Foreshot

https://reason.com/2019/11/23/california-regulators-shut-down-a-distillery-for-serving-alcohol/

Ladies & Gentlemen - Let's keep this conversation to specifically to the FET & things we know about it. Please use other social media if you wish to opine on other political matters.

If you haven't checked it out view here: https://www.accelevents.com/e/Distillingauction2019

You can also macerate and remove the botanicals that go stew-y before distillation. You'll still get the essence. Botanicals that stay in get dumped in for maceration, botanicals that are removed beforehand are bagged to make removal easy.

We plan on using it for Rum and testing it for other things for the very reasons you mentioned. Lance Shaner from Omega yeasts was giving a talk to a local homebrew group about Kveik. I said everything he said about esters/heat/ABV was exactly what a distiller wanted. He said he was going to work with some of the local Chicago distillers to test it out. Not sure if he did or not.

Looking for bulk peat for a local maltster. Anyone here have a good source?

You can get a gin basket from Still Dragon: https://stilldragon.com/index.php/search/?cat=0&q=gin

Can you do grain in/out? If so is it easy to switch?

If anything you use is not on the FDA's GRAS list you'll need to submit samples. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/generally-recognized-safe-gras Also a good list: https://www.cocktailsafe.org/

Any pics of the area? I was thinking of getting one, would like an idea of the issues I may have to deal with. Thanks.

Ethanol, especially at cask strength, is a very strong sanitizing agent.

Thanks to Dave Dunbar! He submitted my TTB application today. He guided me through all the hoops. Now I'm working on PA and Allegheny County Health Department. I'm not too worried about the state. ACHD is what I am worried about. I have zero clue what they will want. I've never been in the restaurant industry before so I don't know anything about the requirements. I know it will cost me $$, but I'm hoping not $$$$. I'm hoping to be open in November/December. I've been studying, reading and talking to distillers for years now. It's starting to feel real. I'm still building my space out. It should be done by early October.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-whiskey/u-s-whiskey-exporters-struggle-after-year-of-eu-tariffs-idUSKCN1V80DN

https://www.katmarsoftware.com/alcodenslq.htm There's a video how it works. Also it's a free download to test it out.

Bad link

Check out the book "still magic" by Marcel Thompson https://stillmagic.net/. I just ordered it. Has recipes and advice.

First question that always gets asked - where are you located? If you're near Pgh I might be interested.

Also a good resource: https://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/how-to-make-moonshine <- has a link to a video too.

They list many here: https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=14 https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=11 If you haven't distilled before you may want to read this: https://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Beginner's_Guide It's not that people don't share recipes here, it's that they are more commercially based. Meaning batch size is normally a couple hundreds of gallons at a time. For a simple corn mash you can try this one: https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=74316

Look up a 1000-2000 sqft warehouse space near you. That's what it might cost. But how much it costs depends all the factors that Hedgebird supplied. He nor anyone else can give you even ballpark figures because it is all based on local factors. What is costs will vary wildly - urban, suburban, rural. Local government, fire inspectors etc can change that. There's very few easy questions when it comes to distilling and what you are asking isn't one of them.

1. "turquoise floaties" - isn't that a sign of you getting copper sulfate in your distillate? 2. What kind of still is it? I love that statement.

I'm not stating I'm an expert on the fine details of what you are asking, just going off of what my interpretations of the regs are. If you're doing something that is serious you should go to someone like Dave Dunbar who can guide you through those details. Those Regulations are here: https://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam/chapter4.pdf 1. Yes, that would be the Distilled Gin. "DISTILLED GIN: Gin produced by original distillation from mash with or over juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors" 2. Redistillation - flavoring GNS or other spirits with botanicals. 3. Mixed question here - if you're redistilling after maceration then it's Redistilled gin and doesn't need GNS, it can be any spirit. If you don't redistill then it's compounded gin that does require GNS. REDISTILLED GIN: Gin produced by redistillation of distilled spirits with or over juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors COMPOUNDED GIN: Gin produced by mixing neutral spirits with juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors 4. The regulations do not state what type of still is required so any can be used. 5. The still type doesn't matter. If you use a pre-distilled spirit it's redistilled Gin. 6. See 5. Again - there's way more to this than what is above. Dave can guide you through it.

^ That's Gin that is made with a base spirit then you macerate or vapor infuse the botanicals. This how most gins are made. ^ That is more like Genever. The botanicals are mixed in with the fermentation then distilled. As for the other questions as to when to add botanicals or vapor infuse etc - different manufacturers it differently. There is no single way to make gin.

Starting to mess with barrels. What tools would be useful aside from a bung puller and hoop driver? Or other places to look for them? I figure on using a dead blow hammer with the hoop driver and placing bungs. https://barrelbuilders.com/store/ https://www.stortz.com/product-category/cooperage-tools/

That ^ Our industry SUCKS at sharing knowledge on a larger scale. Walk up to a distiller and (s)he'll tell you nearly everything you need to know. Very few people write stuff down in order to share it. We need to be better at that. This forum is a great tool for that but we tend not to get that deep into things. We get stuck with people taking umbrage at perceived slights and ruining threads. (This isn't directed at anyone in particular, we've all done it.) That makes it so we don't share quite as much or as honestly as we could. We get stuck not being able to share our insights as to why we do things or why we think things work the way we do for fear of causing a problem or having someone crap on you. In the end we don't really know why we do what we do. We're just guessing. And that sucks.