ThatDrunkenBird

I pick up used whiskey barrels (53gal) and used wine barrels (59-70gal) for $100 to $125 here in Virginia.

I'm considering using something like this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073ZNHVZN/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

for chill filtration of about 150 gallons of product at any one time...I have a 3 ton chiller with a 1hp pump for cooling and a pneumatic diaphragm pump to circulate spirits. I'm concerned about the flow rate of the pumps damaging the heat exchanger, especially the diaphragm pump with its inconsistent, pulsing action. My understanding is these things are best suited for low-pressure, low flow situations.

A little background...last year I was able to use one of my jacketed fermenters as a chill tank. We've stepped up production and that's no longer an option. Over the winter Mother Nature was kind to me with cold nights to chill the product but Spring is here and I'm on a budget. 

Put a shop towel in a funnel. Put the mash in the towel, wrap it up and squeeze. I'm sure there's another method but this is free. 

On Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 2:50 PM, Storm King Distilling Co. said:

Also, all day today the alcohol coming out of the parrot has been doing so in fairly big bursts with little temperature changes on dephlegmator and top of the condenser. The still is staying constant at around 192F and everything looks normal inside. No pressure buildup in the system that we can see or tell.

Take the Triclamp Cap off of the top of your parrot.

On 12/3/2017 at 11:35 AM, JustAndy said:

I've had a similar problem with a Kothe 2-column still at a place I occasionally work. The return pipes from the bottom of each column to the still kettle/boiler don't have a p-trap, valve, or flapper. Inside the still kettle, the return pipes are only about half-way down, meaning they are not submerged in liquid if the liquid level in the still drops below about 275 gallons (in a 500 gallon still). As soon as the liquid level drops below the return pipe, both columns begin to fill with vapor which is problematic if trying to bypass the columns or just use 1 column.    

Have you found a way to combat this problem? When I run my 4 plate for whiskey, the plates function fine but there is obviously an efficiency issue with vapor filling the 16 plate column. When I run all 20 plates there is a constant fight in the 16 plate column. Flooding on the lower 3 plates and #7 force me to manipulate the drain back/bypass valves and the problem persists until late in the run when. I've found that bypassing #7 and #8 help the issue but it does not solve it.

3 minutes ago, whiskeytango said:

When you say "boiler" are you talking about the still kettle or the actual boiler that is providing steam to your still?

 

The Still Kettle

1 hour ago, Brian said:

if the liquid return path is above the liquid line in the pot, both paths could be feeding vapor....

This is exactly what is happening. I believe a downspout is required to fix this.

I have a consistent problem with vapor traveling from my boiler to my column via the return pipe. There is no P-trap on the return or downspout in the boiler. The vapor causes flooding in the lower plates and oddly enough plate 7 of my DYE 16 bubble plate column. Because of this I have to constantly drain certain plates and this throws the entire system off and effects my collect rate, temp and proof. I have, through a lot of babysitting, chainsmoking, hairpulling and valve manipulating, gotten the system to run smoothly without flooding any plates. However, I feel like a downspout in the boiler or a P-trap just outside the return line would immediately remedy these issues. 

Does anyone have a system that also lacks a downspout or vapor trap? How do you prevent vapor from creeping up the return?

On 10/12/2017 at 1:50 PM, Southernhighlander said:

Indyspirts,

 

You understand correctly.  that is exactly what I am offering.  We have sold several of them and they work great. 

There is no problem using steam jackets to cool as long as the vessel is built correctly.  We have proven that.  Lots of my customers do that with no issues.  My calcs show no issues and I guarenty no issues.   People say lots of things.  i had an engineer tell me once that you cannot weld stainless to copper and we do that all of the time with great success and no failures to date.  

We do 2 other kinds of cooling systems.  One of the best is a coil in the tun.

We have another way that will crash cool the whole charge in less than 5 minutes for each crash cool, and several of our customers are using that method as well.

Southernhighlander,

We are using a steam jacketed mashtun and are considering hooking up valves to cool with tap water. Our concern is the dramatic temperature drop from about 200F to 50F water. How would I introduce the water without doing damage to my jacket?

On 10/15/2015 at 3:26 PM, grehorst said:

We still do this and it works out great. We first obtained written permission from the TTB and also verified legality with our state- some states require bars to destroy the bottles. We pick up and buy back (.50ea) from our wholesale accounts and consumers can return their bottles to our tasting room and get $1 in store credit for each bottle. We redesigned our labels and use an adhesive that cleanly comes off with a hot water rinse. We wash in a high temp washer (we discard anything that looks suspect- like bottles that were used for infusions) and have had no issues. I have one part time mom who does the work. We have reworked over 6000 bottles so far this year.

Could you give some details about your labels and the adhesive?

16 hours ago, geraldmarken said:

I have a lot of information about Stillhouse, but I know little about Whiskey Systems. I'd love to hear from someone who either (a) has used both or (b) uses Whiskey Systems and can speak to its performance with regard to inventory management, TTB reporting, accounting (esp. QuickBooks integration), and any bells or whistles like an employee time clock.

 

Also, does anyone know the price of Whiskey Systems?

Stillhouse is pretty. That's it. It does not populate ttb reports and is overall a bigger pain in the ass than pen and paper. Whiskey Systems was created by people who have worked in a distillery before and it shows. WS's customer service is amazing. Overall I can't say enough good things about it. The TTB reporting is great, it populates the report for you each month. Inventory management is a useful tool, it automatically consumes labels, bottles ect. when bottling is done. There is an employee time clock feature, I have not used it as I'm the only employee. 

32 minutes ago, AC-DC said:

Would something like this  http://stilldragon.com/index.php/2-triclamp-weldless-bulkhead-fitting.html  do the trick??

https://www.grainger.com/product/1DPK2?gclid=CJbPrbbC_NICFUW2wAodRkYC0A&cm_mmc=PPC:GOOGLEPLAA-_-Plumbing-_-Pipe Fittings and Couplings-_-1DPK2&AL!2966!3!166588805278!!!g!82128167637!&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!166588805278!!!g!82128167637!&ef_id=Vp7hdAAABTP3IDVt:20170329200919:s

more like this. then put your threaded fitting on. 

Try a camlock to sanitary fitting adapter. I have gotten totes from a few different sources and they are always different threads. 

41 minutes ago, Southernhighlander said:

ThatDrunkenBird,

How many plates does your DYE still have?  Our 4 plate column will do 80% from 8% mash no problem.  Our 16 plate column will do 95% by itself.

We have a 4 plate whiskey column and a 16 plate vodka column. I can achieve 95% no problem, what we want to know is "why is the still not producing 95% through the entirety of the hearts cut?" I learned on a pot still, I may just be set in my ways but, it is my understanding that to make consistent high test through a run even my system needs to start with some low wines to be efficient. 

On Tuesday, June 07, 2016 at 1:01 PM, rtshfd said:

Finally, to recommend equipment: we have an Artisan Still Design hybrid batch still that has a 4 plate and 16 plate column (16 being the bare minimum I would suggest to achieve 190 proof at a take off rate that wont make you slit your wrists).  It's a work horse, middle of the market pricing and ASD supports their product quite well.  

 

I have a similar system, produced by DYE. As an operator I've been asked to make 94% abv spirit from our 8% corn mash in one run. I feel I would have a better chance finding a unicorn living in my crawl space. While I can achieve an incredibly clean 80% abv run, this is not live up to the aspirations of management. How is your Artisan Still setup performing? Is it a unicorn? Am I totally wrong thinking stripping runs are necessary even with this configuration?