Columns

A true column still is a continuous machine that recycles the heat from the dealcholised wash – transferring it to the incoming wash and producing a continuous flow of heads, hearts and tails. It’s a very efficient means of producing alcohol, in terms of both energy and time, and is also how crude oils are separated into their constituents.
But Continuous distillation is beyond the grasp of most start up distilleries, and when Bumpkin talks about columns, it almost always refers to a hybrid system of a plated column placed on top of the boiling pot. It acts as a batch system.
The column has plates within it, and each plate forces the vapour produced by the boiler through a condensed liquid. Enriching the condensed liquid with water and pulling alcohol vapour out of the condensed liquid. Each plate does this in series and acts like a ned distillation at each plate.

The consequence of the plates is that they concentrate the more volatile components in the vapour. This gives two important effects – the ABV of the distillate is higher and the concentration of the non-ethanol components – like methanol and ester compounds – is more concentrated making them easier to cut out and the distillate more neutral.

If neutral is not what you want – like for some rum and whiskey, you may wish to not use the column.