Rickdiculous

They used something almost exactly the same as what tl5612 is suggesting. Long copper coiled wire with large alligator type clips on them. They didn't use the fancy grounding plate in that picture. They would connect the barrel with the GNS in it to the whatever it was transferred too, and then ground it to a large metal object. In their specific case it was the iron floor drains which run out of the building into the ground. I thing in most small situations it wouldn't hurt to have that nice plate installed with a proper ground where you will do your transfering. I think I have a picture of the grounding in action. I will look for it and try to post it if I do.

One addition to this equation I would like to make. While many of you are doing all you can to keep ignition sources to a minimum you can't eliminate all of them. I would wager you all have electric lights with switches and we have all seen those spark at one time or another. Don't let your guard down. Static Electricity may be one of the most overlooked dangers in distilleries, especially on the small scale. While doing my internship at MSU, I was surprised and then glad I got to see the crew using grounding cords on all of the tanks they used for GNS when transferring from container to container, or container to still, etc. They grounded the tanks, and the stills. When transferring GNS between tanks do not run the alcohol so it rides the side of the tank, like you do to reduce head on a beer out of the tap. This creates static electricity. I think the advice to process it ASAP may be some of the best advice on here. Have a plan for your GNS before you order and get to it when you get it.

Definitely sounds like the kind of thing our industry needs more of. Keep us posted.

The blog address will stay the same: rickdiculousdistiller.blogspot.com, I will post again as soon as I can put it back up. Brian, I will definitely be coming out to Steven's Point to see Kristin and do some glass demonstrations for her. I'll keep you posted. Rick

To all, I want to thank everyone who has been following the blog of my internship in Michigan. I am sorry to report I have been asked to temporarily disable it for a number of reasons, it is best I don't discuss them. It will come back online very soon once a few issues of approval get worked out. I will give my last few days of the internship reports, as soon as it is back up. Hopefully only a couple of weeks. Some really cool things happened and I can't wait to share them with you. I will also give an overall synopsis of how I think the internship went, and what I think it holds for the future for anyone else who may go there to participate in the program. Thanks again and I appreciate your interest. I will make myself available to answer any questions you may want to ask at my email: rickschneider@uwalumni.com or if you want to talk send me a note and I will give my number to you. I am moving my family from Alabama to Minnesota this week so it may take me a few days to reply. Take care and enjoy the spirits, Rick

One quick note, edit out the line about investors. See this post http://adiforums.com/index.php?showtopic=2549&hl=

IT is my understanding the boiling process you see at the large distilleries is used for Gelatinization not saccarification. This makes the starches swell and become more accessible for the scarification process which is done by the enzymes from malts or added enzymes. The boiling breaks down the whole kernel. The saccrification happens at substantially lower temperatures as you cool the mash from this boiling point. The way many of the craft distilleries are getting around this is by using milled grains where the kernel is broken up and the starches are easier to access. You may find this simple chart helpful: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=16799

www.Homedistiller.org artisan-distiller.org

Looks like a great opportunity, thanks for passing it along.

Bluestar, Please explain further how mashing in your Still adds more extraction of fusels in your tails than a dedicated mash tun? Look for someone like Palmetto Coast is talking about. If you have pig farmers near you they are most likely a source to use your spent stillage. They will take it as a liquid and add it to their slop. Porter, If someone is distilling grain in, as many are, how would they do it without cooking the yeast and fallout as part of it?

What is the volume of the fermentation? It's hard to give advice without knowing that.

Thanks for saying so. These are the two I meant to post. Apparently I was drunk linking: http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/distillery_index.php http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/snyder.php

Can you post pictures of the pro series stills you are trying to sell. I wasn't able to find them on your site. It would be nice to see them. Thanks

Shawn, Any chance there will be a 375 ml version of this? Rick

Try Starting here. You will have to do some digging, but there is some interesting information. Do some research under the headings Distilleries and Brand Names. Also here is a link from the Brand names page for a book about California's distilleries. The third listing is the High West story of Whiskey in Utah. You may find other listing like that for other states. http://www.pre-pro.c....php?rid=REF116 Good luck and let me know what you find. This might make a great presentation for an ADI talk.

Can I ask what that cost you?

I would hope so. Hell Carl and Vendome are so backed up you would think Holstein and Kothe would be catching the fall out.

Definitely Post some info, especially pictures of you what you have. I am interested in seeing any variation on smaller stills for what I am looking to do.

This is my last thought, if this is about economics, the cost of your grain is most likely the cheapest segment of the whole equation. Getting efficient well made equipment, striking a good deal for your utilities or rent, are going to make bigger impacts on your bottom line than grain. As I am still in my planning phase, I would like to hear from a few other with more experience on what they feel are the best places to conserve the ever important bottom line.

