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We are using RO water and we find there are two types of sediments that we find occasionally in our bottles. One are almost like tiny salt crystals, which may be the minerals you are mentioning, though I am not sure why that happens since we are not using mineral water. There is also another type of sediment that look like thin sheets or “flakes” of fibre-like material and if we shine a light on the side of the bottle, we can just barely see the spot where these flakes may have seemingly “peeled” off from the insides of the glass. Scratching our heads on this!! Any help is appreciated.

Hi All, We distill various gins and overtime, we've noticed very thin flakes of "glass" floating around inside some (not all) our bottles. Happens with every flavour and seemingly random bottles (so not every bottle from the same batch will have them for example). Has anyone experienced a similar issue? After some research, we found that it is possible due to a reaction called "delamination". Not 100% sure but this is the closest thing we could find. Does anyone know 1) the real cause 2) how to prevent this from happening and 3) a reliable glass manufacturer in Asia that has experience and knowledge in this area who can help mitigate this issue?

@Brettski - we're adding it all in one go, just much slower, while running our agitator. We always make sure the distillate clears up before adding in more water. I had the exact same association as @Silk City Distillers. I suspect the level of our oils/terpenes/whatever they are, are at a concentration where they just needs an extra push (much like heating up a sugary solution), and agitating + slowly adding water is a tried and true method that worked for us with what we distill. Obviously it might not work for every hazy scenario, but it's worth a shot.

Hi All, I have been searching through endless forums and websites for more information on this but can't seem to find a conclusion so am hoping to get some insights here. Apologies in advance if it sounds silly but I have not been able to find some clear answers on this. For us, all our new bottles must to be cleaned as they really get quite dusty over time. It seems rinsing with liquid is the cleanest way to flush out all the dust and particles (blasting with air alone moves the dust around but it doesn't get flushed out), however it does come with its problems: Using sanitizer to rinse: The liquid left in the bottles will affect the final proof of the spirit unless you have the time and space (and racks) to let your bottles dry overnight (we don't). Using neutral spirit to rinse: This feels a little unnatural/wasteful to me, but do I need to change my opinion...? Bottling different proof spirits would also mean I have to use different proof neutral spirit for rinsing so as not to affect the final abv. Using product to rinse: I've also read that some people use their own products to rinse in a closed loop system which sounds even more unnatural to me, as surely the aeration would affect the abv and also I'm a little uncomfortable to use my own product as a cleanser, but please correct me if I need to change my way of thinking. Sparging/drying after rinse: I have not tried this, but is blasting filtered/ionized air into drained wet bottles efficient enough to dry the bottles completely for bottling right away? So I'm curious... how does everyone else do it? Thanks guys and really appreciate any advice. I have a head full of questions.

Appreciate it y'all. Just one thing - @Silk City Distillers I am wondering why you recommend a flat bottom over a conical wine tank (as I would have thought a conical one would be easier to pump/drain)? Thanks for the advice in advance. This is what I have in mind right now for a simple and hassle-free setup but please correct me if it is glaringly inefficient. We are really not experienced in anything larger than 80L setups. Step 1. Measure neutral spirit needed with an intermediate 230L tank (with wheels) by weight Step 2. Wheel the tank over to the new still, pump to fill and start distillation. Step 3. Collect and store distillate into the same intermediate tank (with wheels) and the quantity collected by weight Step 4. R.O water collected beforehand and stored in large IBC. Measure dilution water needed by weight and pump both distillate + dilution water into a larger blending tank (no wheels, open top). Use the same pump to recirculate the spirit to ensure it is properly blended. Step 5. Directly connect our bottling machine (Enolmaster) to the blending tank, passing it through a pre-filter and filter during bottling.

Hi All, Looking for some recommendations regarding filtering. I'm currently using the 4 nozzle Enolmaster to bottle multiple flavors of gin (no sugar) and possibly whisky in the future. 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using stainless steel vs glass fibre filters? 2. Am I able to add pre-filter cartridges beforehand without affecting speed? 3. What filter materials are recommended for pre-filtering? Thanks.

Hi Everyone, We are currently producing in small batches but are considering a 230L still setup so I have a couple of simple equipment questions that may help us when we increase output. Any advice is recommended Question 1. Besides using scales/measuring by weight, what other ways are there to measure both the amount of ethanol pumped from Tank A to Tank B and also the amount of water pumped into the blending tank for dilution? Any advice on investing in a batch controller/flowmeter system or will that be impractical due to costs? Question 2. Any recommendations or things to look out for in blending/spirit holding tanks in the 200L range? Question 3. Is it wise to invest in a large agitator to ensure the distillate and water are properly blended together during dilution? Question 4. Are IBC containers good enough for storing RO water? Question 5. Any recommendations on a setup to strain (hot) spent botanicals/mash safely? Thanks.

Bringing this topic back as we've had a couple more months of experience and now have largely solved the issue. We introduced an agitator during the dilution process and have found that it helped immensely. The increased contact ratio between distillate and water, plus adding the water slowly resulted in a completely haze-free spirit. We also found that for hazed batches, using the agitator for a couple of minutes helped clear up the haze as well. Hope that helps.

