I'll just sasy this about DIY distilling-- it's HARD work. It's messy, labor intensive, a little dangerous and I honestly can't see how the average guy with access to the average ingredients is going to save any money at all-- until and unless the price of gasoline hits somewhere north of $8 a gallon.
Small time distilling is better suited for making one of a kind beverages.
Not that I'd actually know anything about the subject, mind you...
I'll just sasy this about DIY distilling-- it's HARD work. It's messy, labor intensive, a little dangerous and I honestly can't see how the average guy with access to the average ingredients is going to save any money at all-- until and unless the price of gasoline hits somewhere north of $8 a gallon. I dunno. Check out their blueprints. Theirs is a vacuum process, so it operates at lower temperature. It looks pretty clean and assembly-line-ish. Not that I'm painfully familiar with the homespun alternatives or anything.
I helped an old guy that lived near me at one time run his still. Mostly time. Manual labor was setting up the still, decanting the mash, mixing the mash in the first place.
What strikes me is that out of a 55 gallon drum of mash, he got maybe three gallons of first run (probably 190 proof), maybe higher. That's 5% or 6% return from the mass you start with.
HOWEVER, if you needed 12 gallons a week, that would mean you would have to process 165 gallons of mash. For each 3 gallon increment necessary for your driving frequency, that's another 55 gallons.
As I remember it took about 4 hours to cook off (one 55 gallon batch), but that time would be reduced because you all you want is the first 5%(+/-) of your mash volume.
You're right, at least $8/gallon.
