Seeking Recommendations/Ideas for 1bbl Distillery

[lvograin]

Hello! Can anyone recommend or throw out some ideas for an equipment list for 1bbl distillery. I am considering starting an experimental DSP and am having a tough time finding a system that is geared toward a "nano" distillery. I am finding Blichmann equipment designed for all grain brewing, but I want to be sure that my setup will meet code for the county/state/TTB...

Any and all ideas are welcome and appreciated!!!

Kind Regards,

Alan

[cowdery]

I've been talking to a lot of small distillers lately and without exception they all wish they had bigger stills.

Maybe it's a guy thing?

Also, you might want to clarify what you mean by "1bbl." 42 gallons? 53 gallons? 10 gallons? Per day? Per hour? Per week?

53 gallons a day is not "nano."

[delaware_phoenix]

A beer barrel is 117 liters or 31 gallons. The original poster may be coming from a brewing background where bbl is used as a measure of brewery size, and 1 bbl would be very small.

Such a distillery would still be small, but as Chuck says, not nano.

[Tirador]

Alan,

For starters you need to make sure that you license this properly ... i.e. don't pursue a "research" license unless you absolutely do not intend to ever do anything other then "research". Even though this is an experimental distillery, it needs to be licensed as a production facility from the get-go or you're going to need to virtually start from scratch with new licensing when you decide to sell product.

Next, there are lots of used and/or antique stills that would be ideal for what you're seeking ... and +/- 100 liters is a pretty common size for small distilleries (especially in Europe). With a little reasearch and time spent looking for something used and inexpensive you should be able to find something inexpensive that you can work on fairly easily. I may be able to help with that, as I tend to find this stuff pretty often (btw, all the stills on my site are sold and I don't have anything currently available ... so I'm just making a statement that I might be able to help at some point).

There are also a number of inexpensive options for new stills that may meet your needs. I and many other folks here can give you some advice there too, so please just ask.

Next ... you probably should think about the types of product you want to produce prior to beginning your search of a small still.

Anyway, feel free to ask anything you want ... I'm always willing to help.

Sincerely,

Stephen A Gould - Proprieter / Distiller

Maison De La Vie, Ltd. - A Village Distillery

c/o Gould Global

(216)831-0135 Fax: (216)831-0137

Mobile: 734-945-8178

www.village-distillery.com