Jump to content

A.S. Burkett

Members
  • Posts

    14
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by A.S. Burkett

  1. Hello!  Erik recommended that I query you on the whereabouts of a law firm or list of attorneys in Wisconsin that specialize in the alcohol industry wrt distillery operations and startup.  Are you aware of any such legal specialists in the state of Wisconsin?

  2. Can anyone recommend a legal firm in the State of Wisconsin (either the local Madison or surrounding area) that specializes in the alcohol industry specifically wrt distillery operations as they relate to startup assistance?
  3. I am a big advocate of using standard household vinegar or a 6-7% acetic acid solution rinse (they're the same thing)... I fill my pot ~50% full of the acetic solution and start the run with no water running through the condenser to allow the vapor the opportunity to fill and cleanse all the little nooks and crannies all the way through to the condenser's outlet. *You will want to make sure that you have good ventilation in your work space.* Once the vapor has ran for at least 5 min I turn on the condenser and let the condensed solution run through for another ~5 min. A thorough double rinse with clean water will be sufficient to remove any remaining acetic solution, and then you should be ready to go for your sacrificial run. Hope this helps.
  4. Thanks for the reply PeteB... Wanted to respond to your reply and questions posed... so the best way is just to paste your full reply and insert my comments... here goes... :-) I am in agreement with Silk City that some foam over early in the run is a possible cause. So am I also in agreement... especially so since the re-distillation removed the color. I have never used vinegar to clean but it would not surprise me at all if the vinegar reacted with the copper to give the greenish tinge... Vinegar is what I have always used, cheap, effective and safe, especially if it was some time since the cleaning. Was this the very first run with a new still? No... ran a cleaning run with vinegar when still was new... no color was imparted... and ran 96 gal of apple must just for stripping runs followed by double distillation (2x spirit) mid-April to early May... the still sat unused until end of June when I started the next stripping... but performed another cleaning run with vinegar and a rinse run with R.O. H2O prior to the first (and only) stripping run that color was observed. Could be weathering products on the copper, or weld byproducts, that apple spirit was better at stripping off than vinegar was. Not likely given the manner of cleaning prior was the exactly the same as previous batch.... we're back to the likelihood of a still puke If not new what was the previous run? Apple spirit may have been better at stripping leftovers off than vinegar was. Previous run was Apple. If there is any moisture left in my still it often drips blue or green from the condenser the next day, and I can be sure that the start of the next stripping run will be a greenish brown colour. It is just at the start of the wash run so it really doesn't matter as the spirit run will fix it. I've observed that as well between consecutive runs when the still was left empty but wet overnight... this time the still had sat unused for ~1.5 months... it was bone dry before I performed the cleaning and rinse. It would be interesting to understand the chemistry of what was happening but in the end if the spirit tastes and smells great then it is unlikely to be of concern. I agree! :-)
  5. Oh... and as an added measure I intend to reserve a sample of the leftover pot liquor and as well a sampling of the product for a NaOH test.
  6. Many thanks to all who offered their insights on my quandary... Being relatively convinced by Silk City Distillers' that my problem lie in an unobserved still puke, the discolored strip was added to three subsequent aliquots of strip and re-distilled to the 1st spirit run... no coloration was observed in the resulting distillate... neither in the fore-shots nor bulk run product. Again, Thank you all!
  7. Though none was observed... I am really tempted to go with Silk City Distillers question re "Still Puke?"... and say maybe... or perhaps... possibly a slight scorch due to too high of heat... but again re the possibility of scorch... no noticeable odor.
  8. To Silk City Distillers... No... not to my knowledge... it was a stripping run, so I ran it kinda fast... but no puking was observed... and I ran all subsequent stripping runs at the same temp/speed and from the same batch of must with no carry over color after this first run. Thank you for your response.
  9. I have experienced the same anomaly... yellowish/greenish tint to my first stripping run of apple brandy... although mine has not cleared after almost 2 weeks sitting in the collection glass carboy... please see my post on this topic...
  10. I might mention that there is NO odor that would typically signify a sulfide... e.g., rotten eggs, sulfur... only the clean sweet aroma of apples.
  11. Hello! I have the first aliquot of a series of stripping runs of apple brandy (~2.5 gal.) that came across with a pronounced yellowish/greenish color... see photo. I am using a solid copper Alembic pot still, and had first run an 8 gal. 50/50 vinegar/H2O cleansing run to completion followed by a second straight R.O. H2O run for rinse, then this is what I got when running my first aliquot of fermented apple must... This was the 2nd batch of apple brandy made with this still... cleaned the very same way when received new and never any color in the distillate... No further color was observed in subsequent runs. I'm thinking this is most likely NOT an oxidation state of CuSO4 (H2O) because of the absence of the distinctive sulfide odor... wondering what it might be, and wondering if it is possible to save the strip by re-distillation. Any comments are welcome... Thanks!
  12. Great Post! Have read... and will re-read... over and over again. Thank you!
  13. Hello everyone! Tony Burkett here, recently retired after 35 years in the chemical industry and just getting my feet on the ground with the intention of starting a small craft distillery (A.S. Burkett & Family) here in southern Wisconsin later this year. We'll be far closer to artisan than anything even remotely resembling a state-of-the-art operation... hoping to be in initial production of Brandy and Grappa by end of 2017, with hopes of expanding to a Straight Bourbon, Straight Rye and a Single Malt in the near future. Would be greatly appreciative of any and all recommendations for assistance in developing a suitable business plan and forming an LLC
×
×
  • Create New...