SlickFloss

It's quite impressive for sure unfortunately it's tough to scale electric to mass production sizes so execution is limited but where it is applicable it is quite impressive. The watt and yield leave out the water consumption. It's pretty impressive to not have coolant water consumption. Not unheard of, but always impressive when it pops up. Have you looked into any dewatering shit for stillage? Some of those units blow my fucking mind! Just my .02! Slick

Congrats brother!

This is an awesome set up. Obviously some efficiencies to be gained here but very little (just close the lids on those coolers!) Are you running a set up like this for neutrals?

IDK if its just me but the photo won't load on your post

Ill let you come work with my operators for 7 days for less ; )

So look into a doubler off an ABC system, thats a continuous pot still. Work best fed off wines though so you'd still need a stripping function to your system IDK if you can realistically achieve same results with grain in (heating elements). Have modified a few columns feel free to chirp at me. Joey (Joseph, not Joey) Dehner doesn't come around much anymore but if anyone could figure it out for you he could. Obviously I am assuming you've looked at an armagnac still? its literally doing what you ask, although it isn't at a start place of the hybrid column you have on site, it is exactly what you want to do functionally. Cheers, NBM

I have not taken Moonshine U but one of my asshole buddies up here has and he sings praises about it non stop.... One thing I can say is one of my consultants (I've said this a dozen times but I'll say it again, even consultants have consultants ; ) ) is a teacher at Moonshine U. He is beyond qualified to teach and I'm only mentioning this because you mentioned this (I'm not trying to sound uppity or conceited or anything) he cannot be hired. He will not solicit you for business, because he can't take new clients. Most of the instructors will not be able to solicit you because of their other jobs NDAs etc. I am only bringing this up not to be an ass hole but to say you are good for asking because there are other masterclasses, like ones associated with some industry group websites, where that is very very very much notttttttt the case.

Junipers provenance info tells us it is Albanian. I don't want to put suppliers on blast but both separate companies are sources from CA. Lots of very large fry hard wrinkly balls of matter, no real flavor to them. Little normal looking junipers who lack intensity/"punch" fill in the gaps. Probably 65-75% larger and the remaining balance of bags being the sub par quality but better looking smaller berries. None of it meets QC for us in terms of flavor quality [despite appearance]

Hey community, Recently we had a load of Juniper come in from our standard supplier that was absolutely atrocious in quality. Everything was cracked, almost woody and mulch in appearance and texture, some of the "berries" seemed way too big to be juniper, actually found some sticks in one lot. Atrocious. We returned botanicals and received a new batch from a different supplier, very reminiscent of the first. Almost no flavor or pop to them. We reached out to a few peers that we know are making Gin in bulk like we are and they've said similar things, wanted to get word out to the community to be very vigilant on QCing ingredients coming in, especially juniper in the current market. Feel free to share anecdotals below : ) Cheers, good luck. Slick

I don't have your specific answer but perhaps this would help the discussion in some way in case someone else doesn't either, I have a reverse acting thermostatic damn foss (;)) that I haven't run here on site but I have played with it a bit, used an FJVA in a different application and (I think) understand somewhat how it works technically: The ones I have used in a very different application but look identical to the one we have for our future column depgh uses a probe in liquid to modulate the valve, it is not powered. This probe is subjected to pressure changes correlating to temperature changes within where it is suspended (cooling water, vapor stream, effluent, product, etc.). Pressure changes in probe are transferred via capillary tube to water valve. There is a bellows and counter spring controlled by knob inside of the valve. Pressure from the probe actuates the bellows open or closed. When settings are equalized to probe pressure the spindle is held in a way that allows flow, when pressure changes to the bellows the spindle can fall into a position set by the knob where flow will not occur.

We've scrapped a few facilities that use them as mash pumps, looks like some people had them set up with ability to recirculate in tank as well as just to pump cooked mash to fermenters (clumps I assume)

If anyone snags and needs help learning how to run this holler at your boy Slick City

I agree with a lot of what Andy said from a fermentation stand point. Love this rig! Where are you at in terms of elevation above sea level? It doesn't appear you're running a YDO, vacuum pump, or venturi, si?

