need help deciding on a 100 gallon still for rum

[rkirk]

We are in the very beginning stages of potentially starting a rum distillery and have been looking for a bigger still. We have learned and fine tuned our flavor with a small still and would like to scale up now to larger pot still. We have been looking around for a affordable pot still around 100 to 150 gallons for a start up. I have seen several alembic pot stills from Hoga Company and copper-alembic.com and was wondering if anyone has any experience using these for distilling rum. Do you usually run these stills over direct heat or is a steam system possible in these?

We are also looking into spending quite a bit more money for a still. I have seen several 100 gallons still with various configurations, sensors, and automated temperature controls from 35k to 75k while the alembic stills are under 10k. Do the more expensive stills really make that much of a difference in quality of rum and would it be worth the initial investment? If they do, could you please provide some good manufacturers to look into? Also, since we are new to this, which one would be the easiest to work with in your opinion?

[Curtis McMillan]

Jesse at www.neverstandsstill.com

[ViolentBlue]

We are in the very beginning stages of potentially starting a rum distillery and have been looking for a bigger still. We have learned and fine tuned our flavor with a small still and would like to scale up now to larger pot still. We have been looking around for a affordable pot still around 100 to 150 gallons for a start up. I have seen several alembic pot stills from Hoga Company and copper-alembic.com and was wondering if anyone has any experience using these for distilling rum. Do you usually run these stills over direct heat or is a steam system possible in these?

We are also looking into spending quite a bit more money for a still. I have seen several 100 gallons still with various configurations, sensors, and automated temperature controls from 35k to 75k while the alembic stills are under 10k. Do the more expensive stills really make that much of a difference in quality of rum and would it be worth the initial investment? If they do, could you please provide some good manufacturers to look into? Also, since we are new to this, which one would be the easiest to work with in your opinion?

I can help you out with that.

recently quoted a 150 gallon steam jacketed potstill for about 10k

we're working on a flexible control system that is currently set up for electric, but could be used for steam control.

as far as what kind of still you need? that depends on what kind of rum you're making.

a deeply flavored Caribian rum is made on a potstill with 2 thumpers, where as a lighter rum may benifit from a plated column.

there are many choices out there, don't fit your product to a still, but find the right still to produce your product.

[rkirk]

I can help you out with that.

recently quoted a 150 gallon steam jacketed potstill for about 10k

we're working on a flexible control system that is currently set up for electric, but could be used for steam control.

We have looked into an electric still but have not thought to hard about using it due to energy costs and possible long heating times. But how well does professional quality electrically heated still work on one similar to the one you discussed above compared to a steam controlled still? The small still we currently use is electric and it takes several hours to heat to temperature and we waste half a day just waiting to start producing.

[Gwydion Stone]

I've used the alembic stills from Portugal for absinthe, gin, rum, whisky and brandy, and achieved stellar results with all of them. You might want to try one out (my custom-built 130 gallon absinthe alembic came in around $7000 including shipping and customs). The Al-Ambique 100 liter (26 gallon) whisky still looks to be a good candidate for whisky and rum and runs € 2622.19 (about $3,700). I'm sure they could build a larger version if you wanted one.

Personally, while I've never used one of the modern hybrid stills, the shape looks all wrong for pot-still spirits. Too many sharp angles and narrow vapor paths creates early reflux, sacrificing flavor. The pot-still spirits I've tasted from these units seem to support that theory. I recently tasted a whisky from a popular microdistillery that uses a hybrid column/pot still, and all I could taste was oak. It was like a barrel-aged vodka.

My advice: observe the shapes of the stills used by the best whisky and rum makers, and go for that.

[nick jones]

In regard to your question about spending more for automation, I'd recommend you hold off on that decision. You say that you've got your system and recipe more or less dialed in, so if I were you I'd choose a still that is as similar to the still you've been using as possible.

Even if the consistency of your ingredients and fermentations were perfect and you were always charging your still with an identical wash (which won't be the case), the various temperatures, pressures, and times in your distillation are not necessarily a very reliable gauge of the quality of your spirit; the most reliable tool at your disposal will be your palate. I recommend making your cuts on that basis, and if down the line you find that you are consistently making cuts at X temperature or Y volume of distillate, then retrofit some automation into your process at that point.

The one piece of technology that I MIGHT recommend for a user-friendly still would be steam heating. The benefit of steam is it is nearly impossible to burn your wash, so you don't have to worry so much about your assistant distillers getting in too much of a hurry and ruining a batch of spirit. That being said, if direct fire is part of your process already and you consider it indespensable to your flavor profile, I think you would be wise to look into finding a direct-fired still similar to the one you're using and obtaining some sort of cricket paddle for punishing careless assistants.

Good luck!

Nick