PeteB

Some of the water from the condenser goes through a heat exchanger in the flu of the still and is boosted to almost 100oC and then stored in an insulated tank, the rest of it circulates back into 2 very large open tanks to cool.These old brick tanks used to supply stock water to the farm but are now unused for that system. Tanks are plumbed so hot water goes to the top of the first tank and cold comes out of bottom of next one. At my current size heat buildup is no problem, if in the future I can't lose enough heat this way I might install an evaporative cooling tower. ---edit added-- Sometimes the warm cooling water is used in the washing stage of making biodiesel--

If the competition was on tons of CO2 saved from the atmosphere they would probably beat me in a few seconds. But on a percentage of inputs vs. outputs they would be way below me. Just for a start some of their wheat is probably transported all the way from my neighbour here in Australia !

Chris, I think it will become more "green" as I scale up. On a larger scale it would become economical to install an algal system to capture the CO2 I might build a small algal system one day soon to capture the CO2 from my malting just for the fun of it. An anaerobic reactor would be easy enough to build to use the spent mash. The methane could easily be used in conjunction with the biodiesel burners. But I think feeding it to livestock is just as green. I have a heap of pig manure and straw bedding that I am about to spread on next year's rye crop . On a larger scale heat reuse would be more efficient as well.

I think the main reason a CRAFT DISTILLER would use 100% corn is because there are not many others using it. Most craft distillers like to make something a little different from the main stream.

Dominic Roscrow who writes for Whisky Magazine and Malt Advocate, visited my distillery earlier this week. He passed a comment that I have the only biodiesel powered still in the world. Does anyone know of another one? That got me thinking, do I have the "greenest" distillery in existence? Any comments would be appreciated. 95 % of my energy comes from BIOFUEL made from WASTE fryer oil that I collect from a roadhouse next to my farm (renewable energy) and (minimal freight "food miles") The other 5% energy is Hydro electricity (renewable) I grow and harvest the grain within half a Km of my distillery (minimal freight) I grow ryecorn, which unlike most other grains, requires very little fertiliser or irrigation.(avoiding contamination of waterways) No insecticides or fungicides are used on the rye. (no chemical contamination) I use minimum tillage and trash retention. (sustainable farming)(locking up carbon in soil) Tractor and truck fuel is biodiesel from fryer. Spent mash is fed to my livestock (minimal freight) (nutrient recycling) I malt my own grain and use it "green". This saves a lot of energy because of no kilning.(reduced carbon emissions) All cooling water is recycled or used for irrigation.(don't waste precious water) All distillery water is captured on my farm. No government infrastructure.(no chemical additives, minimal pumping energy) Waste heat capture and reuse is gradually being improved. Except for my still and my tractor, most of my equipment is second hand. I believe it is generally accepted that most older second hand equipment has had its manufacturing carbon footprint already written off. (small carbon footprint) My distillery is in an abandoned horse stable that needed very little modification.(small carbon footprint for construction)

I recently sampled a rum aged in an ex-bourbon barrel in a blind tasting. I, and some others in the group mistook it for a bourbon in an ex-rum barrel. If you shave and charr a wine barrel there should be only minimal contribution from the wine. Can't comment on fresh wine barrel for rum.

I think your boxes are quite "green", especially if they are made from plantation timber. There is quite a bit of carbon locked up in them and they are more likley to be kept and recycled than a carton. They look good too

If you are on a small scale and want to go cheap, I bought an electric submersible "dirty water pump" for about $70. Just lower the pump into the mash, it is amazing how fast it pumps mash through a 1.25 inch hose. Don't know how long it will last, but for $70 I have got my monies worth. Even though the electric motor is sealed I would not suggest it is used with spirit.

I suggest you investigate "shell & tube" heat exchangers. ie a smaller diameter pipe inside a larger pipe. Run wort through inner tube and cooling water through outer. Easy to flush out and sterelise. In some designs where there is only a small gap between the inner and outer tube you might get rid of more heat by pumping hot wort through outer tube, but it will be harder to clean.

Are those $ per proof gallon or wine gallon? I am trying to compare with our astronomical Australian taxes

There has been some wine barrels used in Australia. Not white wine, from rumours I have heard it produces an acidic taste Heavier reds seem to be the option and they seem to produce a lighter style. I haven't heard of anyone who has been using them for a long period to see the long term outcome.

Hi Carter, I remember you asking in an earlier post for suggestions for seals. What did you come up with? From the photo I am taking a guess that you used close fitting nylon for combined seal/bearing?

I tried to email you but it bounced back. my email is pbignell@belgrovedistillery.com.au

Is it my imagination, or does the taste of new-make change over the first few weeks when unwooded? Recently I tasted some spirit I had made the previous day and it was terrible, really bitter. I was contemplating putting it back into the still in an attempt to make it drinkable. A couple of weeks later I tasted it again and it was really nice. Most of the bitterness had gone (it was 100% rye) and it had become very smooth and drinkable.

