indyspirits

That's sounds about right. It depends on the TSAI of the molasses. Our vendor provides a fairly wide range of 56 - 71% TSAI. In addition to DAP we use a B vitamin complex and deactivated yeast hulls. I've never been a fan of the flavor profile from granulated sugar and would encourage you to continue down the molasses path.

Am I correct in thinking that the cost of ttb hydros are not in the actual piece of kit but rather the lab certification? We bought our set from cole parmer -- they were about $40 each. However, the NIST-traceable two-point calibration was an additional $145.

I'd absolutely concur with purchasing an R&D / limited batch still that's of the same type/style as your production still. The Artisan line is good as you can get a small, say 250 liter unit having the same size characteristics as a larger 2500 liter model -- these are both available steam jacketed and share appropriately sized & matched components (column / deph / PC) . It's tough to (and in many cases impossible) to go from either a direct immersion / direct fired / baine marie small still to a production model (which I consider at the bare minimum 600 liters). Also, the banter about UL / CE listing is borderline bullshit. Our insurance carrier said that just because all of the bits & bobs are UL/CE listed/approved doesn't mean the unit as a whole is automatically listed/approved. Has to do with something around component vs. product recognition.

When creating a gin recipe we started with 2x more juniper than any other bot and adjusted from there. In a 30 gallon run of 53/47 neutral/water we pulled off a liter or two (dont have notes in front of me) before distillate diluted to approx 70% stopped louching. The general rule of thumb has held well for us. Gin recipes are a real bitch to scale and that not to mention the difficulties with batch to batch inconsistencies of botanicals.

Re: muni supply -- that's a huge problem for us. If someone is in the crapper or washing dishes our flow really drops which results in a predicable drop in ABV. Also groundwater temp -- mid 50s in the winter, low 70s in the summer. Chiller & reservoir are in our near-term future.

Done!

Thanks to everyone here I picked up a LRQB24-MFT Belimo high speed actuator off of eBay for around $75 shipped. Need to head over to supplyhouse.com for a valve body and then to automation direct for the controller + other bits and bobs to complete this project.

I really want to write the control software myself but for $100 (plus RTD) I simply cant justify it. Thanks for the link.

I cant say enough good things about them. Plumbed most of the distillery and my entire garage/brewery/distillery/man cave with their parts and support.

Yup, that's exactly what I had in mind. Supplyhouse.com has them for about $30.

Shouldn't be a problem providing a signal although it would simplify my wife if I could use PWM. Currently we're using muni water for cooling -- it's fantastic in the winter but total shit in the summer. Needless to say we're looking for a closed loop replacement but we're a bit space constrained. Regarding speed -- considering the fact that I will be very slowing requiring more flow that slightly-quicker-than-glacial full swing time should be fine. This all got me thinking... perhaps I should just add a <$20 water hammer arrestor and be done with it. I'm not necessarily disappointed with the control I get. Hell I ran it manually for over a year. Sometimes simpler is better.

I'm looking to replace our simple on/off solenoid valve used for deplegmator temp control with a true proportional valve. Our current valve is an Asco but that I can find, they don't offer a proportional value with 1/2 fittings, only 1/4 and 3/8. The on/off valve is noisy, can cause water hammer, and I I'd like a bit more control over flow. Any recommendations?

The manufacturer will get it to your preferred port of entry. Just Google "freight forwarders" and the port city and you'll be able t figure it out from there. Honestly getting it to the port of entry is the cheap part -- there's a huge glut of massive container ships. Freight from either Asia or Europe is around $700 for a 40 foot container. Getting it from the PoE to the final destination is what will cost you.

We use filtered / treated muni water for mashing, RO for dilution, and whatever is cheapest for cooling (muni now until we get a chiller)

I strongly recommend nutrients as molasses is generally void of any. Simplest would be some dead yeast cells (cheap bread yeast boiled to deactivate), B complex vitamins crushed and DAP. Backset will help with pH but you'll want to keep and eye on it so it doesnt bottom out. Sounds like you're taking the correct tails cut but are tails are never 40% of the total take. More along the lines of 20 - 25.

With the specialty enzyme products were you actually able to lauter?? I've never seen rye malt with a husk what did you do for your filter bed?

At least here in Indianapolis the sewer utility explicitly forbids dumping grain to the sewer. In the section on restrictions (bolding added by me):

Well at least it wouldn't be too difficult to cut in floor drains!! In all seriousness, how big of a still are you planning on? This seems to be a bad idea for numerous reasons.

As for heating, pick yourself up an Inkbird temp controller from amazon as well, it will make the job of regulating ferm temps less unpleasant.

We've used and abused this: http://amzn.com/B00004RGWM With a custom made stirring paddle -- basically a strip of stainless steel with a single twist tigged to a 36" stainless shaft.

In my early garage distilling days I did make "single malt whiskey" from DME. I aged it in a second-fill 6 gallon barrel for about a year. It was surprisingly acceptable. I believe if you ask any homebrewer they'll tell you the quality of both dry and liquid ME had increased dramatically since the days of muntons from a tin. Technically I can't imagine producing it from DME woudl be any different from buying wort from a brewery -- they've just remove a lot more water.

I cant imagine not having my slot drains. As for TCA, that's a cork production issue not a crap-in-the-drain issue.

We hold ours at 190 with good results. More than you want to know at link below: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1118&context=foodsciefacpub The most important line is:

What he said!

With all due respect... keeping in mind the number of folks that have been burned by "new cooperages looking for customers" I would hope you'd offer a COD option.