Foreshot

It's easy: http://highwoodsbrewing.com/diastatic-power.php

So this probably should be a separate post but I think part of the reason we all do different things with our dunder process is that we don't actually know what it does. The big picture, like the 50,000 foot view yes, we have the general idea, but down and dirty, so to speak, we don't. I think if we did we have a more thorough understanding would have better dunder protocols. Is it the germy goo that makes it work? Is it bringing over the byproducts in the dunder that does it? Does it create some biological terroir? Does the season matter (like coolships in beer, or cane season in the Caribbean)? Does fermentation time matter? That being said I only used dunder in the before DSP times. I kept mine for a year or so then I would create a new pit and put a few cups of the previous one in there. I only used a small percent of dunder - normally a cup in 5g after 2-3 days of fermentation. Always made funky good stuff after a 14 day or so fermentation cycle. At that time frame the misses would start asking "What's that smell?".

Hi Guillaume - Welcome! No worries about your English. Ask away about rum, there's several folks on here that make it and make it well. A good source for information is https://www.bostonapothecary.com/

Depending on how you operate: Are you mostly local sales? Bar sales? How much distribution do you have? If you do a search for valuations you'll find several threads on this. The wider reach you have the better the multiple you can justify. Distilleries are quite hard to value. A good rule for a smaller distillery would be similar to a restaurant/bar. A larger one with good distribution follows manufacturing. Mostly simply - 1x Sales or 3-5x earnings. It's pretty hard for any smaller business to get outside those bounds. The best advice that I can give you - no experienced investor is going to care about your valuation. They will come in with their own and you'll have to defend your position. They will know that with local only sales growth will stop. They will also know that distribution agreements are incredibly risky and can collapse overnight. They also know they are paying for what the company is now, not in the future. As an investor any "potential" would get priced out as they know they will have to achieve that growth.

CaptnKB just helped with our move. Super easy & we recommend him. For wood barrels you don't need anything special for moving as they are not considered hazardous (weirdly). Plastic/metal barrels/totes are. You'll need someone that is able to handle that type of load. It's pretty common for a carrier to have the ability to transport them. They do not need to be bonded. Glad to see you're doing well. I've been following you on Reddit/Amaro. I haven't had a chance to try your amari. Next time we visit family on Long Island I'll get some.

https://www.bluelabelpackaging.com Normally a week for us.

Yes. One of the Rudolph folks cold called me a week or two ago. It was one of the things I asked.

They will measure ABV regardless of sugar. The link GBD posted links right to the page with the info on it. Anton Paar's DDM will also do the same.

There a several software packages that will help estimate your ABV. Alcodens will help. In the though the only way to get TTB accurate ABV measurements is via obscuration proof or a very expensive TTB approved ABV meter, as stated above. Of all the crap we deal with as distillers this is the biggest annoyance. There isn't a way around it. We've all tried.

We do maceration for a couple products. If you use botanicals for flavoring you probably will get cloudiness if you don't distill it. Do not sell a cloudy product. No matter what people will tell you to your face no one wants a cloudy product. There's a bunch of options for filtering, all of them will change the flavor, some subtly, some significantly. Clarifying agents, barrier filters, etc. You'll need to test a couple to see what's easiest for you.

Login to PONL: Reports (Top row): TIB. It will give you a PDF of all of your TIBs.

https://www.bluelabelpackaging.com/ They do a lot of the breweries around here. The do our bottle labels. Great products and quick turnaround.

I think it's slightly better than before. Once we get used to it it should be fine. I messed up one form and had to immediately submit an amended form. I do like the PDF preview, that is nice. Things I found: Denaturing Report 5110.43- Displays full state name. Signed date is the day after submittal. Continue button does not ask for confirmation. This is bad for accidentally hitting it. Processing report 5110.28- Doesn't ask for EIN. Signed date is the day after submittal. Continue button does not ask for confirmation. Production Report 5110.4- Displays full state name. Pennsylvania doesn't fit on the PDF display. It displays "Pennsylvan". Displays DSP Plant number without the "DSP-" prefix. Other reports do. Signed date is the day after submittal. Continue button does not ask for confirmation. Storage Report 5110.11- Signed date is the day after submittal. Continue button does not ask for confirmation.

