Galveston Distilling Co.

I'd be interested in what you have left in Texas

Corn went great!! Just to clarify as I know everyone does everything differently. This is cracked corn sent through a roller mill at 0.05". I know many people use a hammer mill or grind down to a power but I get good results with this. With 200 lbs in 100 gal I got a SG of 1.066 which since cracked corn is 30 PPG (85% efficiency) that puts my conversion at 93.5% efficiency. I'm happy with that! Same process as before. Just pumped in at the top of the slope and used a shovel to flip it when it piled up. I put a secondary filter under the drain and am going to empty my shop vac before cleaning inside to see how much small bits made it through. I have one more batch of 100% corn while I wait on my fermenters to arrive but once they do I'll be putting it through the real test. I'll be doing a 100% Rye Mash and 100% Rice Vodka! I know rice hulls are great at filtering but I don't know if after milling it if it will just go through the screen. Overall, still happy with it!

@SlickFloss I actually have things set up for that. Since there was a restaurant here once, all of my floor drains go to a multiple stage grease trap system. Using this the first stage catches the smaller solids and allows them to fall out of suspension. Being in Galveston, oyster shells are available by the bag behind any seafood restaurant. I filled the second stage with oyster shells to help balance the PH a bit. The city has given the thumbs up as long as it is cooled down and PH balanced and thankfully this does the trick! I'll be putting a 100% corn mash through in the next couple of days. Think it was sitting at 42% attenuation this morning. I'll make sure to post an update of how the system handles it!

Currently running 200 lb per run I went with this size mesh as it is small enough to catch 90% but not too small that it would clog as easy. Most of my grinds are down to 0.05". This size did let a little through but not much. I'm going to collect it and see how much didn't get caught. I'm currently fermenting in my still as my fermenters are about to be shipped to me but when the 100% corn mash is done, I'll try that out and let you know! On the bright side, it wouldn't be too bad to change the mesh size if I needed to. Hopefully that won't be the case but we will see!

Now that I'm getting things up and running one of my first issues has been grain separation. My main still is 105 Gal so I'm a bit too small to spend the big bucks on a centrical separator or screw press but too big for just a small pot with a false bottom. Here is what I've put together! I started out with a 275 Gal IBC tote. I got it for $90 since there was already a small hole in the top. I cut the cage down one level all the way around and then down another two on the side without the drain. I also cut a hole in the top to access the inside. Once I had that done I went around the tote drilling holes and zip tying the tote to the cage to keep it secure. Once it was secure I took a multitool and cut out the top and side using the rail as a guide. My son cleaned it out and I waited on the mesh to arrive I ordered 4 ft x 5 ft #6 Stainless Steel Mesh from TWP Inc for about $180 after shipping. I rolled the edge on the drain side around the top bar and zip tied it into place. After rolling it out, I cut tabs every 6 or so inches to help with bending. Once it was bent into place, I secured the other end to the opening and tried to make a nice curve. Everything was secured with zip ties. Next was testing it out. This was a single malt of Red Wheat so it was an easier starting test. Will be testing it with a corn mash here soon. My son and I pumped everything from the still right onto the mesh and the grain separated great! Used a shovel to flip the grain around as the squeegee wasn't working the best. The system easily held 200 lbs and could do more if someone was scooping out the spent grain as it was going. After the first run I sadded a few additions. I added an attached discharge hose so I don't have to worry about the hose coming out if unattended. I changed from a hose to some steel pipe for the drain and added an attached washdown hose for afterwards. The last upgrade I'll need to make is to cut a small hatch on the drain side so that I can get in there with a shop vac. IBC totes have those two wells on either side of the drain and some liquid gets stuck there. Overall it has been a success and only cost me $300. I'll see how it does with some bourbon next week!

I'm interested. Down here in Galveston, Tx so shipping shouldn't be too bad. Sending you a DM with contact info

Also interested. Would like photos of the unit and additional info please

New poster and a long time reader! I'm currently in the process of setting up my distillery in Galveston, Tx. I have my building in the process of buildout and am working on getting everything together for applying for my license. It will be a small distillery focused on creating a range of products within each category to allow guests to really compare and contrast various aspects of spirits. I wanted to post here to say hi before diving in more!