Kindred Spirits

On 6/8/2024 at 12:15 PM, TwentySevenBrewing said:

Hello All,

I have a question regarding the required clearance for our HVAC spiral duct work above our still. I am somewhat familiar with the "Sombrero of Death" and NFPA 497. I am assuming that this duct work would be a potential static source. Am I correct in that assumption? Are there any other concerns I should have with the duct work, is there some sort of wrapping that would help, or do we just need to have the 5 foot barrier recommended by NFPA 497 and the DISCUS suggested guide? Thanks for any help

 

Chris

Typically supply spiral ductwork is either lined or wrapped to prevent condensation from forming and dripping on what's below. I wouldn't worry about static electricity from metal ductwork because it is typically attached to structure with metal hangers which would ground it.

I would recommend terminating the HVAC run earlier if can be done, so as not to get in the way of all of the piping (Steam/Water/CIP) associated with a still. That just keeps things simple, looks cleaner, and then you won't have to worry about anything dripping on the equipment either which would be a pain to keep looking shiny.

That's what I specialize in!

We do comprehensive distillery layouts with focus on productivity, safety and aesthetics.  We can help guide you through the process of getting started, sourcing and setting up equipment, all the way to training you to distill and bottle your spirits.

On 5/30/2024 at 6:51 AM, Silk City Distillers said:

Assuming you are  distilling from neutral, I would imagine the cuts are relatively small, so no.  It would be the initial heads cut that's going to have an impact on the final g/l numbers, not necessarily the tails cut, which is after the bulk of the extraction has taken place.

Large, tall, narrow baskets might not be ideal, you may get channeling and inconsistent vapor flow, especially where mixing botanicals together will cause them to pack together tightly.  You need to inspect your basket contents when you dump to confirm that you don't have any pockets of unextracted material.

I think Hendrick's John Dore Carter Head design shows what good looks like, short and fat, wide vapor path.  For example:

https://www.sightunseen.com/2010/10/hendricks-gin-in-girvan-scotland/hendricks-gin-palace-where-hendricks-is-distilled-girvan-scotland-3/

Vendome also has a dedicated gin design I've lusted after, it leverages a short squat basket in the headspace, but is a direct part of the vapor path.  It's actually a pretty clever design.

That's a super cool design I haven't seen that one before. I have some ideas for designing a custom gin basket for client to use, I would love to talk with you sometime to discuss. Maybe come up with something great for future use.

Sometimes it seems people just want to tout that the "vapor infuse" their botanicals as some magic method of making Gin.

What I have found to be true is that vapor infusions have their place with certain botanicals that "stew easily" like florals cucumber and other similar botanicals. A properly designed gin basket will allow the lighter, more desirable flavor compounds to be brought into your final product while sending the heavier less desirable ones back to the still boiler. But you will have to play with your ratios, as the extraction rates can vary based on the size and design of your gin basket and also the how long you are running your equipment. 
 

For a majority of clients though, a boiler charge delivers a good amount of flavor and simplicity and with careful cuts can deliver a great gin.

You can generate your own serial number, it can be really any format you want. 
The main thing is that whatever you put on the DSP permit, you also have on the still. It can be as simple as having a small plate made up, or scribing/marking the equipment with number and letter stamps.
It just needs to be "permanently" attached to the equipment.

1 hour ago, MG Thermal Consulting said:

You didn’t do any hook-ups at the distillery in Lawrenceville,Ga did you?

He’s right down the road from my vet, so I’ve stopped in there, but he was doing outdoor work an the tasting room buildup.

Getting closer to the still hookup.

Yeah they decided to put the chiller over at the tasting space. Did the still assembly and hookup at the production space though. 

21 hours ago, MG Thermal Consulting said:

Good to know Capt!
 

I have client that bought a Chinese still and are struggling to put it together.

I have a distiller who got the whole thing from china, including the chiller.

He’s hooking it up now.

Mike

I also help clients assemble and tie in equipment.  I help with the electric/plumbing/welded connections too if needed. 

I have a couple of clients in NY, I might be able to give you a hand with what you need.

If you could send me a PM with your contact info and ill make sure he gets it. I know he was away for a much needed vacation, so that might explain the delay.

Jeff Stone @ resource label has always done right by my clients.

SOLD

Depending on what you are running you can do a normal distillation, just take your heads cut and discard them. Or if you want to do a small sacrificial run that works too, just be sure the boiler is charged enough so as not to run dry.

A vinegar run would be a good idea especially if you take it apart for cleaning its more like a finishing process for cleaning. I like to use them for leak detection as well because does get in all the cracks an crevices and the smell alerts you to any potential leaks. 
Depending on the buildup you see during single spirit type runs you can typically get away with a good CIP cleaning process. If the buildup is significant due to wash crusting on the sides of the boiler you might have to get in there and scrub it off.

