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FijiSpirits last won the day on July 19

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About FijiSpirits

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  1. One of the processes That was done before I started at this distillery was they would blend the water and alcohol together and let it “blend” for 3-4 days before moving forward with follow on steps. I’ve not heard of this before nor have I done it. I do note that my spirit will oxidize and change for a week or two before it settles down, which has vexed me, but I’ve not noticed a difference attributable to blending time. Maybe it’s happening and I don’t know it. Ive not seen the difference between the following : 1- let spirit sit for a week then blend 2- blend spirit and let sit for a week. So question is... is there value to mixing to proof and letting it “blend” for a few days before bottling? What’s the Science?
  2. The reason I think they may be different is that the fermentation temps are notably higher on the LS. My experience with proper ec1118 here in Fiji at ambient temps says that sugar washes that go over 29-30 start having off flavors. Below 28 they seem fine but that puts me into seasonal use at best. If if I could use 1118 year round it costs half what the LS costs so I can and will do that. I need a neutral yeast yeast that makes clean spirit at 29-32c for the in between seasons or maybe even summer. Im kinda hoping someone can share actual hot weather experience with LS. Because if it is really ec1118 then it’s redundant and over priced. If it can do what 1118 does but at higher temps then I have a winner.
  3. I’m definitely interested. Other peoples issues are great ways to learn!! Basically the trade off will be more speed fro less purity. If you can live with the slightly lower purity you should gain speed. There is no arguing that more packing provides more rectification. But that rectification comes at the cost of speed in the same column size. Have you looked at Still dragons Procaps? They are very efficient and very fast. I think you’d need about 16 tho. I run perf plates and procaps and the procaps are my preference for their larger operating range while still have speed. I’ve been spending more time working on my ferments to clean them up and maximize what I can do with them. Then on my stripping runs I will water the spirit down to less than 30% with clean filtered water. These three are critical things if you aren’t doing them, and they can make far more difference together than an extra 2-3% ABV on the strip (especially the ferment). I could take off 95-96% on my 11 plate if I really wanted but the flow rate would drive me batty and when I have done it, the difference in taste is so minimal that its not even worth it. I’m certain others have had different experiences. My sugar washes used to be all over the place so I’m not a good metric take that for what it’s worth, there are others with far more experience than I that’ll chime in.
  4. I believe that Lallemand rebranded a previous yeast to “LS”. I’m not entirely sure what it was but my research indicates that it WAS NOT ec1118. Supposedly this yeast is to produce a neutral flavored spirit and is used for tequila’s, fruit brandy and neutral grain spirits. Isolated from Champagne. Sacc cerv Baynaus. Likes temps 30-35C (86-95) so good for us tropical sorts. Can anyone provide insights on how this performs? I’m wanting a nice clean neutral producer like EC1118 but capable at higher temps. I’ve found that over about 29-30C sustained fermentation temps that EC1118 tends to start producing some distinct flavors I dont want. FYI, i’ve Messed with HT and SR as well, so I’m familiar with what they will do. I’m working primarily with Raw Sugar washes and some fruits an veggies.
  5. I don’t understand the bit about returning column bottoms to the boiler. Why not pump them back to the top of column 1. That’s what plenty of big operator old school continuous rig have done for decades. Honestly maybe it better to just have a separate simple stripping column setup and a second. finishing setup. Hell I don’t know. I’m confused.
  6. I’ve been looking for some solutions myself. I’ve got all the parts (except the water valve) to make an automatic valve control and element control but haven’t put it together yet. I decided to use PID controller and some relays. I had looked at a non electric temperature control valve like these below but thy are pricey and seemed kind of arbitrary in adjustment and not overly quantifiable. https://m.grainger.com/mobile/category/temperature-regulator-valves/pressure-and-temperature-control-valves/plumbing-valves/plumbing/ecatalog/N-rgv?searchFlag=Browse maybe Highlander will share more about his valves, I’m always looking for cool solutions.
  7. Is there an ethanol safety resource I could find? I need to do up a fire and safety plan for the distillery.
  8. What sort of pump would you recommend? I guess I always just got stuck on the “meterable and adjustable flow” features for the peristaltic as well as the natural antibackflow and self priming aspects of it that I never really considered another option. One of those little air diaphragm pumps everyone uses for moving high proof, used with a decent regulator might be just fine i guess.
  9. The pricing on peristaltic pumps makes one want to do about anything else...
  10. Maybe one could manage a “column bottom thumper” with a simple drain valve and a sight window. When it got to high just drain it and move on with life. this again begs the question (as I still dont get this) why even bother with the RC at top of second column? Would it just send too many liquids to the bottom of second? Is this where we start seeing the losses southernhighlander mentions? In my brain I’m insulating the crossover pipe really well, and REALLY sending good vibes to the column. @southernhighlander. Funny you mentioned the lower reflux setting on #1, I was thinking it would want to be set to ~180-190 ish just to push stuff thru the bottoms on #2. But then you lose a lot of rectification available from #1. Tough balancing act it seems. (BTW you have an impressive set of accomplishments you should be proud of and your passion for this stuff more than makes up for any imagined lack of “education” one might normally get in a university. Press on brother) Someone oughta invent a horizontal rectifier... Anyway, I hope Adam can make a few small changes and get more speed. He seems to have the equipment to do it, just needs some minor tweaking before spending a few grand.
  11. I’d guess that you’d add a reflux condenser at the top of each. Product processes thru ten plates and passes a reflux. Vapor goes into second column purified thru ten plates then proceeds up ten more plates and a reflux condenser. Ideally the downcomings from the bottom plate second column would be pumped up to top plate first column. My question is... what happens if you let those second column bottoms accumulate like a thumper? Does it slow everything down, or does it make no real difference assuming it has enough room to be reheated by incoming vapor? I would think that if you had enough space for the bottoms to accumulate and have the vapor run thru them that they would eventually balance. That begs the question as to if you even need the first reflux condenser then? Does anyone have any actual daily production experience with this? I’m weak on fluid dynamics, my engineering degree is in construction engineering and from a country that no longer exists. I wish I had taken more chemistry!!
  12. It’s be real easy to put those plates on the bottom and loosen up those scrubbies. Check out the packings I list above. I’m working on a continuous stripper just now and those seemed to float to the top as good candidates for speed. Particularly intalox ultra. Second choice would be the metal cascade mini rings which will be cheaper. On sizing my thoughts are to keep it around 1/2” but I’ve yet to talk with anyone knowledgeable about a 4” application.
  13. Adamovd. When I say sequential I mean 2 separate columns plumbed together. First one feeds the bottom of the second. If you had 10 plates per column you’d have a 20 plate still. You need 2 reflux condensers tho. You can get at least 50% more flow out of that thing pretty easy. Just dick around with the packing and configuration a bit and see what works. Some perf plates have holes that are too small. Unfiltered wash can cause blockages, and Standard bubble caps are a dead end if you want more speed tho.
  14. Yes to all except it’s a 37 gallon actual charge and my proof. As above, typically I average 91-93.5%abv. We normally don’t run full heat. Max seems to be around 14500w input. Proof on strip run is ~40%. If the run is too foamy speed slows but we are managing that pretty well these days. These are sugar wash. Note that we only use that much power during stripping in pot still mode for spirit runs we are at around 9000w max power is reserved for heat up cycle only Normally we try for for three strips a 8 hour shift. Usually about 2:40 per run from start to finish. Foaming will cut us to two strips.
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