indyspirits

Does this put vermouth in play?

What's the total length? What I really want to know is the surface area.

From which material is the gasket made?

What's the pH at start and stall?

Agree. How many of these "age fast / get rich" schemes have we seen come and go. I can't fathom how you'd get a label approval (without being deceptive) as these are not an "oak container. I can't imagine one couldnt get the same effect from an open top beer keg with a few staves shoved in.

You're absolutely correct. I missed the part about organic in the OP.

Patcote 376. Really great stuff.

Has anyone had their molasses analyzed to determine the amount of fermentable sugar sources? I know that molasses has sucrose, glucose and fructose in it along with other non-fermentable sugars, but I don't know how to explicitly determine the amount of fermentable sugar short of sending it out for analysis (we dont have an HPLC in house) or conducting an assay the likes of which I havent done in 30 years. Currently we get a cut sheet stating "Total Sugars 68-75". Upon questioning my sales guy at the vendor he said, "That's just percentage." Does that mean for every unit of molasses between 68% and 75% is fermentable sugars? Or does that mean I need to multiple my brix reading by something between .68 to .75. In all our mashes we shoot for an OG of 1060 which with temp control we always get dry in four days or less. With rum it's difficult to know what I'm starting with and therefore to run metrics to see how efficient we are. In short: how do I know the quantity of fermentables in my molasses?

Unless you dont have room for a forklift!

We've used both -- 200 gallon stainless tote and HDPE poly IBC. I honestly think I prefer the IBCs as you can determine the volume at a glance, they're lighter to work with and the extra 100 gallons is nice to have. Optimally I'd have a 300 gallons SS tote with sightglass. As @Silk City Distillers said, drums are far from ideal.

Are you taking any heads cut? There are substantial oils in many of the botanicals that you'll be forever fighting. We've found a very small heads cut eliminates the need to filter. Our gin is quite citrus forward. YMMV depending on your botanical bill. Although I don't know the original source, oft on the interwebz you'll find the advice to start collection "hearts" when the distillate cut in half with water doesn't louche. That may be a reasonable place to start. Or you could always go with a navy gin!

I am a huge singe malt fan. Some of my absolute favorite expressions (read: Bruchladdich Octomore) are NAS spirits. Octomore is generally <= 5 years and command a pricepoint of around $150. They can be made in under five year. I've yet to figure out how!

All those spirits spend time in a barrel. Just stating the obvious. Im inclined to think the NAS use well-aged spirit with the majority of new make. Just my tuppence. Edit: HOLY SHIT!!! $750 for 10 gallons. That is utter lunacy.

Ours does about 300 lbs / day. The bitch is that we need this amount about three days a week. But when you need it, you need it! You can alos lease them. You do pay a premium but they include all PM & cleaning on the lease. We use it for our soda machine as well and I've been known to pinch 100lbs from time to time to cool down mash.

About 100x worse than cleaning a still

Dedicated. Something from the local restaurant supply house. About $2k after all expenses. Standard household will never in a million years make as much ice as you think you'll need.

I've succumb to analysis paralysis. :-/ I spoke to them last evening. They claim to have an heat-tolerant impeller for $170. See my "analysis paralysis" comment above. I've spent much, much too much time looking for pumps, heads, and VFDs and have come to that same conclusion. They make a great product at a fair price... and if the new impeller does as they say well even better.

Is the 1 1/2 large enough to pump grain in?

Suppose the subject says it all. If so what: Pump/Model Compressor Model Would you do it again? I've read and read here about various pump that folks are using. We're looking to purchase two new pumps, one small one for spirits (looking at Yamada DP-25F) and one to move mash. There seems not to be a perfect mash pump. Although not rated as such, we've used our US FIP to pump hot (about 185°F) mash without (knock wood) incident. Interestingly enough US FIP does have a high-temp impeller that's rated to 204°F. SO... the US-FIP we were about to pull the trigger on is $4k. If we purchased a large, 1.5" AODD (say the Yamada NDP-40BST-NPT at around $2,700) and accompanying compressor we're looking at about $5k in addition to the electrical costs associated with compressing said air. BUT we could use it to pump our spirits as well. Lastly, can we save any money and get a better product by building our own FIP (cart + motor + VFD + pump head). All thoughts / comments / advice appreciated

In three years we have never, not even once, had either a retailer in our draconian three-tier system or customer in our tasting room ask for larger format bottles -- 375s yes, > 750 ml no. What data have you collected or received that makes you think this is needed? Does anyone else out there bottle in larger than 750s?

They're called (oddly enough) "speed pourers". Google is your friend here.

Probably depends on what you're making. Forsythe makes then close to 6000 gallons.

Can you explain instances where the latter two could happen? I certainly understand how the glycol could expand.

http://www.birkocorp.com/products/anti-foams/

For those w/ closed loop chiller systems, how are you controlling flow to your dephlegmator? Are you controlling flow on the input side or the output side?