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You know how folks like to suggest that a startup distillery look at whatever initial costs they've cobbled together and then double it? I say, do the same thing with your yields. Figure on using double the grain you think you need for the yield you're hoping for. We run our bourbon (corn, wheat, oats, barley) though a double distillation on true potstills. Our cuts are tight and we don't reach full attenuation, but we definitely get less than that 5.82 proof gallons/56lbs that you're looking at. My math sucks, but I'm thinking we're closer to 2.5pg/56lbs.

Big guys get 5 on a continuous setup. Around 4 is the low side for batch distillation. So shoot for between 4 and 5.

To me it sounds like you have two issues that are contributing to your problem. First is the liquid temperature at bottling. Second (I'm guessing) is that you are not pulling vacuum when bottling. Both of which are combining to give positive pressure in the head space resulting in the corks pushing out. The below CQC link is for recommendations for wine bottling but the principles still apply. http://www.corkqc.com/qcguidelines/qc.htm "If the winery bottles at legal fill heights and with adequate vacuum to assure that there will be no more than 2 pounds relative pressure in the bottle at 68°F, it is very unlikely that the customer will ever complain about leaking corks. "

How long does this typically take to happen? We've been on the shelves for 3 months and havent seen the problem (yet). Using Priamal glass (each bottle manufacturer, internal neck shape, and glass mold is different) and synthetic corks from Paulson Supply and we couldn't be happier with the stoppers and quality of service from Pauslon. We hand cork and also want to make sure that the cork is easy for customers to remove. The fit seems perfect and we have yet to run into any issues. I'd hate to be a cork manufacturer as there's so many variances in bottle design and production. If a cork doesn't work well it may be the bottle's fault, yet the cork guy gets all the blame.