Jump to content

FijiSpirits

Members
  • Posts

    104
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

Everything posted by FijiSpirits

  1. I’ve run a blended rectification column with some success (procaps. Perf plates, copper mesh in one 4” column) but not as a continuous. Maybe I can help fill in some knowledge for you?
  2. The Distillery Company in Fiji is currently looking for a head distiller. They have a great facility and wonderful staff and are looking to expand. Might be a great fit. Work permits are relatively easy to come by. Check out their website for contact details.
  3. Based on my observations you would need either a return pump that could run dry Or have adjustable metering as return condensate can vary a great deal in two column system. How are you guys solving this Paul?
  4. I used to produce a liquor for a company that never had a clue how to test for proof. I just did a proof obscuration with a simple glass distillation kit, then used the specific gravity to determine proof with a pycnometer and a milligram scale. the TTB has a really great video on how it’s done step by step.
  5. With the rice and angel, I beleive that preliminary results in western distilling show that using hot water in the mixing process seems to help with fermentation speed and conversion rate. This may be due to reduction of bacteria and a partial breakdown of starch. as for raw sugar, it too is filled with bacteria. The higher the molasses content the worse it gets. There is a pretty narrow pathway to dealing with it without using hot water. currently I don’t have a facility to do research at so im a bit hobbled there, but I’d love to work with someone interested in either of these in Michigan.
  6. Two things. first, the Chinese company Angel yeast has developed several distillers yeasts that do not require cooking of grain to get decent conversion of the starch to sugars. This could reduce energy and time costs and potentially help out a lot. Some work in this area towards refining and expanding flavor profiles could be awesome. second, I’ve worked with raw sugar for 7-8 years by necessity. It’s cheap here and energy costs are ridiculous so sugar or molasses has always been obvious choices. I’ve managed to come up with some Pretty good techniques to create some really really solid vodkas at tropical fermentation temps, even without carbon filtration Some of my methods and recipies might be able to help others wishing to work with sugars. Maybe there is some way I can contribute to further research and community knowledge.
  7. You haven’t tried my vodka!! Spent 7 years getting it to go neutral. At least with Fiji cane sugar. now I have at least three ways to make it.
  8. TTB did a rule change recently that removed the requirement for vodka to be without distinctive character, aroma taste or color and amending the rules. why isn’t this all over the news and why have I not seen this discussed anywhere other than artisan spirits magazine summer 2020? are we on the cusp of full flavored vodkas? What does that mean for labeling? here is the full text of the pertinent part of the federal register https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-04-02/pdf/2020-05939.pdf 10. Standard of Identity for Vodka In Notice No. 176, TTB proposed to amend the standard of identity for vodka, a type of neutral spirit, to codify the holdings in several past rulings: Revenue Ruling 55–552 and Revenue Ruling 55–740 (vodka may not be stored in wood); ATF Ruling 76–3 (vodka treated with charcoal or activated carbon may be labeled as ‘‘charcoal filtered’’ under certain parameters); and Revenue Ruling 56–98 and ATF Ruling 97–1 (allowing treatment with up to 2 grams per liter of sugar and trace amounts (1 gram per liter) of citric acid). In addition, TTB specifically sought comment on whether the current requirement that vodka be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color should be retained and, if this requirement is no longer appropriate, what the appropriate standards should be for distinguishing vodka from other neutral spirits. TTB received twelve comments in response to the proposed changes to the standard of identity for vodka. TTB did not receive any comments relating to the proposal to incorporate several past rulings related to treatment of vodka with sugar, citric acid, and charcoal. TTB requested comments on whether the requirement that vodka be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color should be retained and, if this requirement is no longer appropriate, what the standards should be for distinguishing vodka from other neutral spirits. Ten commenters suggested that the requirement should be eliminated. For example, Altitude Spirits stated that ‘‘[t]he requirement that vodka be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color should NOT be retained and is no longer appropriate given the variety in base ingredients, flavors, and flavor profiles found in the diverse vodka category.’’ Within this group of comments, two commenters stated that they believe that TTB should reverse its longstanding policy and allow vodka to be aged in wood. Two individual commenters recommended—without explanation— that the standard be kept unchanged. TTB Response Based on its review of the comments, TTB agrees that the requirement that vodka be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color no longer reflects consumer expectations and should be eliminated. Vodka will continue to be distinguished by its specific production standards: Vodka may not be labeled as aged, and unlike other neutral spirits, it may contain limited amounts of sugar and citric acid. Accordingly, TTB is amending the existing regulations at § 5.22(a)(1) to remove the requirement that vodka be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color, and to incorporate in the regulations the standards set forth in the rulings discussed above, obviating the need for those rulings which will be canceled. TTB will also make a conforming change to existing § 5.23(a)(3)(iii), which discusses the addition of harmless coloring, flavoring, or blending materials to neutral spirits, to reflect the allowed additions to vodka in amended § 5.22(a)(1).