Do you have any designs or links to web? The only ones I have managed to find are design principals only with no detail. I will be building it myself and would like to keep it as simple as possible.

Dried malt can be peat smoked in roughly the same way fish are smoked. Spread about 3 inches of dry malt on a wire mesh tray and lightly dampen it with a hose. Put the tray in a smoking cabinet and light some peat under it. A couple of the posts above mention salt water and peat. The peat bogs in Tasmania are in the highlands, no where near the sea. The peat from here produces world class "scotch style" whisky. I am currently building a small drum malter with peat smoker. Won't be finished for a few months but I will keep you informed.

If I went to the trouble of building a continuous still I would want to run it grains-in. I don't think this would work with a "packed still", if you mean the column is packed with something like marbles. I think it would need sloping sieve trays. Ps. I have been off the forum for a couple of weeks because I have had no topic notifications. Must check if my email is working properly. Now I have come back I see everything looks a bit different, has it changed or is my computer playing games with me?

My label says "Made in Australia" so could "Made in Oregon" be approved.

Lightcahill the Newbie, I think you are trying to be rude about me using "chemicals". I am using 100% rye because I am a craft distiller and don't want to produce the same product as the Big Boys, and because I love a challenge. If you had been around this forum a bit longer you might have noticed that I am about as green as one can get with my distillery. I grow and harvest my own rye, (no herbicides, fungicides or insecticides used) with a tractor powered with waste fryer oil. My still and water heating powered with fryer oil, malt is used green to save energy of kilning, waste products fed to my livestock or used as fertiliser, I capture all my own water (not town water full of chemicals) cooling water is used for heating then recycled. The small amount of electricity I used is from hydro generation. Most of my mashes have been done with no additives (except hot water produced with biofuel) hence the long runoff times. Lautering works fine, it is just slow and I am concerned the mash might get infected one day. Have tried only a few experimental batches with enzymes (they can hardly be called "chemicals" in the way you imply because they occur naturally in malt, but at a lower concentration) but they have not made runoff any faster. Also, under your definition of "chemicals" do you include yeast? I doubt it. Yeast is a heap of organic "chemicals" that come in a bag. A lot of whisk(e)y has been made without adding yeast, but usually with unpredictable results. The reason I started this thread was to try and keep away from "chemicals" by using UV I CHALLENGE YOU TO USE LESS CHEMICALS THAN THAT.

Thanks for the responses DenverD and Brian. I do pitch some of the yeast as soon as there is some wort in the fermenter. It is all pitched by half of runoff. My main concern is too many "bugs" growing in the mash tun. Recently the mash started to spontaneously ferment before it had finished running off and I almost threw the lot out. I kept going and the alcohol yield was the highest to date, and the low wines had similar nose. It takes over 24 hours to runoff hence the chance of infection. I do wonder some times why I lauter. Before I started my own rye distillery my only experience was with "Scotch" style production, so I just keep doing it that way. The main reason I don't change is because my still is direct fired. Also I think I will eventually find a way to speed up the process enough. Brian, a small amount of LAB may be good for my rye. I think that the acid they produce reacts with some of the alcohol producing an ester that has a very fruity nose. Sometimes when I walk in while the still is running it smells like fruit cooking in a kitchen If I get too sterile I might lose that note. I am certainly not goung to rush into any changes. Brian, I would also like to find out more about this enzyme you use. I dont know if you wish to discuss it on the forum so I will send you a PM in case you would rather go that way. PeteB

Charles, the CiderSure is exactly the type of unit I had in mind, with a thin film. I was trying to destroy mainly LAB and wild yeasts, but from what you have said I had better put the UV theory in the trash can. That idea was quickly sorted Thanks all.

Thanks for the suggestions. Brian, I did try Xylanase once to no avail. In theory it should be the best enzyme for rye, from memory it is arabinoxylans that cause the high viscosity. I have just ordered some more to give it another trial. I think beer brewers boil their wort at the same stage I was thinking of using UV. Maybe a few bacteria are good for Whisky but not beer! Ian, Your theory certainly has merit. But as you say it may not cause a problem in practice. Hopefully someone has tried it and can say YES or NO. Jason, I was hoping my wort is clear enough to let the UV travel far enough. A sales rep is coming next week to have a look.

This is a stripping run so no cuts are made. I would not do it with a spirit run because a small amount of foreshots would get into the heart. I usually start with about 10 inches of clearance for the foam. There is about 4 feet of space above the liquid but because of the unusual still design it is possible to get foam into the low wines at 10 inches. {Thanks very much for that question. I have just thought of a reasonably easy modification that will reduce the possibility of foam boilover}

Thanks Brian, I will have a search for it, but in the meantime, do you think the technique could be used in my situation where I lauter?