Natrat

Well, so far it smells just the same as the other mashes, although one of the guys here says it "smelled really sour," during the ferment. Going to strip it this week...I'll let you know what happens.

Today I mashed my grains into the low wines stillage left over from the last spirit run. Usually my strike water has a pH of 6.3 and after mashing I run around 5.1 to 5.3 (depends on grain bill)...today, my strike was 5.15, and remained that way all the way through. I'm guessing that the stillage acts as a pH buffer. I'm very interested to see if the tastes of the mash, low wines, and white spirit are any different. Saved me a lot of time, as the low wines were still well over 120 F left in a tank since yesterday...only took 15 minutes to hit my first rest temp. Comments?

The stills they sell come from a chinese manufacturer called HGM (the supplier for Premier Stainless) and can be bought from Premier or GW Kent for smaller coin. It's a pretty good still, 60 gal capacity...I've used one quite a bit, though I don't have one right now.

Hey Austin...drainage is really important...getting it right will save you a lot of time and money. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions :-)

One of the issues with a smaller diaphragm pump when pumping solid-rich slurries is that the cycle is sealed with elastomeric balls, and the particles can keep them from sealing properly, which decreases pump efficiency. The stainless lobe type pump (such as the one Steven pictured above) is really the best option, if you have the funds. Followed by a progressive cavity screw pump (but they take up a lot of space), impeller (best bang for buck), diaphragm (I have a 2" ARO that rocks, but they surge, and work best when there's a bit of back-pressure), peristaltic (the big ones are pricey), and in a pinch...a big centrifugal (I used to have a 4" Thompson to transfer mash from a mash kettle to lauter tun on a big DME brewhouse...needs priming, though) Keep your eyes on ebay. I got my big diaphragm for under $1000...

Welcome, Earl! You aren't too far from Salt Lake...feel free to drop by and talk shop, anytime :-)

1.5 " minimum, 2" is great. 3" is overkill, IMHO. Three quarters may stick...and is a pain to clean out.

If a progressive cavity lobe pump (pictured above) or screw pump is too expensive, a larger flexible impeller pump will work great, and handle viscosities of 25 000, 40 000, or even 100 000 centipoise (molasses is usually around 20 000) GW Kent has a good Jabsco with VFD and remote, but it's $5k

Rigor of the competition is always a problem in these circles. Because the consumer has no real idea of the competition landscape, any award seems great...it's not limited to booze. There are at least 5 spots I can name that claim "voted best hamburger in Utah." The beer world has this same problem. It wasn't too long ago that I went to an awards ceremony at a large competition where the organizers bragged that "every brewery that entered got at least one medal," which cheapens the entire idea of a competition, really. No one who enters wants a silver just for showing up...the companies that don't care about competition don't enter, and those that do want to measure themselves against the field. It's because medals and ribbons translate into sales that this has happened. Soon, we will end up with the same problems as the beer world...only the breweries that get up early enough on registration morning will have a chance at a medal, because the limited number of entries allowed has been used up. I think it's up to the state guilds and national craft organizations (looking at you, ADI and ACDA) to ensure that proper rigor and rules are introduced, which enhances the value of the award. I am always impressed when a judging table refuses to even give a gold out...when no one met their gold standard. As for cheating by putting a product with extra effort in the bottle...perhaps the samples should come from distributors, or randomly off the shelf. Or maybe some distilleries have poor consistency batch to batch. Or perhaps the judges like something YOU don't like. I once tasted a grappa that won a gold two years in a row (ADI judging) and to me it tasted the way Scrubbing Bubbles smells. Maybe we should table our OWN competition, with distillers from craft distilleries chosen at random. And instead of medals, just go with points...

