will

Todd, This is entirely dependent upon you, the creativity of your marketing, the distributors you work with, all that stuff. While 800 to 1200 cases is entirely reasonable, nothing like this is ever a given. Then again, 120,000 cases is possible if you strike the right chord, partner with Cap'n Jack Sparrow, and get Disney behind you. Good luck, Will

yep. consider the liebig. it has two chambers. the inner chamber is the center tube usually carrying vapor. the outer chamber is usually flooded with water. in condensing vapors, contact area is the most important thing. vapor velocity is the second. consider the area of the inside and outside of any tube. the outside has more area. by running the liebig "inside out," we improve contact area considerably, and get the added benefit of the additional area that's the inside of the outer chamber (that's in contact with air). any area that's below the condensation temperature of the vapor adds value to the performance of the condenser. finally, when you consider the cross-sectional areas of the two chambers, it will be clear that the outer chamber has SO much more area, that therefore, for a given mass flow, the vapor velocity in the outer chamber will be much lower. simple, eh? good luck flippin' your liebig, will

Well said. Now that we've all got our sphincters in alignment, the simplest, safest thing you can build uses this recipe: Grundy, copper steam coil, swan, shotgun. Done. Good luck, Will p.s. both shotguns and liebigs work best "inside out."

My first reaction was: "gee, you don't even know what tools to use, how can you be considering the design of a pressure vessel?" After that, I noticed the line that reads: "A continuous for "filler". Which made me want to ask: "have you ever seen a continuous still?" ...and it went downhill rapidly after that, with questions like: Do you know how much wash it takes to feed even a small continuous still? Do you have staff to operate 24/7" Can you fund just the energy cost? And at the end of the day, can you compete with ADM and MGP on price? So, upon reflection, i found that this was a bad little idea, so I spanked the idea and sent it back inside for more consideration. Good luck with that, Will

Bad idea. (spank - spank) Consider a used still. Good luck, Will

cite the statutes for me in each state, and provide links to the text for me. you can do that privately if you wish. if the states worded their statutes or regulations using the same terms used by the feds, then "production" means the making of alcohol from sugars, and "processing" means everything else...flavoring, filtering, bottling, etc. in other words, if they said "production" alone, then that likely excludes "processing" ... which would mean that you could do as much of that as you want. anyway, i'll be happy to read over your shoulder.

Here's an interesting twist. 60,000 or 5000, which is better? Depending upon how a law or regulation is crafted, the correct answer may be the 5000 gallon state. If that state permits only 5000 gallons to be produced in order for the distillery to remain in the "micro" category, but makes no limit on how many gallons of spirit produced by other distilleries can be purchased for use in packaging operations, then the 5000 gallon state may be just fine because there's really no functional limit on how many bottles can be produced and sold....and in case you haven't noticed, that's where the money is. So, just because something sounds like a good deal, doesn't mean it is a good deal. If I had to operate distilleries in two states, I would spend all of my time driving between them. Good luck, Will

Notwithstanding other considerations, (1) get different lawyers, (2) the laws of Michigan pertain to operations in Michigan, and the laws of Illinois pertain to Illinois operations. Many of the bigs have operations in multiple states. So, form different entities (probably full C-corps) in each state, and be forthright with each state on your applications, indicating your interest in each of the companies. Remember that in order to receive remuneration from an entity, you need only be a consultant, not an employee or owner. You may find that it's to your benefit to own one company and provide guidance to the other. Depending on your state, you and your wife may also be different entities. In some 3-tier states where you can't be a producer and also a retailer, a husband can be one, while the wife is the other. Good luck, Will

