scohar

Great! Guess this means there will be more of your fantastic Rye Whiskey in the future? Wish you all the best with your upgrade Scott.

Thanks Aurthur. Look forward to seeing you!

And FYI, for everyone else. The still is SOLD. Thanks for your interest.

THE STILL IS NOW SOLD. Thank you for your interest.

We are upgrading to a larger still, and with our limited space, must replace the still we are currently using. It is a wonderful still, and we've built our business on it thus far!

Details:

• Still is in EXCELLENT condition (nearly new), less than 3 years old
  
• 240VAC single phase heated electric water bath (60kW)
  
• Electrically controlled via digital temperature controller (provided)
  
• 100 gallon pot capacity
  
• 3 bubblecap column on top of pot, included sightglasses
  
• Illuminated pot and sightglass
  
• 4" ball valve discharge pipe
  
• Safety features provided (pressure relief, collapse valve, steam check, etc.)
  
• Dephlegmator with fine-tune control for maximum distillate control taste/proof
  
• Condenser included, with cooling water collection tank
  
• CIP system and pump included
  
• Agitator motor included
  

Photos available at www.catoctincreek.com. Detailed photos available upon request.

Will be available in 3-6 mos depending on delivery of our new equipment. We will provide installation help at your facility.

Buyer must arrange transport, FOB Purcellville, VA.

Serious inquiries only! Please phone 540-751-8404 and ask for Scott. Or email scott@catoctincreek.com.

THE STILL IS NOW SOLD. Thank you for your interest.

Really would love to attend but I'm getting married that day!

Congrats!

The Catoctin Creek Distilling Workshop is an all day seminar and workshop teaching the fundamentals of operating a craft distillery. People interested in the art of craft distilling, thinking of starting their own craft distillery, or just really interested in distilled spirits are encouraged to attend.

Topics covered will include:

• Mashing
• Fermentation
• Distillation - with a live distillation and sensory evaluation
• Storage
• Bottling
• Organic and Kosher
• The Business of Distilling - including discussion of starting a small business and federal licensing
• Tasting - the most enjoyable part!

The workshop will cover the art and science of distillation, and will include practical demonstrations and presentations led by Scott & Becky Harris, distillers and owners of Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. During the day, students will participate in a live distillation of rye whisky through the company's Kothe K-900 still.

Only 30 seats are available, so order now to reserve your space!

Sign up for the workshop in our online store with this link.

Date: Saturday, September 24, 2011

Time: 10am to 4pm

Where: Catoctin Creek Distilling Company

37251C East Richardson Lane

Purcellville, VA 20132

Price: $150 per person

A continental breakfast and light lunch will be provided. (Please notify us of any special dietary requirements.)

More info and make reservations at: http://catoctincreek...hop-autumn-2011

As far as real hands-on distillers in the U.S., I don't know of anyone but Cheryl.

My wife Becky does 90% of all the distilling at Catoctin Creek. She lets me distill when I behave.

Oh, gosh, I forgot Sonat at Koval. How can I forget Sonat? She's great! (And Robert too!)

I don't know for sure, but I heard it's Lisa Laird from Laird's, who I'm told has been doing it for decades.

I've also heard that Four Roses uses exclusively female distillers, because they have better palates. (Don't know for sure... anyone?)

Finally, of course, Cheryl Lins has been doing it for a while, and our own Becky Harris for 2.5 years.

Scott

Hey, Greg... thanks for the shout-out!

I received an email this morning claiming a complaint has been made with the ICC Arbitrage Commission against my company and I should contact the given link. Sadly the link goes to a site called turklive.com which isn't any of the ICC sites. I wouldn't recommend clicking on the link as it probably leads to some kind of malware.

Anyone else get such a message?

I did send email to someone at ICC here in the US to notify them of the misuse of their name.

Cheryl,

Seems like phishing is on the rise. They are getting more sophisticated too. I had one to my legitimate business email that said there was a problem with one of my ACH transactions. Seemed legit, and it was even from my bank. But with a phone call, I was able to determine it was fake. Scary stuff... gotta stay vigilant!

Scott

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.

