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Yield Question

edited March 2015 in General

If I load the 500L still with 500L of 8% wash and do a striping down to about 10% what volume of low wines will I have?

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  • You started with 40L of EtOH, you should get ~120L of low wines @ 30% ABV, or 36L of EtOH recovered.

    This equates to ~90% yield from your stripping run. You can run further in to the tails if you have the time, I don't tend to bother at the hobby scale.

  • Dunderhead used to say a good rule of thumb for a full strip yield would be 1/3 of the full charge.

    Naturally the mileage can vary.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • Do you really put 500L into a 500L boiler? If I tried that the puking would rival what I saw in college.

  • edited March 2015

    Made possible through the miracle of silicone antifoam. If the geometry of the 500l boiler is similar to the 1000l boiler, 500l represents about 85% of the total 580l capacity. (I think max capacity of the 1000l is around 1170l - this would involve filling past the man way.). Maybe Larry or Lloyd can chime in on the max volume of the tank for sure.

  • Yes Grim. Our publicized volumes are working volumes not total volume.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • @Smaug said: Yes Grim. Our publicized volumes are working volumes not total volume.

    Wow. That I did not know.

  • Thanks guys! I had heard 1/3 as a basic rule of thumb was about right. Can't wait to get my 500L :)

  • 1/3rd of what?

    I would be using TMW's method at the top mate. It's pretty simple to do in your head and works for spirit runs too.

    as in 400l of 40% for a spirit run / 2.5 = 160l total spirits you'll see around 10% of that as heads so 16l off the still should have you looking for a cut.

    You'll loose up to 30% to tails so should be keeping an eye on it after you've taken 90-100l hearts.

    Stripping is as TMW says, if it's a 10% wash you'd have 50l total ethanol, if the wash is 5% all grain you'll have 25 litres.

    8% gives you 40l.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited March 2015

    @punkin, sorry I meant to also add that the info from TMW (and you) makes total sense. Since this will be a commercial operation we will take the time to squeeze what we can out of each run and are trying to do excel sheets on yields/profits. I know each still will yield different results depending on efficiency so we are keeping that in mind too.

  • 3rd yield. But only a ballpark approximation. Not suitable for bean counting at the pro level at all.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited March 2015

    Why not just go here: https://calc.StillDragon.org

    It has everything you need.

    fadge

  • TMW's estimate is as good as you are going to get for your pro forma. Real world will vary based on your equipment and how deep you can afford to go. With a bit of reflux on the strip, it's easy to pull closer 1/4 total volume at a bit higher abv.

    Trying to squeeze yield from a strip has more to do with the price of your energy and the cost of your time than it does equipment.

  • So about 4 stripping runs should make enough low wines for a spirit run?

  • I can see how you arrived at that number by paper but I tend to find it's more like 3 stripping runs to 1 spirit run. Lets see what the others have to say.

  • Just thought I'd ask something I've been thinking about, If I added my torpedo and turned on the RC a little for a strip run, what % alc should I stop stripping? I normally go down to 30% reading on the parrot, maybe 20% on occasions, if I add a plate, what higher % should I stop at to be equivent to 30% as before.

  • You'll still strip down to 30% as the plate will act like it normally does and boost your initial abv, hold it for longer and then dive into tails quicker.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • Kinda defeats the fast and furious nature of stripping though, no?

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • Doesn't seem to make much difference in time - you just end up with less but hi% lowish wines.

  • Stripping is about reducing volume while pushing as much flavor through as possible, at least that's my take on it. Putting a plate in the way slows things down and removes more flavor.

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • if you are running at the limit of your condenser (just under 20l/min for 2 2" long condensers in series), I can't see plates slowing you down...

  • You can slow the vapor in your condenser by adding some turbulence there. More time for heat exchange and vapor collapse that way (coiled wire or rolled wire mesh).

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • When I asked about adding a plate for stripping, the thought was about reducing the overall strip volume with neutral spirit in mind.

    I guess for flavour I wouldnt add the plate but for neutral, it's a way of saving less power, time and storage capacity.

  • @CothermanDistilling said: if you are running at the limit of your condenser (just under 20l/min for 2 2" long condensers in series), I can't see plates slowing you down...

    20l/min as in 317 gallons per hour?! Damn Sam! Now that's stripping!

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • He means 20l an hour.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • Stranahan's (Denver) strips on a four plate still and finishes on a pot still. I saw it...

    DAD... not yours.. ah, hell... I don't know...

  • Interesting, with plates?

  • edited March 2015

    Say dad, I did talk to one of the distillers from Stranahan's at the ACSC in Texas recently. Nice feller. When I asked him about that, his eyes got kinda wide like he wasn't expecting me to ask a question like that,,,,,,,,prolly cuz I'm so purty or sumpin !

    I asked him about that and he said they strip and do the spirit on a four plater. He seemed sincere? Do you think maybe they do their Snow Flake (or the like ) differently? BTW I did like the Snow Flake very much.

    Your thoughts please.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • I also know a great craft distillery that does the strip/spirit runs on their 4 plate.

  • daddad
    edited March 2015

    Here are pics I took...Three 250 gallon strippers and Two 100 gallon spirit stills.

    image

    image

    I can see a method to this...strip it on four plates at say 85%, water it down very accurately and do a spirit run at 70% and drop it in a barrel...done. You might achieve some esterfication in the spirit that makes it different.

    Maybe their version of a copper catalyst!

    S Strip still.jpg
    800 x 499 - 72K
    S Spirit still.jpg
    800 x 665 - 77K

    DAD... not yours.. ah, hell... I don't know...

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