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Bakery87

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Everything posted by Bakery87

  1. Thanks Aaron. I'm glad I found this post. We recently had an employee get into a fender bender picking up a small item from a homebrew store. It wasn't his fault and nothing was mentioned about the distillery. The cops didn't even want to show up for something so small, and the employee and other driver exchanged information. It will all be taken care of by the other driver's insurance, but it got us thinking. We don't own any company vehicles, but we might want to reach out to our insurance provider regarding a policy that covers people while running business errands. I'm not sure that possible, but it can't hurt. Thanks, Mike
  2. Hey all, We've reached out to several companies that produce them, but haven't had any luck getting a response. We operate with a standard 500 gallon open-top fermenters supplied by Custom Metal Craft. If anyone has breathable covers they are wanting to part with, please send me a message. Thanks y'all
  3. Does anyone know if there is a dried Chico distillers yeast strain out there? Looking for something close to WLP001 from my brewing days.
  4. We went through the Tierra Group as well. Better flavor than agave syrup because it actually has some of the pina in the concentrate. Cost about $7200/tote (3020 pounds). Using SafTeq blue yeast as well - just started our first fermentation today.
  5. Howdy from Texas! We're looking at producing our first single malt and originally planned on a grain-off fermentation. We've been making our way through rye and bourbon so far without many issues and handle both of those as a grain-on ferment/distillation. We do have a false bottom on our cooker and have the ability to lauter, but eyeing how easy grain-on ferments are, should we be keeping our single malt the same? My concerns primarily lie with the astringency that can occur from taking barley to too high of a temperature. This wouldn't happen in our cook, but would occur in the distillation process. By that time all sugar should be extracted and converted, but I figured the astringency would come from other parts of the grain that don't contain the sugar we so desire. Thanks everyone, Mike
  6. Fortified beer is not a thing according to the TTB. Our contact said we'd have to petition congress to get it passed, so no go on a collab idea!
  7. I would need more information. 5%, where? In your still or around your facility? 5% in your still is nothing, but in your facility it's a big deal. LEL of ethanol is closer to 3.3% as well. We (Texas, USA) are required to have flame arrestors on our still, receiving tank, and heads/tails tank. They are all supposed to stay closed when alcohol of any content is present, and we need to constantly be pulling from our distillation room to ensure we don't have flammable vapors. We are now trying to get an alcohol meter on our floor that would only kick on the fans to remove air from the room when that limit is reached. Otherwise our A/C is fighting against the removal of the air in the room.
  8. Is that a thing here in the US? I can't find guidance from the TTB rules, nor can I really find anything via google. I figured a beer could either add some whiskey to it for fortification, or breweries are fortifying via freezing.
  9. Hey all, We're looking for 1000 or 2000 gallon open top fermenters, and 550 gallon stainless steel totes. Please email mike@fiercewhiskers.com Thanks, Mike
  10. Hey all, I'm working with a local farmer/malt house for obtaining rye for a rye whiskey. They have bresseto and bono available, elbon the following year. I can't find a lot of reliable information regarding their use in the distilling world. I know a handful of places that seem to swear by elbon. Any chance our vast forum has an idea of what types of rye some of the rye whiskies use that I can find on the shelf? I'd like to tap into my collection and get a feel for the difference in the varieties. I realize there is a lot going on with a the spirit; age, barrel, speciality grains, etc, so it might not be much help, but I figured it couldn't hurt to reach out and get some info or suggestions. My initial thought on a recipe is a high rye, about 80%+ of rye/malted rye.
  11. I agree. I'm finding it difficult to locate a large enough "printing" area for the laser to accomodate a barrel head, as well as finding something made in the US.
  12. Does anyone looking at this have experience with the lasers? I also would prefer to use a laser, I'm just worried about having it shipped from overseas with poor return policies, and the time it will take to laser a barrel head. I figure the higher the wattage, the faster the laser should be able to make a valuable impact on the wood.
