Four years ago, we were picking up 10 liter pails of milk permeate from the Lactalis dairy in Winchester for our experiments at the University of Ottawa. It was a hassle for the plant staff since their machinery was made to pump thousands of liters.
When we opened our distillery in 2018, we started receiving 3,000L of permeate a week. Once again, the small volume was a problem since milk transport trucks carry 32,000L. A year later, we increased our fermentation capacity by 5X and started taking in 15,000L of permeate a week.
Today, we’re excited to install a 35,000L milk permeate storage tank. Custom built for us in Montreal, this stainless steel tank will allow us to receive full truck loads of permeate. Once our expansion is complete this summer, we’ll be processing 2.8 million liters of milk permeate a year that would otherwise be dumped in digesters. That’s enough alcohol to make 600,000 bottles of Vodkow or 270,000 liters of hand sanitizer. We've come a long way!
