Sherman

18 gallons of 40% for a simple pot still. If you collected all the heads hearts and tails down to about 15% this is what you will get. If it is slight;ly better that is a bonus of the reflux in your system. If not I'd be checking for vapor leaks. on you stripping run, your heads will be approximatley 8% of the raw alcohol or 10 % total, so 1.8 gallons. The tails will start when the vapor temp is near 204F. You will probably get 15 g of good stuff about 130P. Of course this implies pot stills with no plates.

Gwkent sells Latina also. no affiliations. They are just good people.

goodyear purple flexwing hose. tolerant to all high high alcohol processes. 1.5 inch

I am sorry. My mind plays tricks on me when it comes to names. The supplier is clawhammer stills.

If you get a still from Vendome, Hoga or Iberia, I am a USA consultant that specializes in instruction and sensory perception training for several still manufacturers.

you forgot to check out: hillbilly stills hoga spain. Ibiaran portugal artisan still design Hammerhead stills. and obviosly Vendom copper and brass works you do realize that "because it costs more" doesn't mean it is better. Most of the winners of the awards of this years ADI awards were distilled using Hoga equipment.

The NEC only specifies that you have to have a class 1, div one motor or other components within 3 ft of an open source of the volatile stuff. Outside that range it is not as critical. So we are talking your spirit safe, agitator, and proofing areas only. Transfering mash and stillage can be done with any pump that can be cleaned and is tolerant to the low alcohol content and temperatures. At least 230F is needed for the seals and impeller. Moving high proof alcohol is a different story entirely. For that stainless steel and teflon are great choices and can be found in most good quality pneumatic pumps especially graco brand. There are a lot of small polypropylene and teflon pneumatic pumps on the market which are suitable also. An air compressor can be in an different room and still supply air for the pumps. Electric XP class 1 div 1 pumps are not so expensive but fractional sizes can not be repaired in the USA and recertified. If they fail they can only be replaced. On the other hand, pneumatic pumps have off the shelf replacement parts available and can be repaired with a screwdriver and a socket set by nearly anyone.

I can get 8" but it is special order and $$$

http://www.bascousa....s-u1413300.html this is a very economical fermenter. If you already have these and just need replacement parts such as gaskets or lids try folowing the links on their pages. They also have replacement bottles for the IBC's

The distillation was done in a vendome 30 gallon, oil bath, electric pot still and was charged with 150 proof. With no cooling water to the dephlegmator the spirit still came off starting at 180 proof. the plum flavor was still pretty intense in the middle of the run though. This was at Fiore Vineyard in Maryland.

The reasoning is that even with a simple pot still, your initial out put using 45% in the pot is going to be as high as 165P and that is plenty high enough for a flavored distilled spirits. It is also enough alcohol to feed a well built vodka column. My accident was the result of bad testing on new fabrication and inattention to the still itself. I have only run at a higher proof once since but it was while assisting someone else at their distillery.

I have never gone into a pot higher than 45% abv. A bad accident in the 90's from a leaking condenser connection makes me paranoid of really high proof in a pot. A flash fire burned me pretty bad. I still have a hole in the right ear drum. Never higher than 45%.

I can show you a comparison of charred vs toasted oak sticks in a very short time. The hobbyists are experts on this type of flavoring. http://www.artisan-distiller.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=24022#p24022 By the way on that forum I am pint o' shine

Many of the new startups add the expense of a consultant to get them up and running. A week or so with a good consultant can get you to the point where you can do the technical part well. The sensory perception is a time learned thing that can be taught to you easily with a good consultant. Proofing, bottling and marketing are another thing. There are agencies out there that can do all that.

Specialty Enzyme and Biotechnologies is my enzyme supplier. I re package and ship in smaller quantities. How much do you need. Also citric acid is commonly sold by food suppliers. I do believe that Country Malt Products carries it also.

I added a link to register through paypal. http://www.artisan-distiller.net/register.htm

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sherman Owen. I recently spoke at the ADI conference hands on distilling sessions for the 2012 ADI conference. As many have heard, my instruction and consulting lead the hard work of Steve and Paul Beam to win gold and best of class in Corn Whiskey. I will be hosting a hands on distilling class at Limestone Branch Distillery on June 30th, 2012. $250 for the class. There will be room for 50 participants. Lunch will be served and possibly dinner. Registration deadline is up to June 24, 2012 The class will include lectures on mashing, fermentation, distilling, sensory perception. Comparison of different styles of bourbon and clear spirits. We will be distilling and collecting the entire run in one quart mason jars and at the end of the day a tour of the flavor profiles will be given. Everyone will be tasting the entire output in four quart increments. The flavor changes over the run and the guided relationship to everyday flavors is extremely interesting. There is a Hampton Inn less than a mile from the distillery. If you are driving in for the class there will be plenty of parking. There are lots of budget hotels in the area within an hour drive. Shuttle service can be arranged if there is enough demand. If flying into Louisville airport SDF, rentals are available at the airport also. We will try to help with arrangements whenever possible. If you come early I can arrange Distillery tours for Friday. Makers Mark and KBD(Willet) distillery are right up the road. Four Roses and Wild Turkey are just a bit further. The night before the class we are tentatively considering a camp out at the distillery. There is a several acre lake on the property and plenty of tent space. It is bring your own tent. There is space for a bond fire and we might be able to arrange live music for Friday night. Saturday night is unplanned but I am sure we will figure out something for those staying over. This is an entertainment event as well as a technical event. Any one is welcome to come Friday the 29th and hang out. Bring samples. This is roughly the 10 hour driving radius of Louisville, KY Please send replies and inqueries for registration to slowen@artisanresources.com You can also call 502 922 1700 talk to Joy or 502 418 6957 for Sherman.

