Winnie the Pooh

Forgot to mention, that it comes with pump, that is used for dumpling out and pump mush into the still as well as for re-circulation of the mush in the boiling still. Do not have picture

I visited a distillery today, took more pictures and made some measurements. Still: Stainless steel. About 66 inches tall, about 4 fts in OD diameter. Still has an insulated jacket, so insulation level is about 2.5 inches wide and it is a copper outside, so ID diameter would be about 60 - 62 inches. Column is a copper 6" wide, 4 fts tall. It also has a stainless steel shotgun condenser that is 4" in OD diameter and 4 fts tall. According to the seller, it has 5 pipes inside . Connection for in/out water is 1/2" hose connection. Heating element is 3 phase 18 kWatts. According to the seller, it takes about 4 hours to heat the still (with column and condenser) up before it starts produce "heads". Price: 15K

Can you advice, why brass does not work? Thankls

I am from Seattle, can I visit you friend as well? Thanks

I am wondering if regular water utility pump from Home Depot can solve all problems? I personally building (have all parts, no labor, yet) a washing station based on restaurant glass rack (5 x 6 or 6 x 6), with copper piping similar to this one https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/cleaner-sanitizer-combo-for-diy-copper-bottle-washer.598918/ with utility pump and garden hose and re-circulation (in washing mode - re-circulation of soaped water, in rinse mode - plain water from tap and drain to the sewer) and some big plastic container where you can put it.

WA guilds, lawyers, etc ? Thanks

Thank you all for your prompt responses. I scheduled an appointment to this Sunday to see the still and the rest of the equipment, mash tun, fermenters, mixing tank bottle filler, etc . That is a distillery goes out of the business. I will get as much information as possible as well as will make all sizes measured. Thanks

Hello, I was offered a 320 gallons pot still made from 320 gallon Wort Boiler. Current price is 15K - stainless Steel inside, - copper jacketed - 6" copper column, 10 feet tall - 18kw heating coil - adjustable reflex head - Stainless Steel Condenser - 3-phase Controller Seller is a local guy, so it is about a trip on my truck, so shipping would cost nothing or close to nothing. Does it worth to pay for this 15K? I am afraid that electricity based heating will be costly and overtime eats all saving on steam vs. electrical heating If still becomes mine, I would add the onion head, one plated compartment, and potentially gin basket and probably agitator. Once I get all required licenses, I am planning to distill flavored spirits: different brandies, whisky, gin, grappa, etc I will go and check it tonight, but I would like to get initial estimate. Thanks

Thank your valuable comment. May I ask you the same question? What other big serious (high productive) equipment would you suggest to have instead of their small / manual versions? And what do you think about having two big stills (for different stages of distilling process) vs. having one huge (two 500 + 500 gallons stills vs. one 800/900 gallons still)? Thanks

Thank you for commenting this, and I am sorry to her that you closed your doors :(. How would you update the numbers you posted at your original post with additional information and recent experience? What do you think about comment of Tom Lenerz, that minimum size of the still should be 500 gallons? Especially, if you suggest to run a still once - twice per week. And what is your idea of having two smaller stills compare to one single big one.? For example, using both of them as stripping still for 5 days, and use of them them is a final still for day or two? I am not talking about two 26 + 26 gallons stills vs. one 53 gallons till, it is more like having two 500 + 500 gallons stills vs. one 800 - 900 gallons still? And what other equipment would you love to have (dream to have, must have ) in your distillery in the big scale, like auto spirit filler/coking machine vs. manual 1-2-4 heads wine/spirit filler, etc? Thanks p.s. Would you be OK to privately chat about some deeper aspects of your distilling experience? Thanks.

