Tailwinds

Yes sorry all have been sold.

Kara both are sold sorry

It does not but is complete accessible for cleaning

This sounds about correct. Nice work.

Sorry guys I dont spend much time on here anymore but came on here to see if the ad for selling our Vendome Still had been approved yet. I can only speak from our experiences with agave as we have been making an agave spirit since we opened in 2012. @bluestar is right in that you will get a lot of variation of not only the sugar content but the types of sugars as well. We used one firm who was adding HFCS to their agave. As you could imagine it fermented easily but tasted terrible. Unlike molasses, there is not a high amount of solids in agave syrup so there is no buffer for wild ph drops. We have used many types of yeasts and agave from many different sources and have only had one batch that would not ferment completely. Three practices that have helped us with consistency: Dont be greedy - keep your washes below 1.060 to start. We will usually see a finish below 1.009. As you become more comfortable with your ferements and what works for you then start stepping up the starting Sg. Be patient -we have never been able to break 7 days on fermentation time. The sugars are more complex and take longer to break down. Use this after fermentation as well- distill it slow. It is very easy to smear heads hearts and tails together though I cant find any scientific reasoning behind it other than the agave doesn't like to be rushed in anyway. Lastly as before mentioned control the ph like a helicopter parent. When we started we used open fermentations which made it easier to constanly bring the ph back up until got good at starting the batch adding buffer. I would recommend PH of around 5.0. Best explained is that yeast spends a lot of energy trying to maintain internal body ph in stressful environments and agave is very stressful on microorganisms (think honey) as is so keeping ph in check will keep your little guys working efficiently. I dont do much of our distilling anymore but our guys have made vast improvements on the information I have started them off with. I pass this along to you because I would love to see American Agave spirits become a more recognized category. It helps us all out. However I must caution, good fermentable pure agave syrups are expensive (about 3 times more than what we pay for molasses until we started bringing agave across the border by the truck load) so just dabbling in it can blow cash very quickly. Good luck!

We have removed this still after 5 years of service for us. It has created award winning rums and agave spirits. We replaced it with a larger still but it was still a great workhorse for us and we are sad to see it go. It is the perfect stilll to start a DSP We are asking $30,000 OBO. Price is FOB Plainfield, Illinois 60544. This still is ready today. Six plate column with dephlegmator. It has a steam jacket (100-150,000 btu boiler recommended). Its pretty efficient and produce 150-180 proof spirits in single run depending on our need. We added two sight glasses from gw kent as well a digital thermal well for the lyne arm. We also have various other equipment available to help get your operation up and running. -HDPE Tanks -2 HDPE Conical tanks -St. pats 4 spout gravity filler -plate and frame filter (needs new jet pump) R/o system-300 gpd with two 20 gallon storage tanks *Edit* - Disclaimer- This a 6yo used still in great working and cosmetic condition. We always recommend visibly inspecting any equipment that you buy online before buying. This is an OBO sale. This ad will stay up for offers until the still is paid for or a deposit is received (50%) Email: toby@tailwindsdistilling.com

Sounds like they helped you pretty well. For what its worth We never ferment below 80f with rum. The best yeasts for rum like to be hot. I am not sure where you are located but during the winter months build a heat tent (plastic, 2x4s, and a space heater) to keep the ambient temp around the fermentors above 76. You should see full fermentations in 3.5-4 days. Molasses is widely inconsistent with how much dissolved solids each batch has so your end SG will vary from each batch of molasses. I am not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but use city water for fermentations. Yeast love those salts and that should fix your wide ph swings. This is all info that the guys at Lallemand gave me when I was starting out and trouble shooting.

Thanks I appreciate it!

Sorry if this seems to be a redudant topic, but there seems to be a lot on what to use but not on how to use it... How are you cleaning your columns without a CIP system? We have a 100 gallon Vendome. Stainless pot, copper column with six trays, stainless lyne arm condenser and parrot. I have the basics: rinse, caustic, rinse, acid, rinse Maybe passivation of the stainless... Application seems to be the tricky part. Each tray a removable face plate so I do have small access. We run molasses and agave washes. Thinking a garden weed type sprayer with heated mixed solution sprayed directly allowed to sit and then rinsed???? Any suggestions????

Steve, We would be interested as we have been at the funding stage for some time. Toby info@tailwindsdistilling.com 630-746-7526

I know this has been posted in many different forms but I haven't seen an answer to how people are disposing of their used molasses with out access to sewer. What are those of you who are distilling on farms and rural areas doing with your spent washes? Has anyone found of a cheap way to truck your sewage out? Sorry for bringing this up again. Its seems all the historic buildings in town all have wood floors and the newer buildings all have septic systems....Can't win;) Toby

Hey Jason thank you! It was more the family aspect they made us consider the move back home. Good luck on your venture! Toby

Hello All, I have been on here for quite sometime but have never officially introduced myself. My wife and I have been carefully planning a distillery in the Phoenix area for the last year and a half. After much thought we decided it would have a better place in our hometown outside of Chicago. As we had hoped the town has welcomed us with open arms and we are excited to get started. Our focus will be mainly Rum and Gin and possibly blue agave. We are still looking for investors/partners before we can get moving. I wanted to thank everyone on here for taking the time to post. Your advice and experiences are beyond helpful. I look forward to talking with you. Toby

http://sleekfreak.ath.cx:81/3wdev/GATE_DL/WATSAN/W4E_00.PDF Good info/numbers for those distilling from cane sugar