Sorghumrunner

I have heard of studies that dried distillers grains can lead to higher levels of e. Coli. Has this played out? http://aem.asm.org/content/74/1/38.short http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/news/livestock/link-between-wet-distillers-e-coli-strain-detected/article_5ec62396-b294-11e2-be18-001a4bcf887a.html

I'm interested in your definition of affordable explosion proof motors. Also, what sort of explosion proof switch is only $35? I just spent $160 just on a class 1 div 2 3/4" switch enclosure. Typically it seems like adding exp to a pump doubles the cost. That's why I'm going with air diaphragm for my spirits transfer pump. Haven't looked into agitators yet. This thread didn't seem to answer the original question of best place to get an agitator, any other sources y'all recommend?

Jimmi, You'll want to go with an explosion proof, or air operated unit. The correct agitator will have sealed bearings, so that there is no way for vapor to leak out. Here's a concurrent thread that might be a good place to start: http://adiforums.com/index.php?showtopic=3400&st=0 Chris

I have done some work with aging dunder with my Sweet Sorghum juice wines. It does add a layer of complexity and flavor to the distillate. But, after reading Rafael Arroyo's paper on Dark Rum production, I believe that there is a specific bacteria that rum producers want, that produces the fatty acid profile. Clostridium Saccharobutyricum, which I believe must be commercially available, though I have not looked for it. It seems that it's preferred to use the isolated bacteria culture, rather than the bacteria cocktail that aged dunder is. I may be mistaken, as I've yet to experiment with this method, but it's the way i would like to go. You may have read this article already: http://distillers.ta..._Rums/index.htm What I always considered dunder was the wash after fermentation. Folks age this in an open barrel, maybe covered with cheesecloth or something, and scrape the top mold off before use. I don't know if anyone who is professionally distilling Rum in the US employs this method.

These items are no longer available. Being sold on Ebay. Thanks! chris

I have two new-condition 208V flanged heating elements, as well as two 75 Amp contactors and four 3-phase fuse blocks with 50A fuses. All equipment came from an unused ElectraSteam boiler that I purchased this summer from a brewery who had bought it in 1997 and never installed it. The equipment sat in box on the shelf for years until I purchased it. I have converted the boiler to 480V to match the service in our facility, and do not need this equipment. I am offering this as a complete bundle to forum members for $300 plus shipping. The elements on their own I will sell for $100 each. The heating elements are 36" long, with a 4 bolt 6" 150lb flange attachment. They are 230V 3-phase elements and can be used on 208 or 230V 3 phase service. The fuses are class RK5 50 amp time delay, 250VAC or less. Each fuse block has three fuses. The fuse blocks are Littelfuse 250V 60a, 3ph. The contactors are Furnas definite purpose controller - catalog no. 42CF35AF, there are two of these (there were four on the boiler, i kept two for my conversion). 120V - 1ph = 3hp 240V -40 FLA, 240 LRA, 1ph - 7.5 hp / 3ph -10hp 480/600V - 40 FLA, 200/160 LRA, 3 ph - 15hp pm me with any questions Chris

Just had the County Fire Marshall and Building Inspector out to see the place. It's an empty building right now that I've been cleaning and painting and removing unneeded electric from. The building was originally built for Class 1 explosive, so it's got 1 foot thick concrete walls, a blow-out metal roof, and the electrical in my still and barrel rooms is Class 1 Group D. I passed Building and Fire, and will NOT need to sprinkler due to the size of the rooms, and am exempt from high storage requirements. The rooms are 16x16x20' high, so I can stack barrels 4-6 courses high. This is major news for our business! There was no question about storage quantities, though I did tell him we would be storing the spirits in oak barrels. I'm still gonna look into fire/smoke alarms, but I don't think we will go with sprinklering for now. Chris

Steve, We're about 4 hours NE of Powdersville, But I would like to talk sometime about stills for brandy/rum. Chris Pittsboro, NC

We had a local fabrication shop build a stripping still of our design. Reading CFR 29.47 it looks as though they were supposed to send the TTB a letter stating: (1) The name and address of the manufacturer; (2) The name and complete address of the person by whom the apparatus is to be used, and of any other person for, by, or through whom the apparatus is ordered or disposed of; (3) The distilling purpose for which the apparatus is to be used (distillation of spirits, redistillation of spirits or recovery of spirits, including denatured spirits and articles containing spirits or denatured spirits); (4) The manufacturer's serial number of the apparatus; (5) The type and kind of apparatus; (6) The distilling capacity of the apparatus; and (7) The date the apparatus is to be removed from the place of manufacture. Is this all that they will need to do? I don't believe that they will be manufacturing more of these, as they typically are producing biodiesel production equipment.

For folks that are using floor scales for weighing spirits before bottling, what is the required accuracy? Is it permissible to use a scale for measuring before bottling?