Jonathan, Exactly the response I thought you'd get. Will

Dave, Since you're in Hawaii, I'll mention that one of the guys on Maui was selling direct to consumers over the internet, and that appeared to be consistent with Maui regs, but the regulators forced him to stop. I never asked him for the details, but it had been a significant source of revenue for him...he was bummed. California regs specifically say that a producer can sell to an un-licensed person out of state so long as the product leaves the State within some period of time (like 30 or 60 days), and no excise tax is required to be paid. The trouble with the situation is that other regulations require licensees to act in accordance with laws of other states as well, and that's a can of worms. Each state has different regulations on imports, and FedEx does a fair job of explaining the situations HERE under International. Good luck, Will

Pete, Two fine points: First thing to consider when using barrels other than the standard 53 gallon bourbon style barrel is the surface to volume ratio. Smaller barrels have more surface exposed to the spirit, so color and flavor additions proceed more quickly, while other aging processes that may be simply time dependent, and cause compounds to break-down or join together, continue at a normal pace. This will lead to a result that is not identical to aging in standard sized barrels for longer periods. Likewise, other shortcuts such as the addition of oak chips and charcoal also push the process in an un-natural way. This should not discourage you from using smaller barrels and/or amendments, just know in advance that the results you get may be out of balance with what you expect. Also, when you find a process that you like, it's not likely to scale-up as you expect. Second, from a Standards of Identity point-of-view, producers here in the US are held to the US standards of identity, while producers from elsewhere are held to their own standards. So, when a consumer picks-up a bottle of "Whiskey Distilled from a Rye Mash" made in the US, he's holding something that was put-up in used cooperage, and contains at least 51% rye grain. If a Rye Whiskey were to be made in Canada, it could simply say "Rye Whiskey" with the words "Product of Canada" elsewhere, and it might not have any rye in it, so long as it tastes like it does. Interesting, eh? So, with both of those thoughts in mind, if you were able to find small barrels that have had some of the flavor and color leached-out by previous use, your end result might be more pleasant. It's easy to allow the oak to over-power the more delicate flavors from the grains. Good luck, Will

Joe, Just reflecting on what my good friend Absinthe Pete has observed from the picture. You can't run raw mash, only strained beer, because your fill and dump valves are too small. That's fine, but you'll probably change that in the first days of use. There's no reason to waste time fillin' and dumpin'. On the subject of the lyne arm, if the hose is 1/2 inch, then you have to get down to that at some point, and 1/2 inch should be okay for a still of that size, especially if it's blowing into a thump keg. If your kettle does not contain chunks, then you can't puke hard enough with a hat like that to do any damage...but that's why the old boys used rye batter to seal-up their stills - if they had a problem, it would just take itself apart gently. Your still looks great, I really like it. Don't change it just because some old guy with a grey flat-top thinks thumpers are a pain in the ass. I'll bet him $50 that you'll like it just fine. It's going to be a money-maker. Good luck, Will

Joe, My vote is: don't do anything until you run it at least once. If you're going for "authentic" then stick with authentic. A dephlegmator and packing will allow you to achieve a higher proof on a single pass, but with the shape of your still's head, you'll probably find that reflux is quite imperfect. Without packing, condensate will drip back to the kettle, and that simply wastes time. A thumper is a special case of a plate. Although I have no direct experience with a thumper, first, I would trust the writings of the old farts, second, I would expect that if the thumper is sized and filled to match the size of the power plant, then you'll get exactly what you're looking for...good 'shine. Will your state allow you to pour tastes? How about sell small quantities to retail customers? If yes on either, with your location and foot traffic, you should have plenty of fun. Good luck, Will

Answers to these and many more questions can be found in something that precedes the internet by several centuries: books. This forum is not your only source of information about distilling. Start with your local library, then, after you've read all their scientific material, try the local college libraries. Once you're done with that, you can get back on the internet and find more books both at ABE.com and Amazon's used books section. Finally, Google Books has some sparse information about brewing and distilling...and it's right here on the internet. Most of us have jobs, and we're pretty busy. We really will answer your questions, but they should be the kind of questions that indicate you're serious, and you've made a commitment to the craft by doing a little bit of independent research...first. Good luck, Will p.s. steam coil stills should not be overlooked. p.p.s. most stills, when first fabricated, have NO PREVIOUS alcohol experience.

we use a small diaphragm pump from ingersol rand. the challenge with selecting a pump is that if you're moving spirit, all the explosion hazards are at play. using something non-electric, and groundable is a good idea. another wilden should work just fine.

