ViolentBlue

there are 3-2" triclamp ports around the perimeter, this is location where electric elements can be installed.

heating could be done by steam injection or even an internal steam coil if you wanted to go that direction.

the boilers are done and are being boxed for shipping. they turned out really pretty.

picture 1 shows the last unit being polished, inside hasn't been done yet.

2nd picture is of boilers finished and waiting to be crated.

back in town now. was a busy week away, but we're hard at it once again

what about making your 150 gal goosneck still a direct fire instead of steam because its cheaper for a start-up distillery over buying a boiler system. there is gonna be so many distillerys starting soon that have tiny bugets and you guys could sell the crap out of them.

yup we can do that. it would reduce the cost a little too. a single walled boiler would be much less expensive to produce, up the guage on the bottom a bit, throw a skirt around it and an exhaust outlet and you should be good to go with direct fire.

do keep in mind your boiler won;t have near the life span direct fired as it would steam heated, but we could always build a direct replacement for the boiler, down the road, that was steam jacketed.

Could easily put a design together for you if that's what you want.

I'll be out of town this next week, but I'll pop in to check up now and again.

or else contact me at steven@artisanstilldesign.com as this goes directly to my cell phone.

if anyone would lie to speak to me directly on the phone, just email me and I'll send my mobile number to you.

do you guys have a web site to look at some pictures of your stills

we're a new company so not just yet. sorry.

I have been offered free transport back to Australia for a few barrels.

Does anyone have and used barrels up to about 25 gallons that they can get delivered to Florida.

I could take about 6 depending on size. They would need to be dismantled and plastic wrapped.

Thanks, Pete

Contact Tuthilltown Spirits, Speak to Luz (pronounced Looz) they've always got barrels ready to go especially the larger sizes.

a variation on the theme

I'm quoting this unit for someone, aiming for the old time American potstill with thumper

the "barrels" will be fabricated from stainless but will have decorative hoops in copper, just so they'd resemble wooden barrels.(had a moment of inspiration)

boiler is exactly the same as the scotch still above.

price on this one is confirmed at $10k. shipping should come in under 1k and hopefully duty won't be too bad (importing isn't my department, but the fella who looks after it is on vacation)

Working on a potstill design for a client, and was doodling a bit

boiler is a 150 gallon unit, and I just did a quick sketch of a goose neck on it.

body of the still is in stainless, jacketed and insulated for steam heat. the goose neck would be in copper.

pricing for this should be around $10k

Column still's are out there, as are Alambic style. I'd like to see something in a swan's neck style pot still like those in Scotland or at Woodford Reserve, set up either for direct fire or an internal steam coil. That is what is missing in the inexpensive (read: not vendome) market.

do you think steam jacketed would cut the mustard, if it could be done elegantly enough?

the columns seem to be a good portion of the expense, so the simpler the potstill the less expensive it'd be.

Thanks, that clarifies the situation. As visiting China would be a rather long way to go, are there any USA installations of stills produced by this factory?

I'll inquire. Thanks

I guess I should clarify my position with ACW. I'm not a sales man, I design most of their stuff, larger stills I design in parallel with the factory that will produce them. I receive no money for doing this, its something I do because I'm passionate about it. The designs I penciled up were for myself originally, working towards the equipment for my own distillery. I'm in process of setting up a Micro distillery in Alberta Canada, the biggest hurdle ahead is getting licencing laws changed so I can. My background is in Mechanical design, so understanding how stills work comes easily to me, and this is a fun distraction until I'm able to get licensed.

In the mean time, I can help other people out getting equipment for less money, but just as pretty as the big boys and that helps me out towards getting my own equipment built eventually.

ACW is more of a co-operative effort of a number of people at the moment, working for no money to get it up and going because we are passionate about micro distilleries and hand crafted spirits. Thus my co-operative approach to design, I''d help anyone design their equipment who asked, even if they wanted to build it themself, or source their own manufacturer.

I'm a little confused by your incomplete responses. You say this 2000 liter still "shares many parts" with yours but you don't know who owns it or where it's located? Which parts in particular and who manufactures these parts?

If the burner isn't included, what else isn't included?

