The influence of the height of the mash column on the quality of the product. How to use a mash column correctly: step-by-step instructions for a moonshiner. moonshine stills with steamer

The mash column is alcohol mashine direct-flow type, equipped with a refrigerator. It allows you to obtain alcohol in the region of 85–90 degrees of strength, while maintaining fruit or grain flavor notes in the drink. The difference from a classic distiller lies in the shape of the apparatus and the strength of the resulting moonshine. We do not reach the rectification column either in terms of strength or quality of the product (the rectified product is much purer).

The quality of the product depends on the skill of the moonshiner, because equipment requires precise and rather “gentle” settings. We will show you how to use it correctly to get moonshine of adequate quality. Otherwise, what’s the point of giving away serious money and chasing something unknown.

1.5-inch mash column “Alkopribor Master” (11 thousand rubles).

Differences between a mash column and a conventional moonshine still with a steamer (distiller)

Oddly enough, the mash column looks more like a distiller rather than a distillation column. They very similar in the following ways:

Classic distiller with steamer.

The resulting moonshine is aromatic. IN mash column Alcohol vapor purification is not strong enough to eliminate all taste and odor. The output is a distillate of very high strength or under-rectified.
The degree of purification is usually about the same. Due to the complexity of setup, moonshiners usually do not use all the capabilities of this equipment. The slightest movement and haste can lead to the fact that the product can become saturated with harmful fractions in a second. This is especially noticeable when a 90-degree product is diluted with clean 40-degree water. The smell of fusel is revealed in all its glory. By following the rules of distillation, the quality can be significantly improved.

The taste of rectified and distillate is very easy to distinguish.

But the difference between the product manufactured on the distiller and mash column, it is extremely difficult to distinguish. Especially if the distillation is going on at random.

Let's now look at differences that are found in these devices. They are quite significant, so they must be taken into account when choosing equipment for work:

The presence of a reflux condenser is considered the main difference.

Different appearance . The distiller usually consists of a steamer and a refrigerator connected to each other by steam pipes. A mash column is a structure made of a pipe, a reflux condenser and a refrigerator.
Different strengths of moonshine. The distiller can produce up to 65 degrees during the second distillation, but usually people start to give up their tails and end up with something around 55 degrees. The column will make you up to 90% alcohol without any problems.
Different distillation technologies. Due to the presence of a reflux condenser, the entire process is aimed at the most accurate selection of the head fractions from the main product. The quality of the resulting alcohol will depend on how well the moonshiner succeeds.
Different price. The mash column is obviously more expensive, as it requires more material and serious work by craftsmen.
Difficulty of care. Conventional moonshine stills are quite difficult to clean properly. There will always be some foreign smell in the steam pipes, which can only be gotten rid of very quickly. The column usually has clamp connections, so cleaning does not take much time and effort.

Each of the devices has its own advantages and disadvantages. But in most cases, the beer column still wins, as it has more opportunities to work.

Differences between a mash column and a distillation column

If the mash column leaves some odors and flavor notes at the exit, then rectification produces the purest alcohol 96% strength. This is the main difference that pulls everything else along with it:

Additional modules. To obtain a pure rectified product, you just need to add 1-2 drawers, fill them and carefully monitor the product fractions.
Height and dimensions. The rectifier turns out to be larger and higher, so choose a room convenient for you in advance.
Operation speed. The stronger the product, the longer it needs to be selected.
Various price. Due to additional modules, you will have to pay more for a distillation column than for a mash column.

“More expensive, more efficient and slower” - this is how you can describe a rectification apparatus in three words.

So which device is better to choose?

The one that suits you best.

Distiller with steamer. Inexpensive. The result is a very aromatic and tasty moonshine. The purity of the product is not ideal, but quite acceptable.
Brass Column. More expensive. It is more difficult to work with, but the resulting product can be stronger and purer. Taste notes partially remain.
Distillation column. A little expensive. Pure alcohol 96.6%, tasteless and odorless. For lovers of classic vodka, this is the best thing you can come up with.

There is no middle ground here. Any equipment is more convenient, pleasant or familiar for someone.

That's why focus primarily on your desires, not the opinions of other people. You can get a very decent result out of each device if you wish.

The modern market for home moonshine stills offers two basic types of stainless steel construction: a classic distiller with a steamer and a mash (film) column. And as always, the consumer has a logical question: (we recommend choosing a device with a distillation column of the brand)? Which is better: a simple moonshine still or a mash column?

Let's look at the features of both designs and conduct a comparative analysis.

