Glenlyon

I've looked at them. I have a couple of barrels I was considering converting to fermenters. I suspect though, we probably won't get around to it anytime soon. In episode 4 of of Netflix's "Cooked" series - they investigate using wooden barrels in the raw milk cheese making process. The results are not what you might expect and further, offers a very interesting set of possibilities visa vie whisky and lacto's role in it. Check it out. Likely you will be more inspired to get happening with some wood.

Mine gott man! That's strange! Talk about gender marketing. What is that shimmer material?

While there still may be some issues - BC has some of the best liquor laws in Canada and they are improving quickly.

Buy legal booze. Quality is assured.

Here in BC - you have to get a water license to be able to use private well water for commercial purposes. So they had a great deal of information about the rocks and stuff around our area. Between provincial Government and the local health department, I've been warned about the arsenic many times, so if you have a problem, you would probably already know The RO system completely cleans it up to everyone's satisfaction.

Both. Unfortunately for me I'm dealing with arsenic, so to get the health stuff cleared, I had to agree to the RO throughout the process. But the CBW RO system I have allows for some slight adjustment to help dial in the profile you want.

Check out CraftBrewWater.com for affordable RO systems. Ours works great.

You should get a water report or already have one (presumably a part of your health certificate) - which, will provide a profile of what you have. That way you know where to start when making modification decisions.

Assuming you are still in the building stage - run cat5 from your camera points to the base station. Dead easy and you can probably do it under your electrical permit. We ran ours after hours with the electricians full support. They didn't want to do it. That will save much of the installation fee and you can focus on the hardware. You get a much better signal with less failure factors if you are hardwired.

True, but a boring perspective when trying to get a conversation/debate stared

Specifically in aircraft hangers, yes. But, not distilleries. You would think it would be the other way around, but - stupid rules right?

This is good advice. After careful consideration, what we did was to install a very limited number of XP 110 outlets. We hardwired everything else including the stills and scales and we eliminated all switches of any kind from inside the production area. We put our fans on the exterior of the building and we negotiated a deal with the planning/building dept to install a 3 hour fire wall between the tasting area and the production area. That allowed us to treat the tasting area as a regular code environment which saved us a ton of cash and hassle. Also, we were adamant that the XP wiring was installed inside the walls. Normally, this kind of wiring is done through conduit mounted on the walls. Very ugly. Our solution made for a much cleaner space and made the final electrical inspection easy. We have a very safe workspace and we're pleased with the results. It did cost more, but much, much less than we might have spent if we just followed the code book blindly.

There is a loop hole that will allow you to convince the local building/planing department to relax the explosion proof designation. It is however, going to cost you at least $10k and require that you work with an engineering firm who knows the building code system and distilling - a rare combination. So if you are going to be a big operation, by all means spend the money. However, if you are small, it may be cheaper to just go the XP route, if for no other reason than self preservation. We went XP and although it did cost more, any additional costs will be insignificant in the long run.

I read the story and and I don't think size was the problem. And, marketing is important. However, business failure factors can come in all forms for all different sizes of business. Economic theory dictates as soon as you start a business, you are by default, now going out of business. It simply a matter of time and management skills which, will ultimately decide whether the business lasts a few weeks or centuries. Who dosen't want to be in the craft booze biz? All the media reporting from wine to beer to spirits has made it very attractive, especially, from a 'fantasy' vision of the idyllic craft lifestyle. But operators with actual distilleries know, in reality, this is a really tough business. I think a lot of people are attracted, then dismayed to realize that its hard work from a paper perspective and its hard work from a labor perspective. No sitting around watching the sunset sipping on superior spirits. Those days disappeared when you packed up your illegal basement operation. Identifying your market, regardless of the business size, has always been a challenge for business. Not to mention, even if you get a customer, what's to say the next time that customer is thirsty, they simply stop into the liquor store? Or, while in the store, they pass your bottle in favor the the usual brand name swill? After all, its much more convenient either way. So getting people to be loyal and come back for that second, third, or fourth bottle is very difficult. Even, if they openly profess to support local. How do you boost that 1%? One customer at a time. The best advice is freely given by the ADI - 'Win Your Backyard'. That may mean hand selling a lot of locals for a few years before you can rely on the word of mouth to provide that steady business you are trying to build. Also, just because you are successful dosen't mean you can maintain that. I'm dealing with an accountant. They have provided excellent service for my businesses for many, many years. But this year? Off the rails. Dysfunction, costly mistakes, high fees. They are about to lose us. So, you always need to have a firm hand on the tiller, no matter the business and craft alcohol is no different.

We have two HD cameras covering the tasting room, one on the bar and one on the display. We also have them outside and in the distilling area. All told, I think we have seven of them. Cost $2k, no additional fees or costs. Records to hard drive and loops over time. Accessible through the internet or direct.

I would definitely be an early adopter of this. Hopefully, not too expensive.

Not to mention lost profits!

Sort of... When we were faced with making a choice, our electrician kept offering us very expensive options - in excess of $6k. After much debate, what we did was get powerful regular fan(s), we have three, and we mounted them on the exterior of the building, thus circumventing the XP requirement. However, since then, I have discovered that the electrician was trying to take advantage of us. Actually, XP fans are easy to come by and not near as expensive as suggested... https://www.industrialfansdirect.com/collections/explosion-proof-fans-and-blowers ...is a good place to start generally. If you are looking for local or CDN sources, try the farmer's supply, as most of the XP fans sell to meet their farm/grain needs.

The chances of creating an ethanol explosion from fumes is remote. Once the fuel air mix exceeds 13% the explosion danger is passed. Its the same with Natural gas. Past 17%, its pretty safe. Coming from a NG background, I often had to explain that gas wasen't nearly as dangerous as advertised. That being said, its always prudent to ensure the explosive conditions are not present.

Back to this idea for a moment. How would this affect energy usage? Theoretically, I suppose you could run a larger still with less energy?

Any chef will happily flambe your cherries jubilee with a 40% spirit. Ethanol’s vapor phase is heavier than air and will accumulate at the lowest level. Ethanol vapor and air will mix and form an ignitable flammable concentration from 3.3% to 13.3%.

I'm keen on this idea. When will you have this modification available?

Assuming your apple juice has sugar in it, which it probably does. you'll need to use the 'proofing by obfuscation' strategy. Try the TTB website for how to videos on this subject.

My daughter is 21 and with a firm eye on running me off the premises as soon as possible!

I had the unexpected good fortune to encounter Bill Owens while attending the ADI Alt Whisky Workshop at De Vine Wines & Spirits this last weekend. It was a super day made that much better by the presence of Bill. He was gracious and a delight to speak with. Thank you Bill for making the effort to come and be part of the event. It was an honor to meet you.