JustAndy

Are you using an actual barrel stave or a stave-style oak alternative product (there are many out there but here is one https://www.seguinmoreaunapa.com/alternatives). An actual barrel stave is a poor choice as it's only received heat treatment on 1 of it's 4 sides so you'll be imparting a ton raw, not particularly pleasant, oak.

Although there is an interesting history of 'needle beer' from the prohibition days of spiking non-alcoholic malt drink with illicit spirits.

You're google results must be different than mine, I couldn't drum up any references to a fortified beer. I see a couple of Eisbocks (which are cyroconcentrated, not really 'fortified' in the meaning of added spirits) but my guess is the brewery never submitted for formula approval which I know happens quite a bit.

I dont have it around anymore but we rigged up a foot operated valve with a TC fitting and a 90 elbow hose barb which worked great for filling syrup bottles.

Look at maple syrup packaging equipment, Bascom's has used equipment but this is the busy season so they might not be too helpful.

What fruit will you use and where are you located? Some truly exotic fruits can be very challenging to make brandy from.

The immature distinction only applies to grape brandy, other fruit brandies have no aging requirement or age statement. As for the rest, the BAM chapter 4 is pretty clear, copied below. Brandy made by blending two or more specific types of brandies must be identified as “Brandy” followed by the percentage of (determined on a proof gallon basis) and name of each specific type of brandy, e.g., “Brandy, 25% Dried Pear Brandy, 75% Lees Brandy” Percentages are not required if the brandy is derived from: --2 specific types of brandies and neither contributes less than 40% of the alcohol on a proof gallon basis --3 specific types of brandies and each contributes at least 30% of the alcohol on a proof gallon basis --4 specific types of brandies and each contributes at least 20% of the alcohol on a proof gallon basis Fruit Brandy derived from two or more fruits must be identified as “Fruit Brandy” followed by the percentage of (determined on a proof gallon basis) and name of each fruit from which the brandy was made, e.g., “Fruit Brandy, 30% Apple Brandy, 70% Cherry Brandy” Percentages are not required if the Fruit Brandy is derived from: --2 fruits and neither contributes less than 40% of the alcohol on a proof gallon basis --3 fruits and each contributes at least 30% of the alcohol on a proof gallon basis --4 fruits and each contributes at least 20% of the alcohol on a proof gallon basis

Breweries are not allowed to add distilled spirit to beer, or even to have bulk spirit on site. I know of some breweries that have done cryo concentration but I'm unclear if it was approved by ttb.

You should describe your mash process in deyail. You were trying to lauter 100% wheat and ferment off the grain, and didn't use enzymes? It looks like the fines settled through the gaps in the false bottom and then got cooked, essentially you made wheat polenta. The outside layer cooked hard so the inner layer gelatanized but then no enzyemes could reach it l. Did you use the laminex and caustic at their effective temperatures in your tests? You might be able to get it to release by soaking with cold water but I think you'll have to dig it out

Wine makers deploy copper (usually copper sulfate) with the same intent as copper in the still, to deal with reductive / sulfur aromas. However, I believe there can be an issue with elevated copper levels in the effluent.

Its likely so2 in the wine but it might also be acrolein, which is truly like tear gas (will make your eyes water, cause coughing etc). Its not really detectable in the wine, its formed in the still. If its acrolein your best bet is to dump the wine, but the aroma will dissipate a bit after several years of aging. There is a good feature on it by Gary Spedding in Artisan Spirit magazine. Its an awful experience.

You are right that its not a very useful picture, are the extra 2 ports perhaps CIP balls? The other idea is to allow it to be fed independently vs via the condenser water outflow.

Everyone has an opinion on how much rectification is useful for whisky, but If you aren't getting a different output from using the column vs not using the column, then your column is not setup or functioning correctly. The scotch demisting test (checking for haze when diluted) is primarily about cleaning residual tails compounds (oils/waxes) from the still piping left behind in the previous run. A tails cut of 100 is quite low , the lowest I can think of for scotch malt whisky is about 125 and even that is a bit unusual .

Thanks for the response, that was my understanding. One other question: if a winery is fortifying a 'wine', does the commodity type of the spirit need to match the wine? For example, can apple spirits be added to grape wine? Or pear brandy added to apple 'wine'?

I believe the product must be produced and bottled by the dsp and returned to you as tax paid bottled product to sell it under your license. I am not in California so I would consult a distillery that offers those services, I distill a lot for wineries but in Oregon wineries cannot sell bottled brandy either.

Do you have a dsp in addition to your wine makers license? If not, you are limited to making a wine fortified with brandy, and not a flavored brandy.

Your Canadian-ness is showing , a proof gallon is 1 gallon at 50% abv, so 900 gallons @ 10% abv = is 180 PG not 90 PG. Anyways, on a simple pot still (no active reflux / plates/ dephleg) a reasonable expectation would be to recover ~70% of the total alcohol as hearts./usable spirit 1/3 as heads is vastly too much, if you are doing it organoleptically that suggests big fermentation problems, if you are doing it based on parrot proof it suggests your charge strength is much too high. If you are making malt whiskey on a simple pot still 10% abv is too high for wash and you'll get better results at 7% or 8 (or lower).

I've heard of (but never seen) that iron contamination can turn a spirit black. If it was barrel charcoal you should be able to filter it out with the right media, or get it to drop with time. I've also read about using gelatin to strip out barrel character and tannin but I'm not sure that is really the problem.

The pH range for Sebstar GL is 2.8-5.5, at 6.7 you are quite a bit above where you need to be. Check and post your pHs at each setup of the process and be sure your pH meter is accurately calibrated. Similarly, SebFlo TL is denatured about 140 F, so adding at at 190 is probably not helping you much. Your volumes of cooking corn in 150 gal of water then topping up to 900 gal seems like a typo perhaps?

I've got a friend with about 70 x 53gal barrels of malt whiskey which is currently being stored in CA but the production DSP is running out of space and he'd like to get them moved up to the pacific northwest and stored closer to him. I've got a handful of his barrels but our warehouse is more or less full right now so I'm scouting around for him. I believe they are all stored on racks. He's working on a DSP location to do the final blending and bottling at in a few years but it's possible that might happen at the storage location if there is interest and it makes sense. If you've got space drop me a line

I just read a liquor manufacturing book from 1893 and the author's preface said "The formulas have been left in metric, or the decimal system, as this system is gaining ground rapidly and there is every hope of it's final adoption by manufacturers as a matter of convenience." I wouldn't hold my breath about it.

I understood, I was saying to just use a regular stainless steel drum as Black Creek did rather than some weird proprietary barrel that's more expensive (and will probably leak, and will probably not be made in 5 years). If you are concerned about it breathing, just open the drum and stir it once in a while.

I can't imagine using these, why not just use a normal 55 gal drum with some staves if that was your goal?

I can't see the logic for having a mash tun 2x the fermenter; unless you are distilling 2 fermenters at a time it would mean you have one sitting empty while waiting for the other before you could mash. A half-full fermenter will often work fine, a half-full mash tun or mash mixer might not depending on the placement of agitator, steam jacket, rakes, etc.

You should look into your state restrictions before bringing them in, they are on state invasive species lists and quarantined in some places http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/htm/318.htm