Common to both types of construction

Both the classic distiller and the distiller equipped with a mash column are suitable for everyone. It is also preferable to re-distill on both, although experienced distillers are able to obtain a distillate of passable quality on either device after the first distillation. Both designs imply protection of the cooler from the ingress of mash drops (splash carryover). Both designs of devices are manufactured with factory quality from food grade stainless steel. In both designs, autonomous (non-flowing) cooling can be used if provided by the manufacturer.

Design and main characteristics of a moonshine still with steam chamber

A classic moonshine still consists of three main blocks: alembic, a steamer and a refrigerator, represented by a long coil placed in a container with cold water. Depending on the model, such a distiller has a capacity of up to 4 liters per hour; the strength of the resulting distillate, as a rule, does not exceed 80-85 degrees. If you try very hard and carefully monitor the distillation modes, then with some models you will be able to reach the strength of 90, but this will be the limit. The distillate obtained in a distiller with a steamer retains the flavor and aromatic characteristics of the raw materials used to prepare the mash. This is why it is most often appreciated homemade moonshine. The distillation temperature is maintained by controlling the heating of the distillation cube (using a thermometer in the cube).

If the design provides for a collapsible steam chamber, then it is possible to aromatize alcohol vapors immediately during the distillation process. This is one of the important advantages of “classics”.

No special preparation of the apparatus is required before distillation.

Design features of the mash column. The nuances of working with her

The similarity between the design of the mash (or film) column and the “classic” design ends with the distillation cube. Above the cube there is a column curved in an inverted U shape. Its ascending part is equipped with a water reflux condenser (cooling “jacket”), and its descending part is a cooler.

Thanks to the dephlegmator, a strictly defined temperature can be maintained in the column. And this is its main advantage over a classic distiller: thanks to precise temperature control, there is a clearer separation of fractions. This is especially important when separating the head fraction. And impurities with a boiling point higher than that of ethanol (fusel oils, tail impurities) condense in the column and flow down as a film along the walls of the column back into the cube. That's why it's called film. This is how unwanted impurities are removed. And rising hot vapors snatch ethyl alcohol molecules from the condensate. At the same time, the couples are solidly strengthened.

Thus, on the column it is important to monitor the readings of the thermometer on the column, and in the cube the mash can boil quite actively.

It is important to keep in mind that if there is no reflux condenser on the column, then what you have in front of you is not a mash column, but simply a steel steam pipe. And it has nothing to do with high-quality cleaning and strengthening of alcohol vapors.

Before distillation, the column must be prepared. The instructions describe in detail the mode of operation of the column “on its own” for 15-20 minutes. It is also important to learn how to correctly and smoothly regulate the water supply for cooling the reflux condenser. That is, you need to learn how to control the column. However, with proper operation, it allows you to obtain a distillate with a strength of up to 90-95 degrees, and the productivity of such devices reaches 5-7 l/hour (during the second distillation). With the maximum degree of purification of the distillate, the taste and aromatic notes of the original raw material practically disappear, because the result is almost pure alcohol with a minimum of impurities. If the mash column is supplemented with a regular stainless steel or copper packing, then it becomes a distillation column. We wrote about its advantages over the “classics” in one of ours. It is impossible to aromatize alcohol vapors during the distillation process simply on a column; it is necessary to purchase an additional aroma basket (if provided by the manufacturer).

Which is better: a mash column or a moonshine still of a classic design?

The answer depends on what drinks you prefer. If it is enough to get moonshine in its classical sense, with the organoleptics (flavor and aromatic properties) of the raw materials, then a regular distiller with a steamer will do. And if you need to get the most pure alcohol, strong, with a good yield, and you want to work a little more on distillation, then a mash column will be needed. If you do not observe the strict temperature conditions, then here you can get a slightly less strong product, but with the taste and aroma of the raw materials.

Why do you use pure alcohol at home? For preparation, for example, obtained at home. The quality of vodka is especially important when preparing medicinal tinctures and balms.

The question of what a mash column is will sooner or later arise for any moonshiner. Why? Firstly, because creative people are inquisitive. And separating liquids is a very creative hobby. Secondly, you always want something better. You buy a small, inexpensive entry-level moonshine still, just to try it. The design is simple, I spent little money, the device is securely attached to a mug and distills the same volume of mash. Or even floats in a basin for cooling. You can store it in a shoe box from under light sandals. It’s worth understanding the operating principle once, doing the first run, getting some results and... You understand that sandals are more useful for real life.

Then you are looking for something more serious, larger. A more reliable moonshine still with a more efficient refrigerator to get high-quality moonshine. However, the price for this one is several times, if not an order of magnitude, higher. Having added the price for the first, experimental one, and added the cost of postage, you understand that you should first thoroughly understand your requirements for the device, and then pay money and waste time on experiments.

