Does anyone operate a Vacuum Still? Is this possible?

[cinewalt]

Just looked up what Modernist Cuisine had to say about distilling and they're all about the Rotovap for distilling essences of foods without altering the flavor profile by heating. A large scale version of a Rotovap for full scale distillery operation seems like an engineering nightmare, but I'm curious if anybody's working with equipment that at least approximates this idea by lowering the boiling temperature with a vacuum.

If anybody has successfully distilled a whisky, in particular, using an artificially low boiling point - how's that turn out?

[fldme]

There are some pt still I have seen operated under vacuum as well as columns made for gns under vaccum. I could see trying whiskey or gin in one on a pot. They are not good for operations that use thinset to sour mashes as the heat in a vacuum still is not high enough to kill off any bacteria that may have been present in the fermenter. In these instances, they use partially concentrated stillage from the dryhouse.

[Curtis]

Delos vodka in Lewisville Texas is using vacuum stills.

[ChrisNYC]

So is greenpoint ginsmiths in Brooklyn, NY.

[cinewalt]

So is greenpoint ginsmiths in Brooklyn, NY.

What they say about their product is exactly what I would expect... Feeling like I'm going to have to try to experiment with this.

[tl5612]

more vacuum gins include:

Sacred Gin

Oxley Gin

Cambridge Distillery (white label vacuum gins)

Cream Gin

[John McKee]

Vacuum distillation is pretty standard in fuel ethanol refineries too.......20-200 MGY kind of facilities. So figure most of the NGS available from outfits like UltraPure and others has been vacuum distilled.

[seventh son]

I've been vacuum distilling for several years, there is a bit of a learning curve. Doing it grain-to-glass is a challenge - everything changes. Distilling GNS into gin under vacuum seems to be the path most are taking.

You don't want to try any serious vacuum in a typical still - unless you like seeing implosions! Many states also require National Board certified vessels for vacuum processes. I happen to have a nice litte 150 Liter (40 gallon ) stainless steel jacketed tank with a National Board Full Vacuum certification. It would be a great starter tank for GNS/Gin production. My supplier shipped me the wrong size tank - I'll sell it for what I paid if anyone is interested. Otherwise, its going back next week.

[stevea]

I understand Grants in Scotland operates some stills under vacuum for NGS.

I've read (somewhere?) there is at least one Japanese whiskey made with vacuum distillation. Such alcohol is said to very soft and smooth. OTOH it takes a substantial vacuum to operate, and the typical still or column might collapse if not designed for this force.

[seventh son]

The Japanese liquor is called Shoshu. I have never had it but I too have read that it is very smooth. The low temp vacuum distillation changes all of the typical distillation parameters and changes the equipment.