PeteB

Hi Eric, I am not sure if I understand what you have said here. Do you mean there is no archiving and we should be able to see and reply to all the older posts? There are old posts that I am not able to reply to, but all the thread is there, at least all the information is there, although I haven't checked to see if "search" will find them. But there are other posts that we can reply to that have a lot of the earlier part of the thread missing. For example "what to do with 'heads'?" There were pages of suggestions there but I can only see the very last reply. Thanks for your work on this great forum Pete

Can I ask again, why archive older posts? I recently wanted to refresh my memory of some detail in older discussions and they have vanished!

Hi Jeff, Glad to hear that you have recovered and are back distilling again. Many of know of you from previous posts, so for the benefit of us on this forum, I am sure we would all be grateful if you could tell us what went wrong to cause this fire. Was there an official investigation? Pete

Doesn't the TTB say to use the term WHISKEY it must have been in a NEW barrel? Bottle your "whiskey" after 2 minutes and that seems to be OK, but your barrel is no longer NEW so you can't use it again for whiskey production. I am glad I am an Australian distiller, as well as being able to use pre-loved barrels of almost any type, we don't need approval for a new product. I recently decided to make a coffee liqueur, worked out my recipe one day then mixed up and bottled the next. Ran off some new labels with my desktop printer and the bottles were ready for customers. But it is not all good, we pay about $25 excise tax per 750 mL bottle 40%. By the time it gets to the consumer the excise has pushed the price up by more than $50

Thanks John

You may have noticed I have posted over several years about my problems getting enough yield from rye so I am following with interest. Is hitempase your only enzyme? I have tried it and could not get a consistent increase. What temperature is it when rye has been added? Thanks Pete

It should be possible to make a nice single malt with grain in, and I assume a column still. But it is unlikely to taste like a regular lautered Scotch made in an alembic pot still. One difference will be caused by boiling the husk in the still. Scottish distilleries keep their mash below 160 F, at higher temperatures a lot of unwanted flavour is leached from the husk. I don't understand what you mean, rye/wheat/barley are cereals

My Samsung phone with Chrome looks like it got hit with a virus from that link

In USA I am sure volume measurements need to be calculated at 60F but as you say I haven't seen a "definitive statement" either In Australia and most of the rest of the world it is calculated at 20c = 68f MEERKAT, I tried to download your free trial version of Alcodens onto my new Windows 8 , from the link at the bottom of your post but I can't get it to work! I don't know if I didn't follow the instructions or if it won't run on 8. Pete

What you have described here is a big coffee plunger or "French press" Give it a go, hope you have more luck than I did. I found that the screen still blocks, press very slowly and lift screen when it blocks, maybe it will work with corn but I couldn't get it to work with rye. Try a sample with a coffee plunger and let me know how you get on Pete

If there were only 4 plates in that 60 feet, then less than 160 proof would be easy

Splash out and buy a copy of Alcodens, it will do any spirit calculations in any units or combination of units. About $190 last time I looked. One good hydrometer costs more than that. There is an online free copy but it expires after about 10 calculations

Australia went to chip and pin last year. Paypal has a chip reader that links to tablets, i-pads and smartphones. Bluetooth connection occasionally misbehaves.

For reference, a 20hp steam boiler is going to output somewhere around the equivalent of 200kw of electrical power. That's about the ballpark size. Is the above a typo? I know very little about steam boiler maths! but basic physics tells me 20hp equals 25 Kw so how do you need 200 Kw to get 20 hp of steam. Seems very inefficient, did you mean "output" or "input",or have I missed something.

There are 11 distilleries in Tasmania. All except mine run on electric elements, mostly inside copper tubes in the pot. 2 of them have hand-wound elements on the underside of the base.One in a glycol jacket. All are boiling clear wort. I use direct fire and cloudy wort. With "grain in" you would need low density elements, ie. large surface area In the long term the decision should be based mainly on cost of the energy source

I agree with Patrick. Why do you want to clean it? Unless it has puked or you are changing to a very different flavor. The foreshots and heads of the next run are great cleaners. Let your still build some of its own unique character. Also in my opinion a little bit of charr on the bottom of the still is good. It can give the spirit a slight smokey (not burnt) taste. I do like peat smoked whiskies.

If your water has any unpleasant taste then use RO or carbon filtered. I always drive the hoops down tighter. If they have dried out the hoops will move quite a distance. I put in about 4-5 litres of hot water. I have a football pump needle pushed through a silicon bung. Pump a couple of psi into the cask and withdraw the needle until the end is inside the bung which stops the air escaping. Roll the barrel and water and/or bubbles will show any leaks. Air forces water into cracks and the wood swells and seals very quickly. You don't need much air pressure, I have never blown a bung out but I guess it is possible, maybe into an eye, ouch!

I am in Orlando/ St.Petersburg area for the next few days. There are a few distilleries in the area, are any of you on this forum? I have contact details for some but can't find a way to contact St Pete's Distillery. I emailed them via their web site but have not had a reply!

Hello Jay I get quite a few people in similar situations to yours who visit me, not sure if you have, but anytime you are passing Kempton then drop in for a visit, Belgrove Distillery. Not for next 10 days as I am in Florida USA visiting a couple of distilleries.

Thanks Eric Why archive posts older that 1 year, or that just temporary? There are sometimes old posts that newer members re-ignite.

It is not just you! This post is the first "view new content" I could find in the last 18 hours at least

Hi Troy, I will be over your way again in a couple of weeks, hope it is OK to drop in for a visit, but not a job Pete

mcsology is trying to determine DISSOLVED SOLIDS, which is an indication of fermentable sugars an Imhoff cone measures UN-dissolved solids that will settle out, I doubt there is much correlation with sugar content or is there another type? I use an old but well made hand held optical refractometer, it gives me a guide but I doubt it is as good as a cheap electronic one.

Another rough number that's in my head 1 US gallon per hour will produce about 40KW of heat

The fuel costs me nothing (except 2 miles on my biofuelled tractor to collect it) so I have never bothered to do the maths. VERY roughly it takes 1 litre of fryer oil to make one 700 mL bottle of 40%abv spirit. It should be roughly the same as using diesel except there is a bit of basic filtering to do. I double pot distil and I would assume a single run in a column still would use less fuel. Allow a bit of extra room for storage tanks My Son is setting up a brewery near my distillery and he has a waste oil steam boiler lined up. I prefer waste veg oil but they run just as well on waste motor oil or just about any liquid that will burn, including heads if the proof is high enough ****Waste motor oil burns visibly cleanly but check with local air pollution regulations*****