Basic LM/VM Reflux Still

Basic rectifiaction column with two systems based on Bokakob design. Basic LM/VM Still

• For neutral spirit
• For whisky/ fruit spirits
• Easy to operate, best for beginners

Basic is the best choice for those, who have no or little experience with home distilling. It’s very intuitive, easy-to-operate and has a wery vide upgrade ability, if you decide to love your new hobby. It has two main ways to operate:

1. LM, liquid management, where you regulate the output of the liquid dripping from the little valve in the head. More you open it, the more flavour you get, so it’s the best system for grain and fruit spirits, whisky, brandy, and all the products whre the flavour and aroma is the key.

2. VM, vapour management (the one with ball valve), where you take ethanol vapour from the column and cool it down in the side condenser. It’s designed for neutral spirits, so if you want to make your own vodka, or need some neutral base for fruit maceration, tinctutres and schnapps, it the system you should use. The quality of the product is so good, you do not need to use carbon filtration. 

Here's a video-manual of making neutral alcohol on the Basic still (turn on english subs):

The whole setup is complete, you only need to provide: some cooling water- garden hose or shower will do (inlet is 1/2”); the electricity for heating elements (4000W in total) and some jar to collect your product. In our Accessories page you find pure silicon hoses if you want to collect your product on the floor or just not directly beneath the outputs. 

Heating is done by two seprate heating elements, 2000W (2kW), 230V each. These are ULWD (Ultra Low Watt Density) elements, so the heating power is evenly distrybuted over the large surface of the elements. Risk of burning is minimized, and you can boil even thicker mashes, such as ligh fruit pulp, wine with fruits or roughly filtred grain mash. Elements are equipped with power cords (EU plug) and the power regulator, so you can adjust the heating power to the mash you are using. Thicker the mash- lower the power. Simple as that, and very effective.

Still height is 150cm (plus the boiler: 30l is ~40cm, 50l is ~60cm), the width is 54mm. Column is packed up to the head (the section with the valves), standard packing are stainless scrubbers, from the drop-down list on the top you could choose stainless SPP (Spiral Prismatic Packing), which is only a little more expensive, but it doubles the column resolution (which leads to better quality of the neutral product).  

The column (divided in two sections, 75cm each) is joined with the boiler with Tri -Clamp joint, easily operated with one hand and long-lasting. Two sections are joined with our flange systems (4 M8 screws), which is compatibile with our add-ons (for aromatisation, gin, etc) and extensions (to acheive longer packing section). All of the add-ons, extensions and upgrade components are to find at Accessories section of our Store. At he top of the column you put the top coil condenser, which is made from thin-wall copper pipe and has excellent heat-dispersing properities, so you only need 30-40l of cold water/hour. All of the head joints are welded (TIG), and some of the minor joints are soldered (Cu3SN97, no lead). All of brass parts are food-grade, lead-free and cleared for spirts. We do have chromatography results to prove the quality of spirits produced on all of our stills!  

The Basic still is equiped with LCD thermometer with 0,1C resolution. Probe (1/2”) is settled at 3/4 of the packing height. From the drop-down menus at the top you can upgrade it to two seprarate LCD’s with two probes or our precise DS thermometer with 0.06 resolution.  In both cases, one of the probes is mounted in the head (for flavoured spirits), and the second is placed ~40cm from the boiler (for use for neutral).

Kettle is made from stainless beer keg and has a total capacity of 30l (~25l operational capacity), which may be upgraded to 50l (~45l operational). As mentioned before, it has two ULWD heating elements with plastic covers. Besides that, it’s equipped with additional inlet (3/4” with cap) and drain (also 3/4”, with ball valve). Inlet allows you to fill the ketlle without dismantling the column, and drain helps get rid of the waste mash after the process. The thicker the mashes you planning to boil, the wider inlet/drain you should choose from the drop-dwon list at the top. For fruit pulps (such as plum mash for brandy or slivovitz) we recommend 2” drain, because thinner often get clogged with pits. For ecomoical reasons, you can choose to thermo-insulate the kettle with rubber foam- it helps save some energy during the proces, and minimises risk of accidental burning your leg ;) If you plan to distill flavoured spirits mostly, you can add additional thermometer in the kettle. 

To sum up, The Basic still set consist of:

• Two packed sections of the copper column, 75cm each

• 30l keg-type kettle with two heating elements, 2000W each + elements covers
• Power regulator and power cable (EU plug)
• VM condenser with ball valve and PVC hose
• Gaskets and screws
• Tri-Clamp clamp with gasket
• Top coil condenser
• LCD thermometer with 1/2” cap with convenient holder
• Printed manual (English)