1868 The complete Practical Distiller

THE COMPLETE PRACTICAL DISTILLER.

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stages in the space of thirty hours; then it is time to commit the liquid to the still. If the operation has been weJl conducted, from 45 to 50 litres of good spirits at 19^ are obtained from 100 kilogrammes of grain. Many dis- tillers are far from producing so much, and there are even some who do not draw more than from 30 to 35 litres. The exiguity of this produce may be the result of several causes ; but one of the most influential is the proportion of water used ; that is to say, that instead of using 11 hectolitres of water for every 100 kilogrammes of grain, they only use 6. In a continuous work the spent-wash left in the still should be deposited in vats or cisterns constructed for the purpose ; there the solid substances will fall to the bottom, and the liquid will remain upper- most. This liquid may be successfully used in the subsequent operations to dilute the grain after it has been mashed. In this practice is found the advantage of bringing again to fermentation a liquid containing some fermentable sub- stances which have escaped decomposition. This may be followed up for several successive opera- tions — that is, three, four, and even five; and the grain produces thus as much as 60 litres of spirit of 19° per metrical quintal, produce very considerable, and which could not be obtained by any other means. The use of spent-wash is suspended when, after several successive operations, it is become so sour that instead of offering proper aliments to the fermentation, its acidity would be obnoxious to it. If a smaller proportion of water was used, the same march could not be followed, — at least not — because then the fermentation would r.o the same extent,