Most of it is air above the mash being replaced by vapor mixed with really stinky carbon dioxide. Then the stuff the other guys mentioned. The carbon dioxide and air can be seen in a vapor lock, such as a thump keg, as soon as the heat is applied. When the actual saturated steam consisting of water and alcohol vapor starts it initially collapses as soon as it hits cold water or condenser.

Hey Jascha. Good to hear from the new apprentice at Celebration Distillation. Say hello to Chris for me. Tell him it's the crazy man from Kentucky that came down there when Elvis was still there. I am sure Chris is giving you the knowledge you need. Has he let you do the tasting yet? Has he told you the secret spice blend recipe? Oh Happy Mardi Gras to all of you down there in old NO.

According to a lot of sources, it was common practice just to burn sulfur over the grape must or whiskey mash. The liquid absorbs the sulfur dioxide quite readily. Of course that was before there were alternatives.

More than likely to let a bit of the sulfur gas off like you would for a wine must.

When I went to their Bourbon Academy last spring, They were doing a wheat and a rye. Same conditions you stated. same yeast, but a proven lacto inoculation. It was a non-distinctive mash of either. But they are marketing it as. the "best there ever was" It was ok for mash but I think it is going to be mostly barrel. Chris was a bit put off that I thought it was "usual" Marketing will fix it all though. I prefer Bernheim wheat. Parker Beam selected some good barrels of that.

My great uncle Leo, moonshiner and bootlegger, used to start his yeast in the fall and make enough to last all winter. I was hanging around his place when I was 7 in 1969 and saw him make his yeast. He would used store bought Blue ribbon malt extract as his base. He would boil a small amount and put it in a pint jar with a lid and put it in the creek to cool down. Once it was cool enough for him to handle, he would take a crabapple and dunk it in the pint jar. He would throw the crabapple away. That jar fermented in 2 days. He pointed out the settled residue on the bottom of the jar and told me that he was going to make a whole bunch of it. He then made what seemed to be 5 gallons of wort and put it in a water bottle carboy. The pint went in that and in 2 days it had a 1/2 inch in the bottom of the carboy. I seem to remember him dividing that among what seemed like 20 carboys. In these he used a really thin wort and used fish pumps to blow air in the half full carboys. He would add molasses everyday. Eventually he had a whole lot of yeast. He distilled the fermented "beer" from all the carboys. It was a weird tasting malted rum. He pressed and dried the yeast but I don't remember seeing how he got the liquid out of it. He passed away when I was a teenager. I asked him where he learned to do that. He told me at Sterling brewery in Evansville IN. At that time yeast was really expensive. Except for the crabapple I pretty much did the same process at Charles Medley Distillery when I worked there in 1982 until I got a job repairing car stereos(lots more money). Roy and Thomas Payne had the patience to answer every stupid question I had. I was just the grunt who carried the bags of whatever and cleaned the tanks and tubs. The distillery closed in 1992 the year I started my engineering degree. It is becoming quite a tourist distillery now by the name Angostura. Here is a nice slide show of its history. http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/CPTDerek-184376-charles-medley-distillers-kentucky-histo-cmdk-bourbon-distillery-history-utube-business-finance-ppt-powerpoint/ Denver Distiller I was typing this up as you were your reply. I think you must have seen it all by now and on a completely different scale that I have seen.

I have been chatting with Mike Veach on facebook about this subject and his perspective is a good alternative. There is a lot of merit to his statement. I have been doing a bit of research as to the difference in domesticated and wild sacchromyces cervesea. one research article I found was this.. Their conclusion was interesting. This really makes a case for the fact that the yeast follows human activity and the raw materials used for fermentation. Which would mean I was wrong about it being the Kentucky Yeast. It would seem that once a work area is contaminated with the domesticated yeast, the attempt to catch yeast will continue to catch the domesticated variety. I also found a lot of history that demonstrated that the distillers of the late 1700's were quite adept at growing, drying and preserving yeast. The prevalence of "stock" yeast is a very old industry that was listed on histories of industry back to the 1500's in the Americas. The brewing/baking yeast was probably brought here on the Mayflower. So, is there really "Wild" yeast to catch? Our fruits and grains may have been contaminated by the domesticated varieties in pre-history. The isolates from tree saps were significantly genetically different. There was also many accounts of the native Americans making maize based chicha and many immigrants making the same thing instead of barley based beer. One history specified that the native Americans in the mid Atlantic states were very well versed in malting and brewing maize before they encountered the first Europeans. For an extremely interesting read here is a very well written and cited piece on yeast in the Scotch Whiskey industry. This is an excerpt from the book "Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing (Handbook of Alcoholic Beverages)" Inge Russell, Charles Bamforth, Graham Stewart http://www.hotelmule.com/management/html/88/n-1788.html The book sells for $598 on Amazon.com