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Jedd Haas

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Everything posted by Jedd Haas

  1. Air diaphragm pump works great, but you need a pretty good size, which will vary according to how much molasses you need to pump.
  2. Piramal indeed has a plant in MO and their bottles are great. With that said, their headquarters are in India, so that wouldn't meet OP's desire for an American-owned bottle manufacturer. Owens-Illinois might qualify.
  3. Talk to Norit (which appears to now be called Cabot). Cabot Norit Activated Carbon Americas 3200 University Avenue Marshall, Texas 75670 United States Phone+1 903 923 1000 http://www.cabotcorp.com/company/worldwide-locations/north-america
  4. I recall McKee had an article in Artisan Spirit that addressed this topic, although his solution involved milling in the mash tun. Perhaps McKee will chime in with the issue date, as that article might give you some ideas. Would like to see some pictures of your inline mashing system when it is complete.
  5. On page 60593, TTB considers whether barrels smaller than "approximately 50 gallons" really count as "barrels" when storing in oak barrels: Finally, TTB proposes to define the term ‘‘oak barrel,’’ which is used with regard to the storage of certain bulk spirits. TTB and its predecessor agencies have traditionally considered a ‘‘new oak container,’’ as used in the current regulations, to refer to a standard whiskey barrel of approximately 50 gallons capacity. Accordingly, TTB proposes to define an oak barrel as a ‘‘cylindrical oak drum of approximately 50 gallons capacity used to age bulk spirits.’’ However, TTB seeks comment on whether smaller barrels or non-cylindrical shaped barrels should be acceptable for storing distilled spirits where the standard of identity requires storage in oak barrels.
  6. Looking forward to your picture, and also to hearing your thoughts on flavor differences with the continuous stripper, if any.
  7. I also associate "hot" with heads. Or more specifically, "tastes like heads." What was the proof gallonage of the still charge, and for heads, hearts, and tails? Pot or column?
  8. Pete, can you post a picture of your continuous still?
  9. Congratulations, Pete! Bring some of that rye next time you visit!
  10. I got a demo of both the Anton Paar certified unit and the equivalent Rudolph unit. They are very similar; it turns out that the guy who started Rudolph used to work for Anton Paar. Contrary to some of the pricing posted above from a couple years ago, the pricing I got was around $15,000 for the base units. Of course you can add various options which will increase the cost quite a bit. Anton Paar offers a bunch of options; Rudolph not so much. Both units come with Ethernet and can print right to your laser printer. Both units functioned similarly and were very nice to use. With that said, there are a few drawbacks for these machines in general. 1. They are very, very slow. They take several minutes to stabilize and give a final reading. Depending on how fast your thermometer gets to a stable reading, you might find using hydrometers to be faster. 2. You have to be meticulous about cleaning out the machine between samples with RO water. Then you have to run its air blowing cycle (or whatever they call it) to get all the water out. Any trace of water or the previous sample can throw off your next reading. When you add in the cleaning time, it slows it down even more. 3. Neither company offers any calibration service. At least that's what the sales reps told me. They do offer a maintenance service, but they made it clear that it was not a calibration. Both sales reps suggested measuring distilled water on a regular basis; if the water measurement was correct, the machine was in spec. In the course of the demonstrations, I tested some of my bottled product and found it was within spec. In some cases, I was within a few hundredths of a degree of proof to the machine results. So you can do just fine with hydrometers. With that said, for any larger scale operation, or even a medium-sized distillery, getting one of these units would be a good idea.
  11. 1. Obtain local government approval for the change in space occupied. 2. Obtain any state approvals needed. 3. Revise your floor plan and file an amendment to your DSP registration with TTB via Permits Online. Amendments can take anywhere from days to several months.
  12. TTB made some changes to formula requirements in their 2016-3 circular, which can be downloaded here: https://www.ttb.gov/formulation/do-I-need-a-formula.shtml In short, TTB approved "general use formulas" for certain common types of spirits, including vodka. Meaning a formula is not needed. See the circular for the exact language; there was also a thread that touched on this when the ruling came out.
  13. What was the exact language of the rejection? If they rejected it as an age statement, then you simply have to find some other language to use that explains the use of the barrel.
  14. Bear in mind that most mass-market rums have sugar added. That is why people think that rum should taste sweet, although most are unaware of the added sugar.
  15. Load cells under the tank legs. There are a bunch of scale companies that will put this together for you or sell you the parts.
  16. According to your numbers: 2400 liters of wash at 10% is 240 liters of absolute alcohol. 400 liters of low wines at 40% is 160 liters of absolute alcohol. 150 liters of neutral spirit at 95% is 142.5 liters of absolute alcohol. The obvious source of loss is your low wines run, as you are only recovering 2/3 of the stated amount of alcohol in the wash. Either a) your wash is less than 10% or b) you are cutting off the low wines run way too early. If you run the wash down until the output is under 10%, you should be recovering around 98% of the alcohol, which would be around 588 liters at 40%. You didn't say how much of the yield for the spirit run was heads and tails, but that could easily be the remainder from the low wines.
  17. 1. Download VirtualBox for Mac (free). 2. Install Windows. 3. Install AlcoDens. Of course, it's also possible to buy perfectly good Windows laptops on ebay for under $100, which may be even easier.
  18. In general, you want to find a box manufacturer as close to you as possible. Freight costs can be a significant factor. Regarding the pricing, is it $1.00 for the box, then an additional $1.45 for the partition? ($2.45 total) Or is it $1.45 total? The latter would seem more typical, the $2.45 total seems high. The price can also vary depending on the box printing, number of colors, etc.
  19. Have you ever tested it with a total dissolved solids meter? You can buy a 50 gallon/day RO system for under $200 and you can get a TDS meter for under $20.
  20. Are you using Reverse Osmosis water for proofing down? If not, the water you are using is the culprit.
  21. I've been using the 4 spout version for several years. In general, it works well. I have needed some service and Xpressfill is responsive.
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