CFry

Howdy!

A ano prosim! A slivovice would be good. CFry

Reminds me of a certain claim over dribbled wax. Amusing...stick to the horns. CFry

And this sign would be great adjacent to it..."Beware pickpockets and loose women," tak nevim. CFry

Denaturing may be of some importance to make the product worthwhile. CFry

In South Dakota, one can operate both. CFry

It seems like an instrument of control and, of course, a means of increasing profit. The high cost of tasting will dissuade one from trying different products. That will shift one's reliance on one's palate to outside sources, such as the sales push from the middle man. And everyone knows artisan distillers are paying billions to middle men to push their product and provide kick backs for sales.

As a side note, I am jealous you are so close to Walla Walla. I still have some bottles stored from a handful of years back. Just a handful of years more until I am on Leonetti's list. CFry

I think that is an interesting location for an alcohol supply store. The potential lies in the ease of access. Depending upon the set prices, people will likely pick up alcohol at the airport, thereby avoiding going to a liquor store later for relatively reasonable alcohol for the rooms, etc.

So it really depends on the intersection of the price at which it is supplied (taking into account the ease of access) and the amount of demand from party goers, gift givers, meeting with friends people, etc.

It is, nevertheless, a good idea for Vegas. Unfortunately, we will, based on our current trend, never have the same fortunes as, for example, airport travelers in the Schengen area. There is not much like grabbing a liter or two of Pilsner Urquell and prolonging one's time in one's secondary home. CFry

"Spirits of the (North) Woods" is too cheeky, maybe? CFry

There can be a lot of pressure to find a middle ground bewteen artistic purity and commercial pragmatism.

With that, I believe you have summed up artisan distiller's endeavours. CFry

Use your great water through fermentation, however, I suggest you use RO afterwards for dilutions. CFry

Especially when the laws are designed to ensure that such a thing happens. Like I said, I won't do business in this country. Research yes. Business no.

May I suggest Ukraine for you. I know you have the potential to make some good spirits there (I have tasted some excellent brandy). You can avoid many regulations if you have good connections and plenty of money. The connections part would, however, be notably difficult, especially if you do not know Ukrainian or Russian. CFry

Has anyone joined or thought about joining the association?

Their cause seems supportable, however, its makeup of only relatively major players draws some caution.

http://www.discus.org/

CFry

You could buy up the stock in a publicly traded company that operates a distillery, then take it private. Diageo operates at least one plant, as does Bacardi. Is that the scope and scale of your project, or do you want to give a little more info on what you're seeking?

Talk about a turn key operation! CFry

I feel your frustration! CFry

Our whiskey/brandy based still has an agitator. If you do not plan on filtering out the material which has supplied the yeast with food, an agitator will help prevent base materials from cooking onto the still. CFry

I second Denver Distiller's general thoughts.

...Leave the spent grains handling to the farmers...

Smart farmers will be falling all over themselves to get your stillage. Not only is the stuff free for them, it's an A+ feed for their animals. Their cows will produce more milk, and their chickens will produce more eggs (chickens are particularly fond of the rootlets/acrospires in malted barley.....this has happened with every farmer I've ever used over the years. If they complain about it being wet, then move on to the next farmer who understands what free feed means.

Cows love wet cake. If a rancher already uses DGGs or wet cake...they could possibly mix in the residue, thereby avoiding any drying or other type of processing. It may not be the most beneficial for the rancher, but it could play a role in establishing a relationship. A relationship in which the rancher would grow the grains you desire (organically?) at a reasonable rate and receive the residue might be beneficial for both parties. CFry

We soften before using an RO system to remove all dissolved solids. We tried making our vodka without this soften and RO step, and the results are 1000x better with the minerals removed. We also carbon filter our water and then chill filter the vodka through carbon.

At what point in the process do you carbon filter the water? That is an interesting technique. CFry

Plus, one chemical can nullify the cleaning action of the other if you mix them together, depending on the makeup of the products you're using. Rinse the caustic first, then use the acid.

Denver Distiller stated the reason for rinsing well. The acid wash, e.g. citric acid, would at least be partially neutralized by the residual base. I am sure the cost of water for rinsing is far less than the cost of wasted chemicals.

