How to run a continuous still

When people first hear the term continuous still the big question is:

 "What exactly is it?"

In simple terms the continuous still a clever machine that lets wash flow in one end produces alcohol at the other, and automatically sends waste (spent wash) to the drain. Unlike pots stills, witch must be filled, boiled, and emptied in batches, a continuous still keeps the process moving - just like its name suggests.

Think of it as the link between your fermentation vessel and your fractional distiller. Instead of storing and handling massive amounts of wash, you can work with small batches of low-quality raw alcohol that never spoil.

Continuous still - how to build.

Pot Still Reality Check

Let's say your distillery has limited space, but you are working with one tone fermentation tanks. To distill a single ton of mash in a pot still, here's what you're looking at:

•   Size and weight: at least 1.3 ton pot still occupying 2.5m3 of space and weighting around 400kg, forget about moving it around.

• Time: Filling, heating and waiting for the first drop can take 10 hours. The full run around 20 hours.

• Risk: One ton of boiling wash under pressure is not small hazard. Any fault means shutting down, cooling, draining and restarting.

• Quality: Alcohol boiling for hours reacts with fermentation by-products (acids, salts, etc) the longer it sits, the more impurities creep into the alcohol.

• Waste: Early distillate is strong, but as the process drags on, you are left with weaker, impurity-heavy output.

In short: pot stills are heavy, slow, risky and wastefull.

Continuous Still: A Smarter Solution.

 Now imagine handling that same one ton batch with a continuous still:

• Compact & Light: under 2m tall, about 50kg, fits in 60cm² of space. Easy to move when not in use.

• Fast start: Only 5 to 10 minutes to heat up and start producing alcohol.

• Scalable: Production speed depends on column size and heating power. Multiple columns can work together for larger volumes.

• Efficient: Alcohol is constantly separated from wash, never left boiling in impurities, spirits are cleaner smoother and more consistent.

• Convenient: Start and stop whenever you like. No wasted ferment, no long preheating. Want to distil for two hours today and finish tomorrow? No problem.

A continuous still can process 900L of wash in just 6 hours (depending on its size/power) running steadily and safely - while delivering nearly 90% alcohol recovery efficiency.

 

Small But Mighty: The Tabletop Continuous Still

Not every distiller needs giant machines. That's why we design compact continuous stills for smaller setups.

• Size Advantage: A 1m high 12kg still can replace a bulky 500L pot still.

• Performance: Our "Alex C/D1.5" produces 3L of 50% stripped alcohol per hour.

•  Flexibility: pair it with "Alex 25" or "Alex 50" fractional stills for food grade refinement.

  

• Power options:

• 1.5KW version - 3L/hour of 50% stripped alcohol.

• 3KW version - 6L/hour of 50% stripped alcohol.

• 6KW version - 12L/hour of 50% stripped alcohol.

• 10KW version - 24 - 30L/hour of 50% stripped alcohol.

With no wash filled boiler, the wash remains in your fermenting tank. Just switch on the pump, and you are running in minutes.

 

Why choose a continuous still?

• Compact and space saving.

• Faster, safer, and more flexible than pot stills. 

• Consistent alcohol quality.

• Higher yeld with less waste.

• Available in both - industrial and tabletop sizes.

Whether you're running a craft distillery or just looking for efficiency at home, continuous stills make distillation smarter, cleaner and easier.

On top of this page you'll find a video showing the continuous still in action.