Federally, you pay nothing on product in bond until it leaves bond. I don't know what your state rules are.

I don't think lactose is fermentable by itself, but must be converted to simple sugars by enzyme. If I remember from high school biology correctly, I believe the enzyme is beta lactase.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase

User then admin validation has now been set! This should help greatly, thanks for the input all.

I look forward to my spam free future! :-) Thanks, Greg

I'd be in favor of a manual approval process for each new user. Might help.

me too... I'd like one too.

Anyone know a good supplier of bulk Citric Acid and/or Sodium Hydroxide? I am located in Corvallis, MT. I dont know if there is a regional supplier or if an online supplier is the only way to go. Im looking for 5 gallon bucket quantities of both.

Thanks,

Luke

Hawkins

Thanks, Jonathan. That's what I meant... what I meant was that they don't actually have to own a still or distill anything.

Scott

By the way, you don't need to be a distillery to make Kahlua and Amaretto type liqueurs. You can be a humble processor buying NGS wholesale. Be sure to check out the types of TTB licenses offered.

how do you gauge your proof when a hydrometer will not work do to the sugars and other ingredients in the liquid.

You can buy an Anton Paar Density Meter with the add-ons for sugar solutions (many-multiples tens-of-thousands of dollars), or you can do bench distillations with glassware. The latter is cheap, but will take roughly an hour per gauging. Probably not going to scale to a larger business model.

Scott

what is Diammonium Phosphate? A member was asking where to purchase it. what will he do with it?

Thanks,

Brad.

He's either using it as a yeast nutrient, or he's building a bomb.

"how difficult was it to get started in Virginia?" I have been reading some VAABC laws and tax info and I can see it is definitely going to be some work, but how much resistance did you get from Virginia?

I wouldn't say we got any "resistance" in Virginia. On the licensing side, they were pretty easy to work with. You just have to read the rules and apply properly.

On the retail and distribution side, again, no "resistance", but like any new customer, you have to tell a compelling story for why they should carry your product. It needs to be different, interesting, tasty, etc. etc. etc. You have to answer the question, "why should I care?" to a group of people who aren't as jazzed about your dream-come-true as you are.

Also, review the Virginia laws about whether or not you can do sales on-site. That is probably the biggest factor that could affect your success. Review it carefully.

You can have an on-site store in Virginia if:

1. You own land in Virginia which produces 51% of the grain/fruit for your product

2. You rent land in Virginia " " " " " " "

3. You have a registered historic building

4. You have a museum

Good luck.

Can anybody give advice on registering for a trademark without legal assistance? is it a bad idea?

Thanks for any input.

Brad.

Bad idea. I recommend counsel.

Would like to find a used hammer mill in good working order. Please contact if you have one to sell or know of one.

This issue was raised at the DISCUS so-called Micro Distillers Council. The reported response to the producer who raised the issue, "he was nearly shouted out of the room" by the DISCUS CEO. This is an example of how our interests will occasionally diverge from those of DISCUS.

Ralph, Good work on this stuff, and we're working with our legislators too on this, using your example as lead.

As for the DISCUS meeting, I was at that meeting too, and it wasn't quite as dramatic as mentioned. DISCUS did make it clear that their interests lie with the big alcohol companies (and why not? They contribute MILLIONS per year to DISCUS, and we contribute peanuts), and that on tax breaks for small distillers, they would have no position in favor of it.

You're definitely right, sometimes DISCUS will help the small distillers (with press, lobbying against HR 5034, etc.), and sometimes our interests will diverge. That's OK, I think.

Scott

I like Scott's idea of getting some example cases from your local store.

Every state has specific rules for these, and there will be someone at your state's department that regulates alcohol who can tell you specifically what info needs to be there, as well as the min size font for some of the codes. As you enter new markets, requirements will change, so be careful getting case labels printed in bulk til you are relatively sure you'll use them all as printed. We still print our own, the costs and flexibly still work in our favor...

-Scott

Aarongraphics is a great source for low cost B&W labels. Very quick turnaround, reasonably priced.

Tell 'em Scott sent ya! (Maybe they'll give me a discount?!)