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Flavoured Vodka

Hi, I'm brand new to this and I would appreciate your advice. I'm looking to make flavoured vodkas on a small scale. Initially for development and very small production runs.

Would this configuration work?

  • 2.2kW table top induction heater
  • 30L Stove Top Boiler
  • Weldless Tri-Clamp Bulkhead Fitting
  • Aroma Basket Kit GB4
  • 2" Pot Still Super Simple

What are the issues going to be with this? Any idea how long a single run would take? I already have the legal issues in hand.

I would aim to dilute 96% grain spirit down to, say, a 20% 25L solution in the pot and a single herb / spice to produce distillates for later cold-compounding. Does this sound right?

Jack

Remark by @Moonshine: Product names in reference to the StillDragon Europe website.

Comments

  • Hey Jack. To make "vodka" you will have your hands full with that rig. You will either need some kind of packed column or plates or both. Not saying that it can't be done but you will have to run then re-run a bunch of times to get anything close to a vodka or neutral. I would try to get comfortable with distilling in general before worrying about herbs or spices.

    This is a great site with a lot of help but don't ignore the search feature either. There is a great vodka thread here somewhere with recent posts.

    Good luck.

  • edited July 2015

    Our best recommendation for using the 30L Stove Top Boiler for making vodka with a scent of flavor clearly is the 2+2.5" Baby Crystal Dragon™ Basic with 4 bubble sections. We know of some fantastic Apple Vodka and other products on the edge to flavor been produced with that configuration.

    Our pot still configurations are also very popular, though it is way more time consuming having to deal with stripping and spirit runs, but some swear it's the right thing to do.

    Using the mentioned equipment as a starting point you will have plenty of opportunities for experimentation, that's for sure.

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • edited July 2015

    looks like you want to do something like gin only with other flavors? For the stove top the GB4 might be a bit of overkill (too big, too much weight) , why not simply add a section with a filter disc and put your aroma spenders inside or use this:

    2" Crystal Aroma Infuser

    looks pretty too!

    2200W are just enough, if you want to do something later with more plates (yes, you will come to this point! ;) ) a bit more power under the hood would be nice.

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • @jchidley Yes your going to start with GNS dilute it then add botanicals in GB4 to make a flavored product.... yes you can do that...as you are going about it...

    Or you could use a baby crystal dragon 4 plate column with a big baby deflamator as a base and do it even better...

    i would suggest the long condenser so as to not outgrow it in the future... have fun and ...... and of course the parrot to monitor what your getting out of the still

    Happy Stillin

    FS

    @FloridaCracker reread his post.... and then see if your reply was correct ;)

  • @FloridaCracker said: Hey Jack. To make "vodka" you will have your hands full with that rig. You will either need some kind of packed column or plates or both. Not saying that it can't be done but you will have to run then re-run a bunch of times to get anything close to a vodka or neutral. I would try to get comfortable with distilling in general before worrying about herbs or spices.

    yup... agree... if you want either 'vodka' or 'nuetral' get 4-8 plates and a packed section, or prepare to run it 3-10 times...

    for the SD eu site, get the 2+2.5" Baby Crystal Dragon™ Basic and 2" Tri-Clamp Pipe 510 mm and fill the pipe with something like this: Structured Pure Copper Mesh Column Packing

    -mike

  • Mike.... he is starting with grain neutral... then is cutting it back then rerunning it into a flavored drink or essence...

    do you think you will need that packing ?

    FS

  • My bad. I thought he was making 96% then flavoring.

  • Thanks for all the advice. I see that I wasn't clear. My plan is to buy 96% ethanol - not make it as the licensing and laws in the UK are different for distillation vs rectification - and then flavour that.

    In summary it seems as if the rig will work but would need expanding/upgrading to make vodka. @Sunshine thanks for the interesting alternative.

  • Lots of possibilities, you are not bound to one fixed configuration, that's the beauty of our modular equipment. :)

    What else comes to mind, maybe something like @Sadi's Crystal Herb Stripper:

    image

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • @SDeurope thanks for that. I read all of his various threads - very interesting reading. He is inventive.

