Contents
BK “Gorilych Aroma” are produced by the Chelyabinsk plant of distillation apparatus. This company is not new to the market and its products are well known. The assortment includes a dozen of diverse moonshine stills of various levels, mash and distillation columns. Among the beer columns, the flagship of the enterprise is “Gorilych Aroma”. Let us consider in detail the capabilities and composition of this equipment.
Stills
The device can be equipped with the usual cubes of its own production “CHZDA” for 12, 15, 20, 30 and 40 liters with a neck diameter of 110 mm. The 1,5” clamp lid for column mounting is 1,5 mm thick and is secured to the cube with five winglets through a thick silicone gasket. There are no complaints about the tightness of this connection, but the cube itself and its bottom are too thin. This provided a considerable amount of gray hair for the owners watching the cube with 40% raw alcohol sway and dance on a gas stove.
The safety valve, of course, is from a pressure cooker and cuts in exclusively by additional order, and for cubes of 40 liters, even a drain valve for stillage is installed.
The thermometer – bimetallic with an accuracy class of 2,5 and a scale of up to 160 degrees is installed in the steam zone of the cube and serves more for decoration. After all, its accuracy is ± 4 degrees.
The small diameter of the cubes limits the permissible heating power without the danger of uncontrolled foaming at the power level of one gas burner. And if this was normal for low-power moonshine stills, then for BC it became simply ridiculous. In general, these cubes have long ceased to satisfy the modern spoiled consumer.
They were replaced by a new generation of pot cubes. With a capacity of 12 and 21 liters, they have diameters of 250 and 300 mm. This makes it possible to work with heating powers up to 2,5-3 kW during the distillation of mash.
Cubes are made of unknown food grade stainless steel, the manufacturer does not indicate the brand. Bottom – a sandwich with a thickness of 5 mm allows you to work on induction furnaces. The thermometer remained the same, but now it is installed in a massive sleeve, which reduces the accuracy of measurements.
The blast valve is completely missing and they don’t even offer to embed it. The lid is quite thin and attaches to the cube with four clips through a decent U-shaped silicone gasket. Clamps are an unreliable option that many manufacturers have already abandoned. There are no taps for draining stillage or heating element tie-in.
Of the good, it is worth noting that the powerful rivets for fastening the handles and marking the volume inside the tank.
The equipment of cubes is acceptable only for the simplest moonshine stills and does not meet the minimum requirements for working with beer or distillation columns.
Column
“Gorilych Aroma” in its entirety looks impressive, although its stability is a matter of concern. However, with a full bulk, the column is not threatened with anything other than rocking.
The composition of the BC includes: a drawer, a “heads” selection unit, a 90-degree outlet with a sleeve for an electronic thermometer, an aroma basket, another 90-degree outlet, a refrigerator and a product collection spout with TCA. The equipment is quite interesting and modern. For domestic needs, just the ultimate dream. But let’s take a closer look at how all this is implemented in hardware.
Tsarga
Outer diameter 38 mm, length 340 mm. More than modest. The diameter determines the operating power of the column when using SPN at 960 W, at OLTC – 1150 W. The height of the column does not allow us to talk about anything other than getting fortified moonshine.
At such a height, it will not be possible to clearly select “heads” or “tails”, impurities will be smeared all over the body. One can only dream of keeping the fuselage.
Dephlegmator
The total length is 190 mm, the working length is 140 mm, the inner diameter of the four tubes is 8 mm. The steam speed at a power of 960 W will be 3,6 m/s, at 1150 W – 4,3 m/s.
What is interesting: in order to utilize 1150 W of power with a standard safety factor of 1,2, the working length of the dephlegmator must be 14 cm! That is, it was calculated absolutely correctly from the point of view of heat engineering. But there was no technologist nearby who would suggest other criteria necessary for the stable operation of the reflux condenser. It’s a shame.
If only one tube were added, then the steam velocity would drop to 2,9 and 3,4 m/s, respectively. Yes, it’s not anyhow, but it’s almost on the borderline of the possible. Well, the correct option: 4 tubes of 12 mm each and steam speed – 2,3 and 2,7 m / s. Work comfortably with any attachment, to your health!
With such characteristics of the dephlegmator, the qualitative selection of the head fraction becomes difficult, therefore, the inclusion of a “heads” selection unit in the equipment is justified.
Refrigerator
Total length – 340 mm, working – 300 mm, has 5 tubes with an internal diameter of 8 mm. Utilization power – about 2,5 kW. This is comparable to the capabilities of the rest of the equipment.
The productivity of the mash distillation with the appropriate heating power can reach up to 4 l / h. Naturally, this cannot be achieved on a gas burner.
Node selection “heads”
Made originally in the form of a glass, but the central pipe is covered with a fungus that prevents the free flow of phlegm.
Apparently, according to the designer’s idea, this module was created as a full-fledged liquid selection unit. But the gap between the lid and the steam pipe is so small that even without calculations it is clear how high the steam velocity will be there. The unit will slow down the phlegm flowing down through the side of the inner pipe, organize bubbling in the manner of a cap plate, creating conditions for premature overflow of the column.
The slot had to be made with a section not less than the sectional area of the inner steam pipe. This is a clear design error. A fitting for a thermometer in the area where supercooled phlegm flows from above, and steam comes from below – absolutely superfluous. The temperature will jump depending on how much phlegm the fitting got and how cool it is. As a result, it will not show useful information.
Aroma basket
Done with integrity. The design as a whole is correct, but as always there is an annoying trifle, well known to the owners of Magarych moonshine stills.
Remember with what words the heated lid of the cube was unscrewed? The same awaits the owners of this gin basket when they try to change the flavoring during the process. Here, a plug on a clamp connection would be much more appropriate.
Quality
The photographs of the nodes speak eloquently about the quality of the welds and their processing. It is worth emphasizing that I was not looking for some flawed specimens, but took a photo from the official site, where they are clearly improved by Photoshop. This means that the quality level suits the manufacturer, and he proudly shows such seams in his advertising. And this is the saddest thing.
The seam processing is normal for a tractor or a tank, but it somehow looks out of place on a household appliance made of expensive stainless steel. For my money, I want to see not only a functional, but a beautiful device. Can this even be called attractive?
conclusions
- “Gorilych Aroma” is a weak and low-performance moonshine of a vertical type with reinforcement, which, according to its characteristics, does not reach the beer column.
- Cubes, including the latest generation, are poorly equipped and do not even have the most necessary for normal operation. The lack of a safety valve makes them dangerous.
- Node selection “heads” with obvious design errors.
- The quality of welds and their processing does not even correspond to the average level among the closest competitors producing devices of the same price category.
In general, the device “Gorilych Aroma” is not recommended for purchase.
Reviewed by IgorGor.