The Still: It’s all about Copper

Hello again from Bully Boy Distillers. As we mentioned in the last blog entry, we’ve ordered a six hundred liter, Artisan Pot Still. The still is being hand-crafted by Kothe Distilling Technologies in Germany, and it will make its journey across the Atlantic sometime in late August. The still is constructed almost entirely of copper, a material that plays a critical role in the distilling process. To understand why, you need to know something about how spirits are manufactured. Let’s start from the beginning.

The first step in manufacturing any spirit is fermentation. Technically you can ferment anything with starch, but taste, cost, and practicality favor basic grains and fruits (think corn, wheat, apples, etc.). During fermentation, starches are converted to sugars, a process that is facilitated by the introduction of enzymes. The end result is a slightly alcoholic “mash” that is transferred to the pot portion of the still (the stout apparatus in the picture below). The “mash” is then heated, and as the temperature within the still begins to rise, vapor is produced, with low-boiling congeners (i.e., acetaldehyde, methanol, and certain esters) rising first, then ethanol, and then higher-boiling congeners (i.e., fusel alcohols). The vapor then travels through a series of condensers, which convert it back into a liquid. The lower-boiling congeners, the “heads,” are disposed of, as are the higher-boiling congeners, the “tails.” The ethanol, or “hearts,” forms the base of the finished product. So, why is copper a critical material in a still? As the “heads,” “hearts,” and “tails” are making their way through the still, they contain noxious sulfides. The copper neutralizes the sulfides, and in the process it helps create a cleaner, better tasting product. Not all stills are made of copper, but for artisan distillers committed to quality over quantity, there is no substitute.


















We’ve been getting requests for tours of the “vault.” Practicality prevents any on-site tastings, but here are a few pictures.