  9. I’ve always used GFI protection for the elements with a good ground/earth to the electrical supply box. secondly I will run a dedicated earth wire ONLY for the still body itself. I’ve had issues with stray voltage (even with gfi) in the past which is why I do this now. as for collection container I use no grounding/earthing of any kind. I kinda feel that a distillery production floor is just not a place where static can be formed easily. You are always either touching the floor or something that is grounded anyway. I will try to keep switches and spark creating devices like fans away from areas where explosive atmospheres can be. I actually keep a floor fan running to prevent/control gas buildup even if they might be a source of ignition technically. my rule of thumb is that I won’t turn anything electrical on or off if there is a hazard.
  10. I’ll second this. Really no reason to have one every plate. they do look cool tho and it does give one a sense of connection to the workings and helps train the new guy. Once you know the still tho, you almost never need the majority of them.
  11. I forgot to mention that having a clean fermenter is also key. Clean everything that touches the wash. EVERYTHING. Rinse off any cleaning chemicals with sterile water. airlocked fermenters are easier to use than open or semi open types. Open or semi open seem a lot less tolerant to delays in distillation after finishing, thus timing of the ferment with distillation is important. im even hesitant to let a ferment sit in a vapor locked fermenter very long. Those flavors seem to change the longer it sits.
  12. If you are mixing sugar and nutrients and have to adjust UPWARD before pitching yeast, then something is weird. Plain water will usually be around 7.5 and adding plain raw sugar shouldn’t change it much. Dap and fermaid won’t effect it much either. maybe you need a second or third way to measure PH. your instrument may be off. what gravity is it stalling at? What is the ph at stall? How many liters are your ferments? i don’t use a typical recipe. The guidelines I mention above will shape your recipe for your circumstances. You will have the best results when you work within those guidelines (Read them carefully, they are quite specific) and have a very good understanding of yeast health ( start reading). As to your biological element if you choose, things like Kale, spinach, legumes, a bit of molasses, fruits, tomato paste can all provide elements of a healthy sugar wash. Each will also throw its own flavor elements. oxygenation: this is just a fancy way to say “make a lot of bubbles in your wash when you mix the sugar in”. Splash mixing with a pump is fine usually.
