Rickdiculous

I have 11 freshly dumped MGP 2yo Bourbon barrels for sale. $125 each plus shipping. Buy 4 or more @$100 each. PM me if interested. They are Speyside Cooperage.

$42,000 or best offer I'm selling my used 60 gallon Kothe Pot Still, It is currently single phase, but we can return it to it's 3 phase state if you prefer that. It was originally wired that way and I had it converted to fit my rural electric system. It was built in 2010 and used for three years by Watershed Distilling in Columbus Ohio and then I got it in 2013, I didn't get it hooked up and running until summer of 2015. I am a very small distillery so I only ran it 6-8 times a month at most and this past year 4 times a month. It is a Bain marie style still using a hot water bath to heat the distillate by conduction through the copper pot. It has a 3 plate column on top and a CIP system which is fed from a hot water holding tank under the condenser. It comes with the agitator and motor as well as the pump for the CIP. This is a great little still, I am only selling it as my electric company has decided to change my classification and the increase in cost is simply too great. It is over 300% higher to keep running this. I am currently running it on one element at a time to stay under the draw for the new rates. I am changing to steam which powers my Mash tun, stripping still. Please email me at rick@isantispirits.com. Do not message me through the forum as I don't check the old email associated with this very often.

I’m also interested. Can you PM me the dimensions of its footprint and it’s height? Rick

It is Bain Marie. I’m holding off on a retro fit to see if I can find something similar to the Kothe I currently have.

I recently got the bad new my Kothe 250L 60 gallon electric still is drawing enough power to change my commercial class and I'm about to experience an almost 1000% increase in electric uses. Gotta love local energy monopolies. So I'm looking to buy a small steam powered still to take this electric one offline and pass it on to someone who can use it in a different energy jurisdiction. If you are planning an upgrade and thinking of selling a small one let me know asap. Rick 763-333-6447

I’m looking for an attachment to move barrels from horizontal to vertical on pallets. Does anyone know if something made for this. Doing it with forks and my brute strength is more difficult than I want.

I’m looking for a small Genio or iStill for sale to turn my heads and tales into something useful. email rick@isantispirits.com

Do you still have the DMA? I am interested. PM me Thanks Rick

Okay, So here area couple of other details to answer some of the questions you guys have 1) Energy to the still comes from a 500K Steam Boiler. It only services this unit. 2) Steam Jacket covers 75 percent of the Still Surface. 3) Cooling water is ground water from a well at 55F/ 13C running at 70 PSI I could easily put in some strips to the 1 inch columns for the time being. I looked at the latest pics Joe put up of his condensors and they appear to be just like my pictured design in terms of tube size and configuration. I could put some baffles in for water turbulence as well. That is a good idea.

Okay, So I have built a still from a design a friend come up with inconjunction with Custom Metalcraft using one of their 550 gallon bulk tanks. I sent a schematic for a column and a condenser based on what could easily fit in the corner of the top of the tank to a great local fabricator. So this has a 4 ft x 8inch column with a still dragon dephlemator on top which goes over to the 6 inch by 4 ft condenser via a 3" pipe. When I originally designed it I took a shot in the dark and ran (7) 1 inch by 44 inch tubes evenly spaced down the middle. I did not do any calculations other then generally looking at the ratios of the columns to condensers on Carl's and Vendome's and took a best guess. Needless to say to make this work, it runs very slowly on stripping runs. I started out at about 12 hours and began to push it. My best time was around 6.5 hours and typical is 7.5-8. I had to slow it down because my distillate began to run hot and things started coming out of the vaccuum break on the parrot. I know that is not a lot of detail, but my thought is to go back to the fabricator and get a new condenser with the layout of tubes in the picture below. I did do some surface area calculations on the tubes. Right now I have (7) 1 inch tubes, 44 inches long with a total surface area of 1627.36 square inches. If I go to the configuration below, I will have (21) .5 inch tubes with a combined surface area of 2935.8 sq/inches. Basically 1.5xs the current surface area. If I add tubes where the x's are, I will get an additional (16) .5 inche tubes for a total of 5172.6 sq/inches or 2.6xs the surface area. So, based on this 550 gallon still, 8"x4 fit column with dephlegmator (plumbed from top of condenser), 6"x 44" tube in shell condenser I get this question: Which of the two 1/2 inch pipe configurations will give me the most bang for the buck. Is the surface area of the 21 tubes a sufficient gain/ correct for size, or should I add the extra tubes? Is there a diminishing return for too much surface area and volume taken up by the tubes compared to the volume of cooling water within the shell? I hope this makes sense, and someone with some design savy can help me out. Thanks, Rick

For those waiting on a response, This is the rule currently being used for the statment from the TTB. § 19.52 Restrictions on location of plants. A person who intends to establish a distilled spirits plant may not locate it in any of the following places: (a) In any residence, shed, yard, or enclosure connected to a residence; ( On any vessel or boat; © Where beer or wine is produced; (d) Where liquors are sold at retail; or (e) Where any other business is conducted except as provided in § 19.54. Above (d) clearly states you can't have a DSP where Liquors are sold at retail. Luckily for me I have two other buildings I can use for this purpose so we are choosing to remove the tasting/sampling/retail space from the DSP. I have also been told that if you charge for the tour/tasting that is the same as selling retail. If you are not charging for the sample/tasting or selling, bottles at retail you may be able to do that. I won't go into the research I did throught 19.54 as you can all follow a chaing of this applying to that in the code.

