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https://reason.com/2019/11/23/california-regulators-shut-down-a-distillery-for-serving-alcohol/

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Blinking Owl, a small craft distillery located in Santa Ana, Calif., outside Los Angeles, temporarily and non-voluntarily closed its doors last week. "We will be CLOSED the following Days: Sunday, November 10, 2019, to Saturday, December 7th, 2019, and Saturday, December 14th," a message posted atop the Blinking Owl website laments.

Further down the homepage, the distillery— which holds a California craft distiller's license, known as a Type 74 license in state regulatory parlance—goes into great detail about the saga behind the temporary closure, which appeared to result from little else than confusing regulations and inconsistent instructions from regulators.

"While Type 74 license states that distilleries can only serve up to 1.5 oz. of alcohol per person per day, we are allowed to have private events, in which the drink restriction is waived," Blinking Owl explains. "It is under this section of code which many small distilleries in the state have found a much-needed revenue source by hosting private events or functions. To that end, we segregated private events with wristbands, something we believed the public was accustomed to and well understood the meaning of, and we subsequently operated in a manner we understood to be in complete compliance."

Ladies & Gentlemen - Let's keep this conversation to specifically to the FET & things we know about it. Please use other social media if you wish to opine on other political matters.

If you haven't checked it out view here: https://www.accelevents.com/e/Distillingauction2019

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The Distilling Research Grant was formed in 2018 as a 501(c)3, under the initiative of American Distilling Institute, the oldest and largest organization for craft distillers, to support craft distilling by funding scientific  research.  The organization is administered by volunteer ADI staff members and an independent selection advisory committee.

 

The newly formed non-profit Distilling Research Grant (DRG) is funded by the proceeds of the online auction. The funds will be dispersed to students and interns by an independent Advisory Committee composed of academics, distillers and scientists. 

 

The second annual online charity auction will run from September 25 to November 25, 2019 at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified no later than November 30.

You can also macerate and remove the botanicals that go stew-y before distillation. You'll still get the essence. Botanicals that stay in get dumped in for maceration, botanicals that are removed beforehand are bagged to make removal easy. 

We plan on using it for Rum and testing it for other things for the very reasons you mentioned. Lance Shaner from Omega yeasts was giving a talk to a local homebrew group about Kveik. I said everything he said about esters/heat/ABV was exactly what a distiller wanted. He said he was going to work with some of the local Chicago distillers to test it out. Not sure if he did or not.

Looking for bulk peat for a local maltster. Anyone here have a good source?

You can get a gin basket from Still Dragon: https://stilldragon.com/index.php/search/?cat=0&q=gin

Can you do grain in/out? If so is it easy to switch?

If anything you use is not on the FDA's GRAS list you'll need to submit samples.

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/generally-recognized-safe-gras

Also a good list: https://www.cocktailsafe.org/

Any pics of the area? I was thinking of getting one, would like an idea of the issues I may have to deal with. Thanks.

Ethanol, especially at cask strength, is a very strong sanitizing agent.

Thanks to Dave Dunbar! He submitted my TTB application today. He guided me through all the hoops. Now I'm working on PA and Allegheny County Health Department. I'm not too worried about the state. ACHD is what I am worried about. I have zero clue what they will want. I've never been in the restaurant industry before so I don't know anything about the requirements. I know it will cost me $$, but I'm hoping not $$$$.  I'm hoping to be open in November/December. 

I've been studying, reading and talking to distillers for years now. It's starting to feel real. I'm still building my space out. It should be done by early October. 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-whiskey/u-s-whiskey-exporters-struggle-after-year-of-eu-tariffs-idUSKCN1V80DN

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The Distilled Spirits Council said that 63% of U.S. whiskey exports have faced retaliatory tariffs from the European Union, China, Turkey, Canada and Mexico. The EU currently levies 25% tariffs on U.S. whiskey.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office is preparing to slap tariffs of up to 100% on $1.8 billion worth of European spirits and wine in response to illegal European aid to planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA), the most recent development in a 15-year-long trade dispute between Europe and the United States.

“American whiskeys have become collateral damage,” said Chris Swonger, chief executive of the Distilled Spirits Council at an Aug. 6 hearing with the U.S. Trade Representative. He urged Washington not to introduce the new tariffs because the industry fears Europe will introduce even more tariffs in retaliation.

https://www.katmarsoftware.com/alcodenslq.htm

There's a video how it works. Also it's a free download to test it out. 

