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Skaalvenn

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Skaalvenn last won the day on August 19 2022

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  1. This pricing is beyond ludicrous. There has to be something better out there.
  2. We did many tests back in 2019/2020 with Cannon and their ProPak column packing https://cannoninstrument.com/distillation-packing.html Cut up springs, rasching rings, and scrubbers are NOT the same, in any league as SPP packing, and SPP is not in the same league as ProPak. I don't have the data in front of me, but *true* ProPak provided a much higher distillation quality than any other packing material (or combination). We did many tests on proof and flow rate, and nothing really compared. The only problem with ProPak was that it is EXTREMELY expensive. (about $350-400 per liter if i recall) Don't confuse cheap little springs with spiraled prismatic packing. Just the name "prism" should mean triangle, which is not what is pictured above.
  3. We found the same thing. The necks had suddenly shrunk about 1mm which was enough that the corks we used wouldn't fit. Thankfully we moved away from 375s. Have not seen any quality differences with our 750 Jerseys from India...yet.
  4. I might have done something wrong, but I never liked the operation of the danfoss and when we ran one it always seemed to be open a little too much or too little too closed. We switched back to metered needle valves and it works very well for us. We have them on our single column still and two column vodka still. For the most part we turn the still on, set each meter to whatever flow rate we know works best, and have to make very few adjustments between the beginning and end of the run. Our cooling is a constant temperature, so our setup might not be ideal if you have coolant temperature creep.
  5. MN here. Have not run an electric boiler, but we used to have 2x electric stills. A ~130 gallon and a ~65 gallon. Our electric bills dropped by about $700 per month by going to natural gas fired steam boiler. I think our most expensive natural gas bill has been $130? That's with a 300 gallon and 100 gallon still. I don't know our unit cost of natural gas, because really, it's a drop in the bucket. For electric during summer months we're about $0.14 or $0.15/KwH out the door after all taxes/fees. I think in winter we're about $0.11? I've said it before and I'll say it now. The initial costs for electric were relatively inexpensive, but the UPGRADE costs for electric were $$$$$$. Another plus about upgrading to steam is that I now 600 hundred amps of electrical panels with plenty of room for other equipment =D
  6. Started with electric and moved to steam. It's been years so my memory isn't clear, but we had a ~120 gallon still powered by 80 amps and the heatup time was 2 hours, so running twice in a day was 4 hours of heatup--lots of wasted time. Do everything in your power to be steam right off the bat. The boiler will be expensive, but the equipment will be much easier to source, typically cheaper, and cheaper to install. Steam: (assuming your boiler is oversized) Want to upgrade your still? Disconnect the old one and install a bigger one. Want to add another still? Plumb it in. Want to add a mash tun? Plumb it in. Electric: Want to upgrade your still? The panel probably needs upgrading too. Want to add another still? You'll need to wire it, possibly get another panel or service run. Want to add a mash tun? You'll need another panel/wiring/service for that. Plus there's the cost of running electric vs natural gas, that saved me about $600-700 per month alone.
  7. At this point we’re hiring someone to convert all our TTB tracking to spreadsheets. Whiskey Systems just announced that credit cards are an additional 3% fee, which as a business owner I do completely understand. However, the sudden increase on pricing and then CC processing tells me Whiskey Systems is in trouble and may not be around too long. 4-5 years ago $450 in labor was absurd, but now after Inflation and higher cost of business it’s just a full day of labor or so to dedicate, which is probably Less than. Internal excell spreadsheets here I come!
  8. Just an update on bottling speed with the Mori 6 spout. During last nights bottling run we used a stopwatch and clocked 768 x 750ml bottles filled in 60 minutes, or 12.8 bottles filled per minute. we did “cheat” a little bit by manually breaking the seals between the bottler and bottle allow them to fill a littler quicker, especially in the last moments of filling when it goes in quicker. It’s an added process but the speed was noticeable to everyone on the line. We did have a slower start and a couple hiccups during that hour, I’m pretty confident that we could potentially hit 800 filled per hour, but no more. It’s also not realistic at all for humans to sustain the 750-800 per hour speed, but it is achievable for a sprint.
  9. This is true, 200 proof is basically 199.9# but for most of the world's applications, it's dry enough for us to say it's anhydrous. As for it absorbing water from the air, I have run some basic proof tests and it's not nearly as fast as many people think it is, to the point where it's not even worth thinking about for anyone outside of a strict laboratory environment.
  10. Our shrink seal/labeling line is fully automatic, but right now we're filling with a Mori 6 head from TCW and then a CCR semi-automatic corker. With 3 people working at a decent pace we try to hit 600x 750ml bottles cased and on a pallet per hour. We can do higher numbers if we want, but 600/hr is pretty manageable with the current manual stages. I should note that we use a larger AODD pump than what came with the Mori as we were able to outpace it.
  11. *shrugs* Proper brand creation is all about creating a product that will move off the shelve, and what segment of the market is rather irrelevant A premium branded table saw requires the exact process as a premium branded engagement ring. It's not like you're building a structural bridge and need a company that has a solid track record in bridge design. You need a company with a solid track record in creating a design which appeals to whatever market the widget is sold in. Also, Shinebox has done other alcohol branding/packaging, it's just not on their website.
  12. https://shinebox.com/ I won't discuss pricing, but we're very happy with our choice. But I will say a true premium brand costs premium money, how premium do you want to be?
  13. You'll also see a difference between summer/winter due to the amount of water being pulled from the ground. Summertime = much higher rates of water due to lawn watering. We see pH fluctuate substantially (not much with TDS) between summer and winter months and had some meetings with the public works managers as I was thoroughly confused when I first noticed it.
  14. If you are asking if it's for sale, It's not mine, so it's not for sale.
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