kkbodine

More information follows:

(1) ‘‘Fruit brandy’’ is brandy distilled

solely from the fermented juice or

mash of whole, sound, ripe fruit, or

from standard grape, citrus, or other

fruit wine, with or without the addition

of not more than 20 percent by

weight of the pomace of such juice or

wine, or 30 percent by volume of the

lees of such wine, or both (calculated

prior to the addition of water to facilitate

fermentation or distillation).

Fruit brandy shall include mixtures of

such brandy with not more than 30 percent

(calculated on a proof gallon

basis) of lees brandy. Fruit brandy, derived

from grapes, shall be designated

as ‘‘grape brandy’’ or ‘‘brandy’’, except

that in the case of brandy (other than

neutral brandy, pomace brandy, marc

brandy or grappa brandy) distilled from

the fermented juice, mash, or wine of

grapes, or the residue thereof, which

has been stored in oak containers for

less than 2 years, the statement of

class and type shall be immediately

preceded, in the same size and kind of

type, by the word ‘‘immature’’. Fruit

brandy, other than grape brandy, derived

from one variety of fruit, shall be

designated by the word ‘‘brandy’’ qualified

by the name of such fruit (for example,

‘‘peach brandy’’), except that

‘‘apple brandy’’ may be designated

‘‘applejack’’. Fruit brandy derived from

more than one variety of fruit shall be

designated as ‘‘fruit brandy’’ qualified

by a truthful and adequate statement

of composition.

(e) Class 5; fruit wine. (1)(i) Fruit wine is wine (other than grape wine or citrus wine) produced by the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound, ripe fruit (including restored or unrestored pure condensed fruit must), with or without the addition, after fermentation, of pure condensed fruit must, and with or without added fruit brandy or alcohol, but without other addition or abstraction except as may occur in cellar treatment: Provided, That a domestic product may be ameliorated or sweetened in accordance with the provisions of 26 U.S.C. 5384 and any product other than domestic may be ameliorated before, during, or after fermentation by adding, separately or in combination, dry sugar, or such an amount of dry sugar and water solution as will increase the volume of the resulting product, in the case of wines produced from any fruit or berry other than grapes, having a normal acidity of 20 parts or more per thousand, not more than 60 percent, and in the case of other fruit wines, not more than 35%, but in no event shall any product so ameliorated have an alcoholic content, derived by fermentation, of more than 14 percent by volume, or a natural acid content, if water has been added, of less than 5 parts per thousand, or a total solids content of more than 22 grams per 100 cubic centimeters.

(5) Fruit wine derived wholly (except for sugar, water, or added alcohol) from one kind of fruit shall be designated by the word “wine” qualified by the name of such fruit, e.g., “peach wine,” “blackberry wine.” Fruit wine not derived wholly from one kind of fruit shall be designated as “fruit wine” or “berry wine,” as the case may be, qualified by a truthful and adequate statement of composition appearing in direct conjunction therewith. Fruit wines which are derived wholly (except for sugar, water, or added alcohol) from apples or pears may be designated “cider” and “perry,” respectively, and shall be so designated if lacking in vinous taste, aroma, and characteristics. Fruit wine rendered effervescent by carbon dioxide resulting solely from the secondary fermentation of the wine within a closed container, tank, or bottle shall be further designated as “sparkling”; and fruit wine rendered effervescent by carbon dioxide otherwise derived shall be further designated as “carbonated.”

Fruit brandy may be distilled from fruit wine. Fruit wine may be, and almost always is, made with added sugar.

Cheers,

Keith

I designed one winery with a CO2 detector that switched on a fan/mechnical louver sytem to clear the CO2; can't remember the maker though.

Keith

I had a similar experience with him but he did eventually send me the money.

Keith

Good point. We are a winery too so I never really thought about it.

Cheers,

Keith

Try Waterloo Container, www.waterloocontainer.com. Good selection and no minimum sale.

Keith

Mixtures of ethanol and water are not proportional due to the close bonding (my chemistry on this point may be a little fuzzy) of the molecules. So a blend will require more water than expected to dilute the ethanol to the desired proof. There is a chart to account for this but I don't have one.

Keith

Don't they have a form for that? LOL

I love those zero reports also. Have you tried using the online system to file your monthly reports (and taxes too)? I can usually get mine done in about an hour unless I have forgotten to note some critical fact during the month.

Keith

Here in Maine we have a state controlled system so we must send all of our spirits through the state approved warehouse (which sends them on to retailers). We do retail at the distillery but must buy our spirits back from the state first.

Keith

Hello Jeff,

You can do this now with some paperwork. Our setup is as follows: One area is designated as the DSP. The balance of the bonded area is an alternating premises that can be either the winery or DSP. We can also designate one tank in the alternating area (for example) as being used for the DSP then later re-designate it as being in the winery. The alternating area and the DSP are seperated only by a painted line. A detailed log is kept of any switches instead filing forms with the TTB in advance. This required writing a letter and getting a waiver.

Cheers,

Keith

Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery

backrivergin.com

From our permit experience, it seems to depend on where you are located and you're past distilling