Lenny

5 hours ago, Lorenzo said:

Hey Lenny,

I've been looking for one also, there is a Still company, i think its Specialized or  Specific  or something like that they brought one to an ADI conference a couple years ago,  but way out of my price range !!!, found a couple of used pump over tanks that are used in the wine industry on Brew Bids but they both sold before  i could pull the trigger, I still looking, but if anyone could build one it would be Paul !  

I believe Golden Moon Distillery has one from Specific Mechanical out of Canada. I emailed them but haven't heard back.

I've been considering using a wine oriented pump over cart from TCW - they have a nice option start at just over 1k and we might go for that option, but I was hoping to evaluate other options that might be more tailored towards use with full barrels rolling across the top surface.

Seem like someone should/could have a viable design that could be replicated for a number of customers in need...

I need (want) one! Not even sure what the proper name might be for a stainless steel trough that barrels can be lifted/rolled onto so that the whiskey that pours out can run trough some perforated stainless to remove large pieces of char and allow for the full contents of liquid to be pumped over to another tank for gauging. Pictured below is a rather nice example at Peerless.

Anyone have a manufacturer of such a tank that they'd recommend?

I know there are not a whole lot of distilleries in the US operating stills that are heated with direct fire burners, but for those that are or would consider doing so... We've come to understand that there are no longer any major insurance companies that will insure a DSP operating direct fire stills. The only current option would be insurance through the excess and surplus market at a MUCH higher rate than standard insurance. This does not seem to be a regularly discussed topic, but was wondering how others might be handling this change in course by insurance companies?

Thank you, everyone, for all of this info. I've got a lot to work through and will be looking at the possibility of retrofitting some sort of steam coil - which appears to be a more straight forward Plan.A approach to heating vs. steam injection which seems like a plausible Plan.B option. Thanks!

I've heard of folks using steam injection to heat liquid in a vessel... Lets say I want to make this happen with a 150 gallon still with 2" threaded ports located at the base of the pot - any advice on a manufacturer of a steam sparge unit that could provide an effective/reliable solution?

5 minutes ago, twalshact said:

The Whiskey Wash,

"Old Limestone is pumped out of a limestone aquifer 130 feet underground and filtered using reverse osmosis, so the mineral content remains intact.  Keeney reports calcium and magnesium bond with the carbohydrates in alcohol, so when Old Limestone is mixed with bourbon it gives a smoother mouth feel.  In a recent blind taste test, 16 out of 16 people were able to pick out both the branch water alone as well as bourbon and branch made with Old Limestone.

Limestone filtered water makes all the difference in bourbon.  Nothing else comes close."

https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/bourbon/whats-deal-limestone-water/

Oof! Please, let's not spread this misnomer that mineral content and a specific ph level (both of which are easily replicated if so desired) has a substantial impact on the flavor profile of a whiskey in comparison to the WAY more impactful aspects of grain selection, fermentation, distillation technique and maturation . The majority of content on whiskeywash.com is of quality but piece is just Kentucky marketing shtick.

Of all the spirit comps, ADI runs a pretty tight ship. Most of the comps out there are complete bullshit. We enter the ADI comp ever so often and I've seen some absolutely preposterous comments by a few judges.That being said, those wacky comments are tempered by valid constructive criticism. 

Before getting weird with calk, maybe pick up the 'best in class' vodka winner and side by side taste it with your own juice - be super self critical and real about what's going on between the two - adjust (or don't) your process as needed.

4 minutes ago, bluefish_dist said:

While I have not got there yet, I can see it coming.  Have you considered preprinting bottles?   That removes one step although it requires more inventory, but if volume is up, not as much of an issue.   The other time consuming issue for me is the cap strip.   For high volume I am considering a printed sleeve or even a screw top.   Both would remove another operation in the proces.   

 

We struggle with maintaining what we consider to be our own strong brand attributes. Pre printed bottles or screw tops wouldn't be the right fit for our product - obviously could make sense for others. This CDA machine sounds like it might be a great solution though. Thanks for pointing this one out, Sonny.

Without going full blown automated system for packaging... has anyone here advanced to a packaging solution beyond the complete hands-on approach of hand placing bottles in the filler... filling... inserting bartops... rolling on labels... applying closures?

Our current method of bottling is slow enough that we foresee problems as we begin to up our volumes of spirit to be packaged -but- we're not going so big that it makes sense to drop 50-100k for a full blown packaging robot. There must be a sensible solution somewhere in between... has anyone found it? Recommendations?

Here's a stainless filter housing that works well coupled with a polypropylene cartridge. We run two of them inline with 1 and 1/2 micron filters - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Industrial-Filter-Cartridge-Housing-stainless-steel-Hydro-Genics-Viton-seals/201912178353?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Lot's of folks use polypropylene pumps. We try to use stainless wherever we can, but so long as ethanol is compatible with whatever material you are considering (https://www.coleparmer.com/Chemical-Resistance), you're good to go. Out of curiosity... which Yamada pump you're considering. I need to pick up a few smaller aod pumps.

I've got a zap labeler that I'd sell you for $300 + shipping. I paid $450 and used it for a few hours worth of bottling. it worked great for our square liberty (pirmal) bottles but the vast majority of our bottles were ovals and it didn't work great for them. We ultimately ended up switching around a few aspects of our packaging and now run a race labeler for our new cylindrical bottles.