  13. I’ve been doing raw sugar washes for 7 years now. Different fermenters and nutrients and even sugars types. My best suggestions are this. -keep your start gravity around 1.070-1.075 until you have everything working reliably. -oxygenate your wash prior to yeast pitching This is more important than you think in sugar washes - control your temps carefully within the listed operating ranges. Going above the max temp will effect either the flavor or the yeasts production or both. Temperature is key to flavor. - start your wash between 5.5-6ph. The more yeast you pitch the more tolerant it can be to starting ph. It will ALWAYS crash during the yeast growth phase or the first 12-30 hours. I’ve seen it crash in as little as 4 hours. - after the initial crash you will need to adjust back up. A second adjustment a day or two later may also be needed. I’ve used sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, citric acid, EDTA, calcium carbonate, of the “basic” adjustments calcium carbonate seemed the cleanest but sodium hydroxide caused the least amount of gas release and required less quantity to adjust -adjust working ph to around 4.25 on first adjustment. Then let it work between 3.85 and 4.2. The lower the gravity is the more you can leave it to drop. A second adjustment would not want to go to 4.25 but would only be high enough to allow it to coast to a finish at 3.85ish. Typically keeping it around 4.0 is good enough. A good steady sugar wash will finish in 4-5 days with one adjustment and finish at about 3.8-3.9 ph. - temperature fluctuations are a precursor to what the wash will do in a few hours watch it like a hawk and measure it accurately and consistently with the same thermometer if your temperature is dropping and your ph is low that means you are stopping fermentation ITS WAY EASIER TO CORRECT A WASH BEFORE IT STOPS THAN AFTER -make sure to you are using mineralized chlorine/chloride FREE and sterile water for your ferment. Rainwater and RO will cause issues with finishing or yeast health problems without remineralization. - nutrients are important to flavor as well as yeast health. DAP is required and suggested quantities are easily found. Adjust it based on other additions to balance total YAN. If my nutrient load is balance between dap, commercial nutrients and a biological then I usually only need to add them at the beginning I you use less Biologicals then you may wish to stage your nutrients Do not add nutrients after the 48 hours or with less than 60% of fermentables remaining I have not found much benefit to this on malnourished or stalled ferments if they stall it seems like it’s best to distill it quickly or just dump it I’ve not found any commercial yeast nutrients that would really work well in a sugar wash BY THEMSELVES (apart from turbos). They can be “part” of the solution but I have found that a botanical/plant based source of nutrients can really provide those micro nutrients and flavor profile that send a sugar wash over the top in quality. sugar washes can be an incredibly specific thing to your local conditions and equipment. THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF FAILURES IVE SEEN are not following the basic requirements. It’s rarely just one thing wrong. It’s usually 3-5 thing “just a hair off”. hope that can help you diagnose! p.s. you will note I have not mentioned sugar. If you follow the above guidelines I haven’t found that the source or type of the sucrose makes much difference in the fermentation process (for flavor it totally can). If you find that it does for you, that might be an indicator that you need to pick up the slack in other areas.
  14. Yeah. That’s pretty scammy. I just hope my experiences (both wins and losses) with that stuff can benefit someone else.
  15. I’ve had to buy a lot of equipment from USA as well as China and India. Usually it’s pretty easy working with everyone except USA or Australia. Both are quite xenophobic with regards to shipping overseas. as an American I certainly understand there are plenty of scams around but perhaps I can offer some perspective for potential sellers. payments: -in many nondeveloped countries It can be very very difficult to get a credit or even debit card that works internationally. When we can they often require us to deposit the amount of the credit line in said bank, then get approvals from not only the tax agency but the bank for each transaction. Further, these transactions also come with percentage fees. Further still exchange rates that are 5% or more below international market rates are common. to complicate matters further some countries don’t have zip codes meaning that many vendors can’t or won’t process the card anyway. I specifically remember dealing with Home Depot for three weeks trying to get them to process payment on a large order. They couldn’t do a card or even a wire transfer for us. - wire transfers or TT are the norm internationally. The seller will typically provide wire details and the buyer will send money. Of course there is a great deal of trust on the buyers pet and they really have no recourse should the seller crap out. CONVERSELY the seller giving out wire details incurs almost no risk these days. With two factor authentication and