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Production times


otismoon

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Very Noob! to distilling and had a question about production time and yearly output of a basic whiskey.

Using the example/diagram from the ADI Craft of Whiskey Distilling on page 30

1. Mash-Lauter 950 gal wash.

2. Ferment 950 gal 9% wash. Also Why use the two secondary tanks for brite beer?

3. Two stripping runs (no plates) in a 450gal wash still. yeilds 290 gal 35% low wines.

4. Three spirit runs in a 90gal still. Head and tail cuts yeilds 100gal 60% hearts for barreling. Say 2 years aging.

5. Dilute to 40% for bottling.

what are the average production time for each step?

and how much could you produce in a month with this equipment setup and process if you're brewing/distilling an average 40 hour work week?

Thanks!!!

page30.pdf

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ahhhh, a 40 hour work week. I remember those.....

ha ha ha ha this guy is funny. I'm not sure I can remember what a 40 hour work week was like. but then again, if its something you're passionate about it hardly seems like work.

950 gallons? who starts off that big? with most of my clients 300 gallons is a pretty ambitious start.

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Just using the 950 gallons from the example in the ADI publication. From there I can scale up or down to get a better idea of output. ViolentBlue... would you have a ball park figure on how many cases are produced annually from your clients that start off with 300 gallons?

And I'm very aware that starting and running any new business requires a LOT more time commitment than 40 hours a week! Just using that number for simplicity.

Thanks!

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Time estimations are a function of experience, trial, testing and energy. As a craft, our processes are simple, ferment and distill, but the road to that end can be very complicated. It is so difficult to answer a question that has a plethora of variables, that many of us can not control because we have to determine what works for us. Creating a fine spirit is different from making ethanol fuel. If you have the "Twinky Reciepe" can you make the excact same product at home? I can't.

How effieient is your still? How much energy will it take to get it to boil? How fast can you condense that vapor? What do you want it to taste like? The best answer to your question is ....

Time = How ever long it takes to make what you want. Now can I get one of those 40 hr...... awww for-get-it.

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Can you guys give him one straight answer? He is obviously looking for a ballpark and no absolutes. So Otismoon figure you can get each run in four hours. Companies like Carl engineer their stills to run about the same length of time for any size. So starting with four hours a run you can tweak this to run faster or slower which is what your previous answers are eluding to without actually saying it. So it does depend, but go with typically four hours and do your math from there. So if all things were perfect which they are not as has been previously stated. In a three day distilling week (two days for marketing, business, etc) you would have time for 6 runs in three 8 hour days. So you could basically run one whole circuit from one fermenter a week and get two barrels of 60 abv, or 100 barrels a year. In a five day work week (assuming you have a partner doing the business stuff while you distill), you would have 10 4 hour runs which would give you the opportunity to run the whole thing twice and double that.

This answer takes into account none of the variables the above advisors are correct to point out, so take this as a purely hypothetical and incomplete picture of the reality of the situation. That said as a ballpark it may be close enough for you needs.

The big question you must begin to ask yourself is can you sell that much? This business is very little about making whiskey (we can all learn to do that) it is about, can you market and sell it? Production potential is a very small piece of the whole picture. I hope this helps.

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The big question you must begin to ask yourself is can you sell that much? This business is very little about making whiskey (we can all learn to do that) it is about, can you market and sell it?

<-- Underestimate this component of the game at your own peril.

Now, on a lighter note, why assume 2 years aging? Don't standards of identitiy mandate 3 years minimum? (I don't age, so I don't know) I would not base any plan on 2 years, but instead base projections on longer aging times, and if you have a great, sellable product after 2 years, treat that as a blessing.

Best of Luck,

-Scott

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Thanks guys!

Rick that was exactly what I was looking for. Just a rough output projection based on the equipment in that example. Very helpful! I've found that time is not properly addressed in the research thus far.

Mash... I do small batch, artisanal twinkies at home. Theyre the bomb! ;-)

Thanks again!

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Scott you are very correct. SID's are not nature based. We ended up quite a longer time than planned for both our rum and rye.

Another mention on still runs, 2 a day or 3 a day, weather 4 hrs or not, our subsequent runs are slightly shorte because the still is hot. Allow for pot cooling time before subsequent runs. You do not want to install alcohol bearing mash into a hot pot. At best, you will lose Alc%. At worst.....Flash.

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Now, on a lighter note, why assume 2 years aging? Don't standards of identitiy mandate 3 years minimum? (I don't age, so I don't know) I would not base any plan on 2 years, but instead base projections on longer aging times, and if you have a great, sellable product after 2 years, treat that as a blessing.

Best of Luck,

-Scott

2 years for a straight whiskey, by statute. You can age for less or more, depending on category, etc.

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  • 7 months later...

An old thread - I know. But as I examined this I became increasingly disturbed by the "page 30" example.

"2000lb of barley malt, producing 33bbl of 9% wash (just under 1000 gallons)."

** 33 bbl is 1023 gallon.

At 9% ABV that's 92 gal of absolute ethanol.

"Fermentation tank ... 950 gal .. of wash"

OK that's 85.5 gal of absolute EtOH(AA).

They do two stripping runs in a 450gal pot still ...

** How do you fit 950gal into two 450g runs ?

The result is 290gal of 35%ABV low wines.

** So now they collect 101.5g of AA low wines from a wash that only contained 85.5g of AA !!!

** That's more ethanol out of the still than went in by ~20% !!

** Then they run the 290g low wines in 3 runs of a 90g still. (3*90 = 270gal << 290g ???)

Not to bite the hand, but several of the numeric examples in that book need rework.

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