First Impressions Mile Hi Flute

Posted by Rick on 17th Apr 2013

Even though I'm a novice Distiller, I was determined to own the very best I could get. I decided on the Mile Hi Flute.
My Flute was delivered safe & well packed. I watched the assembly video, and attached it to a keg with the 2x4 reducer/adapter. (I discovered I needed an extension to allow room for the "down-comer" on the bottom copper plate stage, which interferes with the taper of the 2x4 reducer, Mike was VERY helpful resolving this)
My Brother & I did a vinegar & water run to clean & cheack for leaks. (Flute was VERY CLEAN as delivered. But it's safer to run vinegar/water to check for leaks.) Once this was done, we emptied the boiler/keg and did a 50/50, vodka/water run. WOW! I'm a novice but this piece of equipment runs very well! Almost runs itself. Very easy & intuitive to run. We put 2 gallons of watered down cheap vodka in at 20% strength. We did the run and in 40 minutes got almost a half gallon of 80% out of it. Nice. And that cheap vodka came out smoother at 160 proof than the original 80 proof. ( it IS obviously stronger & "warmer" of course, but smooth) We can't wait to run an actual sugar wash. I don't expect any problems. I DO expect my skills to improve as I learn to get the most out this excellent piece of equipment. THANKS, to Mile HI & to Mike for his personal customer service!