infinibev8

What other design flaws are you referring? We've got one of your stills in my operation...still have issues with flooding in the second column when we do vodka runs. Makes it hard to maintain purity at a decent collection rate. From some previous reading in the forum seemed people have tapped a hole in the return tube where it makes a 90 deg turn down towards the bottom of the kettle...we gave that a go but didn't solve. Would appreciate any additional feedback. We tried calling you about a year ago about it but didn't get too much help on suggestions.

Dehner, how much for you to fab one of those mixers for me? Does the shaft remove to clean or just spray it down?

Hello everyone. So, if all goes according to plan I should be in a new facility by June 2016. I'm doing my best to think of all the things I really need to set us up for success and growth at the new location... While sticking to a budget. To give you an idea of where we are and where we're going: current facility is only 2,000 square feet production and storage plus a super small 400 some square foot tasting area. New facility is about 2,300 square feet production and storage plus 4,000 square feet tasting area that includes decent sized private room and outside patio as well as the ability to throw open the garage doors, block off the parking lot and frontage road for events or block party. So my question is for everyone out there that expanded, moved, etc... What is something you definitely would have changed, designed, or in general done differently? Also, what is the best feature you are very thankful you included? Looking for any and all input. The more ideas and opinions the better! For me, the biggest improvements I know I'll definitely be incorporating is 1) outside seating, 2) private room for rental, 3) 14'+ ceilings height, 4) floor drains. There are some other things I think would be a nice feature to make my life easier (such as ceiling drop down air and electric lines) but we'll see how my bank account looks in the spring... Thank you ahead of time for everyone's input. With your help and feedback this should be a great move... As long as we don't forget to install the floor drains! Thanks,

Hello everyone. I've been browsing through the forums for few years now but have yet to introduce myself. So, my name is Matthew. My winery and distillery is Infinity Beverages. Been officially operating as a winery since 2010 with first products releasing 2011. Took the leap and left corporate America end of 2011 to run our new Tasting Lounge when it opened 2012. At this time is when our DSP was also approved. So for couple years I not only made all the wines and spirits but ran our Tasting Lounge 5 days a week (alongside all the other things that many here are all too familiar with that come with running our daily operations). Last two years I've brought on employees and Infinity is really starting to get traction here in the Chippewa Valley--although there is still so many ppl that still have never heard of us! Wrapping up an expansion for end of spring 2016 so we can keep up with demand. Looking forward to meeting everyone and helping each other out!

You do not need to supply a formula for every COLA submitted. So long as your product falls within the normal standards of identity you won't need a formula--I've never needed one yet.

Completing the form is pretty basic and the more vague you are the better (in my experience). http://www.ttb.gov/forms/f511038.pdf

...didn't even end up needing to submit a formula although they said I would need to initially. Like a said...what a joke.

Just got Fed approval on both versions two days ago! What a joke...

Looking for some insight and resolutions from anyone that has experienced the same situation... Currently working (more like forcing!) a whiskey COLA approval through. I teamed up with a local brewery to make the beer and I distilled it to produce a whiskey. To reflect this I stated "Distilled from full flavored craft beer" and TTB is not having it because the word "beer" shows up on a "distilled spirit" product. So they are requesting a formula approval. I explained that it is merely distilled from a beer mash just like any whiskey albeit a particular kind of beer mash (chocolate oatmeal stout beer mash and doppelbock beer mash). They want the formula approval (which I don't want to wait around for, of course) to decide whether it should be classified as a whiskey or a distilled spirit specialty product. Seems absurd since it is "Spirits distilled from a fermented mash of grain at less than 95% alcohol by volume, etc etc" just as defined by regulation. The mash of grain is called a distiller's beer so I'm not sure why they're looking at it as if I've done something ridiculous and added beer to a whiskey. Anyways, I see Corsair has their Oatmeal Stout Whiskey with a statement "Distilled from an Oatmeal Stout Distiller's Beer" so I'm going to try and reword it like that. It seems Great Lakes Distillery did something similar by teaming up with a brewery nearby using their pumpkin lager and they've got a statement of "Spirits distilled from grain and pumpkin with spices and natural flavors" which seems they had to go the distilled spirits specialty route. However, a distilled spirit specialty product is stated in the BAM as "Generally, any class and/or type of distilled spirits that contain or are treated with flavoring and/or coloring materials and/or nonstandard blending or treating materials or processes" which doesn't apply to a simple distiller's beer mash as I did none of the listed items. So, that is my rant. Curious how anyone else may have listed the Class/Type for a similar situation, if any. I imagine it'll eventually get approved as a whiskey since the formula will show 50%+ of the ingredients are malt and barley...so perhaps I should just suck it up and wait for the formula...but then again it always rubs me the wrong way on how self-righteous TTB can be... Thanks for any and all help, suggestions and comments!