Dave, as you know the policy is 0-100 with BCLDB, but as I understand it that is per product. For instance, I have some friends with a brewery in Victoria, and when the LDB wouldn't give them any new SKUs for product, they chose to self-distribute that style...which ended up being their most popular beer. As for private distributors in BC, go talk to the guys who run the Cascadia Liquor stores...they are part owned by Paul Hadfield at Spinnakers, and run their own private distribution. I've had good conversations on this subject with both Chris and Maria (Victoria branch managers) and I would think that any local private liquor store would have some distribution contacts. You're not that far from Hornby Island, and I think the guys at Phrog have a private distributor (at least, I've never seen it in a BCLDB store, only private) and they might be willing to share information. If they do, send me a bottle of their gin....I love it!

All important, which is why specific still designs are still favored for specific spirits (says the guy running a hybrid type still.) Different distilling traditions have different ways of condensing and cooling, and run at different temperatures. For instance, the Scotch tradition runs at relatively high temps, and the American Bourbon tradition runs at considerably lower temps. (speaking of distillate off the parrot, here...)

How big is your still? We have twin 600 gal cooling reservoirs that keep us going without chilling the water in 90 F weather. If it's just for cooling your still, then a small, relatively cheap chiller can run all night and get your reservoir down for the day.

How much time between turning on the still and seeing the first distillate drop off the parrot? On my old steam still, I could strip a batch in 120-180 minutes. On the one I'm using now it's an all day thing.

Enolmaster works great. So does gravity. So does Xpressfill. But each have drawbacks. The biggest advantage to the Enolmaster is the filter cartridges in the bowl, and ability to view the polished product as it goes in. The overflow reservoir can be a pain if you are slow. The Enolmatic has plastic parts that break with rough handling, unlike it's big brother. The gravity fillers are foolproof, but I recommend a polish filter and surge tank, which adds cost, especially if you automate it. You could use a gravity polish filter, but I'm not sure how well it would work, especially for multiple products. But gravity is quiet and as fast as you like. The Xpressfill line works quite well, but again requires a polish filter and surge tank as the pumps in them don't perform well with a static filter. If you are using cheap glass, go for the level filler rather than the volumetric to keep your product looking consistent...or a dark bottle or a full neck wrap :-) If you plan on having "bottling parties," go Xpressfill or gravity. If you or trained staff is going to be doing the work, splash out for the EnolMaster with the pyrex bowls. Good Luck!

With stonefruit I've had some luck using semi-commercial tapered-screen juicers with a very coarse screen. It's noisy, but macerates anything up to green plums or sloes with brutal efficiency. Usually they are made for tomatoes or something...I might have photo somewhere. I'm not a fan of fermenting on the stones... Also, grinding the fruit and fermenting that works great. I try to use relatively acidic water to mash into (pH 4.5) and the appropriate pectolytic enzyme. The fruit floats a lot during fermentation, and the top layer can oxidize pretty severely, so either closed fermentation or periodic agitation (I used pump agitation) helps a lot. Especially with grappa, as grape skins are buoyant little mofos. I know I'm not supposed to add water to skins for grappa, but have you seen how dry they come out of modern presses??!?

If the tables are leading you astray (and they often do) then try normalizing your temp to 60 F for all your hydrometer proofing to eliminate correcting for temperature. When using the tables, my proof gallons go all over the place as I'm adding water to come to bottle proof. But if I turf that step, it all works out. I'm thinking of building a 60 F water bath for my hydrometer jars, just because it saves time and math :-S Or invest in Anton-Paar :-D

We have a 100 gallon still that takes about 2 hours up to temp with agitator on. With it off, it takes about 15 to 30 minutes longer. But I only use it on mashes, not on low wines.

I haven't had any luck with bourbon in small barrels, and if you're going 30, just save the money and go into a 53. With malt, wheat, and corn whisky I have had good results with small barrels. Rye, not so much.

3 years is great. My best results ever were on a barrel that just didn't taste good after 4 years...but after 8...yummy!

