Editing Column still (section)

===Aeneas Coffey===
In 1830, Irishman [[Aeneas Coffey]] patented the two-column, continuous distillation apparatus which bears his name, versions of which are now ubiquitous across the distilling industries.<ref name=":1" /> The still allowed for the production of alcoholic spirit with an ethanol content of greater than 90%, though modern versions can achieve about 95%.<ref name=":1" />

Educated at Dublin's [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]], Coffey had ample opportunities to observe all manner of still designs having worked as a distillery excise tax collector for a quarter of a century.

Coffey's early designs, based on modifications to the Cellier-Blumenthal still, were unsuccessful.<ref name=":1" /> Being made of iron, they were attacked by the acids in the hot distillate, resulting in a poor spirit.<ref name=":1" /> However, his final design, which incorporated design elements from Perrier, Fournier, and Saint Marc, was to prove successful.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Coffey Still.JPG|thumb|Coffey Still from [[Kilbeggan Distillery]] in County Westmeath in Ireland]]

In his patent application, Coffey claimed that his design made three new improvements over previous designs:<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rothery|first=E.J.|date=23 August 2006|title=Æneas Coffey (1780–1852)|journal=Annals of Science|volume=23|pages=53–71}}</ref>

# Forcing the wash to pass rapidly through a pipe or pipes of small diameter, during the time it is acquiring heat and before it reaches its boiling temperature. 
# Causing the wash, after it has come in contact with the vapours, to flow into a continued and uninterrupted stream over numerous metallic plates, furnished with valves
# The method of ascertaining whether or not the wash exhausted of its alcohol by means of the apparatus herein described or any similar apparatus, whereby the vapour to be tried undergoes a process of analyzation or rectification, and is deprived of much of its aqueous part before it is submitted to trial.

In addition, the design introduced perforated trays as sieve structures for vapour liquid contact.<ref name=":0" />

This new continuous distillation method produced whisky much more efficiently than the traditional [[pot still]]s,<ref>[https://celticlife.com/the-history-of-whisky-and-whiskey/ The History of Whisky and Whiskey]</ref> without the need for cleaning after each batch was made.<ref>[https://vinepair.com/articles/pot-column-distilling-vodka/ The Difference Between Pot Versus Column Stills, Explained]</ref>

As the reciprocating steam engines of the time were unable to feed the still with the necessary high temperature/pressure steam, it took some time for the Coffey still to dominate the industry.<ref name=":2" /> However, with technological improvements, most notably the introduction of steam regulators in 1852, the Coffey still found widespread use in alcohol production across Europe and the Americas.<ref name=":2" /> Although, notably, it found resistance within Irish whiskey industry, then the dominant force in global whiskey production, who considered the high-strength spirit, to be inferior in taste profile to lower strength pot still distillate.<ref name=":1" />

Within five years of receiving his patent, Coffey had enough orders to warrant the establishment of Aeneas Coffey & Sons in London, a company that remains in operation today under the name John Dore & Co Limited. He closed Dock Distillery four years later and devoted all of his time to building and installing stills in distilleries owned by others.