Dismal

Does anyone sell a pre-made distilling explainer that can be run on a loop in a tasting room for the tour?

Sharing my experience with Race Label in case anyone is looking for a manual label applicator. A couple years ago I purchased a used Race Label machine in the forums here. We're close to opening and so I pulled it out and started to learn it. I realized that the unit that I bought was not equipped for separate front and back labels. I reached out to Race Label and got my call returned withing hours. Ed was extremely helpful and realized that my unit may need a significant upgrade to apply my labels to my bottles. He asked me to ship the machine and some bottles/labels. He worked on it the day he got it and was able to set the machine up for my labels/bottles without any need for the big upgrade. Saved hundreds of $$ at a time when I need to save hundreds of $$. Ed install the gap tool, cleaned the machine up and shipped it back to me. I could not be happier with Race. Race products are well regarded (big reason why I purchased a used Race unit) so I wanted to shine light on the company and how they treat customers. 10 out of 10 highly recommend. Bob Dillon

I'm looking for a source of potato-based neutral spirit. Does anyone recommend a source?

Have you looked at Sensient?

I'm looking for a source of potato-based neutral spirit. Anyone offer that? Know a company that does?

** SOLD **

More to add for future reference ... Fining (per glisade above) makes a huge difference. In my case I tested Kieselsol/Chitosan, Bentonite, Spakalloid and Albumin. I tested these on multiple recipes (Amaro, herbal liqueur similar to Chartreuse and Vermouth). In my experiments Kieselsol/Chitosan was always performed best. Best clarity, lowest impact on aroma and taste, most compact bed, fastest results and easiest filtering. Albumen is a good second choice. Bentonite performed well but did not achieve the clarity that Kieselsol/Chitosan did and was hard on the filter due to low bed compaction and lower precipitation. As far as sugar goes white sugar can be made to work, but a low-color syrup such as Indiana Sugar's low-color distiller's syrup produces the clearest, lowest floc product by far: https://www.sugars.com/product-catalog/all-products/distillery-grade-invert-sugar-syrup

Also for future reference, I've experimented with filtering of louched Gin and filtering of flocculation in liqueurs. From my experiments, which are by no means exhaustive, the problems are slightly different. For louching there are more oils than the alcohol can hold in solution at a given temperature and removing some oil solves it. Flocculation is caused by polar molecules forming chains over time. Louching shows up as a general cloudiness immediately or at a threshold temperature whereas flocculation manifests over time (weeks/months, shelf-life issue) and appears as ribbons in the product. It's colloquially referred to as "snot" for good reason. Flocculation is best dealt with, in my limited experience, through the use of borosilicate fiber filters like this one: https://www.tcwequipment.com/products/graver-gfc-haze-pre-filters?taxon_id=51 that are especially good at attracting the polar molecules that form snot. I've used lab filters like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H8XGNC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details and a simple vacuum flask and Buchner funnel on a few hundred ml to test. Pyrate's original question regarding filter selectivity size is still relevant; my point is that choosing the right filter medium for the problem is also important.

https://www.bostonapothecary.com/important-snippets-from-joseph-merorys-food-flavorings/ Maybe too late for this? I've run this and it comes out great.

I assume you want to filter just this batch? Chill filtering will work but will change the flavor. Any filtering will. In the future use less botanical in the boiler.

Bump.

Yes it is.

Bump now that approved.

(reference picture, not actual unit) For sale: new, in-crate 2 Ton chiller plumbed for direct connection to 15 psi max cooling jacket. Bought with intention of connecting directly to jacketed IBC tote for chill filtering. Plans have changed and we now have a full chiller system that can serve this need as well. This unit was manufactured and delivered summer of 2021 and is still in the original shipping crate and ready to be shipped out. The part number of this unit is NSC2000-LT-230/1 and the description is "Deep Freeze Chiller, 2 ton (24,000 BTU/hr), 230V/1P/60hz". Manufacturer's website - click here First source of this unit for price reference - click here Second source of this unit for price reference - click here Price from manufacturer ~$10,000.00 Asking $8,000 not including shipping. You can arrange shipping and I will facilitate the pickup or I can arrange shipping that you approve and pay.