So we do a lot of used cooperage so I can share some of our experiences with it if that would help? Personally I prefer using used casks for primary aging vessels in most mash bills because I am "solvent" note averse in whiskies and I prefer the end result of rye, especially really high rye mash bills, in used cooperage. Ryes are already heartily "phenolic-ly" (idk if thats a word?) driven and when susceptible to high levels of transesterification that can be very averse to some consumers. This is why straight ryes are usually really intense. Thats why some people love them and others hate them. We finish a lot of rye in new casks after aging in used casks for 6 years, blending those casks, and finishing it in used French oak for an extended period of time. We activate a lot more baking spice (eugenol) than black pepper (guaiacol) and the other phenols squib juice is famous for (think dill, mint, etc) when we use used cooperage exclusively, but the longer we expose it to another layer of intense carboxylic acids to drive further development (TANNIN from finishing in a NEW charred and toasted Am Oak Barrel) we start to pop those SJ notes. So, yes the results can be similar, but then the labeling can get difficult. If you rebarrel a straight bourbon in a used cask it is no longer a straight bourbon. It's been finished. If you aged a 45% wheat bourbon distillate for 6 years in used cooperage it's a 6 year whiskey from a bourbon mash (not a corn whiskey). If you took that barrel and rebarreled it into used cooperage at four years it would either be a 6 year whiskey from a bourbon mash or a 2 year straight wheated bourbon. If you rebarrel a straight rye into a used barrel its no longer a straight rye whiskey its been finished. We age our own and SJ distillates for six years in used cooperage and finish in new and used cooperage and claim the cumulative age of all wood on our age statement as whiskey from a rye mash. We have a few specialty toast ISCs down currently that have been finishing a six year almost two years. we could call them them eight year whiskey from a rye mash, or a 2 year straight rye. Anyways, I'm not trying to convince you not to do it because it gets complicated, obviously I do it a lot, but it gets really complicated! Just my .02, take it or leave it it's what I am dealing with!

Chevalier has casks in inventory. Expensive as fuck they're from abroad and they're drier than shit they've probably just been sitting in a warehouse but they got them if you want to hydrate them and willing to pay for them

Per usual I agree with Tom (please take note everyone who insists Im a curmudgeonly F _ _ _ that agrees with no one and smells his own farts). From a process standpoint we look at pgs/bushel for efficiency when looking back at our runs. We're running 36% rye bbn right now and consistently hitting on average 5.2 pgs/bushel. From our standpoint when that number is off we look to yield in PGS, if we didn't pul about 990-1010 PGS off our 5.5k gallon ferment we know there is a yield issue. Looking back on the run itself if we saw really wild vent fluctuations and cooling surges and inconsistent sump temps with consistent steam input and mash feed we know it was a distillation issue: we lost that ethanol because we didn't operate well. If we don't see those things but then go back to whats in the beer well lets say we see it didn't finish in line with where it should it was super low in PH and left 3 or 4 brix on the table: well hey it was a fermentation issue. If it finished out but you have a bunch of dough balls in your beer well or fermenter with raw centers or it did finish out but doesn't pass a starch test: it was a cooking based issue. If you track your input in, your process of cooking, your brix and ph through fermentation, and your yield you can diagnose where in the chain you're having issues.

We have some time between large contracts q1 2024 if anyone needs any contract production done. 1 fermenter (20 barrel)minimums for custom runs. Contact me for pricing timing and references. Cheers Slick

I see this a lot with people just starting to wrap their heads around columns they usually get snagged up thinking it in reverse because it is in reverse for volatilization, but not for "condensation". To volatilize we build up in heat through the run and low bp volatiles come out first. in "condensation" we go backwards as we cool from boiling point (condenser isn't all one temp right?) and lowers remain volatile last.

