J'ESP

Are you looking for pre-fab, individual capsules or a ~100' roll that you cut to length? PM me if you want mfg/dist details for the rolls 'cause I don't know offhand.

Good chart but all it really say is that HDPE/PP tanks will not lose serviceability due to contact with ethanol. Says nothing about flavor transfer to the spirit.

BC Liquor Distribution Branch http://www.bcliquorstores.com/annual-report Edit: I am using Victoria, Pemberton & Okanagan as benchmarks in my plan.

Just saw an episode of "The Thirsty Traveller"... Absolut Vodka bottling plant tour. They rinse with vodka. I would do the same, though in a slightly less industrial fashion.

Here in BC with the quasi-government liquor distribution monopoly, payments to suppliers (ie. distilleries, breweries, wineries, private agents, etc) are published in their annual reports. Knowing the various tax rates, retail markup & retail prices, I can estimate both sales volume & gross revenue excluding taxes for any of 100's of local producers.

"Grappa" made with supplemental alcohol in the stripping still will be sold as vodka. By pomace, I mean grape, cranberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, cherry, etc.

Great posts. I'm sure this will be helpful to anyone contemplating building their own production still. In the end I will probably have my stills built to my specs by qualified pros. Same goes for checking my engineering. The headache & cost of learning special skills for a relatively small job are huge. After all, this is not a garage still made from repurposd plumbing parts.

I've worked in meat, beverage and bakery factories. They all gave their waste freely & gratefully. Using their own bins and/or paying for pickup. Shouldn't be a problem with the wineries either. As for sanitation, heavy duty liners for the totes and CO2 flushing is probably a good idea. Alcohol will be added as well as water in the stripping still. Probably not a bad idea to put a layer of alcohol on the pomace ASAP.

The wineries in my area are a pretty close-knit group. They share equipment & manpower to allow them to compete with the big boys. My idea is to get an invite to speak at one of their Association meetings. With 3-4 different schemes tailored to please anyone, I could get them all at once just for having the balls to do it.

That's encouraging. I was afraid offering free "waste disposal service" would offend & I'd be SOL. How would you respond to "what's in it for me?" type questions?

There are numerous small and medium sized wineries within a 1/2 hour drive from our planned location and the core of our business model requires access to their waste products. Obviously there's a huge hole in the plan until deals are made with the wineries to guarantee the cost & availability of their pomace. I have industry contacts so getting introductions to winery owners isn't a problem. Problem is, I have no clue what the pomace is worth. Currently, most or all of it goes to compost. There's value there but running it through a still doesn't take that away... it's still going to the compost heap. Should I be working out deals that pay the wineries a percentage (based on how much usable alcohol is extracted from their pomace) once the product is sold? I can't justify paying cash upfront for a waste product that will take a lot of time and money to process & sell. Any experiences or ideas?

Sorry for asking. I thought that by asking the most basic of like "what tools" I might get some well thought out answers to my question that might lead to some resources I had not thought of or discovered, not stuff like, omg that's too hard, don't do it, cant be done. You don't know my skills or what I am capable of. Take a sheet metal course, learn to use an English wheel, learn how to weld (who said I couldn't) gee, that does sound impossible. Sure, I may end up buying since what I want is the most basic design (the English wheel would not be needed;) and a pro could build them with her eyes closed to save me a ton of time. Go slap someone else, it's not productive at all.

With the corporate registration in process, I am about to embark upon the task of building a series of stills. Crazy, yes, but most of you know what I'm talking about even if you picked one from a catalogue. A simple pot still for the messy stuff. A 6" plate packed/plate column for neutral & in between. A continuous for "filler". The main pot will be ~1000L steam jacket. Hope to find one at auction. The plan is to make a full scale paper model of the units, transfer to copper sheet, cut, bend weld/ soldier, etc. Not sure about the gauge. Heavy yes, but how heavy becomes too heavy to work with and $$$ with simple tools in my garage. Never done this before obviously, but I believe you should do everything once, get it right the first time, then go do something else. The stupid question is: what are the basic tools I will need to accomplish this task. Cutters, what kind. welding machines, how big. Hand tools. Books to read about coppersmithing? I'm thinking wood might make good jig material? Could I have a waterjet cut the sheets from a CAD drawing? Except for the pot & boiler I don't want to outsource parts beyond valves & special fittings. Might hire a pro welder for a day or few. Any comments are muchly appreciated.

Use EVOO, put it on the label & work out a deal with the oil manufacturer & he pays you to use it. Collaborate, cross markets, blah blah blah...

A reflux (column) still does not necessarily strip flavor. It merely separates it better than a pot still. High ABV does not mean low flavor. There are some distinctly flavorful vodkas on the market. The fractions can be blended to achieve the desired flavor profile for rum or WHY.