Home Distiller

Hi guys, I'm currently enrolled as a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Louisville. I have been working at a spirits company for around a year now, and I'm just now getting into homebrewing and wanting to learn more in depth practical knowledge that I can bring back to work with me. I have done a lot of work with cooperage, so I hope to offer some tidbits and insights into that side of things.

Welcome to HD, hope you find the forum useful in you studies.

Welcome to HD BFBB! I recommend spending some time reading and researching around here before purchasing or building but also at the same time to start running soonest Theory and Practice go hand in hand... Looking forward to your input too!

Cheers,
jonny

Bushman wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 6:45 am Welcome to HD, hope you find the forum useful in you studies.

Thanks Bushman, I already have and I'm sure I'll find more and more as I continue perusing!

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 7:22 am Welcome to HD BFBB! I recommend spending some time reading and researching around here before purchasing or building but also at the same time to start running soonest Theory and Practice go hand in hand... Looking forward to your input too!

Cheers,
jonny

I appreciate it Jonny. My buddy I'm rooming with already has some basic brewing materials and has made some at home. All of my experience in mashing, brewing, and distilling so far has been at work, so I'm definitely excited to build my own rig! I'll make sure to look around for some of the more precise equipment I can find in this forum. Cheers!

Welcome to HD man. Louisville is just down the road from me. I live in Frankfort. Tons of knowledge here. You're in the right place. Have fun and stay safe.

Wildcats wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 7:45 am Welcome to HD man. Louisville is just down the road from me. I live in Frankfort. Tons of knowledge here. You're in the right place. Have fun and stay safe.

Thanks Wildcat. It's always nice to meet a fellow Kentuckian online!

Would it be bad manners to ask what company you have been working for?

I'll be very interested to hear your observations about different assertions made at the pro level vs the hobby level.

Now I'm not talking about the materials handling efficiencies of the pros compared to the ad-hoc methods many broke ass hobbyists have to use.
I'm talking about actual practical knowledge about fermentation and distillation theory.

Frankly I'm more recently kind of shocked at the,,,,,BS some industry luminaries are spewing. It's almost laughable.

LWTCS wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 5:01 pm ,BS some industry luminaries are spewing. It's almost laughable.

Might it be that it would look "unprofessional" to not make fermentation seem as complex as possible?.....BS, Marketing and Smoke n Mirrors?

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 6:13 pm

LWTCS wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 5:01 pm ,BS some industry luminaries are spewing. It's almost laughable.

Might it be that it would look "unprofessional" to not make fermentation seem as complex as possible?.....BS, Marketing and Smoke n Mirrors?

In this particular instance I would say that it's just Louisville dogma being propagated by " that's the way we've always done it".
The debate is weather or not a single wall vessel and a cooling coil does a better job than a vessel with a proper cooling jacket. Hands down the cooling jacket is better on multiple levels.
Is the coil cheaper? Yes.
And if that is the goal to buy the cheaper tank then that's fine. But just say that. Don't make up ridiculous reasons why a coil is best.
A coil is not best. The coiled tank will require far more labor hours to sanitize. Everyone I know that has worked with either steam coil or cooling coil hates them. Fact I had a call today with someone looking to get rid of their coil set up and replace with jackets.
And finally,,,,,,,,have you ever seen a proper brewery using cooling coils over a cooling jacket? Not likely.

The dude said coils cool best. And I'm looking at 3000 gallon wine tanks with with a dimple jacket that cover barely 1/3 of the tank right now. Btw, wine ferments at cooler temps than a bourbon fermentation.

Another friend bought some 32,000 gallon tanks that are old Pabst tanks. All jacketed. And yes thirty thousand gallons. No coil.

Ah sorry. On kind of a rant because this dude is kind of a micro celebrity and certainly a main player in Louisville.

Anyway to get this thread back on track, I encourage the OP to trust his own observations and do not get to drunk on some of the Louisville koolaid.