Silk City Distillers

Turns out it's a little bit more Disco Inferno and a little bit less John Denver.  It needs an impossible amount of sugar to increase the density to the point it can hold the mica in suspension.

Was in homage to the Blue Ridge Mountains, the misty taste of moonshine, and the teardrop in my eye...

A beautiful royal blue macro-glitter that emphasizes my rugged individualism.

This thread is way too serious, so I'm going to make glittery blue moonshine.

You'll need a carbon with very high surface area and a very high micropore ratio, it will likely have a very high molasses number.  The more effective it is, the harder it will be to use, you'll understand this when you try to do it.  Granulated carbon does not have sufficient surface area to quickly remove color without significantly impacting flavor.  Likewise, most carbons sold for decolorization are not appropriate, as they will impact flavor significantly.

It is significantly easier to redistill to remove color than it is to decolorize with carbon, but there are plenty of reasons why carbon is more effective at preserving flavors (decolorizing aged spirits for example).

There are plenty of these on the shelf in the states without a label disclosure that indicates they are flavored whiskeys.

You could easily make an argument that they should be called "Malt Whiskey Flavored with Hops" or similar.

Based on his writing, it's clear there were different grades available, but given the economics of rum as a waste product of sugar manufacturing, not sure that less-refined variations really would have taken hold.

There are some really interesting thoughts in one of his later pieces, linked below.  I thought the quote about the unsuitability of Hawaiian blackstrap for rum was very interesting.

I would imagine as sugar refining technology improves, the quality of blackstrap molasses declines.

I would also imagine blackstrap molasses from 80 years ago was a very different animal.

We did tons of recipe development on a small 50 liter still using the Stilldragon Carter Head, it's a great little setup.

Lab still is a fun way to learn about botanical profiles by distilling single-botanical runs or making simple combinations without spending a large amount of money on alcohol and botanicals, but it's by far the hardest place to start recipe development, because of the scaling issues mentioned.  This is especially so if you are using vapor infusion, or a combination of maceration and vapor infusion.

Also keep in mind that botanical inconsistency is amplified with very small botanical amounts, I think this is a big part of the scaling problem.

You might want to touch base with your insurance agent too.

Ah I see the requirements for distilled spirits now, it’s in 21 CFR.

Wife uses Luster Dust for baking, she suggested it too.

Formula required?

For the love of Sweet Baby Jesus do not judge me on this question.

Anyone have a source for TTB approved shimmer, ala Viniq and others?

Premium, for example, is a commonly available molasses produced for distilleries.  The Top Shelf Fancy is one that's also commonly used, it's typically sold by the drum/tote as Bakers grade.

Yep.

Compare two grades from the same manufacturer (Fancy and Blackstrap), and the Premium molasses from a third.  This bottom grade isn't the worse I've seen either, it gets worse than that.  (Added high test)

High Test
Brix 80-85%
Ash 2.2-2.5%
Invert 50-65%
Total Sugars 74-79%

Premium (Blend of A Grade and High Test)
Brix 79-80
Ash 3.5% Max
Total Sugars 68-75%

Top Shelf Fancy (A Grade)
Brix 79-80
Ash 5% Max
Invert 25-40%
Total Sugars 63-74%

Not Awful Blackstrap (C Grade or worse)
Brix 79-80
Ash 10-15%
Invert 6-22%
Total Sugars 45-60%

Awful Blackstrap (Substandard, Fertilizer Grade)
Brix 79-80
Ash >10% (Highly optimistic)
Total Sugars 44-52%

What @John McKee says.  

Don't assume your floors or walls are flush, plumb, straight, level, or anything else.  Shimming is a much better approach then attempting to level your concrete floor surface.  If you don't see shims, it probably isn't perfectly vertical.

No, but really, buy a proof hydrometer at your local home brew store.  Probably cost you ten bucks.

You really can't go wrong with the Anton Paar DMA 5000.  Great ease of use, fast, precise and accurate, and legal.

https://us.vwr.com/store/product/20269910/density-meters-dma-generation-m-anton-paar

I think I have an extra 10% VWR coupon code if needed.

We recently submitted a new label approval for the exact same situation.  Turnaround times are so short now, it's really no big deal.

What's the total water volume and what target are you shooting for ppm calcium?  How much added?

If you are mashing with an abundance of enzyme, coming from either malt % or external enzyme, you might not notice.

Sounds like a state issue, not a federal one.

From a licensing perspective for sure, but also raises some potential questions about excise tax liability.

Minerals don’t, but they can influence fermentation.

Keep in mind if you are distilling, processing, and bottling in a facility where grain dust co-exists, you might want to reconsider the "gluten free" label.

You might want to pick up a copy of John Palmer's Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, but keep in mind a good portion of what a brewer would be concerned with, a distiller would not be.

In general, you want hard water with low iron, with little or no chlorine or chloramine (generally this impacts surface water and not wells), and low volatile organics (generally this impacts wells vs surface water).

Sometimes it's just easier to remove the electrics, compared to replacing what's there with explosion proof everything.