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Broken Anvil Distilleries

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  1. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Scrap that, we leave it overnight to drain and it's likely preferment you are asking about which would mean bacteria/yeast would make their home before you pitch.
  2. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    For separation of grains from our stillage we have a rectangular tank with an hdpe (puckboard used in rinks...its pretty much what we make our walls of up here in Canada). It has false bottom with a lot of drilled 1/16" holes drilled in it and a drain in the base. It works for cool stillage and it sounds like you are dealing with cold mash. Raised with a 55 gallon drum under and it may work for you. The big plus is that hdpe is not only good for slapshots but is food grade and stands up to shovels really well. It is great for hammermilled oat/wheat combination but the holes would have to be smaller for wheat. I can't speak to malt.
  3. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Assuming by your name that you are on the north side of the border. If so, give AOWilson a call; they've been good to work with.
  4. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Thanks, that's great feedback I dont mill onsite but I do keep milled grains in the room. Sources that i will keep my eye on are our closed loop CLT and our floor drain. This was a bit of an experiment using a partially open fermenter (milk tank) instead of our normal fermenters. As a science geek to begin with (but slept through most of my microbiology courses apparently), I will do as you folks suggest and run the experiment. Thanks for the heads up on the carboxylic acid and late tails cut, I wouldn't have thought of it. @Ironton @Foreshot
  5. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    While still a rookie compared to most on the forums, I've ran my share of runs and been fortunate but for the odd bacterial infection back in the "white bucket days". Unfortunately we have something in house that has infected an ferment later in the process over the holidays when we let a ferment sit. The mash was wheat, oats, rye and final pH 3.39 FG 1.002. Because of the holidays (and being unable to start the truck because of -31F weather), we couldn't strip it for two weeks. The pellicle showed up between day 12 and 14. Smell coming off of it is pleasant and fruity, but as expected with the pH it is sour. Curious about the infection, partly because of the ferment and also because of seeing it once when our "lauter bin" didn't drain properly. I am leaning towards lacto but humbly welcome input. Thanks
  6. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Unfortunately it didn't work. I guess this is the downside of having the kettle as the heating unit for the CIP system. I wish I could say it won't happen again, but undercaffeinated mornings don't treat me well. I'm hoping to unclog the majority of the spray balls and hope the others clear with repeated cleaning cycles.
  7. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Had an absent minded moment and grains got into our CIP pump. I now have approx 22-24 spray balls clogged. Many are in very inaccessible places (eg in Whiskey head requiring removal of head, at top of 18 foot vodka column, etc.). I've dealt with this in other tanks easily (eg fermenters, mash tun) by removing balls and cleaning them but am not looking forward to taking this approach with the still. I am just checking if there is any advice out there before I dismantle the whisky head and start removing 20+ sight glasses to access the balls and clean them by hand. Thanks in advance The absent minded student
  8. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    If you dont mind sourcing on the other side of the border (Niagara), Watsons.ca were good to deal with and also carry used racks.
  9. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    That's great, thanks - it makes me feel better. In the end, I cut open the supply line to install a check valve but left the manifold where the bleeder would go alone since I didn't have much room to play. If seems like it's going to work well.
  10. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    I would check in with whoever is likely to install the boiler. We've had 99 problems with compliance, but our boiler wasn't one.
  11. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    From our experience, it means first that you dealer is honest and isn't letting you find out upon delivery. Second, in Canada, it means that achieving compliance before a ticketed professional installs it. For example, we had to ship our CE motors away to be tested to get appropriate stickers for our electricians to even touch them as CE is not the same as UL. From what i understand, CE is effectively an honor system in Europe and regulatory inspection is not required (which is required for UL and CSA certification). We have no experience with ISO.
  12. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Our supply and our return from the chiller are 2" Copper. The recommended material options from the chiller company were industrial ABS (not available in our parts), stainless or copper. We chose to use copper and although necessary, it will feel like a crime to cover it in foam insulation. Our high point in the two inch is between the supply and return (think of a square of 2" copper square strapped to the wall) and any 3/4" offshoots to tanks would start too low for a bleeder to be of value (although those would have been easy to work with since they are pex).
  13. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    My plumber just finished installing our manifold from the chiller (with runs to chill CLT, fermenters). We worked with manufacturers drawings and what is unfortunately my plumbers overconfidence with installing glycol loops. After finishing the 2" copper pipe, the steam fitter was quick to pick up that we didn't have an air release valve/bleeder valve or a check valve. Reluctant to cut into the copper in two places (check valve after chiller supply and air bleed valve at the high point) and resolder everything myself, I am looking for some feedback. Note: aside from the absolute hassle, it is quite the short and busy loop, so there are few places to easily cut and rework the fittings. 1) What are the implications of not having a bleeder valve? I am assuming a loss of efficiency and I'm assuming that I will have to recut this portion. 2) Why is a check valve required in a closed loop chiller? I am assuming that without a check valve, the worst that could happen is some chilled glycol return to the holding tank when the chiller is turned off. In my limited knowledge of these matters, I don't see this as being a big deal and worth reworking the system for. Thanks to all who give this their thoughts.
