navenjohnson

26 minutes ago, JustAndy said:

If you make whiskey or brandy, plenty of people would say the apex of distillation is in a direct-fired copper pot still. 

Direct fire on a copper kettle would be about as traditional as one could get, JustAndy. We are a pot-still distillery all the way, but I like the ease, cost, and usability of stainless and steam. 

25 minutes ago, Silk City Distillers said:

1) Make a vodka called 6.5 millibar and market it as distilled at the same atmospheric pressure as Mars.  "Filter" it through some crushed up asteroid if you have the money.  

2) Get Elon Musk to retweet.  

3) Profit.

 

Brilliant! 

Thanks for that, Thatch! 

We roto-vape a lot of stuff and I have even told tour participants (right or wrong) that our little roto-vape represents what some might call the "apex of distilling" but I am wondering how correct or incorrect I am. 

Is vacuum the apex of distillation so to speak?

How does "Large scale" vacuum spirit differ from pot still and in what way? 

Am I crazy?.....wait, I already know the answer to this question!

1 hour ago, Mechengineer_81 said:

Thanks Mechengineer_81,

Good ideas.

I am hoping to do more affordable types of sustainable practice. I would like to utilize the following list of mechanisms, but please feel free to add something I should consider: 

• Small scale wind and solar grid to power lights, pumps, and air conditioning.

• Primary combustion via propane (non-greenhouse gas)

• Heat reclamation & reuse (facility heating and hot water needs) 

• Cooling via existing well-fed pond 

• Small herd of livestock to consume spent grains (pig, goat, chicken, duck)

• Bio-digester to generate gas for collection and use

• Development of a stone-fruit orchard (apple, plumb, cherry)

 

1 hour ago, Mechengineer_81 said:

 

I am suggesting a forum topic about all the ideas there are around "greening" or making our businesses more environmentally friendly. 

Thatch,

No to be too snarky here but, please note that I stated that we would use wind and solar as best we can to "run pumps and keep the lights on", etc.

As far as I can tell a solar & wind powered distillery is really not feasible at scale.

I would like to see the examples. Please prove me wrong!

Explanation for engineering:

This is not our first endeavor.  We bootstrapped our current distillery. I call what we did "glorified moonshining" since we hacked it through the wilderness of a town that did not know what distilling was. We successfully lobbied and had the local codes adjusted that would even allow a business such as our to exist. We have grown 30% year over year since 2017. 

This extension of our distillery will have to be engineered because I don't have the knowledge or bandwidth to go hacking through unknown territory on this one. We have hit many chokepoints and had to make numerous adjustments to our operation but we are poised to fill 100 whiskey barrels this year plus another 40 or so rum barrels on a 300 mash/strip - double pot still set up. Our new distillery will scale our current style of making spirits (Pot Still Only)! 

I am interested in hearing all of the ways to green our new operation. Send any and all ideas, please!

2 hours ago, Thatch said:

 

Thanks!

Electricity means coal power and they are scheduled to shut down by 2030 or so. Then the electricity will have to travel a distance to even reach us. I don't believe we could get enough power to run our equipment on solar or wind and it's unreliable for a manufacturing plant. I think it better to be utilized to keep the lights on and run pumps.

We looked into becoming "possibly" the first hydrogen-powered distillery in the US but upon investigating (we have a friend building electrolytic hydrogen separators). I was told that I should be prepared to pay a premium for the hydrogen which would have to be trucked in. 

2 hours ago, Golden Beaver Distillery said:

Don't think you need a coil to perform the heat exchange - dump the return water back into the pond at the furthest point from the intake.

Do you mean: Pull water from the pond through a system of heat exchangers?

This system will be engineer designed, but I am interested in hearing all of the possible ideas for heat exchange and "greening a distillery". 

We are working on a project in a rural area and are exploring options for combustion/ steam production for a 1000 gal mash tun/ fermenter/ stripper sized facility. We are planning on cooling using a deep-pond with a coil in it for heat exchange. Would also like to utilize some wind, solar and heat recapture to make the facility as green as possible. 

Forefront questions:  

Is propane the best option? 

What other combustion methods are clean and cost efficient?

Who has done this before and has some insight on building such a facility? 

Thanks in Advance!

SOLD!!

We are dumping 10 this week. 10 gallon barrels 1 year with bourbon in them.

Questions on Ag distilleries and livestock:

1. I am hoping to set up a distillery on a piece of property in Colorado currently zoned as agricultural. What are the differences between this and a non-farm distilling operation according to Federal and State licensing? Do you know of any distilleries in Colorado which are located on agricultural, farm or ranch land? What are the specific challenges faced?

