Just a thought I've been having, I am setting up a column, but in the meantime I had a 50l keg fitted with a 6" ferrule/cap to use as a fermenter for both my beer brewing and also spirit wash's.
When I do my beer I never boil the stuff in the tin as most do, I find being in the tropics it can overheat the ferment, so I just mechanically stir it all in by hand, including the sugar and pitch yeast. No issues ever.
I have been looking at spirit recipes and I wonder if I could do the same thing. I realise that there are a lot of recipes that cook ingredients so they mix properly but if there was a mechanical stirrer running for either the whole ferment time or as long as needed things could be easier.
My idea is to attach a geared motor or stepper to the 6" cap, and just let it go. Not fast spinning, just about a revolution every couple of seconds.
The stirrer would be stainless with a simple paddle on the bottom, and I am thinking another paddle, possibly height adjustable on the top level, to keep mashing the floaties as they soak in and get soft.
Any thoughts on this? I like it for the beer as I can just tip everything in and close up and walk away, especially doing double beer brews, less time stirring and mixing means more time for more important things, like drinking the end result!!
Russ.