CountySeat

BSG is pretty good. Fairly good selection of malts at reasonable prices and easy to work with. They had a list for craft distillers.

Thanks! How long do your panela ferments take to ferment dry with the DADY? Are you keeping any temperature range or PH range?

For anyone who uses sales rep, what do you typically pay them in terms of a commission per bottle? We're not there yet but I am trying to get an idea of what the going rate is for someone to establish local accounts, maintain those accounts and possible make deliveries (or we can have someone do it for them).

I've heard no higher than 50% ABV. We are typically in the 30-35% range. I've done higher than that but never over 50% ABV. I know of at least one distillery that is doing much, much higher than that for redistilling NGS for gin with direct element heat. They didn't seem to think it was an issue but I wouldn't do it. Depending on the parameters of your mash and the way you strip, you shouldn't need to dilute too much to get it down to a reasonable ABV for a spirit fun if you are trying to preserve flavor.

Here you go. Contact Janie. Her contact info is also contained a few posts up in this thread. Janie Cantrell LASER - ON PRODUCTS branded distillery & barware products janie@laser-on.com 844-837-1515 Toll Free

Does anyone store high proof spirits in HDPE? We are considering some tanks for very short term storage - a week or less - but with high proof spirits - 95% ABV. Safe? Flavor transfer risk? I see Jedd Haas's post which indicates its probably OK but wanted to check and see if anyone is doing it.

Where did you get the stamp and ink? That would probably be a good look for us as well.

Thanks, Max!

Any specific brands of filters people recommend? We are planning to do the 5 & .5 micron in series and use water filter cartridges with replaceable filters. We plan to filter approximately 100 gallons at a time. Thanks.

We have samples from Laser-On and just put in an order. Pretty affordable and good quality. Very easy to work with. We also have samples from Crystal Imagery in PA which are a little bit nicer but a significant price jump. We may end up ordering some from them but not sure yet. To answer the OP's question, we have a sample of a stainless steel and leather flask from Laser On. Both are pretty nice but we went with a small order of the leather flasks which are really sharp looking.

Can anyone recommend an affordable company with reasonably low (250-500) MOQ for small logo gift bags? We are looking for small gift bags for bottle and merchandise sales. Ideally, a source that sells bags suitable for 1 bottle (roughly 3.8 inches diameter circle) and two bottles (same bottle size). Nothing super high end - just a paper bag (brown, white or red) with our logo. We may eventually try some nicer fabric-type reusable grocery bags (for a price not free with bottle sales) but not an immediate need. There are several companies online but we wanted to see if anyone had a company they could recommend.

Thanks. What size barrel are you using for the 6 months? We will most likely use a once used 15G whiskey barrel. Thanks.

For those that are using barrels to age rum, what ABV are you putting the rum in at (i.e drinking strength (80 proof) or more like 125 Proof)? How long are you aging the rum? We are planning to use used whiskey barrels to age rum.

What is the monthly fee?

Thanks, Dehner. I take it you like what you get out of the Panela? Out of curiosity , what yeasts are you finding work well with Panela? We are experimenting with it now but our ferments are going pretty slow. Thanks.

Congrats. I am hoping to visit next time I am in Durham.

Welcome!

Thanks. We are planning to get the Cole Parmer set. They appear to be calibrated but are not NIST-traceable (which adds 150 bucks to each).

For those that use panela, how does it compare to a raw turbinado sugar wash?

Michaelangelo - what size are your fermenters? That will make a difference in how much heat you will need and what options are feasible. You can try using some submersible aquarium heaters. I've used them on small batches and they work pretty well. They won't be quite as precise as you might like but they will keep you within 2-3 degrees of your target. They are only going to be feasible at small scales though, unless you use a whole bunch of them. http://www.amazon.com/ViaAqua-300-Watt-Submersible-Built-In-Thermostat/dp/B00513MZ6S/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1417274703&sr=8-5&keywords=aquarium+heater These are good for 80 gallons each. Will work better with totes or open top. If you have a stainless single wall, something like Hedgebird suggests will probably work better.

We ordered the 1000LB scale from Fred. Haven't received it yet but Fred at USA Scales was very helpful with the order and easy to work with. FYI- they can set the same scale to 1000LB with .2LB resolution or 500LB with .1LB resolution. We will post again after we have it up and running for awhile.

Thanks! Nice job.

We are ordering a set of SG hydrometers, hydrometers and a thermometer from Cole Parmer. They are about $30 bucks per but an added $135 for the NIST-traceable calibration. Do they all have to be NIST-traceable? Only one of each set? I am not seeing a NIST-traceable requirement in the regulations but I see it mentioned by others above. TIA.

What are you considering "topping off"? Filling all the way to the bung hole? Adding more new make as the angle's share evaporates? If its the latter, I think you would have issues with age statements.

Ours was pretty simple as well. Simple financial structure and very small simple layout.