The 13-digit sequence is an EAN barcode. It's similar, used everywhere except the USA, and should be readable in most stores using UPC barcodes. There's also a UPC barcode setup of some sort that's for cased goods - it includes a code for the item count - as I recall. The only downside to using a barcode from an organization other than GS1 is that you may not be able to sell at Kroger, Walmart, and Macys....and that list may grow. The only downside to using a self-generated barcode is that someone else may get a legal right to that code, and that may be confusing/troublesome in the future.

...or just buy what you need from NationwideBarcode.com you can read about NWB v.s. GS1 HERE 100 barcodes for $175, and no annual fees. good enough for me.

Our little stills came from United Glass Technologies We got a whole bunch of stuff, but the 89501-005 is pretty close to what we use. Everyone should have one of these. Good luck, Will

George, Anton-Paar also sells another gizmo that works with the alcohol meter thing to tell you the % alcohol of a liqueur. it doubles the price. The procedure is mentioned in 30.31 et seq of the Gauging Manual In 30.31©(1) they're prescribing a procedure similar to 30.32© which basically says that if you distill a sample of known quantity and temperature in a lab still until the kettle side contains nothing but a small bubbly mass (the sugar), then all the alcohol is in the distillate from the sample. Now, if you add pure water to the distillate until the volume and temperature are the same as what you started with, then you have replaced the sugar with water, and now the proof of the distillate can be measured in the normal manner. Restoring the distillate temperature to the original temperature is important because you can't know the actual volume accurately at any other temperature, so a water bath is generally required for this test as well as a simple bench still. Once you get accustomed to doing these "burnoffs" you'll use them for anything that contains stuff other than common alcohol. The burnoff method is also valid for quantities of sugar less than 6g/L. Compliance with all laws and regulations is required, and those that are alcohol specific are HERE. Good luck, Will

Dick, This bottle is around $2 in small quantities (around 50 cases), and is made by just about everyone who's making spirit bottles. It's known by many names, Oslo and Nocturne (by Saver and Bruni) being the most common. The trick is Todd's situation - needing bottles (I presume) for product development. Bruni has these in their "stocking" program, and single pallets are available on short notice from their Benicia, CA location. Good luck, Will

Todd, Where do you need them? I may have a surplus of an "identical" bottle by another maker. Will

From the COLA Registry: USA: https://www.ttbonline.gov/ALFD/publicViewImage.do?id=00196000000072 CA ONLY: https://www.ttbonline.gov/ALFD/publicViewImage.do?id=00133003000002 I've not seen the California Only labels - but I ain't been lookin'. Also, I have no idea whether these labels refer to similar products.

25175 of the ABC act indicates whiskey shall be 3yo or older...but you should read it. There are some exceptions listed. It also may be a section that they have no interest in enforcing so long as the product is labeled for sale in That section has to do with packaged products, so you can likely produce whatever you want, but you might not be able to sell it in CA. Good luck, Will

Dave, This looks like a bordeaux wine bottle, not a spirit bottle. Am I reading the drawing correctly - fill-line is about 16mm below the top of the bottle? That might cause a problem of insufficient headspace when the contents are not at 60F. Is it designed for wine or spirits? What's the country of origin? What's the ship from ZIP code? Will

...and when you regain your perspective, you'll find that they are very professional - to the point that they care about the accuracy of task they perform without regard to external influences, including the time and money you're bleeding while they get around to it. that's true for all government agencies at every level. you should plan for that. they treat everyone exactly the same way, except in one instance...if you piss them off, you'll get special treatment. the beatings and floggings will continue until morale improves. will