Taken for there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/homedistillers/permalink/1883327375129284/ Question: I have a quick question and wanted to see if you could help. I’m with Oregon State University and we have an upcoming Distillery Startup Workshop for those who want to learn how to get started with your own craft distillery. Before it begins, I wanted to see if we can make it even better. Question – What is your top getting started in distilling question that we absolutely need to cover? Thanks for your time. -Greg- Communications Manager Oregon State University Answer 1 : Hendre' Barnard I present a Craft Distilling Business Workshop every 2 months, so out of experience I can tell you the questions most asked are (in semi accurate order): 1. How do I sell my product? (Marketing Strategy) 2. How do I get a license? (Licensing Procedure) 3. Can I make money doing this? (Feasibility Study) 4. How big do I need to start? (Cash Flow Analysis and Distillery Design) 5. Where do I get my equipment, raw materials and consumables? (Logistics Chain) 6. What should my label, story, brand look like? (Branding Strategy) 7. Where do I find people to work in my Distillery? (Human Resource Management and Recruiting) 8. Is <INSERT PRODUCT CATEGORY> the right product to begin with / to make? (Target Market Analysis) 9. How does Excise work? (Revenue Service Regulations) 10. How easy is it to fund my Distillery? (Asset Finance, Business Loans, Crowdfunding) I can also tell you that the first place you have to start is legislation, as a large percentage of clients that attend are sometimes completely ignorant of what they are and are not allowed to do with a commercial product opposed to what they have been playing around with at home, and normally within the first hour or so, they realize they completely have to change their plan. Even silly things can have big impacts. I get so many guys that walk in with this attitude of “I’ve started so many businesses in my life, I know how to do this.” Not understanding though that this is an industry with very unique challenges, and every decision you make impacts on your success and profitability, not to mention your Return on Investment and Break-even Points. Just take Bottle choice as an example. Bottle is too tall, and you won’t be purchased by Bars and Pubs. Bottle too wide and Liquor stores are not interested. Tourists want small bottles and will pay a premium for them. Choose a weird shape and you cannot label it. Round bottle labeling Machines are cheaper than flat bottle labelers. Hand labeling becomes a bottle neck (no pun intended) in future growth that can only be fixed by employing more people (upping your wage bill). Unique bottles stand out, but are more expensive and come in larger minimum order quantities. Imported Bottles look good, but lead times in ordering means you have to carry more stock which impacts cash flow. Etc. etc. etc. I could go on and on. And this is only one small little topic. You also need to make them aware of the need for additional income streams – setting up a Craft Distillery just to make booze is stupid. You should be capitalizing on multiple levels – tastings, tours, sales of branded and brand related items, functions and events, bar or pub setup, live music, etc. And all of this impacts on choice of location, distillery design, interior design and décor, branding, etc. I also do not recommend combining distillation training with business training. There is not enough time. If I can use our training as an example: we have a 5 day Comprehensive Distilling Course that covers the basics of all spirits, from fruit to grain to rum to gin to agave. That is sufficient knowledge to help someone get started with the process of product development. In that time, normally shortly afterwards, they come for 4 day Craft Distilling Business Training – 1 day Legislation, 2 days Design, Feasibility, Cash Flow Analysis and Business Plan, and 1 day Marketing Strategy. Only closer to the time when are ready to install their equipment and the licensing process is almost complete, do we do 5 day onsite Distillery Operations Training, teaching them and their staff (now recruited) how to work the up-scaled equipment, record keeping, hygiene and cleaning protocols, HACCP protocols, administration, stillage disposal, waste management, maintenance scheduling, etc. Filling and Running a still during what is supposed to be a Course on how to go commercial may be fun, make for good pictures and fills time, but that’s not why the attendees are there. Also – keep the classes manageable. People that attend something like this have a LOT of questions. They want value for money and want to feel that they left there with all their questions answered. You cannot do that with big classes. Answer 2 : David Sundin You should have a class called "Congratulations: You now own a marketing company. Your product is liquor."

I am thinking about opening distillery in nearest future and while I am thinking about it, I am choosing an equipment for my home runs. Currently, I have a small still based on 5 gallons boiler. The next step up for home runs would be 26 gallons, or 26 gallons or better 53 gallons boiler, from the business standpoint. 26 gallons is cheaper, but 53 gallons is better from potential usage in commercial distillery as well as use it at home. Just to give you some numbers, for example, every autumn I have an access to thousands of the pounds of pressed grape skins, that I usually ferment/flavoring wash until March (6 months) and slowly distill them until next autumn using my 5 gallons still. And it takes a lot of time / afford to do it. So heaving, 50 gallons still, allows me to distill barrel (my wash gets fermenting in cheap food graded blue plastic barrels - usually have 2 - 6 barrels of grape skin wash fermenting) one in a time instead of split it to 10 times. From the future commercial standpoint, I use numbers from the following post (bluefish_dist Posted May 2, 2018) at the following topic, http://adiforums.com/topic/9631-how-to-determine-outputs-still-size/ . From a single run (50 gallons of wash), I can get about 5 gallons of spirit per day, or about 1000 gallons per year (200 days x 5 gallons) having just ONE still. Just adding another one (extra under $3000), will increase output twice. With an assumption of sale, $10/bottle or 50 dollars per gallon (I made a worse estimate and lowered an assumptions from above post in two times), I can potentially get 50K/100K per year in sale. For reasonably cheap price of still and reasonably cheap option of increasing the output. I guess, I might run up to four - six 53 gallons stills until their amount will be unmanageable for me and I would need to move to one bigger still (275 - 400 gallons till) or higher "another me". I read an article about guys opened a distillery in NY - that is their web site. And based on one of the pictures from the front, they are/were running cheap 26 gallons still sitting on cement blocks (that is what they started), http://kingscountydistillery.com/about/ . So, having 53 gallons still in commercial usage might be even better, compare to 26 gallons The whole still set can be purchased for under 3000 dollars, for example, on the link below, even it is a different discussion if I need everything from this set or less features: https://www.olympicdistillers.com/distilling-kettles-boilers-heaters-controllers/53-gallon-200-l-boiler-with-agitator-220v-electric-heaters-controller Or I can build it separately for about similar price with more copper and options (onion head, potential gin basket, etc) boiler ($965): https://www.hiproofproducts.com/store/p185/53_Gallon_Stainless_Steel_Distillation_Boiler.html the onion head ($500): copper, build from one of the supplier in China 4" alembic style column with condenser ($500): build from 4" copper pipe, 4"-2" adapter, "U" parts, 2" pipe, ferrules, tri clamps, some copper fittings 240V controller with two 5500 watts heating elements ($550): https://www.olympicdistillers.com/distilling-kettles-boilers-heaters-controllers/240v-dual-element-heater-controller Any suggestion / ideas/ critics/ etc? Thanks

