coop

Do not forget the west slope people. We have three or four distilleries with a couple hours of Breck. Coop

I distill with the grain off, just liquid into the still. I let my fermentation tanks set an extra day after head drops and grains settle to the bottom. Coop

When I grind my corn it comes out just slightly larger than corn meal. I am using a plate grinder. 250# in 20 min. Coop

Todd, I am using a granulated Sodium Silicate for my caustic solution. How much would you use to do a good job? I am using 40 gallons of water. The same question goes for citric acid before final rinse with fresh cold water. Coop

Just wondering, what is your DSP #. Coop

My still is not direct steam injection it has a steam jacket that surrounds the still, about 1/2 is jacketed. The bottom half of course. I have blow down drains on my still and it is both drained when cool and blown down under pressure twice a month. I do not think I would ever want a still that has direct steam mixing into my fermented mash as for sure heavy concentrated minerals would taint the alcohol. Especially if my water supply was from a ground water source. Like well water. The boiler inspector said sense my still was jacketed and no steam comes into contact with product it was ok the way it is. Coop

No it does not Pete, I recirculate no steam at either my Still or my Mash Kettle. Steam from steam jacket on still never touches product just condensates and goes down the drain. Steam for mash kettle is injected directly in to cooking mash and becomes part of the total water in it. Boiler has a high and low limit shut off along with the other safety devices. Coop

Thanks Todd, I was the town building inspector for 7 years in my past life. I have ask him to bring me code # and not just that paragraph but the entire section. There are always exceptions to each and every code depending on what you are doing. It makes no sense at all to me because after making the alcohol which I had analyzed =====you put water back into it. I also have a state water license along with a waste water license as I was also the public works director for our town also. Coop

Our water is the purest in the state. The only thing it contains is enough chlorine to satisfy health department. I have activated carbon filters to take out the un wanted chlorine. All from snow melt into the lakes then into the pipeline. Coop

Hello Pete, I have a low pressure Burnam steam boiler. 280000 btu input fired by natural gas. Simple system with 5 safety switches. Three low water cutoffs two boiler temp shutoffs. Mash Kettle uses 2 to 2.5 psi and my still uses about .25 to .4 bars.

I did not see the link for the steam filter John?

Ok all you scientific guys and girls out there here is the question. Is 95% ABV considered a food product or would it be defined as something else? If something else what would it be defined as? Here is why the question. Our local state boiler inspector told me that I could not have my steam come in direct contact with product. I inject the steam directly into my mash kettle, which we have been doing for the last 4 years. It seams there was a micro BREWERY south of me in Durango that was doing this but that product was of course not DISTILLED, big difference! I can see where anything in the water would still remain in the beer, but not if the beer or wash was then distilled removing almost all of the impurities. Coop

A lot seams to appear here on this forum from lots of different people whom have talked to a TTB agent and they understood the conversation one way and some one else would take it an entirely different way. And I am sure if each and every one of us ask the same question to a different TTB agent we would no doubt get a different answer. We all need to understand that the laws and regulations, which we all do not understand, with maybe the exceptions of a few lawyers that chime in on us from time to time, were written many many years ago, I think around 1903 if not sooner. The persons that wrote those regulations are I am very sure not around any more to tell us just exactly what they really meant, and just like our fore fathers who wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights. We have no possible way to really know just what they intended for each and every word they wrote down. I am sure that each and every TTB agent we talk to is trying their very best to give us clear answers to all our questions as best they can. There is so much that is left for interpretation like our tax laws, That we will never really know just exactly what they mean. So we all must do the best we can, and if we make a mistake, it is just that a mistake, because I am sure none of us are intentionally trying to break a law. One should never feel bad because he or she may do something wrong, that is how we learn. Just rambling along, doing the best I can and having one hell of a good time. Coop

I don't know but I do not think that the way we make our gin would be considered from GNS. I think that if some one made their gin from the first striping run it would not be very good at all, too many other things coming through in the spirit. To be considered a GNS would mean it is distilled from a Neutral Spirit void of color, flavor, odors. Stripping runs are not void of anything??? Coop