And then you notice that in addition to “distillers” there are also “columns”, and the most diverse ones - rectification, film, mash. The operating principle of the latter and its difference from a classic distiller are discussed in this article.

The mash column is a “distiller+”, so to understand how it works, let’s remember how a classic moonshine still works.

From the distillation cube, that is, any heated container with mash (or wine, beer, any alcohol-containing liquid), the steam enters the refrigerator, where it condenses back into liquid and is poured into a receiving container. There are a great variety of moonshine still designs. In some, alcohol vapor enters a refrigerator hanging somewhere to the side of the distillation cube. In others, it rises strictly vertically along a frame filled with filling to improve heat and mass transfer. In third cases, the steam passes through a separate steam steam module to leave dirty “tails” in it. We can continue, but the principle of operation is the same: ethyl alcohol evaporates from the mash at a temperature of 78.3 C if the atmospheric pressure is 766 mm Hg. Art. In a certain range around this temperature, fractions that are acceptable for consumption boil; everything that is higher or lower than acceptable is cut off in the form of poisonous “heads” and stinking “tails.”

Medical alcohol is produced in industrial rectifiers, the height of which is tens and tens of meters. Somewhat inconvenient for home brewing, right?

But the mash column is a compromise solution between a rectifier and a distiller. What happens in the mash column? The mash column (BC) consists of a separately located reflux condenser and a refrigerator, which are connected to each other by a steam pipe. Unlike a distiller, cooling of the BC is organized both in a reflux condenser and in a refrigerator-condenser. However, the purposes of each of the two cooling circuits are different. If in the BC refrigerator, as in the refrigerator of a classic moonshine still, steam condenses into alcohol and cooling promotes the exit of the final product from the apparatus, then the cooling circuit of the reflux condenser (a pipe that is installed directly on the container with mash) serves to prevent a certain part from entering steam in the refrigerator, cool it in advance and send it back to the cube.

For what? Of course, to strengthen the alcohol. If we return everything or almost everything that is not drinking moonshine to the container with the mash, then theoretically only ethyl alcohol will end up in the refrigerator! In practice this is, of course, not the case. Distillation, unlike rectification, is a constant flow of steam to the refrigerator; any adjustments to this flow are met with the inertia of a dynamic system. That is, with increasing cooling of the reflux condenser, some of the heavy-boiling fractions manage to break into the refrigerator. The percentage of ethyl content in the distillation cube is constantly changing (after all, we are selecting it), because of this, the temperature of the steam also changes with constant heating, which means we need to turn the cooling tap of the reflux condenser again, causing the same inertial breakthrough of the fusel into the selection.

What do we get with a mash column instead of a simple distiller?

Better quality, stronger alcohol; increased water consumption; complication of design; the need for constant adjustment and monitoring of the reflux condenser temperature.

The main “advantage” of such a column is obvious; it is the goal of any moonshiner. However, the “cons” make you think: maybe there is something simpler and less labor-intensive to achieve the main goal? Maybe there is a not-so-simple distiller?

Of course there is, and we are ready to offer a powerful moonshine still, ready to compete with many mash columns in terms of alcohol yield (up to 94%!!!). Thanks to the original design and additional cooling of the reflux condenser, it shows excellent results even when selecting raw alcohol. And its main advantage is that, significantly strengthening the alcohol, it does not require any adjustments during the distillation process, nor additional fiddling with taps.

Brass column “Baby”

In terms of design, the mash column is something between a distiller and a full-fledged distillation column. From the distillation column it has a reflux condenser, from the distiller there is a flow-through refrigerator for the finished product.

The mash column consists of two parts - a reflux condenser and a condenser. Each part has its own refrigerators, which operate autonomously and can be adjusted. Fine adjustments on the reflux condenser cooler are especially important. IN homemade columns You can install a valve regulator from a heating battery on the water inlet pipe. It allows you to achieve fairly acceptable results.

Dephlegmator

It is a vertical section of a tube with a diameter of at least 22 mm and a length of 65-80 cm. In any case, the height should be 30 or more times greater than the internal diameter. At a lower height, the column will work, but the effect of its use will not affect the quality of the product. You should not get carried away with too high a height - the inertia of the device will increase and, consequently, energy consumption. The maximum d/l ratio should not exceed 45.

The reflux condenser is equipped with a refrigerator (in the upper part). This can be a coil wound on a column, a built-in coil or a water jacket (which is technologically more complex and is only available on industrially manufactured devices). The column is installed on the distillation cube strictly vertically. The upper part is connected to the condenser by a pipe; its structure will be discussed below.

In the upper part of the column (side wall) it is necessary to provide a socket for a thermometer. This is a mandatory attribute, without which it is impossible to work with the mash column.

