MGL

I would imagine growth of unaged whiskey is going down dramatically each year.

Here is the problem. I am a small distillery in an already crowded, and becoming much more crowded by the day industry. I am crowded because the megabillion dollar distilleries are releasing more and more products and brands. I am crowded because the regional megamillion dollar distilleries are releasing more and more products and brands. I am crowded because the local million dollar distilleries are releasing more products and brands. I am crowded because the local equally scaled, ethic and values distilleries are releasing more products and brands. I am crowded because those who don't want the headache of a distillery are releasing more private labeled products and brands. I am crowded because the liquor store owners have no more space for us to grow. As the dollar becomes harder to earn and my costs go up I have no choice but to source from cheaper manufacturers. Shure, 5 years ago I was proud to pay my farmer $0.05 more per pound of corn, but now I simply can't afford it. Heck,. most of my competition uses neutral, so what am I supposed to do? If you think I can make a better product, in less time, with less overhead and have time to actually go sell it, I invite you to come out and try it yourself. Here's the catch, if you can't do it you owe me all your money, your cars, your house and your credit (because that's what the bank will do to me). It's easy for you to armchair quarterback our industry.

To sum this thread up: If you are a brewer, winery or distillery you need to do the following to be craft. Grow your own trees Cut them down yourself Make your own barrels Buy raw land Zone raw land into farm Turn raw land into farm Plow, plant, and harvest seeds by hand Mill them grains by hand with a mortar and pestle Mash them in a butter churn Ferment them using your own harvested and selected yeast. Build your equipment yourself using steel and copper from your own environmentally friendly mines and steel factorys. Distill them using only power from solar panels, wind turbines, or geothermal systems which you built yourself from parts sourced only from other craft renewable energy manufacturers. Use proofing water which you made yourself from only naturally occurring hydrogen and oxygen. Again, sourced from equipment you made yourself. Blow your own glass using silica which you also mined and refined yourself Each label must be hand painted on the bottle by nobody else other than the distiller themself Each cork must be made from your own cork farm, and it must be completely renewable The tamper seal must be made from biodegradable materials which, you guessed it, is also made completely on site. You must self distribute using a bicycle with no more than 10 speeds/gears (>10 speeds makes you a corporate pig) and sell only to mom-and-pop stores. You must be on site for each bottle that is sold by the select liquor stores so that you can explain to each customer how you are completely transparent. When that customer has died of boredom from your story (because they just wanted to buy a bottle of vodka) you must be a paul bearer in their funeral to show that you are comitted to a lifelong relationship with every customer. If you stray from any of the above bullets then YOU ARE NOT CRAFT and are basically lying to your customers and a complete scam artist who is only out there to deceive customers and make a buck.

Someone is angry. Maybe you will cheer up when you start using bulk spirits like your competition is already doing? We make our own whiskey, but the vodka, gin, spiced rum, and liqueurs are all 100% GNS or sourced spirit. If you don't think 9/10 distilleries are doing this, you are absolutely wrong. Shure their website says they are completely craft and grain to glass but if you believe that, you also believe Titos is made by hand in a tiny pot still. Since we made the switch we have higher margins, hired more employees, offer them better benefits and also increased our sales. So why hate on others who actually decided to start making money?

Waste of money = Almost anything new. Everyone is so quick to build out their entire distillery with all that loan or investor money they now have. We have probably saved nearly $100,000 by sourcing quality used equipment. That is $100,000 more in my pocket, $100,000 less debt to pay off, $100,000 less risk, and $100,000 worth of ownership I did not have to give away.

Quoting this again because who cares where it comes from? Some people want to make money. Other people want to distill everything from scratch. I don't troll those who have a different business plan.

Mexico is very strict on what they export. If it's called Agave Spirit it is most likely either sugar cane neutral or grain neutral with less than 50% agave spirit mixed in with it. Tequila is 100% agave, and you will have a harder and more expensive time obtaining it.

Just curious if I understand this correctly. Previously I had submitted COLA for all bottle sizes that we make (50, 375, 750 and liter). Does all the information changed between the two meet "allowable changes"? Or do I need a separate cola for each? Just trying to streamline things. Thanks!

The photo shows a $10 hydrometer without a thermometer in it.

I am not a medical doctor so I don't know all the terms. I have a relative so sensitive to gluten that he has to carry two epi pens with him at all times.

Their recent facebook post says they are getting an impossible 194 proof. What is the actual proof your still makes after temperature and hydrometer correction?

So why argue with them? I have a handful of customers each year who ask if we are GF and I sold just under 25,000 bottles this past year. Are you that upset about losing a handful of customers? I could waste my time trying to convert those dozen or so GF people to buying my brand, or I could go out and sell another thousand bottles for the same effort.

Thanks. When I made my post it had been a few months since I went to your website. How much custom stuff do you make vs what is actually on your website?

whoops

You do not realize that a little gluten can kill people with celiacs?

I don't bother. For us it's worth losing a couple bottles of sales for guaranteeing the safety of our customers. Does it have gluten? Probably not. Can I be absolutely sure? No. Is it made in a facility that has dust containing gluten everywhere? Yes. Am I willing to risk sending a customer to the hospital because I told them something I wasn't absolutely sure about? No, I'll tell them to buy a competitors product that is made with 100% corn before I allow that to happen.

This post is from 2.5 years ago.

I wonder how much longer most distillers are going to keep working long stressful hours while being flat broke. In my area hardly anyone is making any money but they are swimming in debt. How many more years are people going to say "I hope things turn around in 2018" like they said about 2017, 2016, 2015..... I saw a survey of craft distillers. There's way more small ones each year but each small one is selling less. The cost of doing business has not gotten any cheaper so the writing is on the wall. If the small ones were struggling in 2015, they are going to really be struggling soon. The excise tax change doesn't help if you're only moving 50 cases a month.

How many distillers making a few thousand proof gallons could afford the lobbiests needed to pass something like this in the Federal level? Answer: none. That is why the level is where it is.

Who cares where it comes from? How does it taste? How much does it cost? I don't know about you guys, but I'm in business to make money.

How clean of a neutral can you make without it? You will get lots more life running tap water through it than swamp water. Very neutral and your carbon will last a very long time. Very bad neutral (it is surprising how many people make bad "neutral") will require very regular changes.

I'm sorry to offend your expertise mr dhdunbar, but you might want to re-read what you posted as it clearly says treating with carbon is not required.

Where are you getting your information that neutral spirits must be filtered? They do not have to be filtered to be vodka. Reread the reg.

Red line on the deph is completely wrong and you will have a terrible time running the still. That is assuming red is hot and blue is cold.

Correct. The GS1 database is the major reason to use it.