Bakery87

Thanks Aaron. I'm glad I found this post. We recently had an employee get into a fender bender picking up a small item from a homebrew store. It wasn't his fault and nothing was mentioned about the distillery. The cops didn't even want to show up for something so small, and the employee and other driver exchanged information. It will all be taken care of by the other driver's insurance, but it got us thinking. We don't own any company vehicles, but we might want to reach out to our insurance provider regarding a policy that covers people while running business errands. I'm not sure that possible, but it can't hurt. Thanks, Mike

Hey all, We've reached out to several companies that produce them, but haven't had any luck getting a response. We operate with a standard 500 gallon open-top fermenters supplied by Custom Metal Craft. If anyone has breathable covers they are wanting to part with, please send me a message. Thanks y'all

Does anyone know if there is a dried Chico distillers yeast strain out there? Looking for something close to WLP001 from my brewing days.

We went through the Tierra Group as well. Better flavor than agave syrup because it actually has some of the pina in the concentrate. Cost about $7200/tote (3020 pounds). Using SafTeq blue yeast as well - just started our first fermentation today.

Howdy from Texas! We're looking at producing our first single malt and originally planned on a grain-off fermentation. We've been making our way through rye and bourbon so far without many issues and handle both of those as a grain-on ferment/distillation. We do have a false bottom on our cooker and have the ability to lauter, but eyeing how easy grain-on ferments are, should we be keeping our single malt the same? My concerns primarily lie with the astringency that can occur from taking barley to too high of a temperature. This wouldn't happen in our cook, but would occur in the distillation process. By that time all sugar should be extracted and converted, but I figured the astringency would come from other parts of the grain that don't contain the sugar we so desire. Thanks everyone, Mike

Fortified beer is not a thing according to the TTB. Our contact said we'd have to petition congress to get it passed, so no go on a collab idea!

I would need more information. 5%, where? In your still or around your facility? 5% in your still is nothing, but in your facility it's a big deal. LEL of ethanol is closer to 3.3% as well. We (Texas, USA) are required to have flame arrestors on our still, receiving tank, and heads/tails tank. They are all supposed to stay closed when alcohol of any content is present, and we need to constantly be pulling from our distillation room to ensure we don't have flammable vapors. We are now trying to get an alcohol meter on our floor that would only kick on the fans to remove air from the room when that limit is reached. Otherwise our A/C is fighting against the removal of the air in the room.

Is that a thing here in the US? I can't find guidance from the TTB rules, nor can I really find anything via google. I figured a beer could either add some whiskey to it for fortification, or breweries are fortifying via freezing.

Hey all, We're looking for 1000 or 2000 gallon open top fermenters, and 550 gallon stainless steel totes. Please email mike@fiercewhiskers.com Thanks, Mike

Hey all, I'm working with a local farmer/malt house for obtaining rye for a rye whiskey. They have bresseto and bono available, elbon the following year. I can't find a lot of reliable information regarding their use in the distilling world. I know a handful of places that seem to swear by elbon. Any chance our vast forum has an idea of what types of rye some of the rye whiskies use that I can find on the shelf? I'd like to tap into my collection and get a feel for the difference in the varieties. I realize there is a lot going on with a the spirit; age, barrel, speciality grains, etc, so it might not be much help, but I figured it couldn't hurt to reach out and get some info or suggestions. My initial thought on a recipe is a high rye, about 80%+ of rye/malted rye.

I agree. I'm finding it difficult to locate a large enough "printing" area for the laser to accomodate a barrel head, as well as finding something made in the US.

Does anyone looking at this have experience with the lasers? I also would prefer to use a laser, I'm just worried about having it shipped from overseas with poor return policies, and the time it will take to laser a barrel head. I figure the higher the wattage, the faster the laser should be able to make a valuable impact on the wood.

I've been looking at something similar, but paint is a good backup plan in case the laser fails or takes too long. https://universalengraver.com/products/3000mw-blue-cnc-laser-engraving-machine-40x40

I wasn't considering Hoochware based on previous comments from distillers. I know a few currently using it and all are planning on switching to a new system.

Has anyone tried both software packages? They seem to have similar capabilities and I'm trying to choose between the two. I've heard only good things about Distill x 5 and mixed reviews of Whiskey Systems software.