Blackheart

Indyspirits: If I am visualizing what you are describing, I believe I have recently seen a Vendome mash cooker of a like construction. From a cleaning and sanitation POV I would absolutely steer clear of an exposed coil/piping inside my mash unit. As an earlier poster mentioned, nooks and crannies will make it a bacteria haven very quickly. Smooth walls, bottoms, adequate drains, no dead legs are my watch words when it comes to optimum mash design. Others may not mind this, and that's cool. For the cost of a TIS cooler (like described above), you get a proven, easy to maintain/clean solution. Not a gamble, a solid fix. Perhaps a good way to think about this is what will you do and have to pay to make the original idea come to life? What will you do and have to pay to fix it if it doesn't? Another thought and not perfectly germane to your original question, we have in the past used the steam jacket as a cooling jacket as well. A bit of a pain to sort out, but a solution. In my opinion not an efficient solution. Using the same inputs, we cool a bunch faster with the TIS solution. Hope this helps!

We use a TIS model just like Southernhighlander is offering. The short answer is: they work great. They work even better and faster if you have very cold water to work with. I would not pick a different path to cool my grain-in mash.

Lol, there's another one claiming to be from <insert celebrity name here> TV show that wants to highlight craft distillers. Total scam. They want you to pay them $ to produce a segment for "the show." My wife has a company that does this, so I know. Content producers don't ask the subject of the segment to pay production costs, unless they are wanting to make something to shop around, maybe. Besides, the production costs they mentioned were outrageous. I'm betting we're not the only one to get this call.

We have a 17 foot clearance and it's right on the edge for our Vodka column. This may be a tailored fit experience for each customer. Absolutely a measurement to convey when ordering and sizing anyone's gear.

Sorry if this made it elsewhere on this board. It's a great read with some excellent thoughts. https://daily.sevenfifty.com/thriving-while-sober-in-the-booze-industry/

We do something like what Mike at MG Thermal is describing. A 2500 gallon poly tank that acts as cold bank. Separate loops are fed from it; one for the still's defleg and condenser, another loop for the mash cooling heat exchanger, and another loop that goes to a 10ton water chiller. We keep the water around 60-65 fairly easily. We also use a medium sized forced-air radiator to remove btus from the still/defleg water on it's way back to the reservoir. The still and mash cooling loops are fed by fairly cheap Taco water circulation pumps. Not a terribly expensive set up and pretty modular (we can add more cooling power at any time without upsetting the whole setup)

This is pretty GD hard to read; frankly it made me wince. Sorry, man, but there are better ways to introduce yourself to this range of time in industry and experience than what you did here. "I wrote the book on craft distilling" is a hard point to make when you haven't (as far as your Linked In profile or Google says), well, written a book on craft distilling.

I read this and had a thought about a friend and colleague in this industry that fell for this Alibaba thing. As SCD and Steve Cage mentions, they purchased what they believed was the same design. Shiny copper and a big price difference pushed them to buy direct from what they thought was a reputable builder in China. In reality they purchased a disappointing imitation with zero recourse on addressing the many shortcomings post-sale. An expensive lesson learned and I hated when this happened. These guys are friends as well as colleagues and didn't deserve to be done dirty like this. For those of you looking to get into this industry and save some startup equipment money; I would strongly suggest you deal with a supplier that can tell you who their customers are, and let those customers give you honest and earnest feedback. We love the gear our supplier, ASD sold us in 2011. We felt so strongly about they way they supported us from the jump that we've gone back to them three times for each iteration of our growth. We believe in their product enough to help sell it. I think that's a pretty good endorsement. If you're new to this game and are reading this thread to help make some equipment-buying decisions, a few more words of free advice: Go with an outfit that has sold a number of units in the size range you're seeking. They need to have a good track record in the technology they're selling. Multiple iterations of model designs over years is what I'm alluding to. Go with a supplier that can meet your support expectations. If you're new to this game, you're going to need a good amount of handholding/training unless you've hired a consultant to get you up and moving. If you're starting up as a part-timer, expect this handholding need to double. If you think your sales dude in China will be walking you though how to deal with some garbage he sold you, you're setting yourself up for a major disappointment. Another mention of what's been floated here earlier, as the distilling technology (at our scale) advances, and more options are available, continuous columns are a seriously viable option. We're planning our 4th expansion now and that's part of our upfit program (we're excited about adding an ASD continuous column to the operation). It ultimately boils down to price, continuity of manufacture and throughput.

We always use gravity to empty barrels in situ when possible. We bring the tanks up to the barrels on rack (assuming they're stacked high enough), slide in a long silicone hose, stick one end in the receiving tank, prime it, and drain the barrel using gravity. When we get to the dregs, the barrel is easier to handle and we can remove it from the rack, put it on forklift tines, and roll it back over the receiving tank. We then put a strainer over the bung hole and catch the coarse char as the last of the barrel empties.

St. Pats sells one too. Same-ish price. We have used it and love it.

Its sold. Thanks everyone.

We've upgraded, so it's time to find a new home for our bottling gear. Everything is well cared for, gently used and has no problems we can see. A great way to get into a respectable bottling set-up. First come, first served. Enolmaster 4-head vacuum filler PLUS 3-cartridge polishing filter vessel. Used about 3 years. In awesome condition (anyone that knows us knows how we treat and maintain our gear). We recently changed out the tubing to Viton. Sterilized after each use. Great filler for a variety of size distilleries. $3200 for the set. Sold only as a set. New, this will cost you more than $4000 on St. Pats. We will even toss in 3 new 0.22 micron polishing filters. CCR Model C semi-automatic corker for bar-tops. This thing is amazing. We've loved it so much, we went with CCRs automatic line. It's $875 new from CCR. You can have our well-cared-for one for $700. http://designccr.com/corkers/model-c/ ARO II2GDX Air diaphragm pump for moving high-proof spirits. Sanoprene diaphragms, 13 gpm flow, complete with control valve, 4 feet of silicone tubing and 1.5" tri-clamp end attachments. Runs like a top, well cared for, sterilized after every use. $600+ new, take this for $500. http://www.arozone.com/en/products/diaphragm-pumps/compact-pumps/1-2-classic-style-non-metallic.html Bottle-Matic II Labeler. Its a one or 2 label applier. Comes with optional backing winder and foot trigger. Works reliably and consistently. Works good with a tapered bottle, better with a round one. $1900 and its yours. American made, reliable as a mo-fo. Buyer pays shipping. Take it all for $6100 and one sincere hug. Message me offsite at D R at Sixandtwentydistillery dot com

+1 on what 3d0g says. Fill the mash tank the night before and let the chlorine gas off. It's what we do.

We've used them for more than 4 years. They work, are cheap, easy to clean, mobile, and can be replaced if you break them (my dumb ass has). Conipacs work, as do macro bins.

I love the feedback from ya'll. Good points on the many facets of our industry. Thanks for taking the time and guts to detail what's on your minds!