Unique Situation- Advice on Still? Update

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matt99
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Unique Situation- Advice on Still? Update

Post by matt99 »

Hello all,

I was recommended this forum from a member on AR15.com. Sorry, no TL;DR for this. My uncle owns a large Vinegar plant. His family historically made rum, but this was over a generation before him and he knows nothing about it. Anyway, he decided to get into alcohol as well. He uses Ethanol to make the Vinegar, so his initial idea was to create Ethanol to supply his plant. Unfortunately, even with a large investment into distillery equipment, it is just not feasible to supply 30,000 gallons a day of Ethanol.

After completing my doctorate, I only work three days a week and have found myself bored. I have several organic chemistry courses behind my belt, so I understand some of the basics but have no experience in brewing. He essentially ferments alcohol, albeit into vinegar rather than Rum. I have agreed to help him get back into the Rum business if possible. He is too busy with expansion and the largest bump in orders he has ever received to get into the Rum project by himself. As I mentioned, he already has quite a bit invested in an industrial brewery setup, 1000 gallons. The set also came with a smaller 15gal tabletop microbrewery. Unfortunately, it draws too much amperage to be used at my house.

I'm looking for a smaller tabletop distilling setup that I could play around with and learn the basics before we move to the 15gal setup (almost 30min drive to get there). Do you have any recommendations? This will essentially be a throw away set since I will be using the 15gal in a few months. Also, the company he bought the kit from includes a week-long course in Colorado which I'll be attending at some point before scaling up. I read the "spoon-feeding" thread with "build or buy" sticky, but I will be moving to a nice 15g still soon. I'm not interested in building one at this point and just want to get into the basics before stepping up to the one he provided. I looked at BrewHaus, but between the price and 8wk wait time I was hoping for something easier. He has easy access to sugar cane molasses, so has gotten me some 5gal buckets to work with. I'm very excited to get this started and this forum seems like a wealth of info!

Sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum and I appreciate your help!
Last edited by matt99 on Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sporacle
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still?

Post by Sporacle »

:D What type of still is sitting on the 15G boiler?what's the connection between boiler and still? Could it be as simple as removing the head and placing it on a smaller boiler at home? Bit more info and you will get some more answers
" you can pick your nose and you can pick your friends; but you can't always wipe your friends off on your saddle" sage advice from Kinky Friedman
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NZChris
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still?

Post by NZChris »

matt99 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 5:55 pm Unfortunately, it draws too much amperage to be used at my house.
Swap the element for one that draws less amps.
matt99
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still?

Post by matt99 »

Thanks for the quick replies.

I'm going to head down to the plant tomorrow and will come back with some pictures and models. That would be awesome to be able to just use this at my house....I have a third garage that is quite large and high ceilings so plenty of room for it. Only issue there would be water, but I have a hose on the other side of the wall and a drain down the fairly steep driveway.

The more I get into it, the more excited I get. It will help to have some financial backing behind me, as he wants somewhere to invest more money in the business.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

matt99 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 5:55 pm I looked at BrewHaus, but between the price and 8wk wait time I was hoping for something easier.
Welcome aboard Matt, from what I read around the forums a long wait is fairly standard in this current covid situation, most still builders and or importers have long lead times atm.
Getting hung up on price will get you cheap rubbish in most cases,,or an outdated design of still that doesnt really do what is claimed by the seller.
Another good reason to build your own is that you will understand your still and how it works from the beginning, the ability to design and upgrade your own stuff as you progress in the hobby/ trade will save you much time and $$$$$ as time goes on.
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Demy
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still?

Post by Demy »

I read your post carefully, my first advice is (as others have said) if possible adapting your 15g to your home, it is the fastest, simple and economical way, only changing the electrical element would immediately solve the problem, without Go through a poor apparatus that will then be considerably different from your 15g. Another thing to consider is that your 15g should be the most similar (in a reduced scale) of the great facility, only so you can experiment with 15 gallons to then adapt the recipe to the plant.
matt99
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still?

Post by matt99 »

Alright. I just got back from an afternoon at the plant. I might have gotten lucky in two ways- the chemical engineer that previously helped (and quit) logged everything very well. Hourly logs on some mashes.

Secondly, his setup is 110 and the engineer converted it to 240 controllers. The original 110 controllers were left in a box so I was able to get them. I also got 5 gallons of molasses, 40# sugar, etc. I also found out that he has a commercial RO unit and his new bioreactors can be used in the future for fermentation...built in cooling units with external water cooled heat exchangers, central mount turbines, etc.
matt99
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still? Update

Post by matt99 »

I can't figure out how to add images.

Here is a link to an album with the pictures in it on ImgBB

https://ibb.co/album/HhMspF
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Yummyrum
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still? Update

Post by Yummyrum »

Here they are.
E64EB03A-A10D-4925-9637-946C2241D294.jpeg
6E3DBC3E-4516-4DC8-B8CD-CD6C07E11392.jpeg
82A8ACA4-BCC6-497A-A7B4-FF5A10959327.jpeg
7F7B62CC-9416-4F73-9EE2-7185DA0C9DB6.jpeg
5AE56415-54CA-4FF0-95AC-D77CE65939AC.jpeg
E4A87872-6AB4-4B25-B806-17666FD2FA95.jpeg
68A823E5-ACBB-4561-B539-CAF96B717A17.jpeg
matt99
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Re: Unique Situation- Advice on Still? Update

Post by matt99 »

Thanks bud!
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