Blackheart

I read this and had a thought about a friend and colleague in this industry that fell for this Alibaba thing. As SCD and Steve Cage mentions, they purchased what they believed was the same design. Shiny copper and a big price difference pushed them to buy direct from what they thought was a reputable builder in China. In reality they purchased a disappointing imitation with zero recourse on addressing the many shortcomings post-sale. An expensive lesson learned and I hated when this happened. These guys are friends as well as colleagues and didn't deserve to be done dirty like this. For those of you looking to get into this industry and save some startup equipment money; I would strongly suggest you deal with a supplier that can tell you who their customers are, and let those customers give you honest and earnest feedback. We love the gear our supplier, ASD sold us in 2011. We felt so strongly about they way they supported us from the jump that we've gone back to them three times for each iteration of our growth. We believe in their product enough to help sell it. I think that's a pretty good endorsement. If you're new to this game and are reading this thread to help make some equipment-buying decisions, a few more words of free advice: Go with an outfit that has sold a number of units in the size range you're seeking. They need to have a good track record in the technology they're selling. Multiple iterations of model designs over years is what I'm alluding to. Go with a supplier that can meet your support expectations. If you're new to this game, you're going to need a good amount of handholding/training unless you've hired a consultant to get you up and moving. If you're starting up as a part-timer, expect this handholding need to double. If you think your sales dude in China will be walking you though how to deal with some garbage he sold you, you're setting yourself up for a major disappointment. Another mention of what's been floated here earlier, as the distilling technology (at our scale) advances, and more options are available, continuous columns are a seriously viable option. We're planning our 4th expansion now and that's part of our upfit program (we're excited about adding an ASD continuous column to the operation). It ultimately boils down to price, continuity of manufacture and throughput.

We always use gravity to empty barrels in situ when possible. We bring the tanks up to the barrels on rack (assuming they're stacked high enough), slide in a long silicone hose, stick one end in the receiving tank, prime it, and drain the barrel using gravity. When we get to the dregs, the barrel is easier to handle and we can remove it from the rack, put it on forklift tines, and roll it back over the receiving tank. We then put a strainer over the bung hole and catch the coarse char as the last of the barrel empties.

St. Pats sells one too. Same-ish price. We have used it and love it.

Its sold. Thanks everyone.

We've upgraded, so it's time to find a new home for our bottling gear. Everything is well cared for, gently used and has no problems we can see. A great way to get into a respectable bottling set-up. First come, first served. Enolmaster 4-head vacuum filler PLUS 3-cartridge polishing filter vessel. Used about 3 years. In awesome condition (anyone that knows us knows how we treat and maintain our gear). We recently changed out the tubing to Viton. Sterilized after each use. Great filler for a variety of size distilleries. $3200 for the set. Sold only as a set. New, this will cost you more than $4000 on St. Pats. We will even toss in 3 new 0.22 micron polishing filters. CCR Model C semi-automatic corker for bar-tops. This thing is amazing. We've loved it so much, we went with CCRs automatic line. It's $875 new from CCR. You can have our well-cared-for one for $700. http://designccr.com/corkers/model-c/ ARO II2GDX Air diaphragm pump for moving high-proof spirits. Sanoprene diaphragms, 13 gpm flow, complete with control valve, 4 feet of silicone tubing and 1.5" tri-clamp end attachments. Runs like a top, well cared for, sterilized after every use. $600+ new, take this for $500. http://www.arozone.com/en/products/diaphragm-pumps/compact-pumps/1-2-classic-style-non-metallic.html Bottle-Matic II Labeler. Its a one or 2 label applier. Comes with optional backing winder and foot trigger. Works reliably and consistently. Works good with a tapered bottle, better with a round one. $1900 and its yours. American made, reliable as a mo-fo. Buyer pays shipping. Take it all for $6100 and one sincere hug. Message me offsite at D R at Sixandtwentydistillery dot com

+1 on what 3d0g says. Fill the mash tank the night before and let the chlorine gas off. It's what we do.