Like distillation column, the mash works on the principle of heat and mass transfer between the flowing reflux and hot vapors rising from the cube. Similar processes occur in distillation column, but in the mash house they are as simplified as possible - there are no fillers, plates, attachments, etc. Reflux flows down the walls, so-called film heat and mass transfer occurs.

In translation, this means that phlegm, cooled to a certain temperature, flows down, is heated by vapor along the way, alcohol additionally evaporates from it and continues to move to the condenser, and high-boiling fractions remain liquid and flow into the cube.

Such a system assumes that the walls of the column will be cold enough and the reflux will not evaporate again. Therefore, unlike rectifiers, the column should not be insulated.

Capacitor

It is no different from the refrigerator of a conventional moonshine still - a distiller. Any design can be used. Steam enters the coil already purified from fusel oils and installing a steamer will not give any result.

How does a mash column work?

Steam from the distillation cube enters the mash column and gradually fills it. When the temperature reaches 50-55 C (on the cube), the reflux condenser refrigerator turns on. The vapors condense on the walls of the column and flow down. Along the way they come into contact with steam, and the low-boiling fractions rise upward, entering the condenser through the steam line. The selection of goals begins.

When T=72 C is reached (at the top of the column), the selection of heads stops and a vessel for the main product is placed under the pipe. The selection of heads and the main distillation occur with a minimum level of heating and constant adjustment of the water flow in the reflux condenser.

The condenser refrigerator does not need adjustment. On the cube, the maximum temperature should not exceed 95 C. With rapid boiling, the column simply cannot cope with the separation of fractions and will turn into an ordinary distiller.

What's better?

The mash column has a number of undeniable advantages:

high level of alcohol purification (lower than that of a distillation column, but an order of magnitude higher than a dry steam tank);
relative simplicity of design (no more complicated than a distiller);
convenient to use.

In terms of energy consumption per unit of production, both types of devices are approximately equal, as well as in the cost of materials for independent production.

If you find a mash column in online stores, you can safely buy it. But only if its price is not much higher than the distiller. A reasonable difference is 10-15%. Many manufacturers offer mash columns at twice the price. This is economically and technologically unjustified. It's easier to do it yourself.

The process of distillation on a mash column will be interesting for both beginners and experienced moonshiners, allowing you to get a good product without much difficulty.

Column moonshine stills are becoming increasingly popular among connoisseurs in the business of moonshine. And this is no coincidence, because the column allows you to purify alcohol much better than a dry steamer, and also obtain a distillate of a higher strength. Yes and control temperature regime distillation with a little skill is much more convenient and simpler. And this, in turn, contributes to a more accurate separation of fractions.

But the columns are also different. There are mash (film) columns, and there are rectification columns. How to choose, what's the difference? And which is better: a mash column or a rectification column? Let's figure it out.

Briefly about the mash column and the principle of its operation

The mash column is a hollow tube above alembic. But the tube must be equipped with a reflux condenser. This is a kind of “shirt” of the column, a refrigerator that allows you to set the desired temperature in the column. It is thanks to this feature that precise cutting off of fractions occurs: by adjusting the temperature by degrees, it’s as if you are lowering a barrier in the path of the vapors. In the column, thanks to the reflux condenser, partial condensation of the vapors that rise from the distillation cube occurs. Ethyl alcohol vapor passes through the reflux condenser without hindrance. And substances with more high temperature the boiling points settle on the walls of the column and flow back into the cube as a film (phlegm). And new hot portions of alcohol vapor are strengthened by the molecules of ethyl alcohol remaining in the phlegm. The mash column allows you to obtain a highly purified distillate with a strength of up to 90-95 degrees. It is often called a distillation column, but this is not entirely correct.

What is a distillation column

If you turn to Wikipedia for knowledge, it will become clear that the distillation column must have contact “platforms” - nozzles or “plates” - inside its vertical cylinder. Therefore, distillation columns can be packed or plate-shaped. And only in the case when the column is filled with regular packings (or “plates”) - i.e. it is not hollow - it can be called rectifying.

In the case of moonshine stills, the nozzles are also called drawers. Regular attachments can be made of stainless steel or copper. They are designed to increase the internal surface area of the column, and in the case of copper, to additionally adsorb harmful impurities, since it is chemically active. This plays a particularly important role in the distillation of wines, grape and grain mashes. Such a column is also necessarily equipped with a reflux condenser. And so the rectification column allows us to obtain alcohol of the maximum degree of purification and the highest possible strength - 96 degrees. This is already rectified alcohol. If you want (we recommend choosing a branded device), make sure that the manufacturer has equipped it with regular attachments (or it has a disc structure).