling machine). Everything looks good when we bottle.

Last year, after a couple months, I started to get some particulate forming. This year it happened after three weeks.

For the folks who know more about such things, am I dealing with a pectin problem here?

Thanks in advance.

@punkin thats funny. I am going to put in 10 whiskys into London Spirits Competition just to take up some more space in my shed wall. I am picking up the medals to get offshore export contracts. The whisky market here in Argentina is really particular. On the run book I have almost all of my grain bills for my favourite recipes, the top 15 anyway. So I am managing to reproduce those quite closely. Although I havent done much distilling this year as I was sick for a while. But I am back from the dead so thats a good thing. Thanks again guys.

Well. I sorry I haven't been on line for a while but this is another post. Last week I won the best distillery in Argentina again for a second year in a row. I submitted 30 entries and won 20 medals. I won 4 double golds 7 golds 7 silvers and 4 bronzes. Thanks again for all the advice that I have picked up on this board over the years. My total medal count right now is 51 medals, not including the two best distillery awards.

As a funny side story I made a bunch of vodkas and some moonshines with my two 6 plate StillDragon glass columns. I did a barley wash, a rye wash and a wheat wash almost at the same time, and did a stripping run via a pot still run first before passing them through the column still. I took some high ABV runs with little flavor and called them vodkas and then ran the run out to 40% and called them moonshine. But I did all three runs in a row and I was super busy so I kind of forgot the exact procedure. The Wheat moonshine got a double gold with 98 points and for the life of me I cant remember exactly how I did it.

Technically, you can use pectinase in spirits, but your dose needs to be very, very high. From what I can tell based on the mead crew, it's something like 4-5x normal dosing. That's in low alc, so spirits may be even higher yet. You could probably trial this in a few hundred ML and then scale it up if it works.

Now, I've never actually tasted pectinase to know if that would be good or bad, but most other enzymes I've tasted have been pretty rank and also unappealingly colored. So, adding enzyme into final product seems like it would be an incredibly delicate balance, that risks ruining flavor to achieve clarity.