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Which scales are you using ? Are your tanks bolted down for seismic reasons ?

Most of the peaty smell will come towards the end, so taking cuts is trickier than unpeated malt, because you can't just cut off early and discard the feints. With just 15% peated malt it'll be even harder figuring out the hearts to tail cut. You might want to take multiple cuts and then combine them to figure out where the actual cut should be. If you are doing a smaller pilot run, you could do what Old Portero did when developing their rye. They took cuts in mason jars and combined to figure out when to cut.

I was wondering how most of the folks measure the quantity of spirits during the process for reporting to TTB ? We were planning on using level sight gauges in the tanks, but were told that it is better to have the tanks on industrial scales. Would welcome your thoughts on what has worked for you.

Dave, Thanks again for your reply. I knew that they wanted a consent signed by the owner. I guess if we sign the sublease, we should put in a clause that the actual owner will provide consent for the use as DSP.

dhdunbar, Thanks for the detailed and very informative reply. We have been talking to the local authorities, and have found some cities friendlier than the rest. So we know which cities we could get an approval (non CUP) in 1-2 months if the sprinkler density and zoning and adjacent occupancy (and the phase of the moon) all align. While 1-2 months might work with the landlords, the 6-7 months was a real sticking point for most landlords.

I know the TTB needs some paperwork filled out by the owner for a DSP. Are there any complications if the space is subleased ? Regards, Virag

Hi, I wanted to know if there have been cases where the TTB permit did not get granted. We are considering signing a lease without an out clause if TTB permit is not granted. The real estate market is the bay area has been really tight, and for any reasonable place, there are lots of prospective tenants who don't have such contingencies. We have lost out on a couple of spaces because we wanted an out clause and the landlord had other applicants without any contingencies. We have clean records, no tax issues, and can show funds for the distillery (possible reasons why TTB might not grant a permit). Just trying to figure out what the risk or chances of an application being denied might be. Regards, Virag

Mike, Thanks for the information. So even with the low profile 4" racks, you can't get 5 barrels below 12 feet (to avoid going into high pile storage) ? I'll reach out to you to come check out the racks.

I am trying to figure out whether to use 4" (low profile) racks or 7" (standard height) racks and had two questions for folks who might be using them 1. How hard is it to get a sample from a barrel in 4" rack with another barrel above it ? What is the typical gap between them ? 2. If we want to keep the height to below 12 feet (for fire reasons), how many barrels can we stack with the standard (7") or low profile (4") racks ?

Country Malt Group has 1 gal and 5 gal sizes for something very similar to Ferm Cap

Thanks. We'll be lautering so our main concern is liquid COD/BOD

That works if you have farmers close by. In suburbia here we are out of luck We'll have to pay to have the spent grain taken to a compost pile too, but that's not that much.

What are you making ? That sounds like a bourbon grain bill. But then you shouldn't be putting your corn through a lauter tun. You need to keep the corn separate from malt initially as you cook it at higher temp to gelatinize it (that temp would denature the enzymes in malt). Then cool it and add the wort from malt to convert your sugars.

What is your usage per day ? You can get a 75 gpd system for about $125 at hydroponics stores or Amazon

It'll be 100% accurate only at that temp. Choose where you make one of the cuts as the calibration point ?

Thanks for the feedback. The surcharges are for lbs of COD and TSS. But I suspect TSS is easier to manage with filtration. Since the COD/TSS costs are per pound, spreading it out over larger volumes by diluting doesn't help. Our pH is just about right, so adding backset will drop it too low. Ozone looks like an interesting option, is anyone using it, or have recommendations for a solution. We are planning to distill with the yeast for a fuller flavor, so what we'll get in the end is a brown bread/yeast smelling pot ale. Wondering if the boiled yeast will actually settle, or if there are some options to do encourage it to flocculate. There seem to be aerobic treatment units for $5-6K, which'll process a daily volume of 500 gals each. They don't smell like anaerobic digesters. Has anyone tried them for pot ale ?

Thanks, good point about needing to run the chiller when other equipment is not running. We were planning on a large chilled water tank anyway so a we could cool 450 gals of wort with a smaller chiller sized more for the stills.

Do you process your spent wash/pot ale/spent lees before discharging it down the sewer ? I am looking at the sewer rates here in California, and the COD load surcharge (based upon the expected COD load of 46,000 mg/liter) will add 10x to the cost of just discharging water.

This is all being done by your contractor, and the gas company is just connecting the pipe, and the meter, correct ? I am talking to them about this option too.

Scrounge, Thanks for the lowdown. I talked to their second line of representatives (you have to wait 2-3 days for a callback), but didn't get into detailed usage, as they wanted me to submit an application to engineering for a property I haven't yet leased. I am hoping that they'll cut me a similar break on the gas side based upon usage.

Pete, Thanks for the suggestion, but not sure how that would work with the low NOX requirements they have over here

Yes, the line is small. I was hoping they could run a higher pressure through it rather than .25 psi. Basically the cost covers replacing the service line from the main on the street to the meter, and included trenching. I am now looking at the option of another contractor doing the trenching like Huffy2k

So you/your contractor are doing the trenching, and the gas company is covering the line of street excavation ? I had budgeted upto 10K for gas, are you going over that ?

We've been looking at suitable sites, and found some sites which are perfect (sprinklered, heavy power, zoned industrial) but don't have a big enough gas line. The existing line to the meter would only support about 400,000 BTU/hr, not enough for a proposed 1.5 M BTU boiler. When I called PG&E, to check on the property, they told me it could cost $60,000 to upgrade the existing 1/4" 0.25 psi (7" Water) line to the meter. I am just reeling in shock. Any body else had to upgrade a line ? What did you pay ?

Marketplace on NPR did a segment on the business of whisky and the hardships of starting up. Bill Owens was featured there, challenging new distillers to get their doors open within two years