Wadewood, my business is making great distillate. If my competitor is selling for a third my price, then they aren't really my competitor. I make a luxury product and they make a volume-discounted product. People can come in and see me making it, and that is my edge. In their state (or not) and in their town. They can't go to Costco and watch them distill Kirkland Signature Bourbon, nor do they want to. Now, I'm sure it's apparent from my postings that I'm considered a left-wing tree-hugging loonie here in Utah, but personally, I don't want to do anything to swivel the large ungainly head of the TTB in my direction...and as soon as we (the small distilling industry) start to complain about the practices of our large, rich, and unscrupulous bigger brothers and sisters, my feeling is that we will experience (as a whole) not only a humiliating smackdown, but also the discomfort of a weightier gaze from an agency that we all agree largely has it's head up it's butt. By and large, I find that the consumers who don't care about localism OR good product aren't going to buy what I'm selling anyway, in favor of the cheap "let's get hammered" foil-wrapped fuel ethanol in a plastic bottle. And those that DO care to come in and support me don't buy the stuff you're worried about. It is hard enough for me to try to navigate the maze of regulations and laws put in place not only by the TTB, but also by my state and municipality. I certainly don't want to go too far in trying to clarify the law while pointing fingers. While many in this industry push for a "craft" or "artisan" definition, I've seen just that kind of thing lead to some major manufacturing difficulties in the province where I grew up, and I'd prefer to let the guild-style advocacy groups call the shots rather than a Mormon bureaucrat who hates my industry with religious fervor (and with that I apologize to all Mormon TTB agents) I agree with you that it's unscrupulous and misleading labeling, but personally I think it's a misdemeanor on the same scale as marijuana possession. Certainly not worth stirring up the pot. (see what I did there?) WHEN the TTB gets its enforcement arm running at full tilt (and I hope they add more staff to Formulas and COLAs before that) THEN I am content for them to enforce where they see fit. Hopefully, as a revenue -generating agency, they will go after our less-scrupled older siblings over just such misdemeanors as these in their search for tangible and liquid profit sources. I hope people don't think that I am against advocacy, legislation change, and lobbying for our industry. I am involved with that kind of thing on a daily basis. I simply want to do this by emphasizing the positive elements of what we do, rather than pointing at the negative.

jharner1, I didn't actually determine each and every step of law...when the change was published in a major beverage magazine, we simply went to our local postmaster and asked him about it. He told us that USPS, as of August last year, can ship alcohol. He elaborated and said that the policy was don't ask, don't tell, and that the forms for determining age verification of the receiver were not yet developed...he also said it would be near impossible to police. I was not present at the meeting with the official, but that's the way it was presented at our staff meeting. The quote above was directly from our minutes. I am no longer with the company that was mailing the alcohol, but what they did was take a scan of a driver's license, and matched it with the address. If the shipping address wasn't on the license, they wouldn't send it. Then they kept a file with all the info, and stuck the alcohol in the mail...labeled as such. To my knowledge, they shipped about 12 cases during the christmas season...at least according to my final inventories. So if it's not yet legal, or not yet policy, or not yet public, or not yet published....then some very fishy stuff went on. But it obviously bears some greater research.

"As the U.S. government looks for ways to save the U.S. Postal Service, a recent bill passed the senate that includes provisions allowing the USPS to ship wine, beer, and spirits. Private carriers have been shipping wine for decades, but the USPS has been banned from doing so for over one hundred years. 18 U.S.C. § 1716(f), the 1909 law that prohibits the USPS from shipping “all spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented or other intoxicating liquors of any kind” remains on the books. That law pre-dates prohibition by ten years, and has never been repealed. That would change if Senate Bill 1789 becomes law. The bill was passed in the senate on April 25, 2012, and Section 405 provides that wine, beer, and distilled spirits are considered “mailable” by the USPS as long as a) it is consistent with the laws of the states where the shipment is initiated and where delivery is to be made, the addressee is at least 21 years of age, and c) the addressee provides a signature and a valid government-issued photo identification upon delivery." Passed in the House June 2013. USPS is still struggling with putting effective checks in place, and they have not updated their website to reflect the change in the law. Their policy is "don't ask don't tell" until they can deal with it. But it's legal, and lots of us do it.

