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Stainless Steel Vessel for storing Gin

Can anyone in the EU point me in the direction of a 100L to 150L stainless steel vessel for storing gin prior to bottling?

Preferably with an air tight lid and a level gauge... but cost effective ;)

Comments

  • Tabec, an Italian firm. I paid less than 200 EUR for a 300L one, smaller is cheaper. They have them in an array of sizes and specifications.

  • fantastic - thanks. they havent come up in a single search so that is a great shout

  • edited October 2018

    You don’t need a level gauge - you need a scale and a thermometer. That might simplify things.

  • I'm only in the nano distillery stage.. 50l still 100 litre collection vessel.. What kind of scale would suit that? I was planning on stock control by number of bottles.. the volume fullness of the vesel was to allow me to scale flavourings for my gin and for calculating the addition of water to proof down abv to bottling strength. I'm an open book so be as brutal as you like

  • You’ll never be able to gauge or proof accurately by using volume.

    One you have the mass and the temperature, you know exactly how much alcohol you have.

    If you work by volume, you’ll need to calibrate your vessel, and you still need a thermometer to be able to correct the volume for temperature.

    Volume is generally only ever used for final bottle fill.

  • so something like a parcel scale underneath the vessel with a remote readout.. then plug the weight (because we can't get mass from a scale?) and alcohol corrected temperature into a calculator and that will give me the volume?

  • The cheapest way would be some sort of floor standing scales and calculate volume (since hydrometers measure relative density). Your other option is to get an installation of Load Cells. I've been speaking with Applied Weighing International in the UK. Bear in mind that Load Cells need to be installed and calibrated (AWI offer the service) and then you'd need to have the calibration checked once a year

  • I'm all for getting the scales, just can't figure out the maths.

    so if i have 50kg of 60% alcohol and the temp is conveniently 22c how on earth do you calculate the volume?

    and do you correct the hydrometer reading first? or just use the formula as is?

    or are these stupid questions, because I do not yet have a "proper" hydrometer.. or the practical alcohol tables.

  • measure the %abv using a certified alchometer correct for temperature to get actual %abv. Look up density from table for that %abv divide weight by density to give you the volume of alcohol (not total volume).

  • excellent - thanks. Then add on the water volume @ 40% in this scenario I take it to give total volume @ 60%

  • if you have an android device, there is an app called 'Liquor Proofer' that I use every single day in the distillery for determining volume from weight....

    We do most of our weighing in some 200L drums we got 2nd hand but made by ServoLift that were fully draining through a 2" port, seamless, and we put them on 5-wheel carts... we paid like $500, they are $1000 or so new, but worth every penny, I do not know what we would do without them... I have a 3'x3' floor scale and we lift them on to it one side at a time, but plan on sinking the floor scale into a pit to roll them straight on... but that is project number 9567/10000 ;-)

  • so i looked at liquor proofer and unfortunately it's proof.. and I will have a hydrometer capable of measuring density..

    so if I try work through this.. I have 50kg of liquid at 20c (for simplicity) with a density of 0.92472 (45%?)

    so 50kg /0.92474 = 54.0704213167229

    whats does 54.0704213167229 represent? total volume? in litres?

  • The third tab of liquorproofer calculates wine gallons and proof gallons from weight, proof, and temp...

    I know you want KG vs liters, you can do that by taking 50kg * 0.92472 = 46.236 liters of total product...

    I would suggest researching back on this forum some for more information, it is not a new topic...

    Also, do what your particular tax determining agency recommends.. here in the US, the TTB has lots of information and tables...

  • I tried that. 110lb 90 proof 68f. Gives me 13.98 wine gallons and 12.1 proof gallons.

    What do those numbers refer to?

    The problem is that here in Blighty we use abv

  • they are US numbers, true. But you said you already knew the ABV and trying to get volume..

    not 100% sure the below is accurate, again, you want to use what YOUR regulatory body says to use.

    • wine gallons are actual gallons at that temp... 13.98 * 3.78541 = 52.9200318 liters
    • proof gallons are gallons of 100proof... 12.1 / 2 * 3.78541 = 22.9017305 liters of 100%

    You might need to use AlcoDens - Calculations for Spirits Distillers

  • yes I would know abv.. thanks I am certainly wiser than when I started asking.

  • Alcodens is some of the best money you'll spend in a distillery.

  • I have downloaded the trial.. i need to spend some more time figuring it out.

  • Proof (as used in the USA) is defined as twice the ABV% at 60°F. In the UK and Europe ABV% is defined at 20°C, which makes the values slightly different from the US ones. An ABV of 40.00 on the US basis would be 40.07 in Europe. The difference is because of the different rates of thermal expansion for ethanol and water.

    You need to know the units for your density of 0.92472. They could be g/ml (=kg/l) or SG. In the US, SG is usually given relative to water at 60°F, but in Europe it could be 15°C or 20°C. It should be engraved on the hydrometer.

    SG hydrometers are calibrated with "in vacuum" values. These are given in TTB Table 6, which also gives SG "in air" values. The "in air" values are an historical hangover from the days when cheap, accurate hydrometers were not available and SG was measured with a pycnometer. Be careful to use the correct data.

    Proof gallons are not physical units. They are conceptual units that were very cleverly created to simplify the math of dilution calculations (and tax collection!) in the days before computers and calculators. If you are not in the USA you will never need to bother with them. In Europe taxes are based on litres of absolute alcohol, often abbreviated as LAA's or LAL's.

    If you need any help with AlcoDens please don't hesitate to email me at the support address given in the program.

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