You say "all parts have been proven" but are not supplying enough information for someone to verify that claim.

we're working with a factory that builds stills to order from plans supplied to it. our column and boilers are making use of as much stock pieces as possible to reduce cost. the column design has been used successfully in a number of configurations, and we've modified our original designs to make use of pieces readily available. Factory is located in China and their products are shipped all over the world. If you'd like to visit china we can probably arrange a tour of the factory or probably a distillery running one of these stills.

as stated in my original post, it was designed for wood heat, but could be fitted with gas or another heat source.

the unit will come with all you see in the drawing, as well as a clean in place system as well as a pair of thermostatically controlled valves to regulate dephlegmator temperature.

<correction>, I see that I did not mention wood heat in my original post, I discussed it with a number of people interested but I did not post it in this thread. My apologies and I can understand the confusion.

where did they put these in and what are they making?

any reason they are using SS body instead of copper?

stainless boiler instead of copper for reasons of cost and durability. copper is needed in the vapor path more so than the boiler.

I'm not sure of the intended end use of this still, but I believe they are using it for distilling thick mashed grain spirits.

I don't know who the end user is for the still pictured above.

the design posted earlier does not have the gas burner included at that price.

getting it made is the easy part, getting the right design for the right job can be tricky.

this is a 2000L still wich shares many parts with our smaller unit.

the column is identical to the one on its little brother that looks similar bit comes in at 1000L

we these units have huge scraper systems meant for distilling heavy mashes.

what would price be if the body was copper instead of stainless?

any photos of finished units?

new design, so no completed unit pictures yet. but the column has been used with success in other configurations I can send pictures of that if you like. But the math is solid.

I can get a price from the factory on an all copper boiler, but I foresee it being a little more spendy since copper is so dear at the moment.

we chose to go with a stainless boiler and copper column in order to maximize the copper/vapor contact. while copper in the boiler is helpful for sulphite removal, its not nearly as important as in the upstream vapor path.

if you'd like a quote, email me and I'll put one together for you.

steven@artisanstilldesign.com

Spent some time chatting with Bill Owens today about my designs. He said he was impressed with them, but they are very much designed for fruit brandies, there ought to be a market for a well designed potstill for whiskey. I tend to agree with him, and would like to get some feedback as far as what you want to see in a potstill design.

On one end of the spectrum a traditional scotch whisky style still and on the other end a hybrid column.

tell me what you want, and I might just be able to get it made.

Artisan Still Design 100 gallon still.

Copper and stainless construction.

See drawing below for details.

$37, 000 estimated plus shipping (copper prices seem to change every day)

30% deposit 90 day delivery

steven@artisanstilldesign.com

we can accommodate custom designs or changes if needed.

When do you anticipate you'll have an initial prototype of this still?

you can order yours today if you wanted. all parts have been proven in different applications this particular layout is new, but design is proven elsewhere.

Boiler is stainless, the bell is copper and the column is all copper.

the plates use cap and risers.

as for heat loading, comparing to a hot water heater is not a good analogue, hot water heaters serve a much different purpose, and their duty cycle is of course much different as well. so its not a direct 1 to 1 comparison.

My background is in mechanical design, so I left the heat calculations to the engineers, but I'll share a little information with you if you like

a similar sized steam jacketed and insulated boiler requires a 27kbtu steam source to bring contents to boil (water) over a 3 hour period.

this still is water bathed (double boiler) so you have the inherent difficulties of bringing more mass up to temperature, as well as the inefficiencies of heat transfer in the double boiler setup. also you will want to vary the heat source, since maximum heat will not always be desired.

Just curious which still you have found with this size and price point. Also curious about customer service offered.

Todd

we're a new company, so we're eager to develop a loyal customer base. If you require on site consulting, with set up or learning to run the still, we can accommodate.

That's comparable to the price for a similar German still. What is your competitive advantage, if there is no price advantage?

not sure where you found a German built still in this price range. we are building this still in order to fill a gap in the market. Even used stills in this size and configuration usually sell for much more.

updated drawing pricing

looking at $37k plus shipping and 90 days for delivery.

we're looking into a lower cost version done in stainless with sight glass windows as well. looks like turn around time on the stainless might be quicker so it may just be available sooner than the glass column.