Georgeous Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 i recently visited a vodka distillery here in the Great State, and the owner was telling me they put their foreshots and heads in their cold water tank in place of glycol. Anyone else out there doing this? Recommended? i really don't see why not, but i will let the more experienced chime in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffy2k Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Following Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 Interesting idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted August 23, 2019 Author Share Posted August 23, 2019 yeah he has been doing it for years and swears by it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenlyon Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 We do this for our cooling fluid (methanol & water), which runs continually through a closed loop. The coolant is cooled by a trip through a large pond behind the distillery. Works great. Although we have reached it's limits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 So what would be an acceptable mixture, or proof that would work . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenlyon Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 We started out at about 30% but there is an automatic pressure tank that tops up the system in the event there is a spillage. Every once and a while if changing a condenser or something, you might loose a little here and there - so, what the actual proof is today, I don't know, maybe around 20 - 25%. I was planning to do a full system maintenance in January and I'll probably flush it out and refill it with fresh coolant then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 30% glycol or 30% abv Heads/foreshots seems like it will do the the same. Glelyon, how many gallons is your cooling vessel and how low have you gotten the temp on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenlyon Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 The actual cooling 'vessel' as it were is a large pond out behind the distillery - probably a little bigger than a average swimming pool. It ebbs and flows with the seasons - right now is about halfway dried up, but in another month it will be full again. The actual coolant (the water/heads) is about 20 gallons - although I am planning to increase that amount. With the automatic pump, the water circulates at about 200L per hour. It is not particularly cool overall, as the system is in heavy use all of the time. I think the last time I checked, (when not cooling) it was around 8 - 10 C and when in use it can get up to about 16 C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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