I've got a few extra aluminum guide rails that I ordered from zap to help keep the bottles perfectly straight, as well as the longer legs to accommodate larger label rolls. Give me a shout if your interested.

Has anyone recently come across any deals on used double barrel racks? I've dealt with Country Connection and Rack & Maintenance source over the years, but current pricing is $60-70 for used or refurbished racks. In the past i've picked them up for around $30 each. Anyone have a lead?

Feel free to send a resume over to info@deerhammer.com

2 hours ago, Michaelangelo said:

I saw this and freaked! What went wrong here?

Would never try to speak to the circumstance mentioned above, but with regards to what went wrong on the TTB side... I'm going to assume that you've never spoken to a distillery that's been audited by the TTB? If records are not impeccably kept to the exact level of compliance that is expected from the TTB, you could absolutely expect to get hit with $ owed. We attempt to mitigate the risk of effing up something significant by running software from Distillery Solutions.

Everyone on here will tell you they like what they use. I'm going to say the vast majority haven't extensively used anything else - us included. We use Stillhouse from Distillery solutions and thing it's awesome. Never used any of the others.

We messed around with unmalted barley early on, but can't really speak to anything notable in the flavor profile (too many other experiments in conjunction). I would definitely recommend looking into buying your malt in bulk (we use bsg) and then weighing out the value in using local grown/malted barley verses a .45/lb or more savings. We use locally grown corn, rye and wheat for our other whiskies, but for malt... BSG makes the most sense for our program. 

We run our 1.5" and 2" hoses directly into our trench drain (with the grate removed) when we're emptying liquid stillage or whatever else -- that slot drain would not allow for that. It looks cool though.

I'm fairly certain that shipping direct to customers varies state to state, and the majority of states do not allow it. I know with certainty that it is NOT permissible in Colorado to ship bottles out of state. There are still a few Colorado distilleries that are doing it anyway.

You know how folks like to suggest that a startup distillery look at whatever initial costs they've cobbled together and then double it? I say, do the same thing with your yields. Figure on using double the grain you think you need for the yield you're hoping for. We run our bourbon (corn, wheat, oats, barley) though a double distillation on true potstills. Our cuts are tight and we don't reach full attenuation, but we definitely get less than that 5.82 proof gallons/56lbs that you're looking at. My math sucks, but I'm thinking we're closer to 2.5pg/56lbs.

I've got 0 answer for your question as asked - and I'm super interested in seeing what that giant fruit juicer does), but... Kinda along the lines of what isiebae stated... have you considered entering into production with a mash that can be lautered in the same manner that a beer mash is typically handled? If you stick to a high percentage of malted barley and either implement a false bottom or some other method of straining out your liquid, you should be good to go without spending big bucks. Plus, this country needs more American malt whiskey!

Lenny,

What is K-Malt's contact info,I couldn't find a website? are you running a 2, 4 or 6 roll mill? My understanding is the upper two rolls are basically used to crack the corn and the lower 4 to get the real grinding done. Therefore, 4 rolls work great on everything but whole corn. Buhler is another manufacturer of roller mills.

http://k-malt.com/

I've worked primarily with Bryan Herman over there. We used them to put together a complete malt handling system -- roller mill, aguers, silo, grist bin, load cells, etc. Our 2 roller mill that we use primarily for malted barley works great on most every other grain except whole corn - that was a nightmare I'm trying to forget. The best results we've had in working with corn is to start with cracked corn -- the 2 rollers at a fairly tight setting do a pretty nice job of milling the stuff into a very fine crush. However, I definitely didn't go with this mill/system for it's corn crushing abilities. It was more for working with malt and maintaining a closed milling system that would allow for a dust-free environment in the mill room

There's also Kunzel Mills which is distributed by K-Malt. I have one and have been running it for 2+ years. Great mill for everything except whole corn.

We use a corona mill (easily found for $30+ online) with a drill to run it. It's been working really well for almost 2 years of steady use. You can adjust the grind plate to accommodate the level of crush you want. Only downside is that you'll have to run it with some sort of covering (we just drape a trash bag) or it'll throw botanicals everywhere. Oh, also... we attached a larger hopper using a few sections of vent duct.

http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Quality-Grinder-Wheat-Grains/dp/B000U5NZ4I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456324932&sr=8-1&keywords=corona+mill

Lenny, there is a Tennessee whiskey, but there is no Kentucky whiskey. Kentucky straight bourbon refers to the use of a state name for a straight whiskey, which must be made in one state and if blended only with straights from the same state. Hence, you can make Colorado straight bourbon whiskey or Illinois straight rye whiskey. Any state can have its state's "appellation" for a straight whiskey.

I'm pretty sure follow you — There can be a "Colorado Straight Bourbon" (ex. peach street distillers) that is held by regulation to having to produce every drop of that bourbon in the state it claims and be at 2yrs matured at minimum. Or... there can be a "Colorado Bourbon" which is either legitimacy distilled in colorado but matured less than 2 years -or- it can be juice from anywhere else in the country so long as it conforms to the standards of identity for a bourbon.

In my estimation, a huge issue with this aspect of spirit regulation by the TTB is that the onus falls on the consumer to understand either what "straight" means (my guess: 95% of buyers do not know what straight means), or to flip a bottle around and read the small print. Meanwhile, producers—who's product seems to account for the majority of "craft" spirit sales on the shelves—can delight in the intentional deception of customers by using their home state as a descriptor to position the product as locally produced ...and the TTB doesn't mind that in the slightest. That's fucked up.