security measures it’s almost impossible to get money out of that account. as a scammer (without the seller giving it willingly). I ran in to this quite a bit, where mom and pop sellers were super paranoid of even taking my direct overseas calls much less making a sale or giving wire instructions. For them , all overseas transactions were a scam. - most overseas payments will require the buyer or wirer to show the bank or tax agency an invoice with payment instructions. This is copied and stamped and kept on file to ensure proper taxes are paid in their country. IT IS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE THIS to your customer so they can pay. If you are asked to fudge the Numbers a bit on the SHIPPING documents it normally can help reduce taxation on the buyers side. Never do this before you have received the proper payment on a proper invoice. Shipping invoices are commonly different than payment invoices. It becomes the issue of the buyer to reconcile that with their tax authorities. Really up to you if you will help them this way tho. It’s ok to say no. shipping: Normally when I buy in china I will ask them to either give me a freight quote to the main port in Fiji. This is super normal for them and super easy for me. They get it to Fiji then my guy here handles the rest and delivers to me. Easy. In the USA I typically will place orders and have it sent to a freight forwarder whom I deal with directly from here in Fiji. This makes it easy for mom and pop to ship nationally without the fear or hassle of filling customs documents. in Australia when I order, if it’s not a well versed company in international orders I will just go to New Zealand. They are just much easier to deal with in general. my suggestions to USA sellers to overseas clients: listen to them and get a feel for who you are talking To. Many times accents or language barriers are a problem but give them a chance. They have money and understand that USA cost more than China and are willing to pay for it. Let them. apply a filter. If they call, ask for a follow up email or vice versa. With China I find that if a company is responsive with my emails and quick to provide quotes that they are usually very good with shipping, questions afterwards. If it takes days to answer an inquiry and a week to provide a quote then shipping will be slow and after sale service will be poor. Your buyer is judging you on this as well. offer to accept a wire transfer or card payment but wait until it FULLY clears to ship. Offer to ship to a USA based freight forwarder at their expense. It’s really helpful to the buyer if you can quote shipment to a port in their country. I Don’t do “door to door” quotes. They are usually overpriced and can be a hassle if you arrange it. Shipping to a place like Fiji is relatively easy your freight guy comes and picks up the order then gets it to the docks. Then it arrive here and I take over with my guy. My freight agent gets all the details and makes it all happen. He can also work with your agent directly easily. It’s what they do. things I would not do: don’t pay for anything or become responsible for anything that has not been covered in full by their payment to you. dont screw over a buyer. If they pay you then do what you said. If you can’t then refund their money honorably and don’t be afraid to answer the phone or email. Set conditions like I mention above. If they agree then fine. If there is something weird or payment this not forthcoming then bail early. Set a price, provide an invoice and wiring instructions then let it happen.
  16. I’ve seen this too. It’s not a particulate from filtration media. It’s like wispy cotton candy sorta strings. They break up when you shake it. Im not entirely sure what to make of it. It seems to be forming after bottling when I’ve experienced it. seriously. How has no one seen this before?
  17. I have often thought of trying a centrifuge with a slow feed rate to clear out particulates. I’ve not heard of anyone else doing this in the distillery industry but it’s done for waste oil processing in the biofuel space all the time. you could try heating the product prior to centrifuge to move out solids and sub zero cooling to coagulate oils.
  18. I kinda like the idea of the squarrel. Further I can order in some decent oak as raw materials and build the heads and stave using my shop or other local craftsmen which would save us a ton assuming it can be done properly. Plus it’s better for our local Businesses. A few hundred USD goes a long way for lead carpenters making less than $4/hr
  19. How do you deal with letting the spirit “breathe”. Has it been a non issue? Shorter aging times?
  20. Shipping, transportation, currency exchange, VAT, dirty and clearance Costs typically add 100% to the price of what we receive here in Fiji. So a $200 barrel quickly becomes a $400 barrel. Wood adjuncts are much more compact and cost effective and we can modify here if needed or we can use native woods.
  21. Has anyone used these? Have any actual experience with them? i saw these whilst browsing the other day and they look kinda cool and would allow me to experiment with some local woods for aging product. https://eastcoastbarrels.com/hybrid-system
×
×
  • Create New...