How does it come across? Concentrated horse? Yeah I do the same. Not everything I do works but it leads to something better - even if that better is not repeating what I just did.

Here's a relatively good description of the process: https://www.whisky.com/information/knowledge/production/details/mashing.html It's somewhat predicated on continuously mashing which most of us craft folk don't do.

For your direct question I don't have any advice. For the sparge water in general do what the Scots do and use that sparge water as the first water for the new brew. Then you're not wasting it. Getting 20l isn't really worth the time & energy usage is it?

So what the rule with "flavored"? If you're making the tinctures/extracts yourself is it not just blending? Example (not a real recipe) - I make a 10g orange extract (from zest) and a 1g vanilla extract (from beans) and blend the two I wouldn't need to put "flavored with" would I? We made a Raspberry Gin and couldn't put raspberry flavored on the label as it was distilled with raspberries, not added afterwards. We couldn't put raspberry anywhere on the label. Kinda killed an awesome product. I don't actually care about putting flavored on the label, just trying to figure out the proper TTB way to use in house made stuff.

Any of you folks use tincturing to make anything? Any advice for recording it for the TTB? For some components it would be nearly unmeasurably small amounts. I think it's pretty straightforward in my mind but looking to see if anyone has experience. Also if you think it's a better method for making more complex spirits vs maceration of botanicals together?

@daveflintstone - See if you can make some rum with it. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/01/15/discovery-mysterious-substance-oozing-ground-west-maui-draws-concern

Check out Honeycomb. It's a debt raise instead of equity (Start Engine) or donation (Kickstarter, GoFundMe) based. Donation based is good for small raises, Equity is good for large raises, Debt is the in between. We did it and we were able to raise over $100k. The biggest advantage I see is that debt goes away whereas investors are forever. The team at Honeycomb is really good. They will help you ever step of the way. And if you go with them I can also give you advice. The key is that you need to have a good plan for the money when you get it. No matter who (investor, debt or donation) will want to know what you're doing with the money. Don't let money sit around. That is a waste.

https://premierinnovationsgroup.com/ We're planning on using them when we get big enough. They are from Pittsburgh but work with a group that has a plant in Eastern Europe.

Bump - Make sure you have deregistered everything by Friday. If you don't know how here's info from the DISCUS. Make sure you do it in the correct order. If you don't you'll have to reregister your establishment. Not a huge deal if you mess it up. 1) The first thing you will want to do is delist the drug product. To do this: 1) Login to the CDER Direct Account (https://direct.fda.gov) 2) Click on “Product Listing and Reporting” 3) Click on “Submission Accepted” for the most recently, previously submitted Product Listing 4) Click on “Create New Version” (do not alter any of the information in the Header Details as it is correctly updated for you when you click “Create New Version”) 5) Click on the edit tool (pencil/notepad) next to the Product NDC toward the bottom of the page 6) Change the Marketing Status from “ACTIVE” to “COMPLETED” 7) Enter an End Marketing Date that corresponds to the last lot expiration date 😎 Click on “Save Product” 9) Click on “Submit SPL” 2) After that submission returns as “Submission Accepted” (takes about 15 minutes), then you may De-Register your establishment. To do this: 1) Login to your CDER Direct Account 2) Click on “Establishment Registration” 3) Click on “Submission Accepted” for the most recently submitted Establishment Registration 4) Click on “Create New Version” (do not alter any of the information in the Header Details as it is correctly updated for you when you click “Create New Version”) 5) Change the Document Type to “Establishment De-Registration” 6) Click on “Submit SPL”

So what does it mean? We're paying to different rates for those spirits? How would we keep track of it on the current forms? Or should the originator pay it when they sell it? When does this take effect?

Lucky Sign Spirits, we're in Pgh.