bluestar

That sounds like very valuable information, but it is unfortunate we can't connect it to a catalog product for them. I am surprised your invoice didn't list one of their standard product names. Anyway, I will be doing a very small test with #100, and can let people know the result. I agree, I would be hesitant to try a full tote of molasses without prior indication of how well it might ferment.

Huh, I don't know what that is, and when I queried them, neither did they. I could see having difficulties using #150, and I could also see someone calling that "distillers grade" if by that they meant something that wasn't good enough for food consumption or baking. #150 is cheap (less than $0.40/lb), but more expensive per lb of usable sugars, IMO. I was going to use their #100, or maybe #10.

Which SS molasses did you use for that, #10, #100, or #150?

Yup, sounds like secondary souring of the sweet mash after fermentation. Some consider this a "flaw" that sour mashing prevents. If done right, it can be very nice.

You can be measured by the TTB to be in the range of stated proof from +0.00% to -0.15% abv, but they will make that measurement with 0.01% accuracy, so you better know you are in that range with 0.01% accuracy, which is tough to do with gauging that is only 0.2% accurate, for example. Keep in mind, they INTEND for you to measure to be at proof or just under on the order of 0.05% or better before bottling, with the expectation that bottling will drop the proof slightly by differential evaporation of ethanol during the transfer. This is the real reason why you can be as low at 0.15% abv. It is NOT meant to say you don't have to measure any more accurately than that!

While it shows a full extra decimal (0.01 %abv), it is not 10x more accurate than the Snap 40. It is only about twice the accuracy at 0.1 %abv. The main advantage of showing you the higher precision digit is so you can see the level of instability or reproducibility. So, they could not get it approved even if they wanted to. One should not confuse resolution with accuracy. Anton Paar does a good job of describing their instruments specifications with regards to this.

The Snap type hydrometers can not read anywhere near the accuracy that is required by the TTB. You can do this with the approved certified calibrated hydrometers, but it is a very slow tedious process. Also the hydrometers require very high accuracy thermometers, which are often far more expensive than the hydrometers. While it is true that most won't learn the process well enough, or take the time to execute it well enough, to do even as well as a Snap 40, that does not mean you will be getting a good enough reading to pass a TTB audit using even a Snap 50. That being said, many small distillers of have a set of approved hydrometers to point at, but do the measurements with something like a Snap 50, and are essentially rolling the dice, hoping they never get audited. If you end up using one of the approved electronic densitometers, you will eventually appreciate what they can do, and why something like a Snap 50 is not up to the job. The handhelds can not control, measure, or stabilize the temperature well enough. To calibrate them, you can't easily dry out the U-tube enough for dry air measurement. And while the readouts might be to 0.01 proof, they are only accurate to 0.2 proof. Most recently, we got ahold of a lightly used Mettler Toledo DM45, which is approved. It is a slightly older model (Mettler just replaced it this past year, but the new model is not yet approved). Sure, it takes a bit longer to do the measurement than with a handheld, but you can get accuracy to meet TTB requirements, which is not possible with the handhelds. Even an inexperienced operator should be able to get 0.05 proof accuracy with it.

Looks like you just did an update, so these might still be available. Contact me if you are interested in selling single barrels.

Are any of these still available?

It is a good idea to indicate where you are located when listing items that need to be picked up or LTE shipping.

We just nabbed a used Mettler Toledo DM45 extended range. This is on the TTBs approved list. This product family was just replaced in Mettler's Liquiphysics line, but the new units are not yet approved by the TTB. The Mettler is more intended for integration in a controlled proprietary lab environment, not quite as easy to use as the Anton Paar. Once you get it set up, it works similarly. If I were buying new, I would probably go with Anton Paar or Rudolph. But I got this for less than 1/3 the new price, and it was clean, fully operational, and previously used for proof determination. So we are putting up with the "idiot operator" interface design. Spare parts and support are very expensive, but is available in the USA.

Hibiscus will work. It is reasonably stable if kept out of sunlight. Fruit colors, like currants, fade rapidly, to an orangish color.