We've used them for more than 4 years. They work, are cheap, easy to clean, mobile, and can be replaced if you break them (my dumb ass has). Conipacs work, as do macro bins.

I love the feedback from ya'll. Good points on the many facets of our industry. Thanks for taking the time and guts to detail what's on your minds!

http://www.farmerboyag.com/feed-bins-auger-systems

Annual state boiler inspection required a county mechanical permit to do undergo a simple inspection. $250 job turned into a $2500 job.

So far HB is winning the tasting room picture-off. Beautiful space!

Michael: Just seeing your reply makes me appreciate the feedback people like you put in here. Thanks for adding this well thought out and detailed response.

We're of a different school of thought here. We use g0-ferm for every ferment, grain or not. To us it's a matter of maintaining production consistencies (it's been shown to help, season to season in yield and taste profiles), as well as an insurance policy we wont have a stuck or lagging ferment. Small price to pay for better odds.

Just to add an extra two cents; I would start with checking available sugars (to ensure you achieved a full conversion, and yes I see it was an all malt mash, but this is a habit that can id perhaps other problems), check the pH, raise it to just sub-5 if you can with baking soda or something mildly caustic, oxygenate if you feel saucy (we have used a pvc pipe on an air compressor for a few minutes). Rehydrate yeast, add go-ferm to it, re pitch. This pattern works for us if we ever get something stuck.

+1 on that last contribution. Set aside logic and what you think you know and believe, and be prepared to discuss knowledgably the issues of concern with the folks who issue occupancy/building/mechanical permits. Get smart, listen to any concerns and address them, show them how you're going to stay congruent with the appropriate codes they detail. Visit other distilleries, speak with the owners, and gather more data.

Man, all I can say is that you need to find locations, zoned or otherwise, sprinkled or not, that your local code enforcement people are square with you using. If your occupancy use codes don't match up, if it's gonna be contentious, or if you have to install fire suppression or other hazard mitigation, this is going to affect your business planning significantly. You need to talk to these people (at codes, zoning or permitting) in your county and feel them out. Just a small note: H-3 is great. Find something stand-alone and sprinkled if you can. It'll make getting any subsequent permits (building or occupancy) easier. Granted the enforcement of usage code, permitting, zoning, etc is different for every municipality, but deserves a word of real caution.

I've used and owned bigger; which were slow as hell. Throughput is just slow with these small models and, depending, depending, depending, could add a hell of a lot of time to milling. I had an employee stand in front of mine a few times and realized it was cheaper to put the grain in a truck, unload it at the feed store, mill it, re-bag it, re-load it, put it back in my stillhouse. The small ones can be that slow. On the other hand, if you're doing small weights of grains, maybe even larger batches of botanicals, say under 100lbs, this may be a good option.

Power washers clean every damn thing we have, including furry trench drains. Make the investment and buy a good one. You wont regret it.

Yeah, +3 on this tour size breakdown. Big tours suck, and dont even get me started about biker types that want to make you a poker run stop or some such bullshit. Our SOP is that if you have a group of more than 6, somebody's paying for our time and samples. The exception: classic car clubs that use your place as their meet-up destination. Just the other week we had 60-70 guests and everyone bought at least one bottle.

+1 on what the folks from Honeoye said. If you want to sell (mild) steel racks to this industry, racks made for smaller barrels <30 gallons is ideal. If you make them pallet jackable, even better. We have a carpenter in our shop, so wooden ones for the smaller racks is easy and cheap for us. Making them liftable with a pallet jack was the experimental part that took some time. Also, we can make them semi modular for different sizes.

We love the Barrel Mill. Great products, great service! Use these guys!

Pretty smart way to beat up those botanicals. Kudos for the re-purposing. Where are you? We want to determine shipping cost.

Probably worth a follow up post on our CCR product: Two years and many thousands of corks later it's still doing us proud. Premium materials, premium build, very precise fit and finish made this piece of equipment a good buy. When we upgrade, we will probably see what solutions they have for us.

Suggest reading the home distilling forums.