Looking for Guidance

CraigInnes

Finally got back to the computer to redraft the design to drop a condenser and amend to one reducer so here we have it. Added a couple more bubble plates. Any thoughts as to where to site thermowells?

SDeurope

@CraigInnes, some thoughts:

• I'm not sure why you want to put a 4" Dash on a 380L boiler, because a run will need a very long time that way. The 380L boiler is destined to be used with an 8" column, I would not recommend anything smaller than 6".
• We currently do not have 8" pipes with 510mm in stock, as we have never seen any demand and application for it (of course we can get them, if needed, but it will take some time). Trying to build a gin basket kit with it will not be that easy and will require quite some additional work, especially if you want to be able to swap baskets mid-run. Building a basket to fit that pipe and either hangs or stands in it will require precision work for a tight fit, otherwise channeling will be a problem. We already had plans for a larger (12") gin basket kit in the past, but unfortunately that thought went nowhere. Our GB4 is indeed suitable to be used in a larger respectively commercial application, and there is already quite a number of distilleries using it that way. On the quick I could only find one picture showing our GB4 in such a setup, though in that case it is used in-line with a column, which generally is not recommended (you will always want to have a dedicated setup for a gin run for several reasons):

CraigInnes

Thanks SDeurope, pot still 1 is easy to change for the 8", i just went with the 4" to try to save some money. With regards to making gin on the 380litre dedicated still, how many baskets would you use? 4? 6? And how would you link the whole system up?

Smaug

SD EUROPE I am confused? We do have a 12" gin head design available as well as several of them already produced as indicated on other threads.

CraigInnes

So with the setup above, it would be easy to use the same equipment for both runnng the re-distilling of GNS and then a separate run with the tap to the GB for a product run? The heavier equipment is floor mounted and so there is less to worry with regards to weight etc. The all important question however is if such a system would be at all within budget for me. How can I find out?

Smaug

Our price point in the states is influenced less by import fees, VAT, currency exchange rates, etc. SDEU should be along shortly to answer your questions.

As soon as the larger Gin Heads arrive, I'll be posting photos on the SD USA bulletin board.

They are on the water now.

Unsensibel

@smaug like this one

SDeurope

@Smaug said: SD EUROPE I am confused? We do have a 12" gin head design available as well as several of them already produced as indicated on other threads.

Yes, I was referring to our former approach with the 12" standalone gin basket kit, for which we had some sketches already, but which did not go into production.

@CraigInnes said: So with the setup above, it would be easy to use the same equipment for both runnng the re-distilling of GNS and then a separate run with the tap to the GB for a product run? The heavier equipment is floor mounted and so there is less to worry with regards to weight etc. The all important question however is if such a system would be at all within budget for me. How can I find out?

I am a little confused now, I thought you wanted to have both stills running at the same time, and not alternating like with the one @Smaug posted above.

Of course there is more than one way to achieve the desired goal, and as it is with a community, you will read about several different opinions here. In the end we can offer whatever you desire, so once you have made up your mind, please let us know by email and we will prepare the appropriate offer for you (a public forum clearly is not the right place to talk about individual budgets and quotes).

richard

I was looking today at power requirements based on a 380L pot. Basically you need 6 x 5.5KW elements to do a heat up from 20 deg C to 80 deg C, this taking 51 minutes. Yes I am in agreement in a 8" (204mm) diameter column. But I see that the operating power (once heated) for a 204mm diameter column is 13.2 KW min / 19.8 KW max. One question that I now ask is ..... is this for normal bubble caps or the pro caps ??

Smaug

@Unsensibel said: smaug like this one

Yes. One and the same.

As SDEU mentions, we can modify this configuration to meet your requirements.

CraigInnes

Dear one and all, thank you for your continued support and ideas, I do not intend to waste people's time, I am just looking to put together the best setup that I can afford with the ambition to then create a nice product that I can sell. I have no prior experience, but I don't like to let that stop me and so I am building my plans purely on the experience that you as a collective have so that I can optimise the order that I make by not buying unnecessary parts. @SDeurope I was under the impression that it would be beneficial to have 2 stills from comments on this feed but if both are not run at the same time then my plans are flexible and if one is enough then I should probably take this option as it means that I can spend the money on other parts of the build. I shall be in touch with you regards pricing.

As stands getting a UK licence is a fairly lengthy process, probably for good reason. I applied a couple of weeks ago for pre-application advice on a change of use planning application to convert a building of mine to be used as a distillery. I should hear back in about a month. After this I can apply for the actual change of use permission and wait another 4 weeks for this to hopefully be granted. I can then apply for my distillers licence as for this I need to submit the building plans.

Subject to my planning consent and licence being granted I can then order the equipment and so I am using this time to plan and learn.

punkin

You are doing it right Richard, there is a very big difference in setup, ease of use, control, price and operation when you step up from the entry level modular stuff to the custom design installations is all.

One thing that is important to keep in mind is that the oneoff cost of the equipment is not nearly as important a decision as the recurring cost in labour and power to run it.

Even if it's just your labour to start with and not paid labour, if you can do 2 runs in an 8 hour day on one set of equipment or on another it takes 7 hours to do a run, change out and then another six hours, you'll soon start to notice that six days a week. The extra cost of the equipment would be far at the back of your mind at that stage.

SDeurope

You are on the right path, @CraigInnes, it is very important to plan ahead accordingly and not rush into any decisions. We have a large warehouse here in Austria, and everything that's available from stock can be shipped right away. Any larger vessels or custom stills not available from stock are commissioned from our factories according to customer specifications, which comes with an appropriate lead time.

CothermanDistilling

@CraigInnes - having to redistill your GNS is a huge increase in cost of equipment, labor, and time compared to just distilling Gin from GNS... A gin still is nearly a Whiskey pot still, and many of the stills that made the great whiskeys were previous stills from the Gin era... A vodka still, on the other hand, with lots of plates, is needed to economically make great Nuetral or GNS, however,

A Gin still and a Vodka still are fundamentally different, and while SD does great modularity, I doubt 4-6 plates will fix 'bad GNS' without running a LOT of reflux which uses a LOT of heating and cooling.

I know where you are coming from, when I was thinking about my distillery and asking manufacturers about quoting a still, and they said 'vodka or whiskey?' and I replied 'both', I had no clue... they did not want to turn me away, so they were polite... Yes, StillDragon allowed me to build and learn and have a still that does what I need.

Make sure to write that into your business plan the method of re-distilling GNS vs A - researching and finding acceptable GNS that at premium price, does not need re-distillation and B - making it yourself, if you can 're-distill', you can 'distill from low wines or mash'.