IrishRosie

Can it be outside on a deck?

P.S., my local conditional use permit application ran 50 pages. Then again, I am in an extreme density area. Good luck!

Better look on a State level as usually local defers on matters of hold back for "samplin," taxes, etc. The State will rarely allow you to obtain a license if you don't go through local permitting first, i.e., a Conditional use permit, etc. Also beware of connected dwelling premises on a Federal level. Plenty of people have been shot down on farm applications (not counting permit for industrial distillation for ag use) because the Feds consider the entire 10 acres connected to the dwelling house. It's kinda a case by case thing with lots of discretion available to the local TTB officer. May have to cleave off the land you want to use and have that as the bonded premises. Just some thoughts from a gal 90% through the total app process and waiting for Fed action. Good luck.

probably neglected to bow to the whiskey gods over ther fermentation pot

Thanks scott...will do

better have alotta patience, alotta money, and alotta testicular fortitude

Sorry..email is:Rosie4ever@hotmail.com...gracias!

Oh, and a 100 gallon fermenter would be nice too!

getting close to approvals coming in and I am in interested in acquiring a nice used 50 or 100 gallon refluxer. I prefer copper, but stainless is fine. I am in the bay area but will pay fob if the freight isn't backbreaking....be nice to a sweet gal and gimme a good deal ....thanks!

San Francisco Spirits Competition in March at the Hotel Nikko

Be nice to transplant this thread for general comment and feed back....admin?

Yes, of course.....my meaning was safety first and foremost....I am just holding my breath waiting for the first craft distiller accident and I sense a real surge in hobby built equipment attempting to move mainstream as artisan distilling takes off. This ain't the beer and wine biz and I am afraid the notion that bad stuff always happens to the other guy is leading to a recklessness in operations. How many people have ever witnessed or seen the aftermath of a still explosion? I've seen two, one in Manila and the other in Sichuan Province in China. The latter resulted in the death of two factory workers and the culprit was substandard equipment coupled with poor ventilation. I consulted for a start up distiller in Southern California a few years ago, mainly for some fermenting issues given the high desert heat in summer, and I was stunned to see their operation using beer keg stills with tar paper and flashing on seams and pipe joints. Worse, the smell of airborne ethanol vapor led me to believe that vapor leaks were being treated as just a necessary evil in producing hi shot alcohol. When I mentioned that the ethanol vapors posed a risk for explosion, the assistant to the distiller told me that it was the liquid that was worrisome in creating explsions, and not the vapor......I meam "wow!" I believe associations shoud be more than just places to exchange information. I believe they should help move the industry forward by developing standards for equipment and, yes, even approved equipment registries. Best standards and practices should also be developed and members wishing to display the ADI seal shoud have to earn it, not merely by taking an online course but subjecting themselves to rigorous peer review and adherance to institute standards. Absent this framework of professionalism and a real seal of approval I m afraid it is only a matter of time before some unfortunate....and avoidable........accident renders this avocation indefensible to government regulators and the public at large.

This whole subject goes to the idea of some minimum standards ADI should be promulgating.....and the members subscribing too.

having good equipment is the issue....looks like these guys relished "playin the part" by running some rustic lookin equipment similar to what one might find in the back woods....thin metal, poor workmanship seaming and sealing....these should be the red flags. Look at what happened in the UK last year when some not-too-bright immigrants batched up and ran some potato vodka with little, if any, ventilation in a brick warehouse....the force of the explosion was so great it bowed out the metal roll-up door and killed 5 guys.....We will indeed have trouble with public relations issues when carelessness, poor equipment, and misguided theatrics join forces and end up killing someone here. These are exactly the type of issues ADI should be front and center in addressing. Being a member should mean more than popping a sticker in the window and declaring yourself a member in good standing....It should require a pledge and a scrupulous adherance to good practices as defined by the membership......short of this we have a loose confederation of members and not a body of practicioners advancing the distilling arts under the banner of safety and general self-regulatory complance. Do it ourselves or eventually have it done to us.....

Amen to too much wood........you better go real light when you batch up your first batch of whiskey with chips...in my experience, you can really kill a batch of nice product with a heavy hand...it always seemed to me as if all the cross sections and surfaces on chips imparted a much more robust oaking to the spirit....GO SLOW and easy.....contact me if you want more info regarding cross sectional areas and converaion information....just batchup a small amount before you commit to heavy for what is arguably a shortcut in the taste process.....Rosie

Oops should have had my glasses on..sorry for the name typo

Thank you Brothers Ugly....good advice

uhmmm, because he wants to unload some equipment? Really......

Hi Guys....putting the finishing touches on the local Conditional Use Permit for Santa Rosa, but I am kind of at a loss when it comes to the applicable fire regs...I know about the IFC, Chapter 50, exemptions for wooden casks, etc., but trying to establish the regs as they apply to a less than 1,000 square foot facility on private land is a bear in terms of fire sprinklers, exits, etc. Anyone know a real concise extract or abstract that deals with fire regs as they pertain to artisan distillers? I can't imagine a 300 square foot building, for example, would need to be fitted with sprinklers! I'm not lazy, just bleary eyed from flipping through 600 page manuals..... Most appreciatively Rosie

Thank you Lead....I enjoy your postings immensely

How reasonable is cartage on waste products? Anyone do this? I have a feeling the City of Santa Rosa, and particularly the Sonoma County Water Agency, would pitch a fit at direct discharge of waste, particularly waste with lipids and a typically acid pH. Just wondering if any of you small distillers (100 gallon, or so, boilers) pays to have your liquids and solids taken off site for remediation? If so, is it a monthly deal? Cost? Seems such an attractive option and can certainly forestall dustups with local environomental regulators. Thanks!

Heck...I think people are more fascinated by column stills than pot stills. For one thing, they cerainly appear more intricate than pot stills and the makers today can build so much functionality in them to emuate what the pot stillers do...When I was in Scotland it seemed people swooned more over the legacy of the operations, mostly how old many of them are. Of course a big pot still looks impressive but as Master Builder noted, the lyne arm angling and length of some of them pretty much apes the functionality of column stills, especially in terms de facto refluxing. Fascinating topic for sure....

You have a name, newbie? I am curious aout the agave nectar because so many have problems with expectations regarding tequila made from derivative products. This includes inulin powder too. I have tasted dozens of blue agave tequila clones in the U.S., and apart from St. George Spirits' product, which they made by actually importing tons of blue agave pineapples and crushing them and fermenting them in house, the results have been underwhelming.....I hope you can tell us more ane welcome.

Heck, you always have Milissa's mom riding tech shotgun! Keep up the great work and I absolutely adore your labeling and breadth of products.

Btw, McMillan Distilleries....judging by your picture you guys are enjoying this distilling way too much...anyways, a nice crew of handsome mugs :-). Thanks for the welcome and mistakenly givin'n an Irish gal the okay to shoot off her mouth!