Thanks for all the leads. I scheduled a tour at Germain-Robin, though my timing is a bit off. I'm in the area the two weeks before harvest season, when they take their summer break before getting down to distilling season. Had a couple emails with Hubert Germain-Robin, very nice and helpful, though he is not around the distillery anymore.

Thanks, We'll be in Mendocino, not sure if we'll make it all the way up to Humboldt, are y'all in Arcata? What are you producing?

oops, repost.

Cool, thanks. I couldn't tell from their website if they are actually distilling, or mixing and aging their 'cello's and bourbon. Are they using an ASD still?

Folks, I am working on opening our distillery here in NC, to produce Port Wine, Cordials, as well as potstill Brandy, Grappa, eau de vie, and Sorghum Rum. I will be in Berkeley/Bay Area and Mendocino for a week and a half this August/September and was looking for some tips on Distilleries to visit while on vacation. I'd like to visit some that are doing Brandy and Rum, and am interested in any wineries or distilleries doing Grappa and Port. I've got a few ideas, but wanted to see what folks recommend. Thanks, Chris

Thanks for the clarification, Kristian. That is helpful.

Thanks Revival. Where did you get the 240gal number? My reading was 60 gallons in an unsprinklered area of Class IB liquid. Are you building in Durham or Chapel Hill?

John, That is a useful quote. May I ask where you got that report? I'd like to take a look. Chris

I'm considering that option, but my partners are really the type that like to DIY whatever we can. We have the code books, so are trying to put it together ourselves. We come from the biodiesel world, so have permitted a million gallon fuel plant, with 10,000 gallons of methanol in the yard, but it's a little different from Spirits.

I'm working on fire permitting and building classification for our new distillery. We are located in an industrial type site, right next to a biodiesel plant. The building is stand-alone, with thick concrete walls and a metal roof, with 5 separate rooms that can be cordoned off easily. I have been looking around and studying online the code references pertaining to a distillery, and wanted to try to clarify a few references, and see what others have used. IFC sec 3401.2(8) - exempts the storage of spirits in wooden casks. - Is there a storage height limit for this? I had read somewhere, without a reference that there was a 6ft limit, which would just be two barrels high. This may be addressed in 3403.3.6.3(1) - class IB would be 4 foot in unsprinklered and 8ft in sprinklered, or 12 foot in sprinklered with in rack protection. Is that what folks are having to go by? or 3403.3.6.3(3) - ground floor double row 25 ft high, with 15,000 gallons per room? What is the space required between aisles of barrels, and the clearance for exits? again 3403.3.7.2.2 - 4 foot between aisles? IFC table 2703.1.1(1) - is the MAQ for ethanol storage in anything other than a wooden cask 60 gallons without appropriate sprinklering, and 600 gallons with? Generally, if we are in seperate rooms that are separated by a fire wall, would that be 60/600 per room or for the whole building? Is a pot still generally considered an atmospheric tank, or a pressure vessel? Do these generally need to be ASME stamped tanks, or can you have an atmospheric tank fabricated without being stamped? That's it for now, thanks for the help. chris

Hey Pete, yes, we are looking to run our boiler off of b100. I worked at the biodiesel plant for several years, and they run two 500K BTU hot water boilers off b100 and off spec biodiesel. I'm looking for about a 250K boiler for our operation, but for steam, which I am not as accustomed to. There are two or three different products from the various sorghums out there. Grain Sorghum, or Milo, would be brewed like a whiskey, but with Sweet Sorghum you are pressing the actual cane of the plant for the juice. It's almost the same process as with sugar cane, except that with Sweet Sorghum Syrup there are no crystallized sugars as with sugar cane. So we would use the premium juice, or the finished syrup. Juice brix is around 15, and the finished syrup is in the 70-80 range. Just like rhum agricole, the liquor from the raw juice has a different flavor profile than the cooked syrup. What equipment did you use to run off biodiesel and wvo? Chris

I'd be interested in some assistance in sizing a boiler for a 300 gallon still. I'm familiar with the equations for raising the liquid up to boiling, but getting into the latent heat of vaporization gets me a little lost. Are the calculations that TexasGrand put together what I should go off? I gave WWD a call, and they didn't seem super helpful. But, I'm also looking for a fuel oil boiler, as we'll be burning biodiesel. Does anyone have a fuel oil boiler that they like in the 250k BTU/hr range? thanks, chjris

Hey folks, Working on a start up distillery in North Carolina. We're located right next to a Biodiesel Plant, and are occupying a former aluminum smelting building. We'll be working with local wineries, as well as farmers to produce brandy, port, sherry, and Sweet Sorghum liquor (wish we could just call it Sorghum Rum!). Cheers, Chris Pittsboro, NC