Skaalvenn

I'd be interested. Anyone have a source on where to find used ones for a good price, or some search terms to exclude the wine bottle racks on ebay? I need a few and have been too lazy to build them out of wood.

Awesome!

Been happily running an oil bath still of his for just under a year without issue. I originally ordered a direct element still and I'm glad I switched to oil bath before it was too late. Not having to separate grain and being able to use the still as a mash tun in emergencies saved my ass.

Congrats ASD for making the right move. Question that I'd like to ask. Are you going to be manufacturing from scratch in the USA or just doing final assembling? While ASD is outside my means at the moment I do try to purchase as much USA made equipment and supplies as I can. Thanks.

One thing I don't understand is why every microdistillery wants to be the next "ultra-premium" distillery. As to the main subject, of course with time there will be a new top dog on the market. Just like all the world's greatest/oldest civilizations and businesses; eventually they topple and someone else takes their place.

It varies depending on the ABV of the steam running through it. At 95% ABV you will be at about 160. At 20% ABV you will probably be around 200 Also varies upon condenser design, flow and input temp.

Depends entirely on what brix the molasses is.

Do you have sprinklers? Only 30 gallons open is extremely ridiculous, I'm a very small distillery and usually have more than 30 gallons open and 120 gallons closed on any given day. I'd ask him why he's going above and beyond what is an already universally agreed standard set by engineers with much more experience than he has. (Suggestion: say it a bit more eloquently than what I said). I'd start looking for a new location ASAP.

Will the water on it's own with spirit cause clouding? I have ridiculously hard water here. Over 30 grains of hardness and +600ppm of TDS so I absolutely can not use tap water for proofing.

Well, If you're searching for a mid-level still I'd recommend Dehner Distillery/Red Boot Stills. It's not the best money can buy, but it was by far the best I could get in the price range I was looking for. Excellent service before and after the sale. Sure I'd love a vendome/carl/kothe, but I love all the money I've saved by not getting one.

Truth. Without knowing the budget or quantities one can't make any recommendation. No sense in saying "Buy from Acme Budget Stills" if he's got $1,000,000 to spend, or vice versa.

Looking for a motor to work as an agitator in my mash tun. 1 to 1.5hp 120-230v OK, but if 120v it needs to be a low speed. 3 phase is ok must be washdown Shipping to 55428 Thanks!

Do you run this? It's terribly hard to read due to the font and color choices.

Call Race Label. For 2500 bottles a year I wouldn't spend the extra on a semi automatic machine. I have a manual labeler from Race and could probably label 2500 bottles in 2-3 hours if I were really trying. 1 bottle every 10 seconds = 600 bottles in an hour.

Correct. Let me know if you need a source, I buy direct from a local farmer and then have it bagged/milled/delivered.

I use hard wheat and ferment/distill on the grain. Foam control is absolutely a must.

Our still has a 3" drain. Milled to flour it will clog if I let it sit overnight without agitation. If you had a decent air operated double diaphragm pump it would probably move it without issue, but 1" is still very small. Remember, you will rarely wish you bought the lesser quality product, but may end up wishing you spent a couple more bucks to get what you want.

I tried the guidelines of the datasheets they provided, and also the advice I received from their technical support which was to basically ignore the data sheet, go 15 degrees higher than recommended temperature and bring the pH down 1.0 more than recommended. Had the same results either way. Don't ask me why they publish a data sheet and then tell you to go outside the range, but that was my experience with them.

If I remember correctly enzymes are very tolerant of cold temperatures and it takes a lot to denature them. For the 5 gallon jug, the best thing is to find other distilleries near you and split up the cost.

Just remember that ADI and the Distiller Magazine "The oldest and largest publication devoted to the promotion of the art and commerce of the craft distilling industry" has no problem running ads from bulk beverage alcohol suppliers. Every time I get the magazine and page through it I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

I suggest Novozymes for anyone looking for some enzymes that actually work (Shout out to Mattabv for their recommendation). Myself and a few other distilleries using wheat have had nothing but problems with Specialty Enzymes and very low conversion with their Sebamyl BAL (most of us were using wheat). The BSG enzymes didn't really work all that great either, but the Novozymes work like a champ every single time and they have a lot of data sheets for those who really want to maximise their enzyme's efficiency. One thing about this industry I'm surprised at is how many people don't understand that enzymes are a very precise tool which require some science to work. They are pretty specific tools like a 10mm wrench, that wrench will not fit a 9mm or 11mm bolt so an enzyme will not convert something it's not meant to convert. On top of that, it will probably only work well within a very specific pH and temperature range. I've spoken to a few distilleries that don't test pH and just dump it in an pray for the best. Too high/low pH or temp, or using the wrong enzyme for the process and you might as well just be dumping water into your mash.

Just like all markets, it's only as successful as the people promoting it. Kickstarter and Indiegogo (the two largest) show you all the success stories, but if you dig a little deeper there's dozens and dozens of utter failures. I'd say 60% of the time it fails purely by not having a professionally made video. The other 40% by not being good enough at marketing it, not having the connections, or just asking for an absurd amount of money. Personally I think the "peak crowdfunding" era has come and gone. It was cool for a while, but now people are using it as a source of free money. Also, I'll second that Old 4th has a wicked awesome kickstarter video!

You made my morning! After about 7 months in operation an agitator is still one of the best purchases I've made. Open the lid, dump in grain and enzyme and walk away to take care of other business.

Thanks for the replies. I'll probably just buy some new stuff just in case as to avoid MIG flavored vodka

I think that's the one I ordered from you? Having it has made my life a lot easier, when I mash in the still I crank the speed up to break up the clumps and when I'm doing a run I'll have the speed turned down. The "soft"/gradual on/off is really nice too because the motor doesn't jolt on anymore.