Thank you everyone for your insights! We did a couple more distillations and got some very interesting findings, perhaps this will help shine a light on what's going on and hopefully we can find out how to stabilize distilling whole citrus fruits via vapor infusion. Our method largely remained unchanged: 1. We cut up the citruses in half, placed them all in the basket for vapor infusion (no juniper berries for now to eliminate a factor) 2. We used about 90 proof to run a distillation 3. The hearts came out about 170 proof and we diluted it with RO down to 100 proof. First Batch Trial: 1. Followed @Brewstilla's advice and sampled the heads cut - diluting the distillate with 50/50 RO until no louching was found before collecting hearts. 2. Found that the heads did indeed louch with the added 50/50 RO, but after ten minutes or so, every single louched sample cleared up magically after some stirring and never turned hazy again. On average they were about 100 proof. 3. The hearts, however came out extremely louched after diluting it down to about 100 proof, even after letting it rest for a week. Second Batch Trial: 1. Followed @kleclerc77's advice and diluted the hearts slowly this time to prevent haze while simultaneously stirring vigorously. The hearts did not louch - amazing. 2. After seeing the successful result of our second batch, we returned back to the louched first batch and gave it some vigorous stirring and magically, the hearts cleared up completely. Bottling: After doing the two trial runs above, we decided to bottle the first batch and see what would happened. All was good until about an hour or so after bottling and more than half the bottles began to show up hazy again, while some remained clear. We decided not to do anything just yet and let them sit overnight... and found all the bottles cleared up again by itself the next morning. Major Questions: 1. Could anyone help draw some conclusions as to why the hearts clear up initially after a long time of vigorous stirring? 2. After the hearts cleared up, why did it louch temporarily after bottling, then cleared up by itself again? Again, we appreciate any advice and thanks everyone for your input.

We're experimenting with gin and would really love to put citruses in the basket. We cut up some citruses in half, placed them all in the basket for vapor infusion, used about 90 proof to run a distillation, diluted the hearts (about 170 proof) back down to about 100 proof and let it rest for a couple of days. All was well until we found a layer of oil and the distillate milky, I assume from the oils. We've done other distillations and vapor infusions with other botanicals without this problem so we're wondering if anyone could help us answer these questions: 1) Why did it happen? 2) How can it be prevented if we insist to do a vapor infusion with citruses? (E.g. Put less citrus? Use lower proof to distill? Faster/slower distillation...?) 3) Any techniques to clear up the currently "oily" distillate? Any advice would be highly appreciated!

Is it illegal to bring a bottle of gin (containing tonka bean) back to the US as an individual?

I'm actually distilling from a neutral spirit, would that simplify things a bit? I've done a few runs of the same recipe from the same batch of neutral spirit and I'm still seeing fluctuating cutting temperatures. I'm exploring cutting by ABV with temp and taste as an indicator - would this be better or no?

How do we ensure that the tails cut for every batch is as consistent as possible? ABV? Temp? Taste? I've been looking into making the cut based on alcohol temperature, but find that it fluctuates for different batches though I'm not sure why (thinking it might be due to the fluctuating temperature of my cooling water, as it varies +/- 5 degrees depending on the outside weather).

Thanks all, very helpful! What kind of air compressor do you guys use for the Flojet?

Or should I assume they are never 'distilled over'? Just thinking they surely must contain dirt or dust and I'm wondering if this is safe to put into my pot. Thanks.

Thanks @Patio29Dadio! Will definitely check it out. Just one question - what is the pressure regulator for? Is it absolutely mandatory?

Hapido, unfortunately, no!

Hi everyone, I am looking to buy a pump to transfer: 1) some undiluted spirit at 80% ABV to a larger resting vessel where it will be diluted 2) 40% ABV neutral spirit into my still. what are some safety issues I must be aware of and any brand/configuration recommendations? I assume plastic hand pumps are not safe? Thanks.

Simple question - how should I handle dry botanicals before distillation to rid them of dust?

I'm looking into adding a pink color into a fruit flavored gin. Other than carmine, are there any other tips / ideas to achieve this (easily) to ensure consistent coloring + stability?

I think it really depends on the profile of your botanicals. For my particular recipe, anything after 77% ABV has an undesirable "cooked" tone to it so I usually stop it by then, though in theory there should still be more hearts to collect at that point. thanks for the input - can you elaborate a bit more on why you chose to remove your dephlegmator? i was told it should help in creating a smoother/higher quality distillate, but i'm wondering if its actually worth my while if i'm already using a good quality GNS. I'm also thinking it could potentially strip away some essential flavor components. What was your experience with it (besides slowing you down)?

Opinions Wanted! I've been receiving advice lately to consider having a dephlegmator installed - is it necessary to have one for a london dry (I have botanicals that are macerated in the pot), or would it essentially just strip away some flavor components?