paulNL

More info in fill levels in the EU: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A31975L0107

The "e" symbol tells the consumer that you've filled the bottle to almost exactly the amount as shown on the label. Without the "e" on the label there's a bigger margin allowed. And no, I don't have the "e" symbol on my labels, like most smaller producers of spirits and wines. Not a single consumer or shop has refused my bottles because of this. I've discussed this with a botteling plant, even though they can fill bottles to the "e" specification they said I can leave the "e" off just so I can use the same label design on everything I bottle myself. I don't know the exact margins allowed off the top of my head, but if you can't find it I'll try to help you.

@indyspirits - it's computer controlled, so it starts heating up during the night and keeps a safe temperature (below boiling) if it took less time than anticipated. Ready to start distilling in the morning!

Definitely have a look at iStill. 5000L fully automated still that does anything from a simple potstill up to 96% ABV in one go, excellent service and even better training. Highly recommended.

Can't see why not, depending on the volume of spirits to be produced a one-person distillery is certainly possible. Heck I do all the production work mentioned in my own distillery and these things as well: product development, sales, marketing, management, finance... 😁

indyspirits, how much botanicals do you use? 40g per liter or per US gallon? 40g/l would be too much, 30g-32g/l about the max. Heads cut <1% of boiler content, in fact I normally take around 0,5%. Total alcohol that ends up in the bottle is 90% of what I started with, I stop collecting hearts when what comes out of the still is at 45% ABV / 90proof. Bottled at 42% ABV / 84 proof, no problems with clouding. Lots of taste. Question: is there a possibility that you just distill too fast, and therefor get too much smearing? I sometimes did...

@indyspiritsIt depends - I know there are people in the UK who can get 200A 240V (48kW) single phase at home, that would take a few hours but as long as you program your still to start heating up in the early morning it will be fine. And as a business you can get a bigger connection of course. I use a "tiny" 3phase 63A feed in my distillery in NL which is roughly the same power, that has proven to be enough for a 2000L (528 gallon) directly heated electrically still. If I need more power I'll just have to order an upgrade...

Regarding still size - 400L stripper and 100L still for spirits runs is not a lot if you do your own ferments, might have to think about roughly doubling both. If you make spirits from GNS on the other hand a 400L still is huge, that's hundreds of 0.7/0.75L bottles every production day. In that case it might be better to get a 200L still or smaller and put some more money in the marketing budget to actually move those bottles...

Hardly any distributor will know the labeling requirements, they don't make labels (or bottles for that matter). That's the producers job. And it isn't a very difficult one in Europe.

First thing which you should read is EU regulation 110/2008 as it discribes what kind of spirits you can make and what name to put on them: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32008R0110 And after that look at regulation 1169/2011 for rules about labeling. Without a doubt there's some Italian website which condenses all this info and also tells you what (if any) symbols to add related to recycling of bottles, discouraging drink driving and consumption by pregnant women. This does vary by country, like the text that tells the ABV. And make sure there's a barcode on it that follows the rules, even many smaller liquor stores have scanners nowadays. EDIT: forgot to mention COLA, we don't have something like that. You don't need to get your label approved. It should follow the rules. Best regards, Paul.

You might want to tell in which state (or which country!) you are... "It depends".

That still sounds like a lot of money, I pay less than 1 EUR (1.19 USD at the moment) for boxes of 6 including the partition in the Netherlands. That's for a custom sized box, white on the outside, inside brown. 1260 boxes. Can't imagine cardboard being more expensive in the USA.

15% of the sales price? Like VAT is calculated? That seems strange, I thought most countries base the excise for spirits on the amount of ethanol present.

The Snap 50 has been succeeded by the Snap 51, however accuracy and repeatabillity haven't changed AFAIK.

Mosaic, you might want to look at iStill (www.iStill.eu), they have fully automated stills which can do everything from potstill up to 40 redistillations for vodka at the touch of a button. And with the optional agitator and heat exchanger you can also mash in the same unit. Four day training (in English) can be followed at their Amsterdam training center.

San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles... Those seem to be the important ones as seen from the other side of the Atlantic. Google is your friend!

Err... The reasons for being near flowing water is obvious isn't it? Free water for cooling and cleaning, and if the quality is alright also for mashing and diluting. And if you put a water mill in also free power... I've got an electronic archive with around 70 old books (>10yr, up to 500yr) about distilling, including a few which are pre-1900 and in English - but they might come from the UK or somewhere else in the English speaking world. Just send me a message and I'll sort and share 'em with you.

Hello Thatch, my 2c: although in a completely different country (NL) I face the exact same issue over here. Am allowed to sell to bars, restaurants and liquor stores. The two main things I've learned in the last year are: - a. only go after companies that sell drinks in your price bracket (in my case 55 USD a bottle average retail price; so that's Michelin starred restaurants and specialty liquor stores) and - b. try to find some "ambassadors" who can introduce you (in my case several well-known chefs and a sommelier who worked at ** starred restaurants) Once you meet people immediately become friends with them on LinkedIn and FaceBook so once people look you up they see you know many of their colleagues. One more thing: try to find out what the typical markup is, so ask someone you know in a liquor store or a bar/restaurant (different) for the formula they use to go from purchase price to sales price for a bottle or a glass. Paul.

The one I have is only available in the EU, but an almost identical one is sold in the US for almost exactly the same price. I think it's called the Zap Labeler. Just Google "site:adiforums.com manual labeler" and you should find a suitable product. The roller on the front of the machine (nearest to you) should be adjustable, left side should be set a bit further out for a bottle that's smaller at the bottom (which goes on the right side, so the top of the bottle is pointing to the left).

I use a similar round bottle which is smaller at the bottom, couldn't find any semi automatic labeler <5K USD that can work with that. In the end I bought a 500 dollar manual labeler, that works fine. Do remember that you can't have a label that goes around (almost) the whole bottle, but you'll be fine with a conventional front and rear label. For square bottles I'm going to buy the AP550, at the moment I apply them by hand.

I don't think it's wise to put 65% ABV alcohol into the boiler for your gin run anyway...

Primera AP550e

One other way to start small but plan for growth is doing the production yourself, find a botteling plant and get pricing from them (but don't use 'em yet!), and buy the bare minimum botteling equipment. This way you can start cheaply, if business picks up speed you distill many times a week and outsource the botteling while waiting for your bigger still to arrive... This is exactly what I'm doing, space is limited but once I grow I move out the empty and filled bottles and boxes and will have no problem installing a 500 gallon or bigger still which makes one hell of a lot of gin per day... If I outgrow that there's enough money to buy a bigger building without getting a mortgage

Errr... So you're saying with the current interest it isn't profitable, and it won't be profitable unless a possible buyer can get considerably cheaper (or free) financing? Just askin'

Hi, anyone else noticed that every time you go to "Unread Content" and read a few articles one article that you've already read shows up again? I read everything from the end of April 2017 but since a week or so I keep seeing postings from July and beginning of August again and again, just one or two each time Paul.