bluestar

What is in the CFR seems unclear to me. The whole issue of calibration seems unclear. We really should push the TTB to get up to date with the state-of-the-art in densitometry, and set new standards for using electronic densitometers at accuracy to MEET LEGAL REQUIREMENT as opposed to simply matching what they use in their analytical laboratories, which are complete overkill. JMO.

What Pete is discussing is wetting and adhesion effects in the neck of the bottle. They will be a property of both the liquid in the bottle and the surface chemistry of the neck glass. The latter can vary according to manufacture, treatment, and subsequent cleaning and exposure. If it fully wets, it will make a film, not droplets. If does not wet at all, it will form droplets that most likely will not stick in place. Likely, though, you are in between. Glass generally partially wets with both water and alcohol. You can tell by the direction of the meniscus.

Sure you can automate some of these things, but keep in mind when you do so, they should be designed to failsafe into a condition under which no damage or safety issues will occur. We are planning to do something similar with our 60 gallon still, adding temperature probes in pot, in boiler, in lyne arm, in condenser water out, etc. The idea would be first just to monitor everything during regular runs and record it. Very instructive to understand how your process works. Later, add automation.

Does it ever see sunlight? If the contents heat from sunlight or because it is sitting on a warm surface, you will get internal evaporation and condensation of alcohol. That would be normal.

Actually, it would be good if the two can run in parallel but have different missions, although there is an issue of membership cost. ADI would be best doing things like running the forum, holding the convention, promoting courses, etc. The ACDA should be focussed on legal and economic issues for anyone operating under a craft distiller's license in the US. And acting as an umbrella organization for all of the state associations or guilds. The ACDA is a 501©6 corp that can not economically benefit its directors, as it should be. It is a representative organization. The ADI strictly speaking is not. It is owned by someone, and it could generate revenue. However, the current ACDA goals also talk about duplicating some of the ADI activities, including running tastings, etc. I actually don't think it is helpful for a representative organization to run activities that have potential conflict of interest issues with its membership. Or better if perhaps it can do some of these things WITH the ADI. At least that is how it seems to me, but I have no knowledge of the back room issues that might be in play. RIght now, we have chosen to be a member of both.

Yup, covered in another thread as well. If all you want to do is display a big wall of product, you could put it behind a glass wall on the bonded side ;-) But really, that shelf expanse in the tasting room hopefully is not just display, it is the product you plan to sell in the tasting room, so it needs to be taxed. And if in fact you are not going to be able to sell, only taste, then the glass wall split between bonded area and tasting room, with shelves of product there, is not such a crazy idea?

When went the middle road on size, hoping to get between the horns of this dilemma. Jury is still out.

In our case, we aren't actually adding essential oil, we have extracted oils and flavors by maceration in high proof spirit.

It is serial, but if you read the specifics, it can include a prefix that indicates content: WL-D-0000104 is the 104th case produced (note the numbers are sequential across all products from the DSP), WL is our product code and D is our bottle size code. A partial case would have an R appended (remainder).

with molasses in the ferment, he won't be able to call it whiskey. if he added it after distillation, it would be a flavored whiskey.

We only use waivers for volunteers, for example people helping with bottling. The waiver was reviewed with our insurance agent. We don't use waivers for tours, which we consider part of our retail operation.

Why couldn't you make it? You just can't call it whiskey, it is a distilled spirits specialty, requiring formula approval. We have a corn, barley, and honey distillate approved that way.

That placement is not unusual, but it usually set up so that anything condensing on the botanicals goes somewhere. It should go into the column or pot. A classic example is locating it directly under a dephlegmator. If instead it is installed in something that is the equivalent location of a thumper, that could work too. Still not an infusion.

Gin basket is not an infusion. Infusion happens in a liquid. No liquid is carried into the condenser. Now, if you have a basket in a the path of condensate, that would be an infusion. But gin baskets are usually not located so that the condensate on the botanicals will go into the product, but rather drip back into the column or pot.

We are looking at a similar decision for our Seville orange liqueur product: if we leave full extraction, it is a beautiful flavor, smell, and orange color. If we redistill, it will be more like other triple secs. But the former will louche. Let it louche when bottling at low proof, and you have the orange equivalent of a limoncello. We haven't decided how to proceed yet either.

The yard provision is interpreted to prevent any distilling or distillery operations to occur on the premises associated with the dwelling, including its yard. So, somehow, you have to simply make clear if you are distilling in one building that is separated from your dwelling, how it is obvious that the "yard" of the house is differentiated from the premises of the distillery. There is another concept associated with this: the distillery premises have to be accessible directly from a public thoroughfare. In other words, you can't have to cross your residential property, or yard, in order to gain access to the distillery. That I think is the real sense of it not being in the "yard". The idea here is that the TTB officer should be able at any time to access the distillery without having to get permission from someone to enter or cross their residential property, including the owners of the distillery. In rural areas this just means there has to be a public access road and walkway to the entrance of the distillery. Regarding relying on any TTB officer's individual interpretation, hey, that is how all guberment stuff works: an individual has to interpret the regs to make an evaluation for the approval. Better get used to it, this is the way it is for every TTB approval you will ever submit for.

not crushing, crushing, macerating, and time of maceration, and proof of maceration, and location of botanicals in pot versus basket or still head, ALL affect the flavor profile and intensity, and differently for each botanical. SO, there is no simple answer for which will give you the best result or one that you find best. You need to do the experiments, or roll the dice.

Physical separation of residence from non-residence, but in the end is open to the interpretation of the TTB officer that reviews and approves your application. You can always query your field TTB rep in advance, but they could end up with a different opinion that the final one.

Be very careful to calculate the load you will apply. If you are using the compressed air for pumps, know that the ratings on smaller compressors are for intermittent usage, and therefore you can't run those pumps continuously at full load. If you are going to use them for mixers, know that mixers with larger torque require A LOT of volume, continuously, and you will need a very large compressor with a large ballast to provide that. Don't forget your oil and water collection and filter in line. Having as large a pipe as possible provides additional ballast for the system, and reduces pressure drop effects when trying to run two things at once. Which is another sizing issue. Finally, don't bother with a used one, unless you ASSUME you might have to replace the tank and/or compressor and/or motor and/or pulley. All of these parts wear. Even the ballast tank, because it can rust from the inside from moisture. Make sure you have an industrial quality unit.

Yup, typically they are requiring a barrier that won't allow passing in-bond bottles. They do seem to be looking for the "to the ceiling" thing lately, where as in the past, 12' might have been enough ;-)

If they pursue, and you don't get registration as a result, you can get a hearing. That will cost them, and they may not show, and you are likely to be fine. But you could have your lawyer, given you actually have a strong position, offer a mutual agreement to respect each other's trademarks. By doing so, your getting your trademark indirectly strengthens theirs, and the agreement shows they did due diligence in protecting theirs.

Sure, there is no simple answer, but I assumed he wanted some ball park estimate. That's why I did my walk through: provide a number, and give the assumptions it was based on and how derived. And if he got a couple more such inputs from others, the scatter in the data would make the point clear.

Well, I gave you the reason, but the answer is still the same if all you want is the answer. Except one point, I mislabeled ABV as Proof. I corrected my original post. 1500 fifths per week at 80 proof. That's what you asked for, that's what you got.