Innovation in distiling

[Simon13]

Hey all. We'll have our wee distillery, in Scotland, running in July/August.

In Scotland, there is a lot of tax and spend. Being a free market capitalist i'm not a big fan of state meddeling but I'll play the games so that i'm not at a disadvantage. Latest one is an innovation grant.

So i'm interested in what innovating things US distilleries do that could inspire innovative projects or mods that will help me carve back some tax money.

[iskiebaedistillery]

I think recycling cooling water is a great one.

[Mash]

As far as tax and regulations it is no picnic in the US.

[Simon13]

I think recycling cooling water is a great one.

We are already recycling our cooling water, pretty standard really. We may be able to utilise additional waste heat as a preheat for my biomass system in my adjoining hotel.

[iskiebaedistillery]

We are already recycling our cooling water, pretty standard really. We may be able to utilise additional waste heat as a preheat for my biomass system in my adjoining hotel.

Very nice, how are you cooling it before recirculating it through the condenser?

[PeteB]

Direct fire your still with biofuel made from used fryer oil, your adjoining hotel could supply enough for a small distillery? or collect more from local businesses.

Commercial burners are available that use filtered fryer oil with no further processing.

Biofuel is good for the environment but biofuel from waste is even better.

[PeteB]

Where are you in Scotland?

Please tell us about your equipment and process.

As far as I know all Scottish distilleries are making single malt , why not try Oat Whisky, that might get you an innovation grant.

Oat Whisky, a genuine breakfast whisky

[Simon13]

Very nice, how are you cooling it before recirculating it through the condenser?

Our water from the condensers is going into an insulated Hot Liquor Tank, which will be empty when we begin to distil as we start the day with mashing.

Direct fire your still with biofuel made from used fryer oil, your adjoining hotel could supply enough for a small distillery? or collect more from local businesses.

Commercial burners are available that use filtered fryer oil with no further processing.

Biofuel is good for the environment but biofuel from waste is even better.

We are setting up for direct gas firing... bio oil may be worth a look too.

Where are you in Scotland?

Please tell us about your equipment and process.

As far as I know all Scottish distilleries are making single malt , why not try Oat Whisky, that might get you an innovation grant.

Oat Whisky, a genuine breakfast whisky

We are in Dornoch http://www.dornochdistillery.com in the North East of Scotland

We are running 2 pots with shell and tube condensers , 1000 and 600 litres and a 2000 litre column still, all direct gas fired. 300kg semi lauter mash tun and oak, wooden washbacks, 2000 litre electric HLT. Intitially we are using 1 heat exchanger and 2 pumps and brewery hosing with 2" triclamps on everything. Water is mains, ceramic filtered.

In Scotland there are quite a lot of rules when it comes to whisky production. No whisky, other than Scotch Whisky, may be made in Scotland, as laid out in the Scotch Whisky Regulations. We can use oats and make a single grain but you cannot add enzymes, the enzymes must come from a proportion of malted barley in the mash bill. http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/media/12744/scotchwhiskyregguidance2009.pdf Thats the guidance for the 2009 Scotch Whisky Regulations if you are interested. Of course, we can make anything we want but not anything we make can be called whisky.