Artisan Still Design

whats with this digging up old posts?

hobbits

not familiar with the National Distillers Convention (and would very much like to be) but Yes you guys took home some medals from the ADI confrence as well well deserved.

expensive insurance is cheaper than Cheap Sprinklers

I was not able to speak with bill on this issue, however, this forum has become a main point of contact for my company, so If I am spending dollars on sponsoring ADI, this is where I want those sponsorship dollars to go.

yes, you will get a small %abv drop when carbon filtering.

Congrats Jedd on your silver and Gold

ethyl Acetate, is the component you describe. it tastes nasty, and in high enough concentration can cause neurological issues and death. however worst drinking heads will do is give you a severe headache, they are not in high enough concentrations do do major harm. the practice of cutting heads has become standard, because they taste bad, and including them in your spirit will make it taste bad. the only way to achieve toxic levels of Methanol, is to add wood alcohol to your mash.

think its a great idea, this sort of thing has been discussed ad nauseum, but no one has come up with a cost effective solution.

it is clear that there is a disconnect between ADI the organization and the ADI forums. I do apologize for not being aware of this. I do pay Dues, Sponsorship and advertising with ADI, I had been under the impression that some of this would make its way to run the forums, Which in my mind, are the real center of ADI. its clear I have rubbed you the wrong way, which again I apologize for, we have never interacted, so is difficult for me to know what in particular you found offensive. This is not the place for such an argument but I do believe your comments about me are inaccurate and out of context. I appreciate your situation, no doubt you are angry and frustrated by all this. but you're falling into the same trap that you're trying to stop others from falling into.

most distillation systems require low pressure boilers. 15 psi or less. word of mouth, I was recently passed the number of a 500kbtu Peerless boiler with blowdown and condensate make up, came in around $17k that didn't include installation. some folks have been lucky enough to get better deals, but this seems the going rate.

this has not been a popular decision. as a paying member (and sponsor), I urge you to change your mind on this subject. ADI Convention is in a couple days, i will be speaking to Bill on this matter. say your piece on this subject, ADI is here for the promotion of the craft, in my mind that means protecting the craft, Sorting the good from the bad had better be a priority of this organization, regardless of the workload. I count my own contributions to this organization, financially there is no good argument why appropriate moderation cannot be applied to this issue.

sold off to make whiskey if you were one of the folks with your heart set on this unit, we can build you another.

methanol has no flavor. yes a specrum analyser is the only way I'm aware of. there are very few sugar sources that come with any measurable source of methanol, stone fruit and apples are 2. even with the amount of methanol these fruits bring, it would be impossible to reach toxic quantities. in fact European producers have minimum methanol content requirements on their fruit brandies. it is a myth that most of the methanol will come out in the foreshots or heads cuts, as Methanol forms an Azeotrope with ethanol, and will come out throught the whole run, in direct correlation to the ethanol content of the spirit. and lastly, what is the cure for methanol Poisoning? Ethanol. so the cure and ailment are all in the same bottle.

I disagree with this decision. but i have no ownership of these forums.

an addition to my earlier post, I do think however there should be rules how one goes about such a thing. My suggestions would go as follows: 1. You have to have had an actual financial transaction with the supplier. 2. Limit your review to defects in product or service. 3. don't make it personal. 4. facts only, no judgements. 5. replies to a review thread should be limited to others who have dealt with this same company, and response by a company rep, so balance is not lost in the noise. 6. Reviews should be limited to a dedicated thread, not thrown into a larger conversation. I think this review process could be helpful, a person or company's true quality doesn't show up when everything goes right, but how they deal when everything goes wrong.

1.3M btu's should be plenty for the size you have, should have some room for equipment additions in the future as well.

As a supplier to the industry, I depend heavily on the positive feedback of my customers, if Negative feedback were removed, then the positive becomes meaningless. not that I want to see others bashed, I think there ought to be place for a truthful recounting of ones experience. If my company has failed someone, it ought to show up, if for no other reason than to also give voice to what was done to fix the situation.

we build stills and mash tuns with electric heat up to 150 gallons, there is a practical limit to electrical heat. it is possible to go bigger but its much more hassle than its worth. if you want to go that big, invest in a steam boiler, it will save you time energy and a whole lot of headaches. if you have a good reason to stay all electric, then an electric steam boiler is what you want.

this will be our 3rd year at the ADI conference, and 3'rd still design to debut there. we're a gold Sponsor this year, ADI has been good to us.

if you make your way down to Mobile area, come see us.

even table sugar level refinement, if its from a cane base, its still technically a rum. beet sugar base, not sure what you would call it, but theres no legal reason you wouldn't be able to use this for a base in your liqueurs. Sugar beet Neutral is common in Europe.

installation costs are usually the same regardless of boiler size, so I typically reccommend going bigger for future additions. it will save you in the long run. Steve

depends what you are running. some fruit brandies have a lot more sulphates to deal with than you would have in a grain mash. we build our 4 plate columns out of copper for enough copper interaction, but our vodka columns, just the bubblecaps are copper. we find that works for the vast majority of applications. Steve

Natrat, it depends on a umber of factors, efficiency of the steam jacket and projected heat up time. I use these numbers as a minimum, which yeilds a approximate 1 hour heat up. higher btu ratio will make for a faster heat up time, but, you will still be limited to a 4 hour spirit distillation time, except for stripping runs. the still you are currently running has a lower btu/volume ratio, roughly 2/3 of the steam minimums. this along with more surface area shedding heat to air, makes for an approximately 2 hour heat up. in essence its all relative, what you are willing to accept as a heat up time, cost, and convenience.