  14. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    For us (so far) it was the city not knowing what to so with us (1st distillery in the area), contractors not completing work on time and our primary equipment supplier overshooting promised deadlines by 50%. Get deadlines in writing and with penalties, if possible.
  15. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    We have a very large chiller available to us that is pushing too much to reduce to the flow through a 3/8" infeed (with a 1/2" outfeed) as is on the chilling unit of our Mueller tank. We are considering puncturing the jacket to weld a 2" ferrule in and a 2" ferrule out (on opposing ends), but are uncertain whether there is a foam insulation or air within the jacket itself. We will take a chance on puncturing the tank to weld the ferrule but are curious if anyone has drilled into the jacket before and seen what is there. We obviously have no interest in running the glycol/water mix through the jacket if there is insulation present.
  16. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    We are in an industrial town and we have many suppliers of racks for 50 gallon barrel drums. Local suppliers arent certain if they differ in sizing to wine / whisky barrel racks . By photo they look the same but was wonderkng if anyone out there could clarify this for us. We can order in wine barrel racks and pay shipping if needed, but are trying to source local for anything possible. Are drum barrel racks good to use? (or identical?). We are looking at the standard 2 barrel forkliftable racking most distilleries seem to use. Thanks in advance.
  17. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    CBSA told me 8% tariff for a still not manufactured in the US (maybe Eu trade agreement reduces it to 0% like stills covered by NAFTA?). However, CBSA told me tgat there is 0% tariffs on brewing equipment such as Mash Tuns, irrespective of source. So if the bill of lading says that that machine is used to make Mash..... All that said, Kannuk knows his stuff. I called the CBSA 1-800 number several times and found the folks I got on the line knew the material cold. You could always call again and hope for someone different.
  18. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    The theory as it was explained to me (or how my foggy mind recalls) is that both pots are charged with the same volume and heated at the same rate. Heating up time is supposed to be reduced due to the jacket to volume ratio realized by using two pots simultaneously. As each pot builds in temp, the vapour is pushed through the Lyne arms and these arms meet before going up the column forcing one vapour path to effectively retreat and reflux. That pot would then build pressure and force its vapour down the alternate Lyne arm and force a reflux on the other side, hence the reciprocating action . Apparently with a relatively few plates (<10?) you can reach sufficient concentration to satisfy Fed requirements for production of Vodka (ie 95%). Dragon distillery in Baltimore had their distillery (using this still) open for viewing to the Adi conference. I'm sure that Rusty Figgins (contact info in ADI directory?) would be happy to talk of his invention. I thought he had said Still Dragon was no longer the manufacturer, but I can't be sure.
  19. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Thanks Just Andy, I appreciate it. With a new shipment of 30 or so barrels coming just after the foeder (s) make themselves at home, I would have been mad at myself if I infected them.
  20. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    A local brewer is hoping to use some of my space for some Foeder tanks holding Sour Beer. His process will be using Brettanomyces and I have read of some serious concerns with Bretta attacking the cellobiose of whisky barrels. Knowing that many of you are also brewers, I'd love to get your feedback on whether I should be concerned with airborne cross contamination. The brewers would use their own pumps, tanks, etc. but would be in close proximity to my mash tun, fermenters and barrels. Thanks
  21. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Thanks, that makes perfect sense. I plan on reusing the boxes so will search out some used racking. I appreciate all of the feedback. Cheers.
  22. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    I may be looking at purchasing more bottles than I could use in a short period of time. Any suggestions on how many pallets high I could stack empty bottles? I'm thinking I could stack two pallets high without breakage or racking. Thoughts?
  23. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    Welcome Jon you are setting up in one of the nicest parts of the province (biased). We are setting up in Sudbury and look forward to seeing you setup (when I make the drive to St.Kitts to see Kannuk of course). And personally I'd love to see a brandy market in Ontario, it's really overlooked my too many. Keep in touch Shane
  24. Broken Anvil Distilleries
    I'm pretty sure that both of your proposed options are good. The consumer protection directorate of the cfia (im not sure their exact name these days since they underwent a significant restructuring a couple of years back) would be able to confirm. Any revision of the label would be complaint driven, but could be costly if the product label was printed on an lcbo scale. Even in the event of a label change, they would likely give you months to change it to allow you to use up some of labelled products first. Personally, I like Distilled in Canada, because that's what makes these products so much more interesting (and tasty).
  25. Broken Anvil Distilleries

    Hi there,

    Did you ever find a place to source tunnels for full bottle shrink wrap? I've only been able to find very high production models and our setup only dreams of that sort of output at the moment.

    Cheers

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