Wine if at a bonded winery, it is transferred in bond, and there is an entry for that transfer in the monthly report and relevant transfer form. Beer is not bonded, and there is no place to enter the transfer as alcohol in the monthly report. Instead, it is treated as a raw material, for distillation, and reported in part VI of the production report. In category Other Materials, list it as "beer (from malt)" or include in the parenthesis whatever the mashbill is. Report it in gallons. Make sure the brewery invoices you for the product in gallons as well (the invoice is the primary record of the transfer, you should keep the BoL too, but it is the invoice that must be kept). The brewery will use the same information to be able to avoid paying excise tax on the beer sold to you. You may have state as well as federal paperwork required. Make sure the invoice indicates the estimated alcohol level.

I should have said to "augment the barley malt at lower cost", since we know cost is what drives them to produce inferior product.

Bud was always rice beer. The idea for rice or corn is to add something that will provide dextrose to augment the barley malt (since the maltose and malto-n-sugars break down to dextrose). Corn is added as syrup, so you don't get a stuck mash (Miller & Coors), rice is added as hulled grain so that it will lauter (Budweiser).

The beer would not use that much corn. Must not be aged in charred oak, even for 5 seconds, or it would have been classified as bourbon. LOL. Probably used cooperage.

I like the call out to Irving Langmuir, a personal favorite of mine of American scientists in history. I wrote my senior history thesis about him, and entered graduate school to study in the field of surface science, which along with plasma science, he essentially invented.

Okay, thanks. Worthwhile if you can get the statement of classification from the TTB in writing (or as a formula approval). If it is classified as bourbon, the purchasers don't have to indicate it was redistilled, for example.

No prob. Yes, your long description matches the process we underwent. Not sure what you are referring to, however, in this follow up post.

Making size transition is not just about changing length of time, but also may require other adjustments, with regard to cooperage, char, etc.

Not sure what you specifically mean by recalibration. Densitometers have to be regularly recalibrated, since it is possible for the base resonant frequency of the quartz tube to shift over time, most likely because a trace of contaminant has become permanently attached in the tube. This is routinely done as a one point check on units programmed this way by re-evaluating with pure distilled water. The inexpensive SNAP series recommend you do so regularly. If you mean recertification, that means verifying that instrument is working across the range with certified traceable sources and methods, that should also be done over the life of the instrument, particularly if you see unusual changes when calibrating, or poor stability of calibration, from your own calibration checks. Also, the high-end bench-top instruments can also loose their accuracy if the temperature control system somehow degrades. I think the Rudolph system claims it has a self-check that allows it to both recalibrate and check that the instrument is not behaving poorly enough to need repair and/or recertification.

You have not provided enough information for an accurate reply. First thing you would need to know is what is being distilled, at least the ABV of the beer, and is the still actually charged to 300 gallons. Nevertheless: Distillers beer can be as little as 10% ABV, assume into barrel at 60% ABV, and assume 50% efficient cut: 26 gallons x 2 x 6 = 312 gallons. So yes, that is not so far off, but if higher ABV beer or more efficient cut, you might expect a higher yield. But if you are using a wash like for malt whiskey, you could expect a much lower yield!

Have you checked with TTB if they will allow this to be classified as bourbon? Ostensibly, I can see the argument for doing so is that it is simply given another distillation, and the time between distillations is not defined, nor is the container it is stored in. Also, you did not say what size barrel or what char.

To remove those hazing components, you need to chill filter or chill centrifuge. The latter will avoid removal of color components, but the former will affect flavor and color excessively if you go to very small filter size, certainly 1 micron or below. And you will still change flavor and mouthfeel in any case, which is one reason why more of us are producing NCF spirits. But the side effect is the hazing, particularly for any spirit aged in barrels. Your gin, if not aged, should not have this problem.

Yes, correct. As a born Washingtonian, I made the effort to get the out-of-state shippers certificate so that I can place some product at retailers there. But it is a challenging market, given the large number of craft distillers in the state able to sell directly to retailers, and outside of greater Seattle area, not that large a market. It was also confusing over the past few years as the rules changed rapidly following the major change in their liquor laws.