Copper Immersion Chiller for Cooling Vodka

[kamsynth]

We have a 200L ss tank holding our vodka, with Summer coming it's starting to get pretty hot in the distillery. I bought a copper coil immersion chiller for cooling down the vodka but now I am wondering if copper will leach into the vodka if the chiller stays in the tank. Does anyone know anything about this, or copper reactivity/toxicity? I need to get the vodka reasonably cool for bottling. 

[Southernhighlander]

Is your copper coil corroding and turning green?

[glisade]

You could get a SS coil, something like this: http://www.bubbasbarrels.com/cooling-coil

Not as cheap as a copper coil from Home Depot but easier to deal with if you're worried about copper flavor in your vodka.

[kamsynth]

1.There's no corrosion or oxidation, the copper is shiny and new. 

2. Our mash is cooled with a water jacket.

3. I'll probably upgrade to SS soon, the copper coil was the largest option that was available (plus it was a good price)

There's nothing to indicate that anything is going wrong here, I'm a guy who started a distillery with no prior distilling experience, so I feel I need to be extra cautious. I've consulted some chemists/chemistry nerds and no one seems to think that this is going to be an issue, so I guess it's all clear from here. Better safe than sorry!

[Southernhighlander]

1 hour ago, kamsynth said:

1.There's no corrosion or oxidation, the copper is shiny and new. 

2. Our mash is cooled with a water jacket.

3. I'll probably upgrade to SS soon, the copper coil was the largest option that was available (plus it was a good price)

There's nothing to indicate that anything is going wrong here, I'm a guy who started a distillery with no prior distilling experience, so I feel I need to be extra cautious. I've consulted some chemists/chemistry nerds and no one seems to think that this is going to be an issue, so I guess it's all clear from here. Better safe than sorry!

I think that you are probably okay with the copper coil.  I have stainless cooling coils sized specifically for what you need for $250.00  Carl's design (Bubbas Barrels) is not the correct configuration for what you want to do, while mine is.  Carl is a great guy and friend of mine and he would probably tell you the same.