Bad link

Check out the book "still magic" by Marcel Thompson https://stillmagic.net/. I just ordered it. Has recipes and advice.

First question that always gets asked - where are you located? If you're near Pgh I might be interested. 

Also a good resource: https://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/how-to-make-moonshine <- has a link to a video too. 

They list many here:

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=14

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=11

If you haven't distilled before you may want to read this: https://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Beginner's_Guide

It's not that people don't share recipes here, it's that they are more commercially based. Meaning batch size is normally a couple hundreds of gallons at a time. For a simple corn mash you can try this one: https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=74316

Look up a 1000-2000 sqft warehouse space near you. That's what it might cost. But how much it costs depends all the factors that Hedgebird supplied. He nor anyone else can give you even ballpark figures because it is all based on local factors. What is costs will vary wildly - urban, suburban, rural. Local government, fire inspectors etc can change that. There's very few easy questions when it comes to distilling and what you are asking isn't one of them. 

On 7/16/2019 at 4:44 PM, Classick said:

We don't run anything lower than 130 proof on our still, which is when fatty acids (turquoise floaties) start to appear (obviously depending on type of base material we're distilling)

However, we have the only still like ours in the US, so i doubt anyone uses the same settings we do.

1. "turquoise floaties" - isn't that a sign of you getting copper sulfate in your distillate? 

2. What kind of still is it? 

On 7/16/2019 at 6:23 PM, PeteB said:

I don't allow hydrometers to be used to tell us what a spirit will taste like, those things don't have taste buds. 

I love that statement. 

I'm not stating I'm an expert on the fine details of what you are asking, just going off of what my interpretations of the regs are. If you're doing something that is serious you should go to someone like Dave Dunbar who can guide you through those details. Those Regulations are here: https://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam/chapter4.pdf

1. Yes, that would be the Distilled Gin.  "DISTILLED GIN: Gin produced by original distillation from mash with or over juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors"

2. Redistillation - flavoring GNS or other spirits with botanicals. 

3. Mixed question here - if you're redistilling after maceration then it's Redistilled gin and doesn't need GNS, it can be any spirit. If you don't redistill then it's compounded gin that does require GNS. 

REDISTILLED GIN: Gin produced by redistillation of distilled spirits with or over juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors

COMPOUNDED GIN: Gin produced by mixing neutral spirits with juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors

4. The regulations do not state what type of still is required so any can be used.

5. The still type doesn't matter. If you use a pre-distilled spirit it's redistilled Gin.

6. See 5.

Again - there's way more to this than what is above. Dave can guide you through it.

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GIN - Spirits with a main characteristic flavor derived from juniper berries produced by distillation or mixing of spirits with juniper berries and other aromatics or extracts derived from these materials and bottled at not less than 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof).

^ That's Gin that is made with a base spirit then you macerate or vapor infuse the botanicals. This how most gins are made. 

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Distilled Gin – Gin produced by original distillation from mash with or over juniper berries and other aromatics or their extracts, essences or flavors.

^ That is more like Genever. The botanicals are mixed in with the fermentation then distilled. 

As for the other questions as to when to add botanicals or vapor infuse etc - different manufacturers it differently. There is no single way to make gin. 

Starting to mess with barrels. What tools would be useful aside from a bung puller and hoop driver? Or other places to look for them? I figure on using a dead blow hammer with the hoop driver and placing bungs. 

https://barrelbuilders.com/store/

https://www.stortz.com/product-category/cooperage-tools/

2 hours ago, FijiSpirits said:

Understand how and why it was done and what the effects were, but then apply that knowledge with better tools.

That ^

Our industry SUCKS at sharing knowledge on a larger scale. Walk up to a distiller and (s)he'll tell you nearly everything you need to know. Very few people write stuff down in order to share it. We need to be better at that. This forum is a great tool for that but we tend not to get that deep into things. We get stuck with people taking umbrage at perceived slights and ruining threads. (This isn't directed at anyone in particular, we've all done it.) That makes it so we don't share quite as much or as honestly as we could. We get stuck not being able to share our insights as to why we do things or why we think things work the way we do for fear of causing a problem or having someone crap on you. In the end we don't really know why we do what we do. We're just guessing. And that sucks.