Rich Morgan

A short video on what we're up to downunder... http://youtu.be/XHxbKJiQXwA

Completely agree, we have switched to cam-lock for all spirit hoses, and BSM for all the wash and brew lines.

Peter, My experiences in Oz. We use a winery grade stainless coil reinforced PVC to pump everything under 40% ABV. Pumping >40% is a challenge. Teflon core is stupidly expensive, pure silicone is ok, if you can get reinforced, but again expensive. We use a food grade white EPDM core, under a rubber sheath.

We use the Saver Kendo, and although it looks very similar I don't think it is a Kendo, But its really hard to tell from the photos on the Dash website. The Kendo has a massive solid base, on the 500ml its nearly 15mm thick. There are a number of Italian glass manufacturers that produce bottles similar to the Kendo. SaverGlass's mark is a Double Capital Letter S, like a chain link, inside a rectangular border. Go with the Saver Kendo, I have found them to be a brilliant company to deal with, and never fail to deliver.

We have a vacancy for a Production Assistant, located in Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, NSW, AUSTRALIA. You must have a current work visa to apply, we are not offering sponsorship. Full details and how to apply at http://www.hunterdistillery.com.au/article.php?aid=10

Bali = Bad

Basic Order of Events (not all is relevant to every site); Confirm all building dimensions, DO NOT trust the plans, as built often has changes from original plans. Confirm location of all existing services Finalise floor plan, new service paths, traffic paths, changes to perimeter doors, PA doors, emergency exits Masonry work (still/tank plinths etc) If a used building, clean Lights, windows, walls Horizontal dust traps [*]High pressure wash out the entire building [*]Seal the floor (good point) [*]Seal windows, vermin paths, etc [*]Mark out equipment locations, cages, etc [*]Run services, trays and droppers [*]Install equipment [*]Mark out safety zones, paths, hazzard lines Services, could include; Electricity (uninterrupted supply) Electricity (non-essential) Emergency cabling (lights, signs, shutdown switches, extractor fans, sirens) Fire services (water/gas) Detector cables Lighting, lighting switches Gas lines Town/potable water Process water Cooling circuits (water, glycol) Supply and Return Town waste Trade waste Hot waste Drain pits, wash down/wet areas Alarm/CCTV Process control cabling Gas/Vapour detection cables or sampling pipes Flues Steam lines Condensate lines Compressed Air lines Data/Telephone/Comms/PA My key point is this, the installation of the services is where the real money can be, moving them due to bad floor-space plans is expensive. Plan, Plan and plan again.

Has anyone got some real data on the composition/preparation of Arak. I know the cheaper ones are just flavoured with Anise, but I understand the better quality ones have other botanicals? Any advice is welcome.

The still boilers (pots) and columns were made in Germany, All the interconnecting pipe work, gas train, control gear and supports were sourced locally. Basically as Australia is the largest supplier of copper, raw materials were 20% cheaper here. Also, items like gas control trains are difficult to get type approved for one off installs, We just went to a local specialist, and all the approvals were in place. I was not able to find skilled coppersmiths in Australia. Its a dying art.

Probably been said already, town water (hard) with a high TDS will precipitate the salts as sediment in spirits over 30%. Just dont risk it, dilute with RO water only. But town water will USUALLY give you a stronger ferment as these salts are beneficial to yeast health (within reason).

Depends on whats spilt. Our first action to hose with water, this immediately dilutes the alcohol, reduces vapour evaporation and increases flash point. Any spill we just wash down. All our floor drains collect into an external pit, which we pump into collection tanks. Ethanol is considered a pollutant in most waste systems. But less than 10% alc/vol is considered general trade waste. Do not mop up or apply absorbant material to high proof >60% alc/vol, Dilute first. Otherwise you just provide more evaporation surface area, hence fumes and your raise the VEL. Our rule is STOP PUMP/LEAK/TRANSFER, HOSE DOWN, MOP UP. When we transfer high proof, we always have a fire hose with a spray gun at hand.

I agree it looks like a once off custom. We use one of these from Tenco Italy, http://www.tenco.it/prodotto/sciacquatrici The only issue we had was it recycles the wash water, so we added a .2um cartridge filter in the loop. We easily do 300-400/hr. Simple, brilliant and low cost. Sorry the page is in Italian but you get the idea. I know Tenco have distributors in the US.

