The first question that people asking is, what
the hell the continuous still is?
The continuous still is a fantastic machine where the mash is
flowing into the distiller continuously. The ready spirit coming out
of the other end plus the waste (spirit free ferment) constantly
disposed into the drain.
The continuous stripping stills are not suited for high-quality
spirit production, but a pot still will not give you any sound
quality. The continuous distiller, in reality, the medium between a
fermentation vessel and a fractional distiller. Thus instead of
storing tons of mash, you can work with relatively small amounts of
low-quality raw spirit that could be stored for as long as you wish,
and it never will be spoiled.
Continuous still - how to build.
Batch Pot Stills
Imagine
that your distillery is limited in space, but you have a few one-ton
fermentation vessels in a separate room. In case to distill one ton
of mash with a pot still, you will need at least a 1.3-ton capacity
pot distiller with all the arrangement follows. And it will occupy
at least 2.5 cubic meters of space, will weight around 400kg
(impossible to move around), you will have to fill it up with mash
and preheat it - in some cases, it will take up to 10 hours to get
some first drops of spirit and another ten hours to complete
distillation.
Then you'll always know that there within the boiler - one ton of
boiling substance (scary), and if something goes wrong, you will
need to cool everything down and drain all the mash from the still,
fix the problem and fill it up again. Once you have started your
distillation, you must complete it, and it can take up to 20 hours
to complete. The spirit in the mash that is boiling for ten hours is
getting involved in all kinds of chemical reactions because the mash
contains many different by-products of fermentation, including salts
and acids. All these reactions are boosting by heating. Thus the
spirit that came out of the still after few hours of distillation is
not that good.
When distillation is complete, you will need to
drain all the smelling stuff, and there are two options.
The first option is to drain all the smelling stuff and get rid
of it when it cools down and lose precious hours because it will
take a lot of time to cool it down.
The second option is to dispose of it while it is still hot and
get a lot of steam and smell, plus it is not safe.
The efficiency of
pot still is low, and losses of alcohol during distillation is
around 30%. Thus at the beginning of distillation, you will get the
peak of spirit content in the distillate, and during distillation,
the spirit percentage will drop drastically. It means that one is
getting less alcohol and more water, which was involved in the
chemical reactions of fermentation and distillation, and carrying
all the periodic table with it into the final product. Thus there is
yet another option: to stop distillation and lose some alcohol. At a
certain point, start to collect the stuff into a separate vessel for
further re-distillation. Still, anyway, some spirits will remain in
the pot, a lot of precious space is occupying with machinery, and a
lot of time just wasted. All mentioned is the reality of the pot
distiller.
Continuous Stills
In comparison with pot stills, continuous
stills are more compact and light constructed machines.
Let's say that we have the same situation
as we had described above. So your distillery is limited in
space. But you have a few one-ton fermentation vessels in a
separate room. And to distill one ton of mash with a continuous
distiller, you will need a relatively tiny distillation machine
that weighs no more than 50kg. The still is under two meters
high and occupies around 60cm2 of the floor area, which can be
moved to the storage after distillation.
The continuous distiller is connecting to
a low-pressure pump that is continually pumping the mash into
the distiller. And the only couple of liters of the mash is
needed to fill the machine for distillation. It will take only
five to ten minutes for the device to give you the first
spirit.
The continuous distiller's alcohol production speed will be
determined by the column's size and the heating element In the
steam generator. Also, a few columns can be arranged into one
common frame and work together. The high-speed production
machine on the video will process 900L of mash in just 6 hours.
Alcohol that is constantly producing never has any contact with
heating elements. Plus, instead of boiling for hours in more and
more concentrated by-products of distillation, it is separated
from the stillage and, in reality,
washed continuously with fresh portions of water steam. And as
soon as separated from the mash, the alcohol leaving the column
and collected into a collection vessel. When distillation is complete, you do not
have to deal with tons of boiling mash. The empty spirit free
mash was separated and reduced to drain during distillation, and
if you are planning the next load of wash to be distilled - you
switch the supply hose to the next vessel and start your
distillation in no time.
The efficiency of continuous still (spirit vice) is close to
100%, and in comparison with pot still, you will get more spirit
from the same load of the wash. The alcohol percentage will stay
the same from the start to the finish of distillation, and
because the alcohol in the continuous still is always bounded
with fresh water, this means that spirits produced with
continuous distiller are almost free of those nasty chemicals
that are naturally occurring in a mash during fermentation.
Working with a continuous distiller will
let you start or finish your distillation when you need it
because to preheat the column and get the first spirits will
take only a few minutes. And also, completing the distillation
will take a few seconds - switch power off and restart the
distillation when you've got time to do so. It is like you get
only two hours for distillation, and tomorrow only four, and you
distill today and tomorrow to complete your distillation. Your
mash stays in the fermenting tank. You have got the arrangement
with a few fermenting vessels interconnected via the pipeline.
That continually supplies the ferment to the continuous still,
and staff is working in three shifts, then the continuous
distiller will produce alcohol 24/7. Thus no precious time and
spirits are wasted at all, which is very convenient.
Continuous Stills
Despite of economical crisis
some further work has been done and I am happy to admit that our
continuous stills are getting a bit smaller, while there was some
interest in a big machines that are capable to process enormous
amounts of ferment many people were asking about some really small
tabletop continuous still that can replace a bulky and heavy pot
stills I don't want to repeat all the benefits of the continuous
still over the pot still, but one advantage is obvious - size, thus
the small continuous still, one meter high and 8kg of weight can
replace a 500L (halve a ton) pot still, so for your primary
distillation the constant still is the must thing, on the picture
you can see our latest creation: "Alex C.D/1.5" (stands for "ALcohol
EXtracting Continuous Distiller 1.5kw") with this little beauty
combined with Alex 25 or Alex 50 stills you can satisfy enormous
thirst of all your friends, or supply your small business with all
the products that can be made with distillation equipment.
The stable continuous production flow
of this constant still is 3L of 50% ethanol per hour. The
distiller was designed for use as a primary distiller that
continuously supplies the stripped alcohol for a fractional
distiller to make food-grade alcohol free of impurities.
The 3kw continuous still has no wash-filled boiler. Like bigger
versions of this distiller, the mash or wine always stays in a
separate vessel or a different room. One doesn't need to reload
and preheat it (preheating time is 5min). You can start or stop
your distillation at any convenient time for you - switch the
pump and distill as much as you
need without affecting the ferment. A homemade video about this
still is available on the top of this page.