Also, how long do you flush the solution through the still?

I was told by the folks at Bavarian to wash for 30 minutes with each solution. From experience, it works for me. CFry

What are the atmospheric conditions during bottling? Humidity and temperature conditions during bottling could theoretically be the cause. And if that is the case, would it be possible to change the bottling conditions? CFry

I recommend you read:

Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing (Handbook of Alcoholic Beverages) (Hardcover)

by Inge Russell (Author)

I would second that. It is a solid read. CFry

It really comes down to integrity. Are *you* comfortable labeling something in a manner that states (or implies) that you distilled it when you didn't?

Cheers,

Paul

That truly is an excellent point. I wish start from handling the grain on up, however, I am not in a pleasant situation. I joined a distillery that has been bleeding money for 3 years and the still provided to me cannot produce vodka. And when my boss is extremely hesitant to purchase a vessel which can do the job, it makes meeting the goal of starting to sell products 5 months after starting to distill products and starting a career as a distiller, to say the least, frustrating.

On a additional note, if you are counting on local or even state wide support of a locally distilled and bottled product you will find out as soon as people start reading the label, which they will, and find out you are miss leading them your sales will go south. That has happened to several companies here in Colorado. The label is required to have on it somewhere "Distilled by and Bottled by". Coop

That is also a point I must drive home with the owner.

I believe that according to the regulations... because the GNS has already been distilled to 190+ proof, if you re-distill it to something less than that, you can still call it vodka.

You would be in fact rectifying an already distilled spirit.

If you make a distillation of the product, then you can legally say, distilled and bottled by your company. If for some reason, you decide to buy the majority of your base material ( that you arent planning on re-distilling), you could always consider having THAT distillery get a Doing Business As ( DBA) under your name, so the bottle could still say distilled and bottled by your company.

this is not ideal, but its legal

All your comments got the light bulb to click. As a distiller, one is not limited to producing vodka as a readily created spirit (i.e. not store in barrels). There are other ways to support growth and long term development!

As my friend, a Czech Brewmaster, stated, "You make good solutions." So I have formulated a solution to the problem, and, in the end, I shall formulate a most delicious solution. CFry

Saint Louis Distillery would also be interested. We are currently looking at Saxco or Bruni Glass Packaging. To get a decent price from Saxco, a 20' or 40' ocean container must be shipped (10 or 22 pallets, respectively, of bottles which can be mixed and matched).

I have been in contact with both retrieving information.

If mixing and matching can be done directly through Saver, I would also be interested in that route.

Feel free to call the distillery.

CFry

Saint Louis Distillery

3601 Airport Road

Pierre, SD 57501

P: 605-494-1009

F: 605-494-1009

Signature Spirits USA (the beverage division of Ultra Pure) might be an option for you. Granted these products must be special ordered, but, 130 proof Canadian Whiskey or 132 proof 3 year Scotch Whiskey are theoretically available in 55 gal. drums, 275 gal. totes, or 6k gal. bulk. I suggest contacting Chip Weismiller at Ultra Pure. CFry

I was wondering if anyone is aware of a place where whiskeys made from different mashes (corn and rye) could be obtained. We are currently very small and only have two different products, both of which we do from scratch (fermentation up). However, we do not yet have room for additional fermenters and equipment to do our whiskey testing in that manner. I am hoping to find whiskey that we could redistill, age and blend ourselves. Thank you for any and all assistance.

What is your preferred yeast for fermentation? Specifically, what yeast characteristics (dry versus liquid, etc.) are preferred for fermenting whiskey? We have tried some liquid yeast from WYeast after we created our wort from corn. I am just wondering what are your conclusions (if you are willing to share) after testing dry versus liquid yeast or one company's yeast versus another's of a comparable strain. I greatly appreciate any feedback. CFry

I would not do it. If you have a still why not use it? Coop

Unfortunately, our A Holstein still only has three plates which makes it impossible (in it's current setup) to reach the vodka mark.

I have been talking to Chip at Ultra-Pure and he states that he supplies numerous artisan distilleries with GNS. He suggested to me using GNS to produce vodka is done, however, I am interested in hearing that from the distillers, themselves. Thanks for your input.