Of course! Operator tunes column to allow lowest boiling points to volatilize with assistance of other dissolved gasses holding heat in suspension that will pop out of that vent. Per my other post, this isn't designed to completely remove heads and if you want a great well aged product that shouldn't be your goal either. It's designed to provide an opportunity for certain compounds to volatilize if ran correctly. BBN aged in a rick house subjected to heat cycles (either natural or synthetic) are going to volatilize heads outta barrel. The only people obsessed with incredibly plain boring wicked tight head cuts are craft distillers on pot stills and people running absolutely wonkadoodle ferments for wild flavor goals. When we load a bunch of bourbon into our ricks on a warm day you can come back next few days and smell low boiling points already volatilizing in the air around the ricks it's really magical. Can I ask for a reference to a heads vent being higher? On any condenser? They're usually lower closer to collection points right? At least on my CARL and SM pots they both are. You are thinking with correct logic but not seeing it all the way through. Heads has a lower boiling point than ethanol. Ethanol will condense first. Going backwards through the system why would heads condense closer to the heat source (Or earlier in the condenser? Which is hotter in the system flow) than ethanol which has a higher boiling point? Closer to system they're immiscible in the vapor stream too much heat. It can't. It would have to be later in system to allow ethanol to condense without the compounds being targeted condensing as well. Operator. Tunes. System.

Thank you for deleting the picture! I appreciate that and for your show of good character I will elaborate. Look low and inside on the condensers, you will see two small ports unlabeled that look like thermowell or TC fitting (impossible to tell difference without annotation on most VCB drawings). Thats where vent at equipment install would go.

The horizontal condenser at the top you referred to is a beer heater, I mentioned it in my original post about dropping tails back down and refluxing into the column. There are two valves on the spirit trays of the column that allow you to control the reentry point of that reflux. Heads would reflux last right? [lowest boiling point.] This is not a condenser it is a partial precondenser. Increases efficiency by heating beer and drops heavy tails and water out of vapor suspension and back into column. If you're running you're column right you tune to your desired tails cut. Anyone who wants to learn how to run one of these, I'll come to you or you can come to me. And if you use us for consulting, that 240 gallon collections tank won't be close to enough for your daily yield ; )

On the cut sheet you provided to the Internet that the manufacturer is probably really going to resent there is two small TC ferrules for vents on HxC1 and HxC2

Unless you're getting a specific custom rig you're bringing to them or requesting them to design Vendome really only sells what I refer to as an American Bourbon Column. Stump hit it on head, it is a very simple but very clever and efficient system. -Column is used to separate all alcohols some water aldehydes......etc...... from grain slurry. -Stillage to come out as bottoms -Alcohol vapor enters beer heater which is a precondenser used to heat beer and partially cool vapor stream. There is a reflux loop here that addressees a majority of tails from the wash. -Alcohol that runs through condenser is condensed in a manner that allows operator to control flavor/cut by controlling vent temp, the remainder of ethanol is condensed completely to be sent to doubler. -Doubler is ran in a manner that it slowly gains level until it needs to be doubled back, these are your tails your not sending through to collection. Doubler should be ran to spec so final product is ready for long term aging and heavy tails reflux back into doubler for doubling back into beer well -there is also a vent on High wines condensers that can be used for split cutting heads (really advanced operating) or more commonly just another place to vent select low boiling compounds incase you pushed them through on accident. Much less effective than the first vent so don't push them through. -There isn't a head cut, the column is tuned based on how you run the vents the temperature will change because of what the vents and other reflux loops are doing. -Collected Distillate off of these systems have considerably more "heads" than your run of the mill craft distillers heart cut on a pot still. these distillates are designed and ran for highly fluctuating aging plans that use the heads in final collection to protect yield and assist with nuance in flavor for large ky commodity brands.

Can you discuss more the design realities of your kettle? What is it's dimensions, when charged where is liquid coming up to, where does probe insert and how far does it have to travel to be submerged? Will there ever be runs where it will become completely "unsubmerged"? Do you have elements or jackets? Do you have a level indicator like our friend from SA shows on his still? Would it be possible to come up from bottom within drain or would jacket/elements interfere/be in way?

Hello all, In the facilities I've been in over the years a few times I have happened across a small little plastic filter cart housing that I am trying to purchase now but am having difficulty. The cartridge itself was only a few inches long and was TC'd directly into the line of a hose. I am not talking about an inline strainer. I believe the housing either hinged open on the side (clam shell? if you would?) to accept a new cartridge change (small cartridges, not 20" or even 10" long) but it may have been something you loaded from the top and I am conflating that? Which may be where I am having trouble finding it? Anyways I am asking if anyone has a small cart housing recommendation that I can just TC into a hose? That isn't a strainer. Less than 10 inches long if possible Thank you. Slick