Sherman

Northern tool sells a nice polypropylene and PTFE, both non leaching and ethanol tolerant materials, in several different sizes. These pumps operate using air and have no electric parts. Here is a link to a 15 GPM one like would be used to supply a bottling line or transfer for blending and storage. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200455917_200455917

I have a reasonable source of mixers that I can help get you lined out with one. Sugarlands just got one fitted to a Artisan Still Design 30 gallon. It attached to a 2" triclover in the top. It is air driven and he has been able to run a 51% rye with it.

I have a network of consultant specialists I endorse. This may be off topic but we each have our specialties and we can not cover the full start up consulting alone. Initial paperwork and TTB Start up Jim McCoy. Equipment sizing facility layout recipe development through production processes, personnel, distilling sensory perception is myself. Reports and TTB form is Donald Snyder. Barrel blending and nosing is Nancy Fraley. Supply chain and barrel broker Richard Wolfe. Flavor development by Flavorman. Product promotion Scott Schiller. Label design and production Otto Knop There are so many for so many tasks. If any of you provide more services I would like to hear from you. I personally can't possibly cover all that and that makes your question hard to answer. My usual time at a distillery is about 5 to 10 days depending on the talent on hand to train and the needs of the contractors assembling everything. Donald usually needs two or three days. I believe Jim needs a few hours to a day. Nancy usually has the hardest job of training blenders. As you can see it might be a complicated answer. One question I have been asked many times is how to answer the question that creditors ask "Who in the business has experience in distillery operations?" To me this is the most stupid question in the world because very few would without having been a moonshiner or a production manager retiree. It is nearly as funny as asking "Where can I hire a master distiller?" A group of consultants may set you back as much as the plumbers and electricians or the cost of a boiler. That being said, a group of consultants can fast track you to production by answering the already known answers to prevent you from reinventing the wheel. A single day with the proper consultant can get you answers to nearly all your questions, size your equipment such as your cookers, stills, boilers, chillers bottling equipment and all the peripheral equipment such as lab needs, scales, hoses and pumps. Your production schedule can be estimated, your peak output and many other things that experience in dozens of distilleries can provide. I always call in a consultant when I need knowledge that is not readily available to me if I can find an experienced person willing to sell their experience and real world knowledge of the skill I lack to accomplish a task.

You can't. This will require redistilling multiple times. The last distillation requires you to put really high proof alcohol in the still. This is not an issue with safety but with production costs. If you have to distill 3 to 4 times to get vodka you are tying up equipment and time to the point that long term cost of production will exceed the up front cost of the proper equipment. If you are making vodka, you will probably at least have to do a stripping run, and then a NGS distillation with a minimum of 20 plates, or a packed column with a 20 plate equivalent. There is a misconception that just because you are reaching 95 to 96% you are stripping all the flavor. The heads usually starts higher because of the lighter volatiles and then decreases to 95 to 96%. It takes a lot of alcohol to support a column of any size. In order to produce NGS in a single run, the pot size has to be disproportionately larger than the column. To accomplish having enough alcohol to run NGS on a 8" 20 plate column, you would have to have a pot of about 1200 gallon to provide enough alcohol to allow that size column to remain at equilibrium for any length of time. The alternative would be 4 stripping runs on a 300 gallon and then a spirit run on a 300 gallon with a column. I do have to say to anyone who is putting together a business plan, based on trying to utilize small, inexpensive equipment, you might want to reconsider how much operating capital you will need for the future, until you get into production and have sufficient sales to break even. If equipment expenses are an issue more than likely you are underfunded and heading for a disaster when it comes to operating costs. I find this to be the largest issue to success of the craft distillers. Starting too small in a state where you cannot self distribute or have gift shop sales will prevent you from getting into distribution. This is especially true in an ABC state such as Virginia.

here is a quote I got last year from Emerson for a continuous monitoring abv, density, flow and temperature that does density to .0005 g/cc http://www.artisanresources.com/downloads/emerson_Mar_15_2013.pdf It has the certification, level of accuracy and the bonus of continuous flow monitoring.

Several companies out there are building boiler with as high as 95% Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. Isn't that high enough for them. With that efficiency they are Energy Star rated.

If the acidity is brought more to neutral, it makes great fertilizer. If not it tends to kill plants.

The reason for the seemingly long cook time at 190F is to overcome the hard to digest starches. The yield is improved by about 10 to 12% utilizing SEBStar HTL with the extended cooking time. The reason I don't go on up to boiling is to not denature the enzymes. It is a compromise of time vs energy. Generally, If I formulate a corn only mash for 17 BRIX I usually hit 17+. During the 190F steep there is no energy input to the system. It is simply a matter of getting the mash to 190 and allowing it to sit. Most of the time the mashes of 300+ gallons have no issue holding the heat. I do also have to add that most of the time with 100% corn and enzyme mashing I am using greater than 2 lbs per gallon of mash. The SEBStar HTL eliminates any viscosity issues. Fermenting a 9 to 10% mash is normal with this regimen. A 6% mash without enzymes is physically difficult and hard on most craft equipment. Sorry to go off subject but the questions lead to the answer.

The two tank system is not really a viable option. Tanks do not radiate a lot of heat( they cool really slow). If you store 110F in tank A, as a result of distilling day 1, and expect that to cool any it might be 90 the next day. Condensers require 3 to 5 gallons per minute of 45F water. Then you need to chill the tank. Most people are only interested in the boiler calling it the "Engine" . The chiller system is the "brakes". Tap water and tank to tank transfer are not practical options. That plan does not work. You seriously need a chiller system that is at least 1/10 the size of your boiler. You can store cold water in a well insulated system, meaning you can chill your water off demand. If you mash and distill 8 hours a day, that leaves you 16 hours to get that water chilled again.

It all depends on the conversion power of the enzymes of the malted barley. 2 row pilsen is only about 90 to 120 DP (Diastatic Power) Distillers malt is more like 270 to 300 DP. Pilsen can only convert about 40% of the base malt, by weight, in adjuncts. Distillers malt has been used successfully down to 8% if rye is present (5 to 7%) to help with the liquefaction. A lot of rye results in a slimy mess that is very difficult to distill because it fouls heat exchanges and steam jackets resulting in 20+ hour distilling days. If you use unmalted corn, it needs a good cook before conversion. This is a minimum of 190F for 90 minutes. Some might say "Boil the piss out of it" which is a useless waste of energy. The highest gelatinization temperature for corn is 185F. Adding a lot of malt requires lowering the temperature of the cooked corn down to at least 160 to 165F. The grain will lower the mash the rest of the way. 150 to 152F results in more maltose and less maltodextrin (unfermentable). If you want real good conversions, liquid enzymes are your friends. They are cheap and very effective. Used at really small amounts, as low as 0.007% they contribute no flavor. The enzymes also relieve your equipment the burden of moving heavy viscous mash. As far as malting corn is concerned it is rather easy. Steep in cold water for 3 days, changing the water every day. Place in a warm place 75F+ turning over every 12 hours until the green part is 2 inches long. Then it is fully modified. If you dry it at this point it can be saved a long time. If you grind it green it turns to the consistency of peanut butter.

Check out Calgon and http://www.dudadiesel.com/ They sell some real good basket filters.

US plastics sells Tygon in various types. One in particular is plasticiser free.

Call strong spirits, bardstown ky. They do contract bottling and can get spirits. Whether it is kY or not who knows.

Strong Spirits, Bardstown KY. Flavorman Louisville KY.