Hi,
I was wondering what the differences would be between the Brewhaus PSII HC EE and stills from MileHI (which looks somewhat similar) and stills like the sight glass types from Hillbilly and Stilldragon (other than cost). Is there any great benefit to spending 3 to 4 times as much. From what research I've done so far the abv limit is just about 96% and it seems from several posters on this site that the Brewhaus will do this. Just wondering.
Thanks, Todd

Hey Todd,
I am new here but from looking around, it appears that there are only a couple of guys that do the majority of answering comments. Give it a day or two. I couldn't answer your question as I have built my own. I just wanted to let you know you weren't being ignored. Best of luck!

Hi BW,
Initially one of the MileHi's was going to be what I got but from further research I have found the Brewhaus to be a better choice. I guess my question really is, if the Brewhaus PSII HC is capable of getting to the max abv of 95-96% then why spend so much more to do the same thing. I'll admit those big fluted monsters are works of art (I saw a pic of Conan's Still Dragon-WOW) but why spend all that extra cash for a Hillbilly or Still Dragon.
Thanks, Todd

Hi Bushy, I agree for the price you cant beat it and 90% to 93% is good enough for me. I'll be happy if I hit in the 80's on my first few tries.
Thanks, Todd

A vacume still uses a vacume pump to help in the separation of one element in the solution being distilled. The one on Homedistiller is a small scale lab glass set up. Mother Earth News has vacume still plans on a larger scale for fuel alcohol but the design is inferior to the comercial stills used for producing ethanol for pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses.

Oh BTW there seems to be one name that continuously crops up on every thread whether or not what is said has anything to do with the thread, so I guess we all know who the "Know It All" is big wheel's talking about.

Have Fun!

Did those big, mean boys over at HD hurt your feelings again? Or are you just feeling a bit emboldened since you can yap from behind the master's leg on this forum? Give it a rest tough guy. lol

Hi Bigwheel,
This is a formal request to you from me. In the two post threads I have had so far you have managed to draw off or side track the discussion thread to where I have asked to get back on track 3 times and the site admisistrator had to issue a warning and modify my first thread. My goal is to learn and your need to respond to everyone who tries to answer is keeping members from responding with the result of not me not learning. I would appreciate that if you can not offer responses that pertain to the thread subject and let others respond without respoding to them that you do not post in threads I have started.
Thank you, Maddawgs

Stillpickle,
I have a BH PSII, it's an older unit. It has the 2" column I also use propane to heat mine. I have not had any issues with it since i moved it into my hooch shack (garage). When I use it in reflux it's a bit more work keeping the temp adjusted but don't fret it you'll get the hang of it. My last reflux run I ran off 92% abv I damn near had a heart attack. In fact the fumes that day wore me out. I ran that run outside (mistake b/c the wind and sun effecting the temps). I've since moved the operation inside (i do have an exhause fan in the garage, thankfully). My last several runs have been UJSM running it in pot mode which to me is easier to run no need to chase the temp gauge. I'm still pulling 60% to 70% abv in pot mode. Best of luck to you. I plan to run another UJSM sometime this weekend. I also have a sugar wash in the fermentor I plan to distill that hopefully next weekend. since it's a neutral (no taste) i'll be distilling that run in reflux.

Hi stillpickcle,
yes that makes sense. From what I've learned so far the larger the column diameter the better it will run. The 3 inch should be about twice as fast as the 2 inch. I imagine that a 4 inch would be that much faster than a 3. So you should be able to get a high abv a bit faster with a 3. I am still learning but I have to say the more research I do the more I want to get into this. Now i just need the money tree to drop some cash so I can start the hands on research :):).
Todd

The Brewhaus PSII is a CM(coolant management) type reflux still. The other two types of reflux stills are VM(vapour management) or LM(liquid management). Each of these still types are suitable for making a "neutral" spirit, basically vodka. The packing they use causes the vapour to condense and evaporate numerous times allowing them to produce a very high alcohol percentage while also stripping away most of the flavor of the distilate.

The flute is also a type of CM still. Sort of. The difference is that it uses plates instead of packing and the plate number will ultimately determine the amount of times it is distilled. The flute is a home sized copy of a type of still made by Carl Stills(and others but if i remember correctly OD used a Carl schematic for his design) and Carl sells them as "modern pot stills".
The condensor at the top of the still is called a "deflagulator" and is used to load the plates. Once they are loaded the water is turned down, almost off to the deflag and collection begins. At this point you can think of each plate as a simple thump keg. So four plates means four thumpers.
http://homedistiller.org/theory/refluxdesign/steps
There is a chart on this page that shows basic percentages for each time redistilled. You can see that HillBillys getting 88% with 4 plates is about right.
So whats the point of this fancy still that costs much more to buy or build and makes a lower percentage abv%? Flavor. When making whisky retaining flavor in the distillate is the goal. Bourbon rules require an abv of less then 80% and most commerical bourbons come off much less then that. Most full flavored whiskey(bourbon, scotch, irish ect.) are coming off the still around 70%. And for traditional pot stillers thats usually two or three times distilling. The flute(plated column still or modern pot still) allows you to produce a full flavored distillate at a desireable abv in a single run. The commercial versions allow you to disable plates so you can adjust to exactly what you want coming out the final condensor. OD included plate disabling in his second flute design but if you want one like that you are going to have to build it yourself. As far as i know Hillbilly is only selling their version of the first "magic flute".