I have a question for you Smiley. What is the purpose of adding the sugar for you? Is it to try and increase your ethanol yield only or because you have sampled something made with that much sugar that you liked in the past? With the added sugar accounting for more than 85% of your fermentable sugar you are practically making Rum not Whiskey. Yes you added six pounds of grain, but that is only ~60% starch which will be converted to sugar and ~60% of that is converted into ethanol. Which means only 14% of the fermentable sugar came from the grain. So why not just make Rum if you are a person who leans towards spirits made from sugar? I think this is a question you really need to ask yourself, especially if you are interested in getting into the single malt blending, like the other post you talking in.

Welcome to the gang. Check out these guys. I'm in Minnesota but I pay attention to this group. http://www.oregondistillersguild.org/ You should find some helpful people there. Rick

The video link is dead. Anybody else get it to work?

Day 14*: I want to send out a special thank you to all the people at Briess Malt, especially Gordon Lane and Annette Schmidt. (www.briessmalt.com) As I was preparing my order with Ari for my project Rye Whiskey I contacted Briess Malt, told them about the ADI internship and this new program with Kris at MSU, and asked if they would consider helping us out a bit. Thank you to Briess and Gordon for your kind donation of the grains and malts. When it comes out of the barrel, I will hand deliver a special bottle just for you guys. If any of you reading this have not checked out what Briess has to offer please take some time and reward their generosity. You see this above image all over the ADI site. They are big supporters of this movement and now me. I started looking at their specialty malts because I think they are elements which can help to create truly unique spirits. I am honored by their generosity and I hope they will be proud of what comes from it. Thank you, Rick Schneider

Ralph, I am always appreciative of what you are doing on all fronts for the legal acceptance and enhancement of this industry. As one of the newer comers I am glad to see someone had started the fight for us. That being said I would like to ask for a little bit of clarification on a few points. You stated "No requirement of "new" oak barrels (both Scotch and Irish whiskies age in used American bourbon barrels which greatly reduces the cost to those UK whisky makers compared to American distillers' costs) and no mention of "charred" as with American whiskeys." I am curious if this is factual, that our used barrels are sold to them at a cheaper price or if the cost plus shipping makes this truly less expensive for them. I would think it true in the case of buying many small barrels to age the same amount as a large barrel, but that would be comparing apples to oranges. Secondly, you wrote: "Scotch Whisky Association representatives are aggressively lobbying other countries to adopt the same three year rule for whisky/whiskey, thereby further eliminating any possible competition". This doesn't sound like elimination of competition. While many of America's craft distillers are still holding to the small barrel, short age model none of that precludes them from putting a few barrels away early to cover this time gap. Furthermore, if they did so at the beginning, by the time they had reached a point where most of them could reach out to foreign markets (if that is their goal) They would meet the requirement. So while I still agree it is unfair to have something which gives them special favor here without reciprocation, I don't think it amounts to elimination of competition unless there is something else you know which you forgot to mention. I am not writing this as a challenge, I am just looking to understand this better. Thanks again for all you are doing and I will be contacting my representatives to make them aware of this issue. Rick

Ralph, I am always appreciative of what you are doing on all fronts for the legal acceptance and enhancement of this industry. As one of the newer comers I am glad to see someone had started the fight for us. That being said I would like to ask for a little bit of clarification on a few points. You stated "No requirement of "new" oak barrels (both Scotch and Irish whiskies age in used American bourbon barrels which greatly reduces the cost to those UK whisky makers compared to American distillers' costs) and no mention of "charred" as with American whiskeys." I am curious if this is factual, that our used barrels are sold to them at a cheaper price or if the cost plus shipping makes this truly less expensive for them. I would think it true in the case of buying many small barrels to age the same amount as a large barrel, but that would be comparing apples to oranges. Secondly, you wrote: "Scotch Whisky Association representatives are aggressively lobbying other countries to adopt the same three year rule for whisky/whiskey, thereby further eliminating any possible competition". This doesn't sound like elimination of competition. While many of America's craft distillers are still holding to the small barrel, short age model none of that precludes them from putting a few barrels away early to cover this time gap. Furthermore, if they did so at the beginning, by the time they had reached a point where most of them could reach out to foreign markets (if that is their goal) They would meet the requirement. So while I still agree it is unfair to have something which gives them special favor here without reciprocation, I don't think it amounts to elimination of competition unless there is something else you know which you forgot to mention. I am not writing this as a challenge, I am just looking to understand this better. Thanks again for all you are doing and I will be contacting my representatives to make them aware of this issue. Rick