So I just got this from the TTB agent reviewing my application: 3) A DSP needs to have complete physical separation from the sampling/tasting area for both bonded and general premises because it will most likely involve the retail sales of alcohol which by law cannot be done on distillery premises. This would require a separate entrance from the outside and 4 walls around the sampling/tasting area. The sales of most other merchandise can be done on distillery general premises. It needs to be treated as a completely separate business. On the diagram I don’t see that the tasting bar has its own entrance. I have been in a number of distilleries where the sampling and retail bottle sales are in the same space as the distillery with no other separation from the production facility than a pony wall or caution tape on floor or some similar deliniation. If you have accomplished this would you care to share how you got TTB approval for this. Feel free to PM me. Thanks for you help in advance.

Someone please explain to me the cool down before dumping? All the way to 140? Are there specific conditions where this is needed as it was not the practice in many distilleries I've seen? Doesn't this depend on whether your drains are metal or plastic, if you are pumping into containers to transfer stillage to a farmer etc? Just curious what the rationale is here.

Good question

sent you a message. Rick

Thanks James, The current plan was to have two inline on demand water heaters. We are getting pretty big ones and they are doing 10 gallons a minute, so basically an hour for fill up. So thank you for confirming what I thought was the best plan, but just wasn't sure. Rick

There is a bit of tradition in doing what you are discussing. Many moonshiners or home distillers would do this. They would take a bit from a barrel and add a bit of new stuff. I agree the age statement is a bit of question mark if you are planning on that.

Do a bit or research of sites like Bestrate.com or Nerdwallet.com You can search best business credit cards and rating sites will abound. I would take some serious time to assess reward cards. They almost always have interest rates which far outweigh the rewards against getting a no rewards card with a lower interest rate. You just have to decide which is more important. If you know you will be paying off your balance in full each month, then go for the ones with great rewards, especially the ones who give flight miles. Travel the world on your grain orders, sounds good to me. You may want to talk about it with your bank as well. Good luck in your search. Rick

Can anyone help me out with this. I'm in a rural area and I'm going to be running on propane. I need to know which is more efficient for mashing. Running an on demand water heater at 10 gallons a minute heating 60 degree water to 160 (500 gallon mash) or heating with steam jacket on mash tun or direct steam in a hot water tank? Easiest install and smallest space is on demand. Is efficiency difference worth the cost difference? Thanks Rick

It is very sad to hear about this happening to someone like Chip. I have only had the chance to meet him in passing and to attend a taste/nosing class he ran in Louisville a couple of years ago. He has a great head for producing top notch spirits. I hope he finds a way out that keeps him in the business. That being said, I had big plans to build a destination distillery in Minnesota and I have worked for two years to get to a place where I could do it. I have tried to go on loans with small investments from trusted friends/family and no one else. I have had my dream cut back in size twice after being told no one would lend me what I was asking for as a start up with no sales record. I'm down to a 1200sq/ft renovated existing pole shed and a system which can produce two barrels a week. I'm going to be working alone with one person doing some marketing and outreach for us. But after waiting and watching others in Minnesota get on the shelves first, my distillery is finally getting going. We are building out next month and ordering equipment soon. I have often heard the words Venture Capital from people I talk with and friends who say I could make it all happen pretty fast. This story simply supports the answer I have always given them on why I will wait or build it from scratch. "I don't want anyone telling me what to do or how to do it, even worse trying to take it from me." While making a living is a big concern, My first concern is making a great whiskey people talk about, enjoy and share. Venture Capital doesn't give a crap about what people like me, who are makers at heart, want from this business. My best to Chip Tate, I hope you find a way out that keeps your name and brands in tact, or if you have to start from ground up, know we are all pulling for you.

I am also very interested in this. I won't repeat as my concerns have already been listed by others. $500 bucks seems reasonable, with possible free upgrades. Rick

Thank you, and I appreciate your well written answer, truly. I will check those posts and I have already found a good third party to give them to if necessary. I apologize for over reacting to your first response. Rick

I'm sorry hedgebird you seem to lack a basic understanding of chemistry to think my shit is more toxic then compounds like methanol and acetyl acetate. Also, a septic system is design to deal with the shit as you so nicely put it. It is not designed for the waste output of distillation. So unless you care to answer the actual question don't insult me. I live in a rural area on a lake where this is a major concern, not a joke.

Let me rephrase my question? How are you destroying your heads and tails? Do you have a hazmat person pick them up and destroy them? Are you watering them down and putting them down the drain? Or is this simply one of those dirty little secrets no one wants to talk about? My property sits on top of my drinking water, which is also consumed by and bathed it by my wife and kids. Simply putting this down my septic diluted or not doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Would you drink a diluted version of your heads? So what are you actually doing with them in large quantities? I can read a regulation but that doesn't give anyone the "how to" I believe they and myself are looking for.

There has to be a better answer to this question. Some of the people on this site are distilling too much ethanol to simply be giving it away as window cleaner in the winter. How about some of the bigger producers weigh in on this. Hazmat disposal? Diluted down the drain? storing in a 55 gallon ss drum only passes the problem on down the road. I'm curious about this as well. I do like the ethanol stoves. Pretty cool possibility.