We at Colorado Gold make ours from a grain mash bill, strip the alcohol then re-distill using various botanicals. Coop

I think almost every winery buys spirits all the time to fortify their wine. He puts it in a tote and I pick it up, tong in cheek. It is done every day, transfer in bond. coop

I do mine on the halves. By this I mean local wineries, which are everywhere and you need to have a good reputable one. One local one, brings me several totes of fermented wines of a different kinds each year. Sometimes a Peno Nour, a merlo, and even lymberger. Sorry about the spelling of these as I am not a wine person, I then distill the wines and for this I get 50% of the alcohol and give him back the other 50%. We both win-win. He uses his own to fortify his wines and I make a brandy out of mine. No mess and no fuss. I then promote that my brandy is distilled from such and such winery. The customers know about the local winery and get a quality product. Coop

I am looking for two pallets of the Axel-750ml bottles by Saver Glass. Does anyone know who is stocking them in the USA? Coop

I have and XpressFill also. Works fine for me. Coop

It is the only one I cannot open. Coop

1000oaksbarrels sells all sizes and styles. Coop

Boy i did not think that any state or federal agency still requires a stamp. In the way past they became to easy to counterfeit so they did away with them. Coop

We give tours daily Tuesday through Saturday, we are just over the mountain from Denver, worth the drive through the Rockies.

Colorado Gold Distillery, thanks, Coop

None nada nowhere. Federal Law trumps state laws. Sorry Coop

Hi Coop, how did you determine that you had a Lactobacillus infection?

I am asking because I am concerned I may have a similar problem.

I will be getting back to you all, I've just been real busy. Coop

Oh, and Coop, if you don't mind some unasked for advice, I'd clean each fermenter and anything that touches your mash with caustic first, then acid. Disassemble anything that can be disassembled. Recycle all of your gaskets and replace them with new ones. I'd also take apart your pump and visually inspect for dead spots. Same goes for your air lines and filters if you aerate your mash. Use the best light source you can to inspect every nook and cranny. If you have a cold liquor tank or hot liquor tank, clean those tanks out, too. Check your water treatment system and filters. Visually inspect, and smell and taste everything. Make sure there is no evidence of soil on the stainless surfaces, since you can't sanitize if there's soil on those surfaces. Soil hides bacteria.

Then, I'd heat water in your still to just under boiling, and pump it to all the fermenters in your shop. Be careful to avoid vacuum and pressure in your tanks and pipes as the hot water moves in and eventually out. This is the most thorough way to sanitize your tanks outside of live steam, which may be less practical to accomplish. Make sure that you can read the temp of the water and you're looking good if the water is north of 180 F, but higher is better. Confirm with a thermometer that the water is hot enough at every point in the process, otherwise, it's pointless.

Double check your hose bands and fittings to ensure that they are secure as water that hot can pull hose barbs off in a hurry.

Drain the hot water, rinse thoroughly, and sanitize with the iodphor I spoke of.

Then check anything and everything that comes into contact with your grain. Grist case, scales, pails, mills. Disassemble where you can. Smell and taste everything in your plant. Again, use good lighting.

And last but not least, take a real close look at your yeast handling procedures. The easiest way for a lacto infection to take hold is for your culture yeast to be in a weakened state. Do everything you can to ensure your yeast is healthy, clean, and viable.

And on second thought, you might want to check with some of your area's vineyards, as they may have portable steam generators on hand that could steam sterilize everything for you in no time.

Hope this helps. Cheers

Good morning to you all. Todd, I used my mash kettle to heat water then flushed thorough all hoses,fermentation tanks everything. I do not have CIP systems on anything but the still. Open fermenters which clean easily. I purchased from 5 star the solution you recommended and cleaned everything, hose gaskets hoses, pumps both inside and out along with all fittings. Also used it on the floors of the fermentation room along with the walls and ceiling. The way we are handling the yeast is once we open the box all contents are put into baggies, sealed and stored in a refrigerator until needed. Started up again last Thursday and things seam to be ok for now. Thanks, Coop