Cheesy-Whisky

400 gallon Trident steam jacketed pot still. Installed in 2014 brand new, run until 2019 with hopes to relocate after letting lease go at that time, and ultimately closing shop now. This still was making gin, vodka, applejack and award-winning whiskey. Two temperature indicators Stainless Steel Lyne Arm Stainless Steel tube-in-shell condenser Stainless Steel Parrot Stainless Steel Column Dephlegmator with assoc. plumbing Gin basket (twist lock) Agitator with 120 Volt 20 AMP VFD for variable speed 2" butterfly drain valve Insulated tank with copper sheathing 16" manway PRV/VAC tank protection Spare manway gasket Also have steam boiler sold separately, and matching equipment but I'm reselling from a set of complete distillery equipment (just missing a chiller). Will post specs on boiler when I have them correct (all in storage unit, so slow to unpack). Ships from Minneapolis 55403. Lucas

Hi everyone, We're about to pull the trigger after about three years of work on our plans. We're building a building next to/attached to our cheese company, and have different products and goals than many on these forums. First, we want to use primarily our whey. Second, we want to limit our labor so much as beneficially possible for the value in the short-term, running just one day a week at first (running the still one day a week... not including sales, retail, bottling, etc.). Third, we want to be able to grow over time (and add all that labor back). We have good foot traffic already and believe capturing just a percentage of that, plus some wholesale, will allow us to immediately cashflow the distillery equipment (as this expansion is part of a larger cheese-related project). New building is 100x40, but distillery space is 50x20, with another 50x20 and 50x10 work areas (cheese caves, refrigeration, freezer/fridge take up another fourth). Upstairs, we have our retail area which is about 50x50. All this is added on to a two-story building that's 50x40. The building is weird because it includes large cheese caves, refrigerator and freezer, but then we have the benefit of shared offices, packaging, shipping, receiving, and loading dock. We already have steady foot traffic, and by our state's laws under this license we can direct sell bottles on-premises, direct wholesale, and will be able to add a license in a separate space for retail. We're starting with whey, and I need a $100,000 machine to do that to bring it to 13-20 Brix lactose water. We also are growing cider/alcohol-specific apples, so will be able to make brandy, that a local cidery will be able to press and return as liquid. So, everything will begin with fermentation post-cooker Therefore, here's the plan, with my self-implied budget of $150,000: $85,000 for a 4" continuous still that we'll use 4 hours per week for now, but if we wanted to add corn or increase our whey output, would be able to obviously use 50+ hours per week down the road. Will get us to 150 proof, but for $15,000 more could add a vodka column (waiting on some licensing rulings to see if we can/should do vodka), plus a $7,500 mini steam generator $7,000 for three 15-gallon milkcan stills for gin, aquavit and a third for other flavorings. $22,000 for three 100 gallon fermenters $4,000 for temperature controls on fermenters $23,000 for a milk bottling machine (so we can use for both milk and spirits, I realize I can get a filler for ~$4,000) Also budgeted for explosion proof outlets, anton-parr alcoholometer, and have space in four rooms to age barrels. Yes, there's working capital, building cost, etc., but just looking at what do I need for equipment, and these are essentially the four items (five with the whey filtration machine) it comes down to in my case. What am I missing? Goal is to make araga (single-run whey vodka-like product) and barreled araga, as well as brandy, gin, aquavit and maybe vodka. We are a dairy farm with corn and alfalfa, so with a cooker could do silage corn to do corn whisky (trying to stay gluten-free as several family members have Celiac disease) or grow/buy something new. Law basically dictates 50% needs to be made here, but our RO water should be recaptured through our milk/whey as well. In the picture: Top 1/3 of each floor is already built, bottom 2/3 we break ground for in the spring (plus septic system). So what am I missing (especially in terms of equipment?). Shoot - I'll duck! Cheers!

I'm interested; if you have any pictures that would be helpful.

We are currently installing a gylcol chiller for cheese purposes. Regardless, we're planning on steam (and always were, but were praying/hoping we'd missed something).

A belated thank you for all the help! Have my real job, and my other real job and working on these future plans in good time. I appreciate the ideas and direction and had seen Southernhighlander's posts previously and thought that may be a good option. Cheers!

Hello, We're just in the beginning stages of getting zoning and permitting on a multi-month or year journey to getting our DSP. However, as you who've started businesses all know, the more you have down on blueprints/paper at least in theory the easier everyone from governments to construction guys has it later (or can pick it apart). We are very unique in that we are already a dairy farm and cheese plant. Thus, have the unique situation that we currently use two hot water boilers to heat our milk to 145F degrees for 30 minutes, then 85-95F for various times, as result of the cheese make process. We're also in the process of adding a chiller. I've spent the last 8 months studying distillation in my free time but I'm no expert... an animal scientist by training and writer/marketer by profession. I've read all the "hot water boiler" discussions in the forums but it appears everyone is comparing starting new and I think the obvious answer is steam in that scenario most of the time. In our case, I'm trying to figure out the money side of things when we already have boilers. We'll be using whey for our spirits which means we'll have an energy intense process relative to the same amount of ethanol production from a grain fermentation. As far as equipment: We'll need to use some sort of Mash Tun to basically boil the whey and create ricotta cheese for either human (called ricotta cheese) or cow consumption. Next a fermenter, and Then the still(s). We are looking at making liqueurs/cordials from a "white whisky that we cannot call whisky", plus some saved for whatever we invent as aged dairy "non-whisky" (cows eat and ferment grain, too! but I digress) if that is helpful. What we currently have in our process and planning: About two to four batches of cheese putting out 4,000 pounds whey per cheesemake, which has about 4.5-4.6% lactose, which should mean we get about 125 pounds/14 gallons/52 liters of ethanol potential (70% rough conversion rate with yeast that can get after some of the galactose). To get there, we'll need to heat/agitate the whey to about 195F or 150F for 30 minutes and add citric acid or vinegar (which I know is a no-no for copper) to get the protein to come coagulate and then drain off liquid Add lactase and ferment with distillers yeast (for at least 3-4 days). I believe we'll be fermenting a product of 95% water, 4% lactose (which we'll split into simple sugars with 70% efficiency) and 1% minerals. So, taking out the roughly 0.5-0.8% protein means just plan on a 4,000 pound/465 gallon/1760 liter fermentation. Distill in 2000L pot still (unless someone wants to sell me a column still for less than I can imagine ). Send to spirit (pot) still or re-run through single pot still. We have two 379,000 BTU hot water boilers. I believe they should easily be able to handle the process of doing this, but I am scratching my head on how to figure out the R.O.I. or trade-off in months/years of investing in something like steam right away instead. We'll also soon be installing a chiller for our cheese plant which can be used for our future distillery. Not sure how necessary it will be, but should at least save water in the condenser process. I do have some engineering help on the way, but with everyone on here so helpful feel free to blast anything I've said or run calculations differently so I can talk smarter to my engineer, plumber and electrician down the road... thanks in advance for any ideas or roadmaps. Lucas