jeffw

Beautiful still!

I think that pumping into the top and letting it splash as it goes into the fermenter should be fine. I have never had any fermentation issues and that is the extent that I do things. I have also fermented in the mash cooker when all fermenters are in use and in that case I just pump air in via the bottom outlet of the tank with a mash hose (with air diaphragm pump). As I started out I worried about all these things and enough bought an 02 meter that I have never used. I would try without first.

As a followup, anyone have a good source for hang tags? I got a quote that seemed high to me and would love any input people have on this.

I agree with you jamesbednar. I wonder though if you merely combined bourbon's of the same age to consolidate barrels. If you did that though, not sure how you would report angel's share stuff to the TTB.

I'd love to better understand Mr. Rigo's advice. If grain will all be in the still for the spirit run, why does it matter how it is milled. You are not leaving any part of the grain behind depending on you milling. I would think that once the still hits a high enough temperature, whatever fusel oils are present in any part of the grain they are going to be extracted. What am I missing? Cheers, Jeff

vetro. You can just flip a bottle over and look at the punt mark at lot of the time to see who makes them (vetro has a v in a circle type punt).

I would say I believe that the barrel market is getting a little easier too, so I don't think you will have to much trouble finding some supply.

I like the exterior water treatment idea. It had occurred to me but I have never tried it.

I thought SafSpirit bought red star...

If there is another local distillery, perhaps you can team up with them and use there equipment and still get your bigger system. Just a thought. Pretty impossible to say if a small system makes sense for you as there are too many variables.

I see everyone's acute barrel needs and just wanted to throw a thought out there. I had luck getting barrels for delivery in October or November from Kelvin (25 gallon barrels). I don't know if he filled his production quota yet but I am dialing back my order as we speak as I got filled on barrels elsewhere. I have never used their barrels so I can't speak one way or the other to their quality but they do have some availability last I checked. Sorry to Kelvin if this creates a phone stampede on Monday. I say this as I sold barrels faster than I imagined. Cheers, Jeff

Sorry, checking time stamps now as I got 2 different orders to see who won, but they are all sold.

I never did post pricing, sorry. I was looking to get back what I paid $287 for the Honey Comb and $214 for the Standard. I believe I am down to 1 standard and 7 Honey Comb right now, but verifying right now that I understand someone's order. They have been in the distillery for a few months and would have to be swollen up.

I have some new/unused Black Swan barrels for sale. I have 13 Standard 30 gallon barrels and 11 Honey Comb 30 gallon barrels. If you are interested, email me at jeff@windycitydistilling.com or PM me. Happy to put them on a skid or if you are nearby you can pick them up. I am willing to sell all or just a partial order. Cheers, Jeff

Thanks for the post Jedd. Anyone try out the one from Rudolph Research? I talked to them and they seemed nice and it is definitely more affordable than the DMA 5000.

I would say those are not accurate enough for the TTB. That said, does anyone have a list of approved digital hydrometers for TTB tax reporting? I tried calling the TTB lab but never could get anyone to call me back. That Snap 50 might be good for quick measurement and just double checking your manual work with a hydrometer.

Depends on the dimensions of your fermenters. Perhaps the tote tank mixers would work...I like the people at Mixer Direct.

Never heard of a hot break...what is it for?

Probably definitely nice for a great number of people. Distillery Solutions is already doing this. I have been building one just for myself as well in PHP and mysql and really have to say it is worth a great deal because it is so much easier to stay organized. As you get bigger too and have other people distill for you it should make it easier to monitor things. What would people pay, not sure; what is it worth, a great deal. Good luck.

I didn't use an architect either but I would mention that a "demising wall" will probably only be a fire partition, not a firewall. That has the potential to give you a headache with the fire marshal. I didn't know there was a difference between the two but my fire marshal certainly did. In general, I have no idea why you would need an architect to plan out such a small space (or even a bigger one though they might have pointed out I had a fire partition and not fire wall).

You could use a bcs-460 or bcs-462. Super easy to setup, but I have to agree that I am not sure it is really worth the trouble. I use a bcs-462 to give me temperature readouts on my still and fermenter and open and close valves for fermenter temperature control. You could also use it to control your condenser water flow. I would think with solenoid valves. In truth though, a simple ball valve there should do the trick as well. You could build in a "big red button", but in general, this whole setup is going to require you to build out a box, though you can have front panel express make you a nice front to your box.

Raw whiskey your way of saying "white dog" or it was made without cuts?

I missed that one but it looks intriguing. I was never able to precisely figure out how to translate the specific gravity to proof accuracy. But at .0015 g/cm3? it would not be nearly enough for tax purposes I don't believe. Maybe a nice way to get a brix reading or something of that nature.

There is a very big difference between the two. Regular rye is has a sharper pepper taste and the malted rye has a kind of heavy malted barley taste to it. In terms of white spirit, I find the malted rye much more intriguing. I have been laying down barrels of malted rye for a few months now and quite like it, but I am not sure I would say I like it more than regular rye as it ages. I don't have a similarly aged regular rye to compare it to though, just other people's finished products. Right now, I would almost describe my malted rye like a cross between a rye and an Irish whiskey. Good luck.

Leftturn, what proof are you loading your still at?