Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

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mosgaard
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Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by mosgaard »

I would like to introduce our new Danish distillery here in the craft distillers forum. I have followed the forum with interest for some years now while training in the disciplines needed for starting a distillery and last year we decided to make a dream come true. We have decided to run all production as 100% organic production so we are in control of the quality and have the absolute finest and best tasting raw materials - from my experience organic malt has a better taste the conventional malt without any proof of why this is just a conclusion which we can start discussing the reasons for.

We are brewing on all grain basis, barley for our whisky and wheat malt for the gins and after fermentation we make a double distillation on our own designed and custom built pot stills after Scottish batch distilling principles - I have attached some pictures of the setup and will gladly answer any questions on the setup if there is any interest.

I appreciate the forum and the knowledge shared between everybody and even though the forum is meant for hobby distillers I would like to share my experience also on how a hobby can be turned into a small business,

best regards
Jes Mosgaard
http://www.mosgaardwhisky.dk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Bushman
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by Bushman »

That's some beautiful looking equipment you have Jes, what ratio of fermenters to stills are you running?
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by mosgaard »

Hi Bushman,

The whole distillery is designed backwards from the idea that my Whisky should be mature in three years time which in the EC is the minimum storage period for New spirit in casks before you musk denote it Whisky - the Scottish rules have been made EC rules for all countries. To insure the Whisky is mature I have selected 50 liter casks which means compared to regular sized casks (200-250 liters) the contact time over three years will equal 12 years when you compare the surface to volume ratio so if all goes as planned the Whisky will be mature after three years ready to bottle. This is still an assumption but I have tested it for 5/10/20 liter casks and it seems to apply.

So the goal is to fill a 50 liter cask per run and the whole distillery have been designed backwards from this - the spirit still is 450 liters (effective fill volume max 300 liters) the wash still has been divided in to two equal size 450 liters as well (effective fill volume 300-350 liters) and the input to those are approx. 700 liters of wash (fermentation tanks 750 liters) from the wash back (600 liters) and spare tank 500 liters. Every brew is around 700 liters from 150 kg barley or wheat malt starting with an OG around 60-62 ending with a wash strength around 8& ABV. The wash back is actually more a traditional brewing system designed as a gas fired RIMS system which gives me the high efficiency in the brewing process especially for organic malts this is important as the organic malt is currently twice the cost of conventional malt.

The distillery kettles are fired with 40kW each (the vapour infusion kettle for Gin smaller) and the brewery system fired with 2*45kW so on a brew and distilling day I am heating with around 200kW so it gets pretty hot in the distillery even though the ventilation system is capable of changing the air volume in the room every two minutes when running full speed. Typically I am running around 30 degrees celcius in here, so its summer all year :-)

I am considering designing stainless steel shields around the lower parts of the kettles to improve the heating efficiency but I am in doubt how this will affect the gas burners - any ideas in the forum on this?

best regards
Jes
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NZChris
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by NZChris »

mosgaard wrote:I am considering designing stainless steel shields around the lower parts of the kettles to improve the heating efficiency but I am in doubt how this will affect the gas burners - any ideas in the forum on this?
Applying heat above the level of the mash can cause burn on, so be careful with this one.
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Bushman
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by Bushman »

A lot of the craft distilleries where I live are using 10 gallon casks or 40 liters to increase the surface area contact as well and thus speed the aging process. That is one of those cost vs time issues.

Sorry I can't help with the shields, as a hobby distillist I have my boiler and column insulated and am using electric heat thus I ventilate my facility but I am indoors. With your larger set-up I am sure you generate a lot more heat.
rad14701
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by rad14701 »

Your idea of a "shield" is not new... Do a site search for "heat shroud", which is a more appropriate term for what you are talking about... Several members have made shrouds for their boilers using cut down steel barrels or metal trash cans... A word of warning, however, that galvanized metal gives off noxious gases when heated by flame...
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by mosgaard »

thanks for your input,

NZChris - I got agitators on all kettles (except the smallest) so burnt wash is not an issue, I keep the agitators running until steady flow of alcohol where the micro bobbles keep the wash moving.

Rad14701 - I will look for info on "heat shrouds" thanks for the input on the right term. I am considering having a shroud rolled of stainless steel after being laser cut to the right size and shape I am not sure galvanized would last with the heating cycles

Will keep you posted

best regards
Jes
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NZChris
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by NZChris »

mosgaard wrote:NZChris - I got agitators on all kettles (except the smallest) so burnt wash is not an issue, I keep the agitators running until steady flow of alcohol where the micro bobbles keep the wash moving.
You misunderstood me.

If a shroud applies heat to the wall of the still above the wash, it is up there that the burn on can occur.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 0#p7249519
mosgaard
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by mosgaard »

Sorry, I might have misunderstood you. The kettles are filled well above the widest point where the shroud would end so there should be no problem with this either.

Jes
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HDNB
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Re: Mosgaard Whisky - new Danish distillery

Post by HDNB »

so i have to ask - (you triggered me asking another craft distiller about his use/interpretation)

the word whiskey. we all know there is appelation rules for the word and a 3 year age rule, but this seems to apply to "qualified" whiskey, meaning it's qualified with another term: Canadian whiskey, scotch whiskey, bourbon whiskey(2yrs) and so on...

so what do you call your whiskey until it's 1095th day? are you keeing it all until then just because you can, or are "they" making you age it?

if you were to sell it white or short aged what name would you apply to the label?

it seems the big dogs are all putting out NAS whiskey, so how is the consumer supposed to know it's at least 3 yrs? do we just take their word for it?
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
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