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bannonjd

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    Adirondack Mountains

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    bannonjd@yahoo.com

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  1. Good Morning…I would like to discuss fermenters. We are in the process of buying equipment, doing research etc. I have visited a number of distilleries and noted all different types of tanks used. Square totes, Cheese processing tanks, plastic, etc for fermenters…I called White labs and they suggested conical bottom fermenters makes re-pitching yeast a he…of a log easier so…..I know that breweries use conical fermenters and therefore I assume they are best in the ideal world??? There fermenters are also temp controlled. I anyone using sloped bottom fermenters? (Metal-craft) Are they as effective in drawing off the dead yeast after fermentation and collecting the good stuff? Also, in the perfect world should they be temperature controlled? Maybe that is phase 2!!! If the room we are fermenting in is temp controlled is that as effective as temperature controlled, jacketed fermenter? THANKS!!!! This is a complex business. Don't want to make a mistake and buy the wrong equipment. Any recommendations of who to buy from?
  2. Is there an issue with bourbon type mash going through the therma-line? Is the thickness of it an issue? Called them yesterday and they are sending a quote. They suggested a 20' pipe which would cool 300 gallons in an hour.. I suppose you could pipe directly into your fermenters. The idea of a used 600 gallon bulk milk tang which will also cool may be easier but would need to be supplemented with some sort of immersion system. Are you lautering? Then cooling through the pipe?
  3. What is the most common and economical and most efficient way of accomplishing this. A refrigeration system? A mashtun that also has a cooling jacket? A chill plate of some kind? How many hours do we have to get the mash cooled? Is 1 hour critical or is it ok to cool it in 2? what happens after a couple of hours, bacteria? These mashtuns that are jacketed and have cooling systems are $25,000 bucks!!
  4. Thanks…I just got word of a bulk tank 600 gallons with a compressor etc that works great for a good price. We are in NYS . It has an agitator. I wonder if it will be powerful enough to stir the mash. How quickly is it recommended to cool the mash? Shouldn't it be within a couple of hours? Hopefully this will do the trick. Thanks again...
  5. Wondering how quickly after mash is cooked it needs to be cooled and the most efficient way of doing so. We are planning a 300 gallon mashtun which has a steam jacket. How important is a cooling system built in? Can cooling be accomplished efficiently with a chiller and how long will it take to cool that much mash? Plan to do 4 stripping runs of 250 gallon each then our spirit runs so we need to cool this mash quickly to accomplish this. Has anyone used bulk milk tanks? They have built in glycol cooling coils... Thanks
  6. Thanks…This room is a closed space i.e. 12ft by 15ft with a door. Should I be concerned about fumes etc or is that a non issue?
  7. We are in the Northeast of New York State up in the Adirondack Mountains. Cold in the winter (subzero to 30's) and 70's up to 90 degrees (hottest it gets) in the summer. Question is the need for a temperature controlled fermenting room. We have a room that I could easily heat and cool without to much of an expense to keep the temperature constant. Is that a good idea? Is it necessary? Thought it might keep our product consistent. Spoke to another distiller that was having trouble making whiskey in the summer due to warm temperatures. Plan to make moonshine as well as whiskey,bourbon, gin ?rum. Thanks
  8. We are in the Northeast of New York State up in the Adirondack Mountains. Cold in the winter (subzero to 30's) and 70's up to 90 degrees (hottest it gets) in the summer. Question is the need for a temperature controlled fermenting room. We have a room that I could easily heat and cool without to much of an expense to keep the temperature constant. Is that a good idea? Is it necessary? Thought it might keep our product consistent. Spoke to another distiller that was having trouble making whiskey in the summer due to warm temperatures. Plan to make moonshine as well as whiskey,bourbon, gin ?rum. Thanks
  9. We are in the process right now. May options and issues. 1. Time: How long does it take to get local permits, state and federal licenses? Depends on if your trying to do it yourself or if you hire someone(lawyer) to do it. A liquor attorney can likely get your licensing faster but there are drawbacks as Ralph at Tuthilltown has pointed out. Need to communicate with your local guys and get to know them etc…Time is money though so you need to keep that in mind. 2. Equipment: Established companies for the still or smaller startup still/equipment manufacturer at half the price. Thats a question. Hard to answer but research and talking to distillers that have used the smaller manufacturers can answer that. A little complicated though. 3. Volume of product to turn a profit? Need to have a still big enough so that you can run it a couple days a week and spend the rest of the time marketing and other business. Small still can be a big mistake and the bigger ones don't cost that much more and have much more capacity to produce your money, spirits. This business is like being a surgeon. It's a give that you know what your doing in the operating room the rest is bedside manner. If your don't have that your in trouble. Your skills(spirits that you make) have to be good enough to get the job done and the rest is marketing…Winning a few awards is also helpful it seems. What is also helpful I think is a tasting room and store to sell product. Can be pretty profitable.
  10. bannonjd

    Stills

    We are in the process of organizing our distillery and looking at stills. Many questions to consider including size, shape, column, copper or SS, what company to go with, agitator or no agitator, etc, etc…Can we discuss the pros and cons of dealing with the bigger companies (vendome, carl etc) vs the newbies on the block. If I buy a still from a start-up that has only a few still out there do I have to worry about how it functions, safety of it, it's efficiency, durability etc. Big companies are so expensive but maybe you get what you pay for? Don't want to make a mistake… but by the same token don't want to pay twice as much just because...
  11. Thanks one and all for your opinions…..
  12. Why have all the distilleries in scotland and ireland been using copper forever and no plans on changing to SS? There must be a reason. Everybody would be using SS if they could but they don't they use copper which is much cheaper. Even the moonshiners use copper and I believe they would be considered frugal!! Still confused. I think it is fair to say that copper is better and gives a better product if you can afford it?
  13. John: We are about 6 months out from securing our state/federal licenses. Looking at stills. We would like to make a full line of produce including whiskey. We are looking at traditional pot stills from various manufacturers, all steam jacketed. Should I wait a month and consider yours? Will the prices be competitive? What do they look like? Thanks
  14. bannonjd

    Copper

    Does anyone have an opinion on the importance of the amount of copper in the still. We are looking at various designs/manufacturers. We would like a 250 gallon capacity and ideally all copper including the pot. I am a little confused on the importance of the pot being copper. I have been told by an academic at Michigan State that it's IMPERATIVE that the pot be ALL COPPER. It removes the sulfur that is produced in the fermentation process and makes the whiskey smoother. I have also been told that you can't have enough copper especially if your making whiskey, which we are. One of the still manufacturers went so far as to say they have s special. patented catalytic converter that increases the copper exposure even more. I know some guys are making SS pots and copper tops, condensers etc. and feel that there is enough copper without the pot being copper. The SS are so much cheaper but in the long run don't want to make a mistake and wish we spent a few more bucks and got all copper. Any ideas???Confused.
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