Lenny

We've dealt with Tapi USA -- their office is just outside of philadelphia. Not sure if that's where they ship from though. Either way, I'd give them a shout -- pretty sure we're paying .30'something/top for varnished wood with synthetic shank.

I follow what you guys are suggesting. There seem to be a number of off-the-shelf solutions out there though, which allow for fairly easy implementation, content management that any non-developer can use, and a pretty display of listings and map location input'able via excel. Just putting out feelers to see if anyone has already put one into use that is the bomb. I've messed with a few options and ran into some annoying shortcomings - either in high annual cost or not enough functionality. Gotta be something out there off-the-shelf that does the trick...

I'm looking to implement a more functional 'where to buy' component of our website - basically a liquor store and bar locator. Anyone have recommendations for a free or reasonably priced embeddable solution that allows the upload (or copy/paste) of excel data, which is then rendered into some sort of list and map component?

I love that I somehow managed to kick off the first word of this thread! Aside from my name, you know what else this thread could use? More examples of PRV's (links to where to buy) that folks should consider implementing on the vapor side of their stills, if not already in place.

I get why a potstill with no weird packing that only runs low-wines would not necessarily need to be fitted with a prv, but... some additional recommendations of lower priced yet functional options (such as the apollo option above) would be great! Has anyone identified a viable sub-$50 tri-clamp option?

Pics of the new setup?

We use two different bottle styles with label strips over the top. In our bottles with the shorter neck, a raise in temp will push the bartops out and pop the tamper tape off. We took to using clear heat shrink sleeves to both hold the tamper tape against the bottle. It's a pain in the ass, but problem solved.

The other day I was told we are at 74!

We use Stillhouse from Distillery Solutions — a production tracking and ttb reporting solution that, I believe was the first option in our industry. It works out really well for us and the pricing for our scale of production is not "way overpriced", but as stated by others above... that's a matter of how much your time, sanity, and potential TTB reamings are worth. I'm a huge fan of Stillhouse, and there seems to be no shortage of satisfied whiskey systems customers.

You know what I think is way overpriced? Those crazy german column stills that so many of you folks run! Holly hell... Pass. I'll keep my basic potstills and instead park a new porche gt3 in the barrel warehouse with the money saved (or not). Point being... if you think it's too much, don't buy it. It's worth every penny to those that appreciate it's value.

We're always around and our tasting room is open every day — you're looking at a 2 hour road trip to Buena Vista, but it's a real nice ride to the prettiest spot in the state.

I can't tell if this thread has become epic or super lame. Just step outside your respective distilleries, throw punches, wipe your wounds and drinks some damn whiskey.

With this in mind, would a Distillery Pub might be the best business model? Sell at a higher GP and build a cult brand following - loyal customers. Open the bar. And build your wholesale operation as a secondary aspect of the business. At that price per square foot you're paying retail rent, not industrial rent... So a bar might make sense.

This.

Do you want to make whiskey or do you want to make money? You need to know what you're in it for.

I tried using both a two roller and three roller home-brew sized grain mill with the gap set high. Most everything crushed really well except the juniper. The juniper goo covered the knurling on the rollers and eventually stopped anything from being pulled through.

I've found a corona mill with drill attachment to work a lot better.

If you chose to boil your wort (called wash in distilling jargon) and go for a sanitary fermentation, you are going to end up with a significantly different final spirit than if you were to skip the boil and go for the more common no-boil ferment which tend to be ripe with lactobacillus and other fun stuff.

There's no right or wrong here, just the process that you might choose to implement to create your own spirit. I think it's safe to say though— the majority of distilleries do not boil their mash/wash prior to fermentation.

We started distilling and opened our tasting room doors for around 60k. Tasting room traffic and having a product right out of the gates (in our case, a white whiskey) was critical for us, and 3.5 years later it still is! Startup expenses are the easy part. Operating capital is a whole nother matter — Especially if you're intent on whiskey production. 2+ year of staring at barrels is a mofo!

Since you'll be down in the springs for a while... Definitely check out Distillery 291. If you've got the time and family buy-in... I'd highly recommend taking a filed trip a little west of where you're staying (60-90 min drive). On the distillery side of things, you've got Woods High Mountain Distillery in Salida, and 20 mins up the road in Buena Vista you can come check us out. For your family out this way... you can hit up the Royal Gorge Bridge, epic whitewater rafting (if you're visit coincides with our peak runoff), hotsprings, hiking, etc.

Hit me up if you are interested in coming out this way and need any further details on stuff to see/do.

Amy,

I would strongly encourage you to contact an attorney for a decisive take on this matter. I can share contact info with you (gotta track it down) for one that specializes in bev stuff in colorado. I've know of more than a few colorado distilleries that ship spirits direct to customers -- as much as I'm all for interpreting the law in my favor... this is our liquor license/livelihood we're potentially putting at risk. I turn down multiple requests to sell/ship bottles every week. I would not ship spirits without being 100% positive that it's legitimate to do in Colorado - but that's just me. For customers that come in asking if we can ship bottles back to their home, we offer to package up their bottles in bubble wrap, but that's as far as we go.

Would have preferred something more inline with the bill that New Mexico has in the works (maybe already passed?) which allows for tasting room sales of any/all New Mexico originating libations. I'd love to offer one rotating colorado craft beer on tap, and mix up a manhattan made with vermouth from the winery down the road. Shoot, I'd love to be able to pour a sample of a neighboring distilleries whiskey so to encourage folks to visit their tasting room as well. Getting into the restaurant business to do so... pass.

That is one pretty floor!

According to B&C's video posted to youtube, they build wooden rodent play areas (sold!). They are "also a barrel, a whiskey barrel, a wine barrel building company"

http://youtu.be/gQQ7M14I_Dg

Wait, what? Is there any state that a manufacture can legally ship spirits into another state, direct to consumer, on their own? In CO, as a consumer, one can receive a shipment from somewhere like caskers.com (online retailer out of NY), but I did not think that any state allowed producers to ship direct to consumers in another state.

Thumbs up for Don at CPE. They set us up with a great 1.5hp wash down centrifugal pump w/vfd a few years back. Great deal on the exact pump I needed.

Made this for anyone that might want to use this on their social media stuff...

I wonder if you could apply for an art gallery liquor permit?

https://www.denvergov.org/businesslicensing/DenverBusinessLicensingCenter/LiquorLicenses/ArtGalleryLiquorPermit/tabid/441769/Default.aspx