  13. I've been looking at something similar, but paint is a good backup plan in case the laser fails or takes too long. https://universalengraver.com/products/3000mw-blue-cnc-laser-engraving-machine-40x40
  14. I wasn't considering Hoochware based on previous comments from distillers. I know a few currently using it and all are planning on switching to a new system.
  15. Has anyone tried both software packages? They seem to have similar capabilities and I'm trying to choose between the two. I've heard only good things about Distill x 5 and mixed reviews of Whiskey Systems software.
  16. I have seen those, and am not interested in a gas pump style. I think that's where I'm having issues.
  17. Thanks for the reply Jedd. I'm still looking for a good barrel filler. Our local fire department is requiring us to have a "dead man's valve" for filling. I think GW Kent may have something that fits that bill, or I'll need to order a spring loaded valve to do the job. I've found a few bulldogs out there, or gas station style handles. I'm surprised I cannot find anything more than a couple of small online stores that carry such items.
  18. Hey everyone, I'm looking for a good source to purchase barrel tools. I'll need them for filling and removing bungs/sampling. I've looked at Union Jack and GW Kent but haven't found anything great from them. Any help is appreciated.
  19. What is the grain/water ratio in the rye ferment?
  20. I'm interested in this as well. Do you have a name brand you'd recommend?
  21. Hey everyone, I have a question for those selling an entire barrel as a means of drumming up investors. We're thinking about preselling maybe 100 barrels of whiskey (bourbon, single malt, rye, etc). We're toying with a couple ideas on what the consumer would get out of these, as well as developing a price structure. My initial thoughts are below. I'm just trying to get a feel for what is industry standard is, or what others are trying to work with. I don't feel like having to do a new recipe based on suggestions by a consumer, as this may lead to more than one barrel being produced with our system. Barrel cost, maybe ~$10k (53 gallon) Buyers get to help with production for a day, if desired They receive all bottles of the final product from that barrel Different label with the name of the person/business, differentiating from a regular bottle of the type of whiskey They get to keep the barrel once dumped The buyer comes in every 6 months to get a sample The whiskey is only pulled when both the buyer and the distiller feel that the product meets their standards
  22. I forgot to mention earlier... If you have a packed column e.g. just a column filled with glass beads or other packing material, your theoretically number of plates would be very high. If you could pack whatever is coming off the top of your pot you could have a lot of "plates" in there, theoretically. If you ran a recycle stream from your effluent back to one of your "plates" you'd change the composition of that area, and you'll get an even higher proof of of your system. There are a lot of ways to increase your separation with modification, which would put you into a hybrid system at that point. Meerkat is spot on with each plate being cooler as you progress upwards in your column, due to the change in composition. It's a weird concept for a lot of people to grasp when we always hear "hot air rises". It's really just "less dense rises", and with air you don't have a compositional change like you do during distillation.
  23. Also, number of plates doesn't always equal number of theoretical plates. Calling a pot=1 and each plate=1 isn't always correct. Every system is different and it can be calculated with proper measurement. I'm guessing Southerhighlander has enough info to state what he manufactures. Pot stills will have different necks, onions, lyne arm direct, etc and thus will have drastically different numbers. Your pot still might have 3-4 theoretically plates. But he's also correct saying you'd have to distill many times to approach what he's making in one pass, and your last charge would be very high proof going in. Depending on your system type, you probably would have to leave a lot of good liquid behind as to not damager your equipment if you fall below a heating element.
  24. I would say that manufacturers only give you a couple pointers on how they "machine" operates. Especially with hybrids, because you're between two classic systems it's hard to know what the end user will make. A hybrid can be used to make just about anything. I haven't found a great resource for this either. I know distillers with hybrids that don't use the plates for whiskey, others that are to make a single pass product. I have some decent digital books that may have information. During the virus I'm trying to look back into more of that information, I'll let you know if I find something.
  25. With pedio over time you should be able to see with platelets on the top of the ferment, right? Was this a grain on or off fermentation? Depending on how the sample was prepared with grain present, that could change the reading. Usually with hydrometers it's an error as many others have pointed out.
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