bluestar
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Everything posted by bluestar
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Let's do it rough: 250g of 10% might push 8% into the strip, or 40pg. Your spirit run will yield 50% to 80% of that, depending how conservative your cut, and how you use the feints, so 20pg to 32pg. Let's say 30pg, efficiently recycling feints and clean cuts. Now, you can run maybe 4 strips into each spirit run. So 5 runs of the still gives you 120pg. Assume you can run the still twice a day for 5 days, thats 240pg, or 240g at 100 proof, or 300g at 80 proof. Or 1500 fifths per week at 80 proof. Not so far off from Sherman's estimate, if he was assuming 500 fifths per week from a 100g still. Tweak any of the numbers along the way up or down, and you can move this estimate up or down 40% easily.
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Not sure of the size, I got it for a steal used on e-bay, and it is a washdown. We don't have a drive for it, just run it directly off 3-phase 240v, its a Baldor motor. You can use a valve to throttle it down, if you need to. We use a 1-1/2" diameter hose, and we timed it at about 30 gal/min.
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Only the pit, the fruit is edible (although astringent).
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They are two good suppliers: we use products from both. We also use Breiss, which is located in Wisconsin. You might be able to directly purchase from them.
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Yes, you can mix different millings or flour in your mash. We actually do this intentionally when using a single mash bill otherwise: our all malt rye whiskey is a mixture of malt rye flour and malt rye grist.
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Possibly correct! He refers to barley malt flakes, but I the barley flakes I am aware of are unmalted, hence my comment. The use of unmalted cereal barley flakes would likely give you a different, perhaps interesting flavor profile. HOWEVER: A malt whiskey has to be 51% or more malted barley, not 51% or more barley and barley malt. Just like a rye whiskey has to be 51% or more rye and not 51% or more rye and rye malt, or vice versa, a malt rye whiskey has to be 51% or more rye malt, not 51% or more rye malt and rye. And there is no American barley whiskey category. It might be a whiskey, but not a "barley whiskey".
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Keep in mind you have to spend a bit not only for the pump, but for hoses that are good to the temperatures you will be heating to, and they can be expensive for temperatures above 150F.
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Really thick, so long as you don't let a solid plug form. We run corn mash, for example, with about 100 lbs in 50 gal.
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We were considering Conipacs, too. Really meant for shipping, made by Rikutec in Altenkirchen, Germany. Only distributor I could find was the US representative of Rikutec America in Whitinsville, MA.
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Torque requirement is not proportional to volume. Way to think of it is you need a certain size impeller and torque do generate a lamellar flow for a given viscosity, not a given size vessel. You need something pretty hefty for a 50 gallon to do corn mash. I know, I have one. The small air-driven unit won't hack it. That's why we pump the mash for agitation instead.
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Traditional absinthe includes at least the holy trinity: grand wormwood, fennel, and anise. Lots of possibilities, both historical and novel, beyond that...
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Uh, depends what you are putting in the still. If it is water viscosity or close, a small air unit is cheapest. This is what I think the earlier posters were pointing you toward. Explosion proof electric much more expensive. If it is distilling an on grain mash or fruit mash with some viscosity, you will need a much bigger motor (and impeller). You can get air, but you will need a very big air compressor to drive it. And if you want one of these larger units, try Brawn in Holland MI. They will size/design what you need. But these bigger units can't sit on a 3" feedthrough without some additional support.
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Shouldn't be too much of a problem, most corn whiskey uses some distiller's malt (barley) for mashing anyway (unless 100%), because barley has a relatively soft flavor profile compared to corn. On the other hand, if you were doing the same with rye, even that small amount would make a significant difference in flavor. And the result can't be called 100% corn, of course.
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Greeting, I would like to attend distilling classes
bluestar replied to Monad's topic in Welcome & Introduce Yourself
Simple one-day class, whole rye grain to glass vodka, is at 18Vodka for a bit more than a Franklin. Not deep on the science, but a nice way to see a small distillery do vodka in a beautiful 18 plate still. Email them to ask when they plan the next class. For advanced classes, you might find even the best rather weak on the chemistry side, I know I did. -
Post a picture.
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Yup, IF you need health department approval. In our county and state, they don't inspect the formal distillery areas, they leave that to the state liquor commission, which is not overly strict. We met our county requirements for food prep anyway, in case we later reconfigure space, etc., and the need to epoxy the floor was driven by the condition of the floor surface (it was older, with many stains, cracks, and porosities). We also epoxied the walls. Definitely do the latter, you will appreciate it the first time you get a loose mash hose ;-)
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But you could try mixing barley flakes (unmalted) with other malted barley providing the enzymes, if you were trying for a different flavor profile from an all malt. Just realize if you have less than 51% malted barley, the product may not be classified as a malt whiskey, if that is the final goal. The (unmalted) barley flakes will be a different component in the mash bill from malted barley (same distinction is made for rye, for example).
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Hey, I like the "barrel rested" designation, it harkens to "repasado" used for tequilas. We are thinking of just calling it the "barrel reserve" version of our gin.
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We started with free tours. We are planning to follow suit with the other Chicagoland distilleries that charge $10 including a tasting (3 x 1/4 oz pour per IL law) for a full, pre-scheduled tour. This allows us also to provide comp or charity tickets for tours with a nominal value.
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You talk to younger people, and they will tell you to skip the QR codes, they're just so square.
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Hmmm. That would fit in our shop (rubbing chin thoughtfully). ;-)
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Thanks, Harrison, you'll see some improvements in the next version of our sell sheet to get to you ;-)
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Agreed, especially for products in distribution. But many of the crafts also have limited production items that neither a retailer or a distributor may wish to carry, yet may have a limited, but real, national market. Whether it is worth the trouble to do this yourself or have someone else do it for you is a very good question. As mentioned, many states require a shipper's license, and if your shipments to that state will be limited, the cost of the license may not justify it. Technically, however, for our state, you are not exporting the product. You are providing a shipping service for the retail customer that has effectively "purchased" the item in your retail shop, although remotely. Whether the receiving state will accept that status varies.
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How is that thing fired, Steve? And is it meant to sit on the ground like that, or will it be placed on a stand or other equipment?
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Illinois
