iStill optimized the perforated plate design for minimized vapor speed disruption. Minimized disruption translates into a more free, less interrupted vapor flow for higher run performance (more liters per hour) and better flavor consistency (better control over smearing, cuts, and taste).

The specially designed downcomer boosts inter-plate heat-transfer. Colder liquids above a plate are transferred to the warmer environment below that plate, resulting in a more gradual temperature gradient in the column. The almost complete absence of temperature shock inside the column further boosts performance (in liters of output per hour) and stabilizes flavor composition.

“How do you create and manage reflux?” is the central question, when operating a plated still. Traditionally, a plated still is managed via cooling management. Add more coolant to the dephlag and you create more reflux, higher proof, more purity, and less flavor. Add less coolant to the dephlagmator, and the plated column starts to smear more flavors into the New Make, at lower ABV.

iStill’s APC unit measures current air pressure on a second-to-second basis. If the air pressure changes, the iStill automatically adapts the cut points for heads, hearts, and tails, to secure spirit reproducibility. In plain English? The iStill Plated Still helps make the same product, consistently, over and over again.

No need to manually deploy additional plates. No more need to bypass plates either. You dial in what strength and purity you want your spirit to come over, and the iStill Plated Still will deploy the exact needed number of plates and the depth of the redistillation baths automatically.

Depending on what flavors you are looking for in your drink, you can dial in how you want the iStill Plated Still to execute the heads, hearts, and tails cuts. ACM works together closely with iStill’s build-in air pressure controls.

You can dial in the proof or percentage at which you want your spirit to come over. The iStill Plated Still supports any percentage from 40% to 94%. You dial it in, the iStill does the rest, saving you time and money.

The RC processes reflux one final time, before it exits the column, and re-enters the boiler. In doing so, it boosts total column performance, just by itself, with a whopping 20%. This results in a more stable run, energy savings, and higher production rates.

The Plated iStill comes with four perforated plates. The two bottom plates and the two top plates are separated via an Anti Entrainment Zone. The AEZ prevents unwanted, late tails traveling up the column and infecting your New Make Spirit.

The iStill Plated Still uses the last bit of alcohol from the run to sanitize the still post operation. It does so automatically. The iStill Plated Still also uses the first bit of alcohol of the next run to automatically clean out column, plates, coolers and cuts selector at the beginning of that next run. The benefit? It saves you an hour of cleaning per day or per run.

In case imperfect fermentations result in higher than wished for sulfur counts, copper – as a catalyst – can clean up the contamination. But a copper column would add two hours to your daily cleaning protocols and copper facilitates the formation of ethyl carbamate (a carcinogenic). That’s why we developed CFT. All iStills come equipped with a CFT waffle that can be inserted low in the column and that takes care of any sulfur contamination without any of the downsides of a completely copper column.