Still design - copper heads/domes

[Dominat]

I am baffled by the range of design and combinations of copper heads on stills - balls, teardrops, witches hats, etc, with and without plate columns, not to mention the various angles of lyne arms, etc etc. 

I am looking to produce tasteful gin from GNS. Does any one have any expertise they could share on the pros and cons, from this perspective, of the different combination of stand alone copper heads, or of the copper head in combination with a column?

regards 

[indyspirits]

making source spirit or purchasing?

 

 

[Julius]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:05 AM, Dominat said:

I am baffled by the range of design and combinations of copper heads on stills - balls, teardrops, witches hats, etc, with and without plate columns, not to mention the various angles of lyne arms, etc etc. 

I am looking to produce tasteful gin from GNS. Does any one have any expertise they could share on the pros and cons, from this perspective, of the different combination of stand alone copper heads, or of the copper head in combination with a column?

regards 

One way to start, pick out your five favorite spirits (gin in this case since you are making gin) and look at what type of still produced them. 

[adamOVD]

The debate on still head shape and lyne arms goes back thousands of years. My personal thoughts are that unless you are using your still like a pot still for making whiskeys and whatnot it doesn't matter that much. For a gin i'm sure it makes a difference, but not as much your botanical selection and infusion method. Probably not even as much as your heat source. If you are only making gin from GNS there is no need for a column as your alcohol is already separated to over 95%.

However, I've been thinking lately if you could increase your yield at the end of a gin run by using reflux just at the end of the botanical run to hold back the too earthy botanicals in your "tails" cut.

[Dominat]

@indyspirits - buying in