I'm in the process of designing our first screen printed bottle design for a whiskey line that'll release later this year. So, I'm looking for any suppliers you'd recommend (or not recommend). Since I'm located in the Midwest I'm leaning towards working with Loggerhead Deco outside of Chicago. Anyone work with them before? Good or bad experience? Was the printing good quality with no defects? Did they stay under the 3% loss? Did you receive the finished product in the desired/agreed timeframe? Truly appreciate any responses, suggestions, and referrals--can't reprint screen printing so looking to ensure we get it right the first time by working with reputable businesses! Thanks ahead of time everyone!

Sounds like we're using a very similar setup. However, in my opinion, you are going to definitely want a larger fermenter. I have the same size boiler but ferment my wash in 275 gallon totes (~235-250 gallons of wash). Only takes 10 days to strip the entire tank and another day or two to spirit distill. So, with that in mind, get a larger fermenter. I have more than one so while I'm stripping down the first I can start fermenting another to be ready when the first is done. Course we've got lots of tanks for our winery operation too. Also, I filter out most of any solids so I don't have any scorching going on. Little extra expense but for a direct heat setup it is worth it. Best of luck!

So you just went with a straight medium toast, no char? Just clarifying. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply James. Like most, I'm planning to taste periodically over the entire six months to monitor the oaking progression. I was under the impression that charring would result in more "wood" flavors and less vanilla and caramel flavors you'd get from toasting. Perhaps I'm recalling my info incorrectly...I'll have to find where I read that. Assuming that charring would result in more "wood" flavor, however, is most of the reason as to why I'm considering just a toasting and no char. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my assumptions. Thanks!

I've got a new project underway: a whisky distilled from full-flavored craft beer. I'm teaming up with a local brewery for the mash/wash. Working on the stripping runs as I type. Really excited about this project, however, it is my first go using oak barrels... My goal is to produce a whisky with a flavor profile more reminiscent of the beer from which it was distilled rather than being oak dominant. With this goal I'm currently intending on using 15 gallon medium toast barrels. The hope is this will allow for a rather quick oaking (~6 months) that is still apparent but subtle. Since my goal is to leave the beer from which the whisky was distilled as the dominate flavor profile I'm going with a med toast barrel rather than charred. Sounds like many craft whisky distillers are using charred oak barrels and hence that is why I'm seeking opinions in regards to my project. I'm thinking a charred barrel would bring too much oak into the spirit. Shouldn't need the charring to clean up the spirit either as the cuts are being made very conservatively. So, what is your opinion? Should I go the route of a toasted barrel or utilize a charred barrel? I appreciate any and all opinions/insight. Thanks!

I've got a new project underway: a whisky distilled from full-flavored craft beer. I'm teaming up with a local brewery for the mash/wash. Working on the stripping runs as I type. Really excited about this project, however, it is my first go using oak barrels... My goal is to produce a whisky with a flavor profile more reminiscent of the beer from which it was distilled rather than being oak dominant. With this goal I'm currently intending on using 15 gallon medium toast barrels. The hope is this will allow for a rather quick oaking (~6 months) that is still apparent but subtle. Since my goal is to leave the beer from which the whisky was distilled as the dominate flavor profile I'm going with a med toast barrel rather than charred. Sounds like many craft whisky distillers are using charred oak barrels and hence that is why I'm seeking opinions in regards to my project. I'm thinking a charred barrel would bring too much oak into the spirit. Shouldn't need the charring to clean up the spirit either as the cuts are being made very conservatively. So, what is your opinion? Should I go the route of a toasted barrel or utilize a charred barrel? I appreciate any and all opinions/insight. Thanks!