mheisz

I have always read the same.....but I have always wondered how much of the "consistent flavour batch to batch" is science (not sure what the science would be and would definitely be interested) and how much is marketing. Seems to me that mash pH needs to be lowered for enzymes and yeast and distilleries happen to have a free source of acid (backset/dunder) to use and make things more cost effective than purchasing acids. That said, rum won't taste like rum without some sort of bacteria (i.e. dunder pit) in my experience (tried to make rum, tastes like molasses distillate and none of the rum-like headsy flavours...suppose I could have distilled it differently with wider cuts but rum was just an experiment).

Try Equals Brewing in London. I have been to their facility and it is impressive. We do a base spirit for them that they make into an rtd for a contract customer. Pm me if you want any more info.

If you don't mind me asking, what size is the hopper and approximately how much did it cost? Looks like a good solution...

I am also in Ontario. Also using J Tech Sales. Shipped out of the US....I am guessing that Wolfhead does the same.

Couldn't you just buy old barrels and flush them with water repeatedly (maybe let them sit for a few days full each time). I think that would get close and would have a really well sealed barrel. That would pull all residual product flavours out of there or most of it anyways I think....

Just curious...how did this work out?

I am looking for ideas on simple digital temperature probe readouts to monitor vapour temp and water temp in our dephlegs. Nothing sophisticated as we use manual controls but really just want to see the temperature with accuracy. Something where the readout is separate from the probe as our vodka column is 18' in the air so we would want the readouts away from the dephlegs. Trying to avoid anything overly pricey or complicated...looked into RTDs with an electronic readout but figure there has to be something simpler out there that someone has done. Thanks! Mike

How bad do you need one? I have an extra but I am in Canada so shipping may be more difficult...

I am looking to source the plastic figure 8 shaped parts that are used to hang a 50ml bottle off of a 750ml bottle. Does anyone have a source for these (or any idea what they are called so I can search them)? Thanks! Mike

I started on this: https://milehidistilling.com/product/1-3-gallon-5-liter-alembic-copper-still/ And ended on a 300 gallon Artisan Still Designs Complete system,

I will take a shot. 1. I would suggest looking through the vendors on this forum or the general ADI sponsors etc for still options. I am sure you will get many people here who can push their own products. I will gladly recommend you check out Artisan Still Designs as they are more than capable of this type of setup. 2. My personal opinion is not really if you are able to understand the technical aspects by reading the vast amount of info out there for free. 3. This I can't answer except to say that your throughput with a Gin from NGS is going to be very high and you don't need a huge still to make a lot of product. 4. I started by testing on a 5L still and scaling up the recipe from there. 5. I think most buy and store (I do). Making your own would be a good marketing story but be careful that you aren't sacrificing quality. The botanicals are the essence of your gin.

I don't know that I will be doing it ever but curious if someone is willing to share their process for mashing stone fruit? How do you get the flesh off of the pit? How do you get the pits out post ferment? Are there a lot of solids other than the pits at the end? Do you strain those out somehow? I am curious as it is something we may be looking into this summer when fruit are in season and I have never really figured out how I would do that. Thanks!

I m in Canada. We have different naming rules to go by so there are a few options. We won't have all that much so if it turns out we will cross that bridge when we get there.

We are actually doing the same thing as an experiment although we are combining the late heads and tails of various product distillations (wheat vodka, corn whisky and whisky) together and running those as a whisky. To be honest we don't have a clue how this is going to turn out but our thought process is the same as yours and the flavour was similar to what you describe. Hope it works for both of us!

Do you have a forklift? We are finding a fair bit of success milling into bulk bags and then using a forklift to hold it over a rigid 4" auger (`$1K new) to fill our mash tun. We use the same auger to go from bulk bags into the mill as well so it serves 2 purposes and we can wheel it our of the way easily. That way we batch up a weeks worth into bulk bags at once and use them all week. Not sure that works in your setup but we found it to be the most cost effective methods. For reference we are running a 300 gallon system here. Obviously some ceiling height is needed to make that work.