rumfarmer

Great stuff. Thanks!

Ditto for Donald. Great help on otherwise time consuming and tedious portion of our required daily job load.

Perfect clarification. I was not aware that Proof was optional. For some reason I was under the impression it was either/or.

I have my COLA approval for one my white rum, and I am waiting for the barreled product approval. I have gotten the approval with "40% Alcohol by Volume" shown on the label. I am considering changing my barreled product to use "80 Proof" instead. The actual proof will almost certainly be higher, but I know this is okay to change so long as it corresponds with the bottle contents. My question is: Do I need to do an entire resubmission for the change on the barreled? I should be days from approval on it based on the previous COLA submission, and I don't want to throw a wrench in the works.

There is a Shochu maker here in Hawaii named Ken Hirata who gets his directly from Japan. He had to go through some kind of quarantine process. I would think Japan would be the place to start. Also, ask Sherman Owen. He seems to know a lot about this stuff.

Thanks Dave. With luck I will be decorating by the end of the week. 2700 bottles a day is way more than I plan on doing any time soon. Really great how well you have done. Kudos and thanks for offering the gun to try. You should put up some kind of avatar for yourself. You've been around here longer than most.

Thanks all. I am not against the heat gun, I just want something to simplify the decoration process a bit. I have a square bottle, a wrap around label, and a silver leaf tamper strip. The strip needs to be affixed by hand, and the label is time consuming to get on properly. I love the bottle decoration, but I need to cut down on the decoration time a bit.

I am looking for a way to efficiently shrink my clear capsules onto the neck of my square bottles. I see there are a bunch of wine bottle heating systems that seem great, but my little cube bottle will likely not line up properly. I really do not want to go with a heat gun, so any recommendation will be greatly appreciated. I am not doing thousands of bottles at a time. No automation needed, but I want the capsule to be very straight and even. Link shows the neck and tamper seal without the clear capsule. https://www.dropbox.com/s/yu3alpqts3gqm8w/KoHana_3.jpg

If your water is hard, make sure you get a softener before the RO. Will save the filters and extend the life of the system by a lot. Good RO filters are pricey, water softener salt is cheap.

Not yet. Would like to hear how it works out if you do try it.

Da Rum Machine

Looks amazing!

I moved to Hawaii from Arizona 5 years ago and have spent the last 4.5 of them getting my distillery going. I can't wait to stop by the next time I am in AZ. Best of luck. What are you making?

Yes, straight medium toast, no char.

Not Hawaii

If you can, try both. The micro experiments I've done with medium toast have produced a really great product. It is young with a little more oak than I ultimately want, but the honey and vanilla notes are huge. I think you will have an idea how things are going in less than 6 months in 15 gallon barrels. If you can afford to experiment for 3 or 4 months, try as many options as you can.

Congrats and good luck.

What is your cacao source? Are you using raw cacao? I would absolutely up the proof. That seem way too low to have any effective extraction of the flavor or aroma. Go at least 100 proof. Again, what is the spirit that you loved so much to send you down this path?

Get some raw cacao. In my opinion, this is the best place to start. What is the magical chocolate liqueur called?

Hope the insurance works. I had to actually put in a new fire hydrant!

Your post has no image with it.

GW Kent is a good company, in my experience. Not always the cheapest, but they generally carry only good quality stuff. Have you talked to them directly about this machine being used in distilleries? They might give you references.

I have two nice stainless steel filter housings from Duda Diesel. Check out there stuff. Lots of options, good pricing.

My background was never in distilling, and I have now spent nearly 4 years putting together my Hawaiian Agricole concept. It has taken a long time to get moving for many reasons, not the least of which involves starting a farm and navigating the difficult business environment that is Hawaii. We are finally harvesting and starting some small scale experiments in a nearly working production setting. If I could do one thing over again, I would have brought in the team I had on site over the last couple of weeks very early on. So many of my delays and hurdles would have been easily navigated at the onset if I had these guys helping with the setup from the beginning. Anyone at an early phase should seriously consider budgeting to bring these three guys out to your site to review your plan and uncover all those hidden land mines you just seem to only find when they blow your legs off. Sherman Owen - Artisan Resources Sherman can do anything from setting up a sugar cane mill to sensory lessons on perfect cuts. Steven Cage - Artisan Still Design Steven custom builds amazing stills at an affordable price. He is incredibly hard working and gets things done. Donald Snyder - Whiskey Resources Donald has a vast wealth of regulatory knowledge and has a suite of products to help you navigate all the TTB madness easily and effectively. Early on I was pinching every penny to just get myself moving. I would have saved a small fortune if these guys had come out for a one week visit to review everything with me. Aloha, Robert Dawson Manulele Distillers, LLC

I just spent the week with Steven Cage from Artisan Still Design getting my 600 gallon still operational. I cannot say enough about Steve and his capabilities! Not only is he an outstanding still designer, he also has a work ethic like very few people I know (I will have a follow up post about Sherman, but he is here for another week so we might develop cold fusion before he's gone). If anyone out there is even considering upgrading or buying their first still, do yourself a favor and call Steven Cage. Walking into the disarray at my Hawaiian distillery was not easy. Steven has an unbelievable can do attitude, and he gets it done. There are a few hurdles to go, but we would be nowhere without his invaluable guidance. He is the best! Hawaiian Agricole is only a few short months from the shelves. Thanks again Steven.