** SOLD ** There's been a lot of discussion on this forum in general and this listing in particular about Corson equipment. The comments are predominantly negative. The people that purchased this system from me currently own an early Corson system. They like their system so much they wanted a second as they expand. I found the quality to be excellent too. These comments are not intended to minimize the real issues others have had with Corson equipment or to disparage any other supplier. These comments are intended to present a more balanced view of this equipment for future readers researching the topic. What everyone seems to agree on is that they were very difficult to deal with and that one of the brothers was seemingly a miserable human being. In my research when buying this, reading the law suits, the customer service was the basis of the suits. I found the commentary here to not reflect my experience with this equipment and apparently not the experience of the buyer either. I hope now that I no longer have a dog in the race that this perspective may be valuable to others in the future.

Price reduction, $99,000

bump

Bump.

I've had 2 good experiences with Minimoves: https://minimoves.com/

Bump

@barristerandbrewerAre you making an offer? This unit is one of the last units that Corson produced and all issues were addressed. As a precaution I purchased all new PRVs and they are included in the purchase. The unit is available for inspection. There has been plenty of discussion about Corson on this forum that people can look up, adding hear-say here does not add anything but hear-say. I've spoken with many distilleries that bought and use Corson equipment daily to this day and they are happy with their equipment. Those are voices that have not been heard here.

Bump

300 gallon fully automated distillery from Corson. Asking Price $110,000. Lot includes Still, Mash/Lauter Tun, 2 Fermentors, Touch Screen Automation. All vessels are 300 gals working capacity w/CIP and butterfly valves, designed for a 12′ clear ceiling height, and still wrapped in NEW condition. -Steam heated pot still w/whiskey helmet, agitator, botanicals vessel, 1x four plate column+dephleg, 2x ten plate columns+dephlegs, condenser, and enclosed spirits safe -Steam heated mash/lauter tun w/agitator, cooling jackets, top and side manways -2x Hinged top fermentors w/agitators and cooling coils Includes new PRVs and VFDs for all agitators System is rated for 300,000 BTUs; all it needs is a boiler and chiller. Located in Central New Jersey. Feel free to email me with any questions. https://www.dropbox.com/s/cn7e5fbqzr6oh07/unnamed-4.jpg.6111a1a6f85ac6b774caa60fbb775e9a.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/vomlscsghqdz1jf/300GallonStill.pdf?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/h9nemfofdch1s3r/IMG_9681.jpeg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ngytbnbj431oxe6/IMG_8506.jpeg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/751alr25i9qpnux/PHOTO-2018-10-01-17-22-16.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6fjgmbnl75trle/PHOTO-2018-10-01-17-22-15.jpg?dl=0

I've completed all my experimentation and so i will post one last message here with my final findings. In the end what works for me is haze filtering the final product with glass fiber filter. For my experimentation I used a vacuum filter with a Buchner funnel and these filter papers: https://www.ahlstrom-munksjo.com/products/medical-life-sciences-and-laboratory/laboratory-papers-and-test-filters/micro-glass-micro-quartz-filters/ They're available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H8XGNC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The flocculation occurs because the floc material is polar and the molecules find each other in the liquid and attach +/- and form chains. Hence the ribbon-like floc. The glass fibers in the paper are charged/polarized and attract the polar floc molecules especially well. Thanks to the folks at TCW for setting me in the right direction finally. In production I will use my cartridge filter and this cartridge: https://www.tcwequipment.com/products/graver-gfc-haze-pre-filters?taxon_id=69 I also experimented with different sugars. I looked at Sucrose (ordinary white granular sugar), Belgian Candi Sugar (an adjunct used in certain beers. can be from beets, corn, invert) and dextrose. As a simple syrup the Dextrose was crystal clear and less viscus than the others so I was optimistic. In the end I found no difference between them in my products. I use a combination of distilled and macerated extractions and so the coloring of the macerated extracts overpowers any clarity that the dextrose produced. Your mileage may vary here and I can see where Dextrose will be useful in certain recipes. I found that using 25% more dextrose by weight produces comparable sweetness to sucrose. I've produces a few recipes that have shown floc resistance over months using this approach. In the final analysis haze filtration with a glass fiber filter is the key. A good quality /purity of your sugar will help but is distant second. I hope this helps anyone dealing with this issue. Little is written about this that I could find.

My pleasure. I've learned a ton from that site. Enjoy!