Silk City Distillers

I'll second that, mine also seems to be much quieter running at 50hz than 60hz.

Recommend going back to the still.  With the vodka, run it again, this is easy, all 24 plates.  If the intention for your rum is white, you can redistill as well, but only run through your short column (4).  In both cases, your focus is going to be on the tail cut.  This is entirely based on your comment of visible clouding, which you should not be seeing.  This is making me think that carbon will *not* be efficient here, as you'll quickly overwhelm the adsorption capacity, and waste a lot of carbon to get where you are wanting to go.

Chill filtration, there's not a whole lot out there for the craft market, most I've seen have cobbled together their own systems out of jacket tanks, freezer chests, plate and frame filters, etc.  As far as something turnkey you can just ring up and order?  I've never seen one.  I'd love to see something work with a smaller 10" Code-7 style filter housing, as opposed to trying to run a smaller volume of spirit through a gigantic plate and frame, losing 25% of my spirit volume in the process.

I don't know where you are, but if the ambient temperatures in the distillery are in the mid to high 80s, it's very easy for a IBC to push well into the high 90s during fermentation.  Heck, pitching into an 80f tank in even the mid 70s ambient would probably push into the high 80s.  Overtemp fermentations are going to result in higher fusel and ester formation, giving you either a lower yield, or a "dirtier" product.  Depending on what you are fermenting, and what your fermentation/yeast protocols are, you might find that you get stuck fermentations as well (>100f, yeast cell death, etc).

Generally, fermenters are expensive because they have cooling jackets, so not just a metal tank, but typically two metal tanks with the cooling mechanisms, etc.  Not to mention additional ports for racking, draining, maybe CIP for cleaning, manways, etc.  It all adds up.

There's no magic to a fermenter, you could line up a bunch of old hot tubs along the wall and use them to ferment  (Hot Tub Time Machine Bourbon sounds delish).  A blow up kiddie pool would make for an awesome sight too.  One time I had a line on a big cedar plunge pool the was supposed to go in a fancy mountain house that never ended up getting assembled.  That would have been pretty cool too.

That and if I tried to use of spherical boiling flask, I'd just end up rolling it off my table or spilling it at the least.

No no, talking about adjusting sample temperatures for measurement.  Not using the bath as a Bain Marie for distillation.

If it's any help, I've found that it's easier to just distill in an erlenmeyer on a hot plate.  I've got a ton of heated stir plates for yeast propagation that work just fine.

I've got two, nice tanks: 200l and 400l.  I ordered them with 1.5" triclamp fittings and separate lids (not variable cap).

They are thin, like all the others (Letina, etc) so cranking on a big butterfly valve doesn't inspire much confidence.  But, they are durable, looks good, and work just fine.

Turn down the air conditioning in your lab?

You can fill the bath with cool water and slightly cool the sample to start.  However, you are correct, the longer you wait the greater the chance the sample temp starts increasing.

Refrigerated baths are very very expensive and you generally wouldn't go to all that trouble here.

That's a killer deal actually, so if you aren't going to buy it, I'm going to buy it to have a spare.

For example, nice smaller Cole Parmer water bath, perfectly suitable - $655

https://www.coleparmer.com/i/economical-poly-bath-5-5-liters-110v-60-hz/3906410

Looks like the same one, brand new, surplus on ebay - $79.00 + Shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cole-Parmer-39064-10-115V-5-5L-Cap-Utility-Water-Bath-/232206538959?epid=2136105879&hash=item36109698cf:g:ZDsAAOSwq1JZJaTd

Bet if you offered this guy $60 for it ($100 shipped) - he'd take it.

Saved you $500.  I take payment in beer.

Lab equipment and glassware?

Depends what you want to pay.

If you are feeling like the CFO of a billion dollar global pharmaceutical company, go to Fisher Scientific and pay $700 for a water bath.

If paying $700 for a water bath seems insulting to you, check the lab surplus companies who sell on eBay, and you can probably get the same one, used, for 1/4 of the price.

Sussman is very well known in this space.

My comment has more to do with having to gauge and record 5-6 separate tanks, every time.  You can move a tote around easily enough with a pallet jack, you don't need a fork lift.

Filter your product to at least 1 micron, pollen can be as small as 4 micron, and anything a little bit larger than that can be visible as particulate.

Ensure your honey is filtered and free from wax.

It's highly likely that commercial honey flavored products are using standardized and processed natural flavors.

While a stainless tote would be ideal, you can get by with a poly tote. I wouldn't bother with stainless drums, expensive and not ideal.  It's much easier to gauge a single tote on a pallet scale than gauge 5-6 drums.  Just so happens a tote is nearly the perfect size for you too.

There is no simple equation, it's why the tables are published.

12 hours ago, gmdiny said:

then filtered through a .45 micron cartridge filter until clear. 

Explain a little more about "filter until clear" - It's coming off the still cloudy?  Or are you mascerating post-distillation?

If you are clouding right off the still, you stand no chance.

The used barrel demand from the craft brewers is changing the dynamic a bit, it seems there is currently insatiable demand for fresh dump whiskey barrels.  Up in my neck of the woods, you can easily sell fresh dumps for half the acquisition cost.  Have no issues getting rid of second use dump rums for the same price.   Anything in the smaller 5-10 gallon range, you could probably find local craft brewers that would pay you a premium over the craft breweries, the local home brew shop was salivating at the prospect of reselling for us.

I've also gotten calls from people making honey, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, cold brew coffee, that all want used bourbon barrels or their products.  These guys would pay a premium as well, since they are specifically purchasing used barrels to be able to say bourbon barrel aged on the label.

Anyone using wine as a flavoring ingredient in a distilled spirit specialty (greater than 2.5%)?

Just running through the regs, wine is considered a blending material, and in a distilled spirit specialty may exceed 2.5%.  Just wondering what I'm missing.

Best part of owning an ice maker - so much ice.

Worst part of owning an ice maker - cleaning the ice maker.

Budget for mistakes, because every mistake seems to cost $5,000.  It doesn't matter what it is, it's probably going to cost $5,000 to make right.  Figure that you, or your contractors, will make a few mistakes along the way.

Rinse the still on the off days?  Don't bother.

You got me on a chocolate kick.

Have you seen this product, designed for brewers?

http://www.cholaca.com/brewmasters-cacao-nibs-alternative/

http://imbibemagazine.com/cholaca-chocolate-beers/

Oh oh oh, I am misunderstanding I think, the end result is not distilled, you are draining the product from the boiler.  So yes, you've made a large soxhlet, very cool.

Thanks Odin, that's helpful.  Is the resemblance to a soxhlet extractor intentional or coincidental?  I can't see all of the plumbing to see if it works in the same manner.  Generally though, that much carry over I've only ever seen with higher vapor speed extraction.  Some very interesting things happen when vapor speeds are high enough to begin carrying over non-volatile flavor compounds, a technique used commonly in the extraction of botanical oils.  But, if you are working like a soxhlet, that shouldn't be the case.

Boy, Hazi, where do I start with that?  I was gifted a jar of some "very fine" hazi, wow was it rough.  Not just in tails (it was visibly cloudy at 110 proof), but the heads cut?  What heads cut.  I told the person, you've got to be fooling with me.  How do you simultaneously be happy that this person smuggled some back all the way from Hungary for me to try, but not have the heart to tell them it's absolutely awful!

Odin,

Following your work on the extractor - why the turbidity in the color in the distillate?  Is this being done in conjunction with masceration?