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Mile High vs. Hillbilly


CConway3380

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Hello all. New to ADI and distilling and looking to get a larger home setup to help practice for a larger commercial still down the road. I have had my eye on the Mile High 26/53 gal with 4-6 sections of flutes.  I like the versatility of the Milehigh still and the fact that the flute sections come apart individually to be able to add or take away when necessary.   I also like that it comes in both stainless and copper.   Hillbilly seems to make a really nice still as well in the same price point. 

Just wanted to see if anyone else has done this comparison and if there are any links to any previous discussions. No sense in reinventing the wheel. Also perhaps there are other comparable manufacturers I'm not aware of. Trying to keep the budget for all equipment to $5k.

Thanks in advance!

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None of the above.  Silk is right, testing before permitting is a felony.  

 

Assuming you know that, I'd take a serious look at this:  https://www.distillery-equipment.com/45 gallon Still.htm

Jacketted, modular, and can add an agitator...

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Back when i started I looked at both those guys heavily. I ended up buying the mile hi 4" 4 plate column setup but got the boiler controller and some supplies from hillbilly.   In the end the all copper setup lost out to the modular mile hi. 

 

That all said, had still dragon been going at that point it would have been different. Now, still dragon seems to offer almost everything a fella could want. 

 

Two exceptions. First mile hi perf plates for the 4" are superior TO SD perf plates and easily keep up with flow rates on the pro cap SD for vodka purposes. 

Second, when it came time for a larger boiler, I sourced a custom design from china directly for a fraction of the cost of anything from SD or the others. 

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Modular is a nice way to learn.  You can start with pot still distillation - arguable the easiest.  Then move on to trays, where now you add the complexity of operating the reflux.

I wouldn't ever recommend perf plates for a beginner over bubble caps.  Cap trays are much more forgiving and have a wider effective operating range.

 

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I would just do a keg still and a 4" flue from still dragon.  Less than $1500.  Plenty big to develop recipes, although as mentioned above illegal.   If you go commercial you will need something a lot larger, so buy the big still once.   While I know one distiller who started with two 26 gal stills they were both quickly replaced by a 100 gallon. 

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