Some of the Chinese manufacturers were offering runs less than 10,000, but the charge for the mould tooling was very high. Making it about the same as a larger run. I agree that there is a demand for short run custom glass, but the machinery and processes they use just do not lend themselves to short runs. My advise is too look at getting the tooling made by one company and then tout for a glass plant with down time willing to consider a short run.

Interesting, they have been prevented from importing them into Australia, as they do not meet our engineering standards. Its not that we are super strict in Oz, we mainly follow the British standards, but the Chinese suppliers are unable to prove compliance with regarding testing. They provide all sorts of certificates from various Chinese Certification Organisations, that just do not have international standing. Be careful, boiler failure is often a bad thing :-)

We deal with OI, SaverGlass and Bruni. They all will only deal in a minimum of 1 pallet, and the quantity depends on the size, but seems to be between 900 and 1300 bottles for the Euro glass. Look for a local packaging warehouse, they will often buy a pallet and break it up, but its usually fairly generic glass. When we started we put out the word on what we were looking to buy and sought other distilleries to join us, worked well. Due to the ridiculous lead times on glass, and shipping to Australia, these days I seem to have my life savings tied up in pallets for glass.

Pete, I would use an immersion coil, passing actively fermenting wash through a chiller is not advisable. We use coils with our condenser water, it's enough to keep everything below 35C. Dry ice is a good backup. Aeration during fermentation is also not advisable either. Yeast typically multiply in aerobic enviroments, and ferment in anaerobic situations. Aeration is only ever done prior to pitching. Rich.

Aside, we are at the same stage of growth,looking to move up from our Enolmaster. What machine did you go to?

Yes for the steam heated stills we use a 3 stage modulating steam valve, that provides steam control at 0%, 25%. 50% and 100%. Butin reality it seems to mainly use the 25% and 100% settlings, due to the thermal mass of the pot, the temp does not change much once your on the boil. For gas, we use a 4 stage modulating valve. Fully proportional valves (usually motorized or stepper motor controlled, I have found to be problematic and offer little benefit, as they are $$$$$.

Personally I would leave the pH of 4.5 for a couple of reasons; The more a wash or ferment is above pH5, the greater the chance of bacterial/microbial infection. If your going to run a high pH of 5.5 you need to be sure your santisation is spot on. Most Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast perform better below pH5, not so much a factor in corn based wash's but very true for sucrose substrates

Works, but very limited compared to AlcoDens.

Thank-you all for the input, although 90% of the thread was off topic :-) have several recipes we are going to trial, still having a major challenge obtaining feed corn, so its likely to be more a sugar-jack style. Personally I think the appeal is about being over-proof, poorly rectified, the name, and packaging it in mason jars. Agreed with all about the moonshiner's program, a complete waste of time.

We operate in Australia, and the recent US documentary 'Moonshiners' has just gone to air here. In the last 4 weeks since it commenced we have had dozens of calls regarding moonshine. We going to give a small batch a go, to see how its accepted. I know the basics, corn & sugar mash, can anyone give me some basic ratios, cook times etc. My biggest concern is the type and grade of corn used, Australia is not a major grower of corn, and what we do grow is for the table, which I understand is a different species to feed corn? Any help appreciated. (and yes we will be doing it legally :-)

Plenty on the market, fixed and portable. Seek out Drager, Honeywell and; http://www.rkiinstruments.com/pages/ps2.htm

Your post brings a tear to my eye. I have been through this problem countless times. I would have thought you would have less of an issue in the UK as most of the critical botanical's are from that part of the world. What we end up with here in Australia is dried out, dust ridden wood shavings. I struggled with batching and stockpiling (like a Sherry Solera system), but to no success. Myself and a number if other Gin distillers I know are now distilling the component botanical's separately. Without giving away any secrets, we split the juniper, from the coriander, from the anise/licorice types, from the citrus types. We then blend from there.

Another point, you mentioned buying a second-hand capper for Stelvin, just be sure its a 4 roller head, 2 & 3 roller heads for ROPP's are not suitable for stelvin. Some BVS can be applied by hand.