Silk City Distillers

Was down in Springfield last week for a couple days, down through Branson and down to Harrison.  I would have loved to stop in, but probably too far west.

Paul, we share the same mindset.   If I was in a shed in the middle of nowhere trying to run a big electric still, I'd get it running.  I'd fire up my TIG and weld up a couple hundred hp motor to a tractor PTO, and I'd have it running.  But, at the same time, you've got to acknowledge the practicality and the poor long-run TCO of batch electric.  There is an upper limit, beyond which practicality falls off, and the long-run TCO is simply worse than most other alternatives.  If another manufacturer is going to set a limit, that's their prerogative and they probably have a good reason for why they think that's a limit.  My point was simply that if one was hell bent on running electric, and they had 480v service, they should consider themselves very fortunate, as it makes things much easier at that scale.  It's along the same lines of walking into your potential location and seeing an adequate sprinkler system already installed,  It's like money in the bank.  But greenfield?  In my neck of the woods dropping adequate power into a commercial building would cost north of $25k, and with electric rates nearly 4-5x the cost of gas, it simply doesn't make sense.  If you've got a building in the styx and need to make it work, well, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to make it work.

I think the real game changer for those who are space, cost, or power constrained (or all 3) is a reasonably priced smaller scale electric stripping still that can handle solids and grain-in wash.  Trade off time for lower power requirements, assuming that said still can run with only needing monitoring through the run (no fiddling).  Now you go from needing that monster 600g to a much more reasonably sized finishing still, and with immersion elements, very affordable.

Interesting stuff, I'd love to do more work with apples.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5253989/

600 gallons on electric?  Hope you have 480v service.  

First - your enzymes are a bit mixed up, second your temps are mixed up.  Your yield on this is probably very poor.

Bioglucanase GP is a Beta-Glucanase Enzyme - this is to break down the sticky glucans common in Rye and Wheat (not very common in Barley and Corn).  You'll want to use your Bioglucanase FIRST, at about 110-120F.

Amylo 300 is a Glucoamylase.  You'll want to use this THIRD, add it during cool down, no higher than 130F.

You appear to be using no High Temperature Alpha Amylase.  You look like you are using enzymes from BSG or similar - so you'll want to ask for Hitempase.  This is what you want to use SECOND, on the heat up.  Add it cool, it works it's magic as you heat.  If you stay below around 200, it will not denature quickly.

Keep your pH around 5.2 through the process.  If you add additional water, grain, etc - you need to recheck.  The purpose here is not to allow your enzymes to accidentally denature if add them and your pH is way off.

If you add Amylo 300 to 150F mash, it will probably denature in about 15 minutes.  Same thing with the Bioglucanase, too hot at 140, will denature in minutes.

Summary:

Bioglucanase, 110-125F (at the start of mash) - This will denature during the heat up.

High Temp Alpha Amylase - Add it anytime during the heat up, after the beta glucanase.  If you do get up to a boil, you can add a second dose of HTAA during the cool down, usually 180F is a safe temp, this way you ensure your enzyme stays active in full dosage.

Amylo 300 - BELOW 130F - You do not want this to denature, especially if you are fermenting on the grain - as this will provide additional conversion during the fermentation process.

In all cases, if you stick around 5.1-5.2 you should be fine.

Usually, when someone calls it a "steam generator", they are usually trying to disguise the fact that it's a boiler (that probably doesn't meet code/reqs).

You got your enzyme protocol all messed up.  I’d type up a suggestion but too painful to do on a phone.

I’m talking single tube in shell.

Tube in tube is widely used in sanitary food production, for years this was nearly the de facto standard for milk cooling.

Surface area of the tube-in-tube is only part of the story, no?

I would imagine, coolant flow rate through the shell, coolant temperature, product flow rate through the tube, and product temperature, all need to be known before determining if the surface area of the heat exchanger is sufficient.  This is a system problem, not a component problem.

Not achieving a low enough product exit temp?  Increase cooling flow , decrease product flow until you hit your target.  Not to mention that the heat exchanger isn't really determining your flow rate, your chiller/coolant is.

My big 2" pump does around 70 gallons a minute, from 145 to 80 that's something like 200 tons needed to cool.  200 tons?  I don't care how long that snake is, it ain't gonna swallow if you don't have that cooling capacity.  Let's say you only have 2 or 3 tons of cooling capacity, now you are looking at something like 1 gallon per minute of product through the tube, length probably more than sufficient.

Women are way better blenders and distillers than men.

Just sayin' is all.

Heartbreaking, these photographs are just awful.  Hope you guys and gals are safe, prayers go out to you all.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4969206/Californians-return-destruction-wildfires-kill-17.html

Most of us are US manufacturers, pretty sure there are a number of distillers here that could supply you directly.

Split product condenser and dephlegmator is easier to operate as changes in power input don't impact the dephlegmator set point.

One caveat though, if your coolant is very, very cold, split feed can create a situation where the dephlegmator is a bit more difficult to operate, as very small changes in flow rate can create very large changes in the reflux rate.

Citric is a mild antioxidant, so it might offer some protection against oxidation, but that is different from fixatives whose aim is to reduce volatility and slow evaporation of highly volatile aromas.

Yep.

No matter what you use, you should flush and rinse with water, including hoses.  It’s just best practice and will ensure long life with minimal degradation of seals. 

Dave Dunbar worth every penny.

Lallemand is an awesome yeast and nutrient vendor.

What are your options for exporting it white?

Would be interested in a flake distributor recommendation as well

We’ve got a touch over 20’ as well.

What kind of volumes are you talking about here?  The amount of floor space and investment in tanks, plumbing, and the overall complexity of operation needs to be considered here. 

You can get these in closed top full drain too, they just cost more.  Doesn’t matter who makes them, they are just more complicated to make ... more expensive.

We opted for the fixed lid - trash can style - vs the variable cap style - less expensive and easier to use.

Concur - stay flexible your layout will change.  Extend that floor drain as much as possible to give you flexibility down the road.  That storeroom behind the fermenters is going to be a disaster to work with.

@Tom Lenerz posed an interesting question - are you folks even measuring DO before you add oxygen?  Or, after?  How do you even know this is a problem needing to be solved?