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Jedd Haas

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Everything posted by Jedd Haas

  1. There is another way to preheat. Fill the preheater with the next run. Then use the hot condenser output water to run through the coil during the first run. Repeat as needed for multiple runs. If you use 100' of 1/2" copper you can get a nice preheat. Try 2 of the 50' x1/2" copper beer immersion coils in series. Or you can get soft copper tubing from an AC supply house. More size options and generally more money.
  2. 100 liters is good for a start. Make sure the drain is at least 2" (50mm) or even larger if you plan to distill mash with fruit. It's very easy to clog a smaller drain. The Pischl book is interesting and useful, but there are a number of things he says that are specific to European practice and are incorrect for USA. I also recall reading several points in his book that were obsolete. Overall, this book is focused on very small scale production and doesn't consider what needs to be done for working at a larger scale. Look for the book "Artisan Distilling" by Kris Berglund. A PDF is available free online. Overall, it's a more modern approach than Pischl and more relevant to commercial production. To make good fruit brandy, you need good wine. So you should start reading any wine making books you can find as well. Try to visit some wineries if there are any in your area so that you can learn as much as possible about best practices, particularly regarding mashing and fermentation.
  3. I am not aware of any requirements to use TC fittings. With that said, the answer is likely to be dependent on your location and your AHJ. Specifically, your Health Department and possibly your State Fire Marshal. Those are the entities you should ask. You might also ask other distilleries in your state, assuming you are in USA. Since you didn't provide your location, it's difficult to be more specific. Have you asked your inspectors?
  4. I would like to find some genepi as well. My previous research indicates that it's only found in the wild on the slopes of the Alps and there are no commercial suppliers. I look forward to any updates to my current understanding.
  5. I have used baker's yeast for fermenting "cleaning alcohol." Strong notes of pizza dough were the main flavor characteristic.
  6. Pete, I hope you can post some pics of this evolution of your column system.
  7. 1. Use a spreadsheet for your formulas. Hint: set up all quantities as a percentage range. You don't need a lab, you need to accurately record how you made the product and the percentages of all ingredients. 2. You apparently need to learn what a proof gallon is. When you draw your gallon of 190, that's 1.9 proof gallons. You draw it from the storage account and transfer to Processing, where you enter the quantity in the "received" section. All entries have to balance. 3. Good designers aren't cheap, cheap designers aren't good. Good, fast, cheap: pick two.
  8. I have been having this exact problem as well. However, I am using a different supplier than Tapi. Although it's possible it's manufactured by the same factory. Previously, my bartops had an incredibly precise fit. Easy insertion, great consistency. No problems at all for years. Over the past few years, I started getting a lot of problems. A lot of difficult insertions and once they were in, they were very hard to remove. I contacted my supplier and they suggested inconsistencies in the glass. I also use Piramal glass, but haven't bought any of the glass made in India yet. I decided to test this claim that the glass was at fault. On my next bottling run, I separated out all of the too-tight bartops. Then I measured all of them with a digital caliper, and also measured some good bartops. The difference in the data was clear. The bartops that were too tight were all somewhat larger than the good ones. I contacted the supplier and they agreed to take the overly large bartops back on credit. The story continues. I was later discussing this with my Piramal glass supplier. They also distribute the same bartops that I use. They had some very interesting information. They knew all about the problem with inconsistent shank size and said they had heard about it from several customers. Further, they said that the manufacturer was waiting on a specialist from Europe to come to USA and fix their machine. Hopefully the specialist has long since arrived and the problem is solved. I'll find out when I order again.
  9. Ask your local government building agencies.
  10. The answer to this question is highly dependent on your state and your location within that state. Every state has different rules and there can be far more restrictive rules within cities. Depending on the specific location, it can also be a political question. You can probably build a distillery just about anywhere. Cost will vary widely depending on the specific location and the rules that apply.
  11. Have you tried an anti-foam agent with the malt wash?
  12. There are several levels of difficulty in the distillery business. Here are the first three levels, in ascending order of difficulty. 1. Distilling 2. Regulatory compliance 3. Sales From level 2 to level 3 is a big jump. I won't tell you that distilling is easy, but compared to the other two levels listed, it's by far the easiest part. If you don't have a willingness (and preferably ability) to sell, you may want to reconsider or find someone with sales expertise before proceeding. There are also some other levels of difficulty above the 3 that I listed.
  13. 5.150 refers to liqueurs specifically. It does not specify any minimum alcohol content. You can definitely find liqueurs with an ABV below 30%. For example, Aperol is 11% ABV. 5.151 refers to flavored spirits, which is a different category. Within the text it states: "“Flavored spirits” are distilled spirits that are spirits conforming to one of the standards of identity set forth in §§ 5.142 through 5.148." Not that the range given does not include 5.150.
  14. What is the source for the tank in the picture?
  15. You should probably check your state laws and contact your state alcohol agency.
  16. 1. Never heard of them previously. 2. Web site is super slow. 3. "Pricing" link does not in fact lead to any actual pricing. 4. Further clicking through their site reveals that they are built on top of Salesforce. I have tried using Salesforce a few times previously. It was so painfully slow and convoluted that I would not consider trying it again. 5. It also appears that their customers are mainly breweries. Do they even understand distilleries? 6. SAAS pricing rarely makes good business sense.
  17. Your question will depend on state law. Since you didn't mention your state it's unlikely anyone can give you a definitive answer without more information. You also didn't mention whether it's one DSP with a non-contiguous expansion, or two separate DSP facilities. With that said, you could probably bring bulk product from one facility to the other, bottle onsite, and sell at that location.
  18. It appears this comes from the Green Hat Gin auction which took place recently. Not sure why they auctioned the column separately from the still, but it appears that's what happened. https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/liquid-asset-partners/catalogue-id-bscli10032#lot-9f854f3d-1cfd-4407-bc97-af6c012d3743
  19. I have been getting inbound sales pitches from several glass producers in China. REAL FLINT GLASS says they can produce my bottle and handle the shipping to USA. http://realflintglass.com/eindex.asp Has anyone purchased from them? If so, how was the quality and the overall experience?
  20. It's possible these barns could be converted to barrel storage. It's more likely someone using them for that purpose would want to have temperature control turned off as temperature swings are part of the maturation process. You should probably start by looking for distilleries in your immediate area. If you can find one that is interested, they will likely be able to handle the regulatory compliance as a non-contiguous expansion of their distillery premises. You could also start your own distillery and offer storage service to others. Then it would be a matter of transferring barrels in bond. Visit ttb.gov to learn about all of the exciting regulations involved in this business.
  21. I recently sent a case shipment to Puerto Rico. Not even a foreign country, but many Fed Ed forms had to be filled out. I had to fill in all kinds of information where I had no idea regarding what was correct. The shipment did make it through, so try googling all the crazy terms, or call Fed Ex. If all else fails, try contacting a freight broker that ships internationally. While they might not deal with case sized shipments, they may be able to assist in figuring out the documentation. As for the container itself, I would suggest at minimum a styrofoam padded box; you can buy them from various sites. If you want extra protection, put that box inside a larger box with padding on all sides in between the two boxes.
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