    Clearly configuration alone is enough to change the flavour enormously, even with just one botanical and one "simple" spirit. I like the idea of being able to see what happens - the advantage of the crystal parts.

    It seems as if @Sadi is distilling the mash and flavouring the output at the same time.

    He is using an induction stove (2kw) just like I plan to do, although he has a custom made boiler (presumably milk can style) with insulation. Production rate was 2.5L/hour with one configuration, at 1/2 power. Sounds plenty to me. I also like the VM (Vapour Management) option.

    Jack

  • I'd say that 1800~2200W is about the right amount of power for a 30L Stove Top Boiler, going for a 50L Milk Can Boiler some more wattage is clearly beneficial (the strongest ultra low wattage type element that can easily be found for 240V single phase power is rated at 5500W, but of course your electrical circuitry would have to support such).

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • Immersion elements don't yield better control than a stove top induction? I have an induction in my kitchen, and the controllability is good, but only provides a gradation of 1-9 with 3.6kw for the big 12" element. That gives me something like 1.5 amps/400w per setting, pretty crude. Don't get me wrong, the thing is a brute at boiling stockpots. Do those countertop models give you a smoother control?

  • edited July 2015

    Problem is that it's pretty much impossible to get stronger / better stand alone induction stoves at consumer prices, we have seen some nice units for catering use but those cost a fortune (thousands of Euros). The induction stove in our kitchen has 2800W and would be just right. ;)

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • @grim I'm certain that immersion is better in the long term and for higher volumes.

    But for experimentation, small scale and low cost you can't beat a counter top induction stove for £40 plus the stock-pot option.

  • My 5500w ULD element coupled with the SD controller gives me unlimited control. Just depends on how softly you can turn a knob

  • I'm sorry, I'm new. What is a ULD element?

  • edited July 2015

    Ultra Low Density ~ max element surface area to spread the energy, usually in for of ripple or fold-back type

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • Why not crank the induction knob up to the max and fine control with a Stilldragon controller?

    I have a set up for sous vide with a PID and notate that gets works. This can work the same

  • The stockpot is a powerful tool. It is big enough to have a satisfactory distilling experience, in combination with an induction stove it is clean and easy to use. If @jchidley only wants to do the flavoring the 2200W it is more than enough.

    For the production of own vodka on the stockpot with the Baby Dragon I would recommend more than 2500W for the stove.

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • A baby dragon will run on less than that... it won't be max speed but it will run...and make good product all depends on the boiler size and if the boiler can be insulated in some way with that makes the best use of the small heat source

  • Indeed, our 30L Stove Top Boiler is already successfully in use by a lot of people even with cheapo stand alone induction stoves, and it can easily be insulated by just using a blanket.

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • edited July 2015

    I can attest to the power of the GB4 for producing infusion flavored spirits. It is my favorite piece of SD equipment. It works extremely well for the job its designed to do. If you mount it downstream from a deflegmator you can put your still in 100% reflux (kinda like putting your foot on the clutch) and change out botanicals on the fly.

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

  • I found this calculation on another web site for sweetening of vodka / spirit runs.

    A copy of the Excel sheet with some mods is shown below

    image

    sweetening.png
    1233 x 648 - 34K
  • I know you can get stand alone 5kw magnetic induction hotplates from Alibaba and I think Amazon. They are not cheap but you can get them. I bought one about 12 months ago.

  • The thread is 2 years old now. I bet the problem has been solved

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

  • edited July 2017

    True..... I was looking where best to post the comment about blending and sweetening and I obviously stuffed up.

    I ought have made a new topic headed SPREADSHEET CALCS... or something similar.

  • I was talking to the Don.

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

  • edited July 2017

    C1V1 = C2V2
    plug in known values, manipulate equation to isolate unknown, solve the equation

    where:
    C1 = initial concentration
    V1 = initial volume
    C2 = ending concentration
    V2 = ending volume

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

  • @richard can you post the sheet?

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