bluefish_dist

Lenny is probably correct.  I looked at distillery solutions, but the cost was too high.  Also once you do the work to set up the software there has to be a big incentive to change. 

Using hoochware. So far it has been good. 

I am a firm believer in the 20x diameter for packed to get a reliable neutral at a decent take off rate or 20 ish plates.   I struggled when I first started since I was less than that.   Added more height and more efficient packing which fixed the problem.   

I think that home distillers can get a claimed 190 for two reasons, using uncalibrated Hydrometers and with a 2" column it's a lot easier to get to 20 X the diameter as its only 40".  6" is a full 10 ft for starters.   The only way to do it with a tall still is to move the column next to the still.   I have seen a few setups with the column not in line but never run one. 

Surprisingly, groupon has driven volume.   It's not cheap as they take a large portion of the sell price.  comparing spend to people coming in the door it has given a good return on exposure. The question is, will people buy again.  I know from talking to service related businesses, groupon does not result in repeat visits.  People just jump from special to special.  I hope that alcohol is different in that exposure means they might buy at a local store. 

Just saw that today when doing a tasting at a small local store. He commented that he is going to drop all the big name flavored vodka to carry more local spirits. He is seeing a change in his customers.  They want local. 

It is also possible to weld pe with a iron. While not pretty it does work. We welded a filler neck back on a motorcycle gas tank one time with a screwdriver and a lighter.   Heated the screwdriver with the lighter and then used it as an iron.  It made a passable repair so the tank was no longer pouring gas on the rider. 

We are 2 months in on it. So far I would say no on the roi. While clicks are way up as well as directions it has not translated to visits to the tasting room.  I would start by getting the free business page and go from there. 

As the tanks are pe, they can be welded with hot air and a pe stick. Look around for plastic welding kits. Might work to fix your tanks. 

Why not file them on pay.gov?  You don't have to be in production to file.  You just file 0 qty until you make something. 

120 gallons per control area.   No more than 30 gallons open. That is national building code. 

Even if you don't produce anything you still have to file your reports.   So make sure you start filing them right away. 

Really depends on if you make it or just buy GNS and bottle.  In co bought/bottled goes from $15 to ~$30 (more marketing spent on this brand) where local produced is mid to high $20.   

If you look at GNS based, liquor cost is <$1, bottle, paper label, cork ~$2, tax $2.16 federal so maybe $5 direct cost. 

A 30% margin is a 42% markup.   $24 with 30 points is $16.80 to the second step and then $11.76 to the first step. So yes, about half the price from distillery to consumer.   You might get away with 25%.   So selling from a tasting room is much more profitable. 

Probably not. In the end it depends on who reviews your submission, but based on our review it would no fly.  As others have said, I have been in a distillery where you could touch the stills from the tasting area. 

Ii would check the occupancy. Brewery is only F2, up to 16 % alcohol production. 

have you tried the rm yeast. Might be a better choice?  Might want some calcium carbonate since I would guess 3.6 might be outside the recommended range of the yeast.    

+1 on Scott at Dalkita. He knows his stuff.  When we took the Downslope class his presentation was the most valuable part to me.   The building ended up being the biggest challenge to opening. 

For real planning I have used navision, pki, and pronto.  They are full blown erp/mrp systems that are well beyond what is affordable by a small distillery.   On the order of 20-50k per year for maintenance.  All of these systems will do material planning using firm orders and forecasts.  I am not sure they would do a good job of tracking alcohol production as it's a niche industry.  I used navision at a company where we managed 4000  sku's, $3million in inventory, 1000 shipments per day and $35 million in sales.  It worked ok for that.  It was one of the few systems that could handle the high order rate.   

I am using hoochware and it does the basic functions of tracking materials, orders and alcohol.  It's not a full blown mrp/erp system, but the price reflects its capabilities.  It is infinitely easier than tracking with spread sheets.   I also looked at distillery solutions.  Product looked good, but cost was too high for current volume.   It also looked more designed for tracking that mrp/erp. 

Having only been open 2 months and starting small, I would say a single 30 gallon still for low wines spirit runs and then a larger still, 100+ gallons for stripping and runs from wash/wort.   Also don't skimp on the diameter.  I would plan on 6" at a minimum.  A 4" on 25 gallons of low wines is a really long day. 

I would also go multiple fermenters that are as big as the big still.   

Tails usually end up being less than heads for us.   We do it purely by taste.   My still also slows output dramatically in the tails, so I stop when output drops too low leaving more in the boiler. 

GGentile at vitro.com. Gabriel was our rep when we used them.  Good service even when they got told to no longer sell the bottle we were using. 

We signed a lease on February 2015 and opened last month.  Had a few delays that ate up a lot of time.   I could do it faster now having learned a lot along the way.   If you make it to the springs, stop in, always glad to talk distilling. 

I believe corn whiskey does not have to be aged, but I would have to go back and read the bam again to be sure. As others have said the definition of whiskey is that it's been on oak and most have to be distilled to no more than 160 proof.   But you may be able to get away with what you want if it's corn only. 

The class by downslope has good information. I probably got the most out of the presentation from dalkita on building regulations.   That alone made the class worth attending. 

Having done a bit of business in China here are a few things to look out for: 1) have samples tested for lead. We ran into a big issue with lead in paint for products that were certified lead free. 2) probably best to inspect before shipment, either do it yourself or have someone else do it for you.  The first batch may be good and then they will make changes to lower cost. If you don't inspect parts until they arrive you will get a bad batch. 3) small firms will require payment up front, this will effect your cash flow.  They are so small that they have to have you finance the order.  4) to get good prices you will be dealing with local small companies. Big companies know what it should cost and your price will be close to a us price once landed. 

With all that, it isn't impossible to get a good deal, but it isn't easy to get a combination of low pricing and high quality.  I have talked to suppliers here and they will do custom molds, but the moq is higher than I could use. 

The lack of a fork truck makes it hard to move material. You can get lift gates for deliveries but they are an extra cost and are often not provided when requested.   Had that happen yesterday.  Luckily it was a small shipment. 

A simple pallet jack can be used to move materials once off the truck.   They are only a couple of hundred $$ or you can rent one if needed.