How much buildup is there on the inside?

Typically its recommended to use some mild chemicals like PBW and hot water, followed by a light citric rinse if you are looking for that shine, however with copper there is such a thing as "too much" cleaning with acids as they will eventually eat away the copper.

In terms of the condensers, you can soak them by capping the bottom inlets/outlet and filling from the top. Usually for most clients I recommend a light cleaning between spirit types, or when you can notice the effectiveness of the copper starting to fade. If going to lets say a vodka from a Gin, it would be recommended to do a more thorough cleaning to get rid of the oils from the gin run, but even then, most of the time a 140 degree PBW will clean it out pretty well. 

My first question to any client that has any sort of sediment or flaking issue is What kind of proofing water do you use?

Second is what's your filtration process for bottling?

15 hours ago, xmlmx said:

Maybe look into SS ICB totes. Standard sizes go up to 550 gallons. 

Definitely go this route if you are looking to stay with something stock. You can get up to 1000 gallons in the SS IBCs.

If you are interested in some conical fermenters, PM me. The manufacturer I work with makes some really nice ones that don't cost a fortune.

Get some 550 gallon stainless steel IBC totes, I recommend them for most clients. They are durable and inexpensive, yet easy to clean and move around..

8 minutes ago, EchoJoe said:

That's my primary concern. We're worried about leaking somewhat, though hopefully a little barrel wax can help with that. The big concern is that it fails entirely, the spigot pops out overnight or when no one is watching, and we lose the whole thing.

Worst case you could stand them up at night if you are that concerned, or dump the barrels into totes that they could fill from.

All the "Old Timey" barrel taps were smooth bore, but most are threaded now.

https://barrelsunlimited.com/product/4-inch-brass-spigot/

With a threaded setup you have to make sure the gaps in the valleys of the threads are filled.

The old style you just can't be shy about hitting in and they work great. Main thing for both is making sure the hole is the proper size and not ovaled out at all. Might be worth it to grab some forstner bits to make sure of that.

10 hours ago, Galapadoc said:

I'm hesitant to even get into gin. Seems like more trouble that it's worth. With the clients we have lined up already, I think we'll be near capacity for this still with just the vodka and the cachaça, plus I'm still hoping to make at least a few barrels of corn whisky since it's the only other thing that grows here.

We'll see once everything is moving. The floor has been poured and dried and the plumbing and electrics are being installed. Hopefully I'll start putting the still together this weekend. Been staring at these crates for far too long.

Don't worry about needing a gin basket for gin, you can do a boiler charge gin very easily. If you need help with getting a recipe going feel free to reach out. I have helped a number of distilleries develop award-winning gins with their own native botanicals.

If you want to add a gin basket later for some more "delicate" botanicals it should be easy to do so.

I typically recommend clients charge the boiler at around 40 %abv just to ensure you aren't cutting down on your heating surface at the end of the runs and greatly reduces the potential for getting close to running the equipment dry.

What you could try doing if you want to keep the abv down is use the plated column to "compress" the heads, and then once you have them pulled off, switch over to pot still mode for the hearts, then recompress for the tails.

Almost the same thing as what silk said, except it will drop the ABV a bit more and allow the column to cool a little bit to aid in the tails compression. Main thing is, total collected run has to be below 160. I also second @Silk City Distillers remark about cutting by taste not proof or temp. Too many people want a hard number to make cuts at, but it's called the "art" of distilling for a reason.

You will get a little more smearing when it comes time to make the tails cut, but it shouldn't be an issue since you have the much larger window due to the strip/finish method. Once you start getting hints of tails, recompress and get the last bit of hearts out.

7 minutes ago, CTcraft said:

Is there a minimum barrel order? 

For the new make, 12 barrels. Might be able to renegotiate the price for a smaller order.

For the 6 year no minimum.

On 3/29/2024 at 8:08 PM, Galapadoc said:

Yeah, definitely a home distiller setup. My still is only 100 gallons and it's only economically viable because of the unique opportunities offered by being on a small island in the middle of the ocean.

Yeah if you ever need to upgrade out there you should look into a "bagasse-style" or other type of alternative fuel boiler where you could feed in raw materials to generate your steam for production.

100 gallons is the smallest I recommend for commercial clients, but even then it's tough to make things work economically for a setup that small unless making gins with GNS base. You have a special situation being on an island, which is a super cool distillery. Do you have a website?

The unit the OP posted looks nice, but with what I imagine the cost would be, puts it in the hobby (with no price limit) category.

With a 4-Nozzle Enolmatic, we were consistently filling 2000-2500 bottles per day. That is with a good team at distilleries I have help get started and trained.

On 3/28/2024 at 2:58 PM, Dojogodi said:

Do you have any 95/5 MGP Rye barrels available?

I may have a source with all the MGP Rye you could want.