"I have a small still already and was looking for better and faster out put but not necessarily high capacity out put. what is the best way to fit this column on a small pot still? any advice. My still is fitted with the traditional copper flange on a stainless steel lid with clamps. It blooks like this is set up for a keg boiler but that is a big more then I am ready to tackle right now and I have went around with every Tom, Dick and Harry with all kinds of fancy columns and sells pitches but the best feed back has came from brewhaus and brewhaus with mentions of the others still bulders as very unreliable so I went with this mas a mid level column that has reasonable results and not a lot of bragging with not being able to back it up from thier customers.
PS Any tips or links on the best way to use this puppy once I get it fitted."

I am some what handy at small pluming jobs, is this going to be a weld or a pluming solder joint with food grade solder like that is use in copper pipes and columns? Thanks for the reply, I will check on the flange in the mean time.

"I might just have to reverse build the lid to the column. The new column is a after thought after being given the run around by two so called still builders, I won't mention any names but the two companies or people are all over the internet and some on eBay. I am now in dispute with them through paypal. I won a bid at a great price with free shipping, the seller had good feedback, I bid, won, paid and no still or any thing, no returned calls, after two weeks they issued a refund that they don't have the money to refund with, now two more weeks. I went and visited re sellers ratings and wow what nightmares these folks are giving people, yet they are doing business still and it takes most a long time to get them and they get crap with a lot of promises.
To get back on track, Brewhaus has the most satisfied customers and good ratings and everyone speaks highly of service and equipment. It was after the fact that I need a column that has a higher cleaner out put that puts me in the need of column and probably a bigger boiler. I guess I will hit the thrift stores or somewhere I can get a stainless steel pot or electric pot. I sure have made a mess and did it bas aackwords, you know what I mean. Any ideas on a pot or kettle that would be easy to modify for the task? I have seen that some like a pot that has a domed lid for more reflux and such."

"Thanks for the support. I was thinking I was making another mistake in getting the other column but now I think I made the right choice. The time and money spent on mash a distilling would be a waste and a high tuition in life experience. I think the forum is a great place to learn and most are willing to give a hand up for those who are in the early stage of new hobby or job skill. This seems to be a great place to learn.

Is there any recommendations on where to get some good tried out recipes for southern whiskey or the likes. Southern Comfort or Jack Daniels old number 7.

Again Thanks"

"In my opinion thats really good advice div4gold. carlsgems until you have made 30 or 40 runs and really understand how and what it takes to make JD's or So.Com. its a waste of time and money to try. I know what that sounds like and I dont mean to sound shitty, but once you've got some runs under your belt you will see its ALMOST impossible to duplicate those recipes without extended time and temperature in a barrel and the EXACT recipe they use--which of course they will not give you.
Stick with a good neutral and buy extract flavors then as you learn more it gonna be easier to figger out what you want, but it sure is fun tryin to figger it out."

"I am going to take your advise. The more I try to find the right recipe the more I am getting mixed messages. I have started a easy quick mash that came with a beginner set up. It was a small batch made with 1 pound of yellow corn mill, 1 pound of sugar mixed with 1/2 gallon of luke warm water, then add yeast and shake it up, add the remaining water for a gallon of water total, shake again then seal with a air lock. I did this doubled every thing and put it my fermenter
bucket that is made for fermenting.
The one question that I had was did I screw up by using a turbo yeast. After watching the demo on the mash the guy added fast acting yeast, maybe bread yeast or something. I was under the impression to make spirits you needed yeast that would stay alive longer in the fermentation.

Big question now is did I make a mistake in the easy mash? the guy made it look easy and simple but from my wine making days you can get alcohol that is real nasty. Last where is a good hard to screw up mash recipe to get my feet wet and get started on this venture. In the mean time it looks like I am going to have to buy a new boiler or kettle. I will post that later, a lot is on the plate with all my questions and deer in the head questions. a lot to learn."

I have a bad habit of jumping into things full bore with out trying to get the right information. A lot of times I am jumping in blindfolded and getting bent for silly things that could of been avoided. I think this new venture is going to be fun and rewarding. I am in the southeast part of Virginia where we have some of the best grown peanuts in the world. I have been in the process of cooking and selling them and even selling the raw shelled nuts. Point being it took a lot of research and sorting to get the best and hundreds of trial batches to get what I want. I know this is going to be more involved with that but hey it will be fun trying to learn. I will sort through the forum and recipe section and give it a whirl. Thanks