Sent you email, checking if corks are still available. Thanks

Sent you a Private Message to you. Thanks.

Hello, I am interested in starting my hard spirits/ distillery business and I am researching and learning different sides of this business as well as technology. And I understand that as in any other businesses, business is about sales, not about making or technologies. So, my main goal is to focus on sales. But how to sell without making or having a product? The biggest problem as I see, people invest thousand of the dollars into the equipment when they do not have organized sale. A couple distillery, I have talked, already have huge loans, loans with collateral houses and they just start working on sales. And it is hard to organize sale (hard to promise to deliver box of spirit today and deliver it by next Friday), because it would require 1-2 years to get federal/state permits (and at least some of the equipment should be there), make spirits and age it, so real sale start after 3 - 4 years of investing th initial money. Idea that I have is to not invest into equipment, invest into already made product. So, buy whisky in barrels and age it. Once they will be reasonably aged, I will bottle them and will work on real sales with realistic promises. For example (numbers are quite generic and may be even too conservative), I can buy 50 gallons barrel of whisky for $2000 that would be about $40/gallons. In order to MAKE this ONE barrel (in big scale), conservative, I would need about $5 in materials, $5 in utilities (electrical, water, sewer), $3 in federal taxes, $1 in labor (salary, taxes) and about 2$ in equipment (300K spent for the equipment paid in 3 years making 100 gallons per day 200 days per year plus possible loans). So, I would already pay about $15 per gallon that is obviously less than $40/gallon, but it would require almost nothing from me, especially controlling the distilling process, buy ingredients, and all these actions it will be almost impossible to keep with full time job, family. Especially if location of the distillery/aging facility would be in hour or hours to drive from home/work. I do not need much investment into equipment (mostly shelves), so I will spend portion of the saving ($60K) to buy whisky and rent/utility for the facility will be paid from my regular paycheck. Plus, part of the paychecks will be used to collect money for buying next barrels. With the assumption that my aged spirits will increase the bulk price 10% per year (double the price for 10 years aged spirit), I will have about 30 - 50% of the covered monthly expenses (obviously, when I sale barrel or bottles), the rest I will try to cover from certain extra services like age/store somebody else's private casks, store other people stuff (as public storage with limited access), rent it out as a photo studio (high ceiling), etc. It will require some extra work, but not as much as be involved in real distilling every day (supply, accounting, actual work, etc). In two years, after I buy first barrel, I will have a product (bottling does require a lot of expenses), and will start deeply working on sales and marketing. Most likely, I will not get a lot of profit, so I will be initially working on covering expenses. But learning to sale should be priceless. If sales is not good, I will be sitting with barrels that keep aging and increase their value every day with reasonable expenses. And only when I will have a strong sale, I will start investing in distilling equipment and will start to make my own spirit. Any comments, suggestions, critics, etc? I will appreciate any feedback. If this plan has certain chance to pass, I will start working on detailed plans with accurate numbers. Thanks.

I would like to get pictures of the fo9llowing items: - 150L (40gallon) three plate Kothe still. - stainless steel fermenters - mash tank - carrier steam boiler natural gas or propane - grain mill used twice - fruit masher used once - 100L stainless steel tanks for alcohol - 50L stainless steel tanks for alcohol - single head bottle filler Thanks.

You are not suggesting to do a pot still even planning is to make flavored spirits like grappa, brandy , whisky, rum, etc ? Thanks

Any updates?

Hi Nathan, I guess, it is late, but can we talk about potential RE opportunities here in Greater Seattle area? Thanks

Same as me. I am in Seattle.

So, we can talk about opening a distillery in March?

I am Winnie the Pooh , thinking to start a distillery here in Seattle, WA. I am at the business plan development stage, so I am looking for any recommendations regarding type and size of the initial equipment, size of the renting space, required utilities, etc as well as marketing tips. Thanks, Yours Winnie the Pooh

Hello, I am wondering that you can start distillery at the land having Agriculture zoning. I am thinking about buying a land having A-10 zoned (yes, I would need to check it with county), that stands as Agricultural, one "Dwelling Unit" per 10 acres, and wondering if I am potentially allowed to start distillery up. Thanks