2. Our goal is to build a distillery with as small a carbon footprint as possible. One part of this will be some livestock to consume the stillage after being put through a liquid separator. What animals will eat post distillation stillage? I have heard that cattle don't take to the stillage like they take to brewing grains. What about heritage pigs, indian running ducks or chickens? Will they eat it?

Cheers!

300 Gallon ACE Roto-Mold cone bottom tank with stand.

42" dia x 67" height. 180lbs

Has a few ports for heating/ racking with tri-clamp fittings. 

$250 + shipping from 80487

I found out that these were originally from Canada when I got them a few years ago. Used mostly as holding tanks here at our place but could be used for a lot more. These come with 6" tri-clamp top caps and 2.5" tri-clamp drain tubes and valves and reducers to get down to a normal 2" size. One has the plastic pucks cut off the feet and is discounted as such. Ships from Northern Colorado (80487). We will get them strapped down to pallets real good and ready for shipping.  

Tank 1 with pucks: $800 + shipping

Tank 2 without pucks: $700 + shipping 

1206974397_attachments(16).zip

@SlickFloss I am looking for a freestanding product condenser with a parrot set up. 6-8" diameter and 48" tall condenser and a 5 foot stand. Do you ahve anything comparable in your warehouse? Please email me at nathan@steamboatwhiskeyco.com

Looks like the software choices are slimming up a bit with Five Xs acquiring Whiskey Systems. 

Thanks everyone for the input. 

As we understand it now, we may be able to sell it to businesses that are deemed essential. In our state that appears to be fairly broad. It seems that selling to the general public is where a line is drawn.

Truth is that we've run out of resources to do this for free but we continue to field about 20 calls a day regarding the hand sanitizer. We are not yet selling the stuff but we would like to.

As we learn more about this we will try and share our experience. 

7 minutes ago, DrDistillation said:

Be careful as https://www.ttb.gov/public-guidance/ttb-pg-2020-1a says "not for resale" but it's worded poorly so it's hard to understand the true meaning.  I would make a phone call before selling.  Donations should not be a problem.

Do not substitute ingredients unless pre-approved here: https://www.fda.gov/media/136118/download

Thanks DrD. We understand the rules laid out initially.

So how are Tattersal, Du Nord, and Justice Brothers now selling theirs? Is it through the FDA? TTB? They've produced and distributed 1500 gallons thus far. The prices are all laid out on their website so one might assume they sold those 1500 gallons! 

Also, has the FDA/ TTB commented on the need for sanitizer in federal prisons and if so has there been any comment on the addition of aloe vera/ gel so inmates won't consume it? 

3 minutes ago, Thatch said:

Saw this on Facebook

Flatrock Distilling Company· We had a few questions about mineral oil in some distillery made sanitizers. Our hand sanitizer is made with Aloe Vera and essential oils. We do not add mineral oil to batches.  (419) 868-8114  

We do not add mineral oil to our batches either. We vegetable glycerol. Perhaps you could share your aloe vera recipe? 

Can any of you all tell us what needs to be done to move to sales of our hand sanitizer? 

To date we've donated around 60 gallons locally but the requests just keep on coming in. As we are short on small containers we are adding a bulk option.

Here is a good example we want to emulate for our region: https://www.allhandsmn.org/

Also, anyone used aloe vera gel instead of glycerol? Some of our most vulnerable populations are the nations prisons and they only take gel....(because inmates will apparently drink anything else. 

Cheers!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc13.com/amp/2609609

okay. Here it is. This is what can happen when you put high-proof alcohol in an immersion blender

Just heard the NPR story on Cotton and Reed in the DC area making hand sanitizer. They blended everything up in an immersion blender when walking the interviewer through the steps to make the product. 

Can someone please find the article or information on the guy that killed/seriously maimed himself using an immersion blender blending up high-proof alcohol in his distillery.

Just thinking to myself how crazy stupid that is and now it's out in the public for many many more idiots the blow themselves up. 

Ugh!

How tall is the column?

Cheers, Thank You!!

We are considering only entering competitions that give actual medals. While vindication and peer review are nice things to motivate and inspire, it's tough to measure whether it has any affect on sales.

If you are not distributed widely, do medals printed in publication have any positive affect on sales? 

We proudly display our ADI medals in our tasting room and IT DOES have a positive affect. 

So, which spirits competitions give actual medals? 

Cheers!