Hi All. I am in the process of planning a whisky and gin distillery on the West Coast of Tasmania.
So far, my plan is to repurpose a jacketed 1100L milk vat into a boiler with an 200mm packed column with 1000mm shotgun condensor on top and reflux controlled by liquid take off. I'll be using 4 x 9kw elements for boiling and pumping water through the jacket to use for the mashing - maybe.
I'll be getting several 1000L wine fermenter vats for fermenting the mash, but my mash tun is an unknown. I can get another milk vat the same size, but given I'll probably be doing 2 washes of the grist, I should be able to get away with using something a little smaller, such as 700L. Does this sound about right?
I plan on creating a Scotch style whisky and initially I'll be purchasing malted barley for whisky and molasses for gin but I would like to eventually malt the grain (barley and probably wheat) myself.
I'm not sure yet how the maturing will go with the high humidity and cold climate in this part of the world, but it should make for a unique Tasmanian whisky!
Wayne