Hypnopooper

Also not sure how many hours a day you are looking to work, but, in most cases a 50 gallon boiler will not be profitable. I'd recommend at least a 100-125 gallon boiler. Steam generated if you are working with grains and Electrical should be fine with NGS, and sugar washes. I had one designed in china and will be placing the order in a week or two now that Chinese New Years is over. I was quoted about $5200 for a steam jacketed 100gal (total space is about 125gal)SS boiler with agitator plus freight and customs to the Port of Houston.

China. where in Houston are you? Getting with other to be distillers starting out could be useful.

Wish I could have found you in stores when I was in Union 2 weeks ago for a funeral. My wife was born in Union. Both of her parents were born in raised in Union as well so maybe I can get them to pick me up a bottle at a local store if there is one you can point me to one, I like to see what people are doing in different areas.

Thanks Sherman! I have followed some of your how to's via You tube. I think its lactic acid as I am not getting the cidery vinegar smell. Next time I will crash cool since I have completed my glycol chiller project, and this result is not good for trying to create a repeatable process. I'll probably go ahead and distill it to appease my curiosity.

I was making a 27 gallon test recipe using 72% steam rolled corn, 18% flaked rye and 10% malt. This was my second attempt, but with a different outcome. First attempt didn't sour during fermentation and seemed fine after some light aging. When I made the mash I did not utilize any wort chillers, so, it took several hours to cool from 200F to 160F, then to 155F. It was late and I was tired, so I decided to add the malt at around 155F instead of 152F and went to bed to let the wort finish cooling. When I checked on the mash the next afternoon (12hrs later), it was still arount 120F and it appeared to slready be fermenting on the top cooler layer. I hooked up my improvised wort chiller running with a glycol solution to bring the mash down to 75F. This took about 2 hrs and then i pitched my yeast. When I was pitching the yeast I had noticed my wort had soured. It appears that it is fementing fine, but I am wondering if I should be concerned even bother distilling it.

Nice looking work so far! Tell more about the still please! Is it steam powered or electric? Are you planing a column with plates or will this be a pot still? Are you building it yourself or using a fabrication shop? Looking forward to more pictures. I realize most people don't like to give specifics, however, would you be willing to give what kind price range you looking at for total work vs. the big guys (Vendome, Kothe, Carl)?

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Some good points were brought up. Really appreciate the input.

I'm in the process of picking out our our building for a craft distillery in TX. We have settled on a 2400 Sqft steel building with 16 ft walls to accommodate a forklift in the future (if necessary), to be built on a piece of property that I already own. To start with, we will be running (2) 50 gallon stills (one of which I already have). Future plans are to move to 150 gallon within 2 years. I am planning to use storage containers on the premises for barrel aging, and since Tx is a three tier state and I can't sell to the public from the distillery or tasting room, I have no immediate plans for a tasting room/tours. If laws change and or we start getting enough interest, this can be added on at a later date. I have been researching brewery businesses, and most tend to agree that a sloped floor with a built in drain are desired. What are feelings on the sloped floor and drain amongst distiller's. Is it overkill and unnecessary? Is my 2400 sqft space adequate for a starting space? Should I be able to operate out of this size building for several years? If we outgrow this site, we eventually will be looking at moving to a new site in an more rural area which is the end goal anyway. Thanks