Rensselaer08

you can try tapping the bands a little tighter near your leak by using a block of hardwood and a mallet. This has worked for us in a pinch before but will only fix the problem if it's a leak between staves. Recommend this as a last effort.

Get ahold of, or make, a nice and classy rack to provide for your retailers. Many stores, particularly the large volume guys get innundated with freebies and lots of promotional "crap" (meaning both extra junk and often low quality materials). Once you've got what you need brand the hell out of it with permenant logos. Place them anywhere a retailer might affix a sign or price tags so that they do not all get covered up in the event your rack gets repurposed. I see this all the time when doing tastings and events with retailers.

You can find us here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/harvestspirits?ref=ts Just started our fan page about a month ago

Vaseline. When I used to play hockey that was the only thing that would keep my knuckles from bleeding. Just make sure youre wearing gloves when handling methanol, that can be absorbed through skin contact.

Do any of you package your finished product in an individual box or tube? I was wondering if there was any approval process you have to go through for any value added packaging, just as you have to for label design. A lot of commercial brands use gift boxes and such from time to time but are there any limitations?

from the most reliable place on the internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Vodka "The Royal Dirkzwager Distillery maintains its 125 year legacy by handcrafting Van Gogh Vodka in small batches using a variety of grains, which is a combination consisting mainly of wheat, corn and barley. The vodka is distilled twice in column stills and then a third time in a traditional pot still to produce a vodka of the highest refinement. The copper pot still takes “the bite” out of the alcohol, leaving a smooth finish."

New formatting looks great!

By clicking the below link, you can reach the New York State Legislative Retrieval System. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi In the left drop down box make sure you are selecting “Bill No.” in the search box type in the bill number you are searching for (in this case S2637) in the right drop down box make sure it is on 2009 (You can search legislation for previous years, up to 5 years back as a member of the general public). Check all the boxes below the search fields so you can see the bill texts and the memo that accompanied the legislation. The memos are sometimes easier to read through before you get into the bill text because you will have a greater understanding of what to look for as changes. In addition to this bill being introduced by Larkin in the Senate, the bill has a SAME AS in the Assembly. The bill in the Assembly was submitted by Magee and is number A6393. S2637 Larkin is currently in the Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business Committee. The committee is chaired by (D) Stachowski. One of the bill sponsors, Volker, is also in the committee. A6393 Magee is in the Economic Development Committee, chaired by (D) Robin Schimminger. This bill has no sponsors other than Magee so it is less likely to get out of this committee. However, if it makes it through the senate first it will pick up a couple I’m sure. The fact that these bills have no fiscal implications listed helps improve their chances of getting through committee and onto the floor. Consideration should be made to still send out a mailing from our distilleries to our local representatives and the above mentioned members of state government. I’m really glad to hear that Ralph has been invited to join the NYS Law Revision Commission, but worry that these bills may leave committee before that June 24th meeting date. Most legislation that will be put through for the legislative term is completed before the end of June. It is significantly easier to attempt to stop a new law from being passed than it is to have it removed from the books down the road and I think its better to be safe than sorry. Ralph, do you think you can spearhead a letter summarizing our feelings towards this legislation and involvement of the NY Craft Distillers Guild? We can all sign it and send it out from our respective businesses before the end of the month.

Sean, I'm assuming you're working on your business plan right now. Check out the Census Bureau website for data linked to specific industries in your region. Theres no direct listing for artisan distilling but you can examine trends in related industries like bars and restaurants or retail. Discus also has some trend information on their website but more related to spirits as a whole. Hope this helps a bit. -Bob

Well if it helps to calm your nerves, there are people out there trying to fix things. The Brennan Center at NYU released a great paper in 2006 with not just grievances with state government in New York but courses of correction. Its great to flip through if you feel the motivation. After reading the paper and working in the legislature as an intern, I found it hard to support any facets of our State's government. But hey, what can you do? https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/han....pdf?sequence=1

Uline offers a good variety of retail bags and packaging. To customize them cost effectively, consider having adhesive labels made or using a custom rubber stamper. In addition to being more affordable, you've got more flexibility down the road if packaging needs change. You can make the labels / stamp flexible enough to use in a variety of situations, not just with your gift packaging. The more you have a logo present in front of your buyer and anyone else along the line you are reinforcing your brand. packaging: http://www.uline.com/Cls_22/Retail-Bags-Packaging labels: http://www.printmything.com/t20/Custom-Lab...-Packaging.html (first hit i had on google) custom stamps: http://www.thestampmaker.com/art_logo.aspx you can also have labels and stamps made locally by places like Kinko's, Staples, etc.

Hi All, Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to all of you. I meant to do send a response sooner but midterms are kicking my ass at school right now. I'll be in the clear after this week and I can finally focus on my job hunt and other projects. We had 19 responses to the survey from producers around the country. Thank you all for your participation! I have attached the survey results as broken down in Microsoft Excel. If you need a different format let me know and I will do my best to accommodate. Again, thank you all for the help and I hope you find the data useful! Best, Bob Gin_Survey_Results_10_20_08.xls

Hey Everyone, Thanks for your help so far. I will make sure that each of you gets a copy of the results when they're compiled. In the mean time if you know someone producing gin that isn't on this forum or has not yet seen this post please give them a nudge for me and send them the link. The more data that I am able to collect the more accurate the report and the more beneficial the information will be to you all. Thanks! -Bob

Hi All, My name is Robert Fornasiero and I am a senior studying Business Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. In my Marketing Principles course we are required to study an industry and establish a marketing strategy for an existing business or one that has potential to be created. I've chosen to analyze gin production and your input would be greatly appreciated! If you could respond to my survey it will help my project immensely. I will be more than happy to share my results with you all in a few weeks when they have been compiled. If anyone would like to provide additional input please feel free to contact me. The survey should only take a couple minutes to complete. The survey can be completed through Survey Monkey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Y1IJ...x_2b2tbWA_3d_3d Thanks for all your help! Cheers, Bob

haha, not quite..... 15,000 bills get introduced in the legislature. MAYBE 2,500 will pass by end of term. Sound like effective or efficient governance? I was disenfranchised soon after starting work in the public sector. California and NY lead the pack as the most governmentally dysfunctional states in the US as determined by the Brennan Center at NYU. Regardless, great victory for NY consumers and producers!