perrywmorry

I maybe a little late to the discussion, but I am with Southern Grace Distilleries in Concord, NC. I don't know if you still need any guidance, but I would be happy to help in anyway possible. Shoot me a message and we can chat!

Running a 120 gallon SS pot still with a 20 gallon copper thumper. I usually charge the thumper with around 6-7 gallons of tails and 100 gallons in the pot. With the four 5500 watt elements running full tilt, it takes about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs (depending on ABV% of tails in the thumper) to get the thumper up to temp. I am not new to distilling, however I am new to thump keg science/art... My question... How do I speed up heat up time? Or, do I even want to speed up heat up time? I've insulated the TK, put a hot plate under it to pre-heat, even pulled out my heat gun one time to help pre-heat. I'm now thinking about installing a 4500w element directly into the thumper. My partner, who is relatively new to distilling, suggested starting a run on an empty thump keg. My gut tells me that running an empty thumper would sort of defeat the purpose of the thump keg all together, but I'm in need of some more thorough advice and thought I would consult the experts here. Thanks in advance for any help or guidance! - Perry Morris http://www.southerngracedistilleries.com/

Hello everyone! First of all, thank you! We have been members of ADI for the better part of a year and have learned so much from the ADI community. This forum is great! Southern Grace Distilleries, Inc. is based in Concord, NC. We started the TTB licensing in January 2014 and completed in September 2014. Now with our label approvals, we are in full production mode and should have product on ABC store shelves by mid-Feb 2015. I'm running a 120 gallon SS pot still with elect heating elements that I built with a thumper. It's not much to look at, but it gets the job done. We are currently looking at adding an additional still to our operation. We are a rag-tag team just trying to take a stab at the liquor business! Check out our website for more information: www.SouthernGraceDistillieries.com Again, thank you all for the support and knowledge. I hope I can be of assistance one day! Best, Perry Morris -- Perry Morris Distiller Southern Grace Distilleries, Inc Concord, NC www.SouthernGraceDistillieries.com

We use 5 new IBC 275 gallon totes and 1 refurbished 330 tote. They have been working great for us. At first, cleaning them was a huge problem until we discovered the power of a shop-vac and a modified lid for a 55 gallon barrel. Now we have mastered cleaning them. takes 20-30 minutes tops. We do infusions so there's a lot of grain in the IBC. Once it's drained and dried out, we use shop vac and a modified 55 gallon barrel lid to suck out all the dried grain. We give our grain to a local farmer for his pigs and he supplies the barrels. All I do is wheel them out the door.