ViolentBlue Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Spent some time chatting with Bill Owens today about my designs. He said he was impressed with them, but they are very much designed for fruit brandies, there ought to be a market for a well designed potstill for whiskey. I tend to agree with him, and would like to get some feedback as far as what you want to see in a potstill design. On one end of the spectrum a traditional scotch whisky style still and on the other end a hybrid column. tell me what you want, and I might just be able to get it made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis McMillan Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 You will see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 getting it made is the easy part, getting the right design for the right job can be tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WI Distiller Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Column still's are out there, as are Alambic style. I'd like to see something in a swan's neck style pot still like those in Scotland or at Woodford Reserve, set up either for direct fire or an internal steam coil. That is what is missing in the inexpensive (read: not vendome) market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Column still's are out there, as are Alambic style. I'd like to see something in a swan's neck style pot still like those in Scotland or at Woodford Reserve, set up either for direct fire or an internal steam coil. That is what is missing in the inexpensive (read: not vendome) market. do you think steam jacketed would cut the mustard, if it could be done elegantly enough? the columns seem to be a good portion of the expense, so the simpler the potstill the less expensive it'd be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Working on a potstill design for a client, and was doodling a bit boiler is a 150 gallon unit, and I just did a quick sketch of a goose neck on it. body of the still is in stainless, jacketed and insulated for steam heat. the goose neck would be in copper. pricing for this should be around $10k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 a variation on the theme I'm quoting this unit for someone, aiming for the old time American potstill with thumper the "barrels" will be fabricated from stainless but will have decorative hoops in copper, just so they'd resemble wooden barrels.(had a moment of inspiration) boiler is exactly the same as the scotch still above. price on this one is confirmed at $10k. shipping should come in under 1k and hopefully duty won't be too bad (importing isn't my department, but the fella who looks after it is on vacation) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bioviper Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 do you guys have a web site to look at some pictures of your stills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bioviper Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 what about making your 150 gal goosneck still a direct fire instead of steam because its cheaper for a start-up distillery over buying a boiler system. there is gonna be so many distillerys starting soon that have tiny bugets and you guys could sell the crap out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 do you guys have a web site to look at some pictures of your stills we're a new company so not just yet. sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 what about making your 150 gal goosneck still a direct fire instead of steam because its cheaper for a start-up distillery over buying a boiler system. there is gonna be so many distillerys starting soon that have tiny bugets and you guys could sell the crap out of them. yup we can do that. it would reduce the cost a little too. a single walled boiler would be much less expensive to produce, up the guage on the bottom a bit, throw a skirt around it and an exhaust outlet and you should be good to go with direct fire. do keep in mind your boiler won;t have near the life span direct fired as it would steam heated, but we could always build a direct replacement for the boiler, down the road, that was steam jacketed. Could easily put a design together for you if that's what you want. I'll be out of town this next week, but I'll pop in to check up now and again. or else contact me at steven@artisanstilldesign.com as this goes directly to my cell phone. if anyone would lie to speak to me directly on the phone, just email me and I'll send my mobile number to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 back in town now. was a busy week away, but we're hard at it once again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 Had a request for a 250 gallon direct fired potstill based on the above goose neck design. spent some time chatting with Bill Owens about still design again. I incorporated some of his ideas, but still kept the Ogee because it looks so pretty. added CIP sprayballs and an agitator, not having to be jacketed for steam does reduce the price to build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 guess I should have said price for above is 10k plus shipping & duty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestar Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 guess I should have said price for above is 10k plus shipping & duty How quickly can this or the steam jacketed version be turned around? Is the ball also copper? Can this be scaled down to a 50 gallon charge unit, and if so, what would be the price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 How quickly can this or the steam jacketed version be turned around? Is the ball also copper? Can this be scaled down to a 50 gallon charge unit, and if so, what would be the price? the Ogee or "onion" is copper yes. turn around is a little under 3 months deposit to delivery on most things we can make. I will PM you regarding 50 gallon still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Working on a trio of potstills for some folks with a 9ft ceiling height. aiming for an Industrial Art Deco look. rather fond of the worm under glass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 best of both worlds? rendering is not quite complete, missing is much of the plumbing. but I've been working with the factory for a while now on an all new smaller diameter column, so therefor shorter as well. previously our standard was 16" diameter, this one is 12", so we can fit it under a 9ft ceiling height, which is a bit of an accomplishment all things taken into consideration. and a 150 gallon boiler will not reach the top limit of this column. hard to see in the rendering is the bypass valve, full closed and it is a column still, full open a potstill. one could take full advantage of this by using the column to bleed the heads off slowly and carefully, then open up for a full flavored whiskey with a broader hearts cuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quirk Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 That is really pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 That is really pretty. thanks, I try hard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smuff76 Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Curious if you ever built the gooseneck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 never did build one yet. I'm working with a client currently on a variation. I have to versions, one with the top of the boiler in copper and the other with just the goose neck. I have pricing on the latter, but still discussing with the factory how to best build the one with the copper top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewnspirits Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Looks good. Very similar to our 100 gallon all copper pot still that we're working on...ball and cone style... I'll post pictures soon once we have the top and bottom of the kettle joined together. After mucho reading I'm still not sure what the Lyne arm angle to condenser will be. Sloped up gives more reflux and sloped down allows for less and subsequently more tasty flavors. Hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 I set mine to 0 degrees, nice mid point. at a certain point the heat of the vapor negates any noticeable reflux on a still this size. Now the Giant potstills of Scotland are large enough where the reflux does make a significant difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Bennett Arnold Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Had a request for a 250 gallon direct fired potstill based on the above goose neck design. spent some time chatting with Bill Owens about still design again. I incorporated some of his ideas, but still kept the Ogee because it looks so pretty. added CIP sprayballs and an agitator, not having to be jacketed for steam does reduce the price to build. This is really nice. I'm saving up for something like it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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