bluestar

Congrats, Jay, I will update your entry in the Illinois Craft Distillers Association database. Good luck now with your state permit! Look forward to visiting your site soon!

We find a difference in flavor profile between rye and malt rye, at least in the mash, ferment, and new make. Rye tastes "greener", spicier. Very subjective. Whether that carries over into the aged product? Rye whiskey is made from rye and augments. Malt rye whiskey is a different category, seldom made any more. Most available brand is Old Portero series from Anchor Distilling.

Put it in the formulation.

EPDM will embrittle over time if run at 212F and above. Yes, it is chemically resistant at those temperatures. But it continues to vulcanize, and will eventually fail if not replaced as part of preventative maintenance. Even worse if exposed to high concentration of ethanol at those temperatures, but low concentration in mashes should not be a problem. But the rebuild kits are reasonably priced, as are the pumps. We have found the SS centrifugal pump can be easily disassembled for rigorous cleaning, although we find running cleaning water (we let it do our CIP pumping for the still) through it cleans it up pretty well. We do grain-in mash for both corn and rye. It can be throttled back. But it can't self prime, a main advantage of the impeller. And it stalls on cavitation or emptying, for that reason. I think what looks most interesting for us next is a large size diaphragm pump, albeit expensive. Self priming, variable speed, and if air driven, suitable for high proof alcohol.

I agree, everything you say is true, including the challenge or limitation of what happens with the botanicals in the still head. But it is what we have done. It makes for a product that tastes very much like a gin-flavored whiskey. I wish you could taste our product, because I think it is very interesting, but it is not a redistilled gin, whether of the dry type (from GNS) or from low wines. Our first genever is made the same way, on a barley mash (we actually use grain-in mash instead of wash, about 10% ABV). Nevertheless, we do get a very juniper forward product.

nope. more than one distillation, whenever the botanicals are added, make it a redistilled gin, and requires formulation, according to the TTB.

nope. from their website: Glorious Gin Our original gin recipe. Distilled from wheat grown in upstate New York. We redistill our base spirit in the presence of juniper, lemon, rosemary, ginger, and grapefruit.

It is how it is interpreted now. It is how we make it now, with botanicals both in mash and in head. But we are using a 4 plate still, so we get 170 proof. Yes, we have a tighter relationship between cuts for grain and cuts for botanicals. Any redistillation, regardless when the botanicals are added, according to TTB requires formulation. I have also puzzled over what was originally meant by a distilled gin when created. We can speculate, but the TTB won't say and there is no documentation.

TTB has it on their web site, pretty easy to find.

We usually have about 2 lbs per gallon, 50% flour and 50% grist. If all flour it could be too gummy.

New charred oak barrels, at reasonable cost. Normal suppliers are all limited.

Also the demand is going up very quickly for the small barrel manufacturers as more craft distillers come on line. We also provided a running order estimate to assure supply.

I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but from our contact with many barrel suppliers, it appears there is a general shortage reflecting spring weather conditions and limited supply of lumbered oak. Are other distillers seeing the same problem?

We have an 8" on a 60g. We think the boiler could have been double the size, and it would have been fine. Our condenser is a 6" tube-in-shell, which we thought was overkill, but when running a strip at full, if not careful, we can still swamp it.

I would be hesitant to use them, unless it is a nearly one time seal. Copper is too easily scratch or dinged, or even warped, to be a good seal surface. Fine for a home project maybe, but not for something you are going to sell. If you can't do the copper to stainless joint yourself, at least for fittings, you can purchase fittings with the transitions for Triclamp, windows, etc.

30-30-30 is a good rule of thumb. You should be looking to get 30% margin in your wholesale over your COGS, perhaps minus tax. So should distributor. So should retailer. Distributor will add ship in and ship out and state taxes. Most places that means your FOB will be about half of retail. This has been mentioned on past threads.

There is no other better choice. But don't drop it, it is very delicate and can not be repaired, although they will give you a credit toward purchasing a replacement.

What Kristian says is doable, and essentially the same as my suggestion of having the distillery make the product for you under their permit, just adding the DBA. BUT there sometimes are limitations regarding tie-in provisions with things like cross-licensing brands, etc. Again, check with legal counsel.

Our village did the code evaluation, but they charged us for it. And I had my own architect.

Pump is just any liquid pump to recirculate the water with detergent or citric in the tank. A spray ball is a ball that sprays the liquid to cover the interior of the tank. A google is a way to find out very simple information on the net.

True, but most small distillers would fall under the first definition, since they execute a trade requiring special skill and often manual skill. Nothing says the person meeting the first definition has to be GOOD at the craft! We all might want something labeled "craft" to imply quality, but in fact that is not required under the first definition. The meaning of craft in this case would be in opposition to automated or factory or large scale industrialized, etc

Well, in most states you can't both be a general wholesaler and a manufacturer. In other words, if you are going to own the brand (not the distillery), then you can't tie your manufacture to the wholesaling activities of other manufacturers's products. So, in fact, you might not be licensed as a wholesaler, you might be licensed as the distiller, contracting with a distillery to produce your product. For example, HUM is done that way. But I now take it to mean your client intends to own a brand, sell the brand at wholesale (that means in most 3 tier systems, sell to a distributor), and have it manufactured for him by another distiller. OK, then he is a manufacturer in many states, and needs a manufacturer's license. I know it can be done other ways, but the law is complicated and varies from state to state. We are in discussions with someone to do something similar, but likely the brand will be owned and licensed by us, so it will be a product of our distillery. So now I would advise your client to get a liquor lawyer for their state before pursuing further. Because whichever way they go, they need sound, detailed, specific, legal counsel, IMHO.

Depends. What is he going to do with the product? Either he is licensed to received the product as a liquor wholesaler, distributor, or retailer, in which case he needs licenses for that. Or he is purchasing the product at retail for private use (not resale or public distribution). Which is it? Also, depending on which it is affects what the distiller can do and how the product can be labeled. There are tighter controls on spirits than there on wine, for example.

Yes, those make sense. But I was a bit confused about what if your site or page lists all of your line of products. My reading is you don't need the individual info for that content. But if the descriptions for products extend, or have ability to be displayed as individual subpages or pop ups, those might well?

Whether electronic or manual, all hydrometers/densitometers have to be calibrated. Calibration is always with some final human intervention, and therefore could be in error. That is why you calibrated with a certified lab.