I missed the carbon part... most of us use granulated activated carbon (GAC) rather than pressed block carbon (common in small filters) You want a mesopore carbon, no matter what you use. The mesh size of the carbon varies greatly...I know of some places using 2"x2" bricks, and others using 20x40 mesh. The numbers refer to the screen sizes...a 8x30 means that 85% of the carbon goes through a #8 mesh screen, but is 95% retained by the 30 mesh screen. 12 x20, 8x30, and 12 x40 are popular sizes in water filtration, but there are many grades. You can look up the screen sizes easily. If you use carbon block media (extruded activated carbon) be aware that it's held together with a binder, and you need to know that the binder is compatible with your alcohol. If it's an impregnated carbon filter (carbon pressed into a fiber binder) then you need to decide what size you want to filter out. I'd go no larger than 5 micron, personally. We filter at 1.2 micron for polishing. Fun stuff!

There seems to be a lot of fear concerning plastics and elastomers when it comes to pumping alcohol. If you plan to pump up to pure ethanol, your best seal/gasket/part materials are Teflon, HDPE, EPDM, Viton, and Silicon...in that order. Each has it's own characteristics that need to be taken into account. I've used all of them in pumps, and apart from the product monographs, here's what I've found. Teflon is pricey, and works great. It takes greater pressure to seal properly, and rebuilds poorly, so you either need to mark your gaskets during an overhaul, or replace everything every time. But it lasts well. HDPE materials are great, but also expensive...they seal better than teflon, but nick relatively easily. I find HDPE diaphragms fail where they contact harder materials. EPDM is my favorite...it will degrade in pure ethanol, especially at elevated temperatures (180F) but holds up as long as my pumps go between rebuilds. It is significantly cheaper than HDPE...it will degrade at elevated temps in water as well, BTW. Viton is great because it's usually color coded, and stands up extremely well. It's pricey, and diaphragms and dynamic parts tend to flake a bit over time in any liquid environment. It's totally inert, though, and will be caught by any coarse paper filter. Silicon stands up very well, and seals very well. However, it's got a very low durometer and can be overtightened in gasket and diaphragm situations, which can pinch it and put a hole in it or push it into the liquid path...potentially causing bacterial harbors (not an issue in ethanol). The biggest problem with silicone gaskets is that they tend to "creep" which can lead to join failure in triclamp or other unsupported joins if left for an extended period. I like that creep in areas with vibration, as silicone can help damp that out. Cast silicone only, not RTV. Also, with 40% ABV max, you will probably be just fine using good old Buna-N neoprene parts. Just don't go over 160 proof with it. As far as pump bodies go, you are best with stainless steel, 316 alloys being a bit better than 304, but any austenitic (non-magnetic) stainless steel is fine. Brass is also good, but often has trace amounts of lead to improve machinability. Some plastic pump bodies are good, with Polypropylene being the best (and often the cheapest.) I don't recommend PE (polyethylene) bodies, but HDPE is ok. Acetal is not recommended for pure ethanol, but ok for 40%...which will have no effect on it for a very very long time. Nylons are a complete no-no, as is pentacryl (sometimes you find these for pumping certain solvents, but they suck for alcohol) The big problem with plastic pump bodies is that most of them have female NPT inlets and outlets, and we tend to put stainless triclamp fittings into them...when you overtighten the fitting trying to get it to stop leaking, the plastic cracks. I recommend putting a stainless Oetiker or other ear-type clamp over the outside of the pump fitting before tightening your MNPT fittings. Especially with acetal! Also, if your pump is white plastic, it's probably not groundable. If it's gray or black, it probably will conduct enough to dissipate static charges. Of course, metal is great. Aluminum pumps sometimes hit the market, and they work well...the issue with aluminum is that if anything is out of alignment, it will shave the aluminum off rather than deforming a groove. Aluminum has very interesting properties with it's ductility. Hope that helps. If in doubt, google the material monograph, and you can find lists of solvents (ethanol included) and compatible plastics. Any thing at "good" or "excellent" is usually fine for a craft distiller. Hope some of that helps!

What are we, the Whisky Police? The TTB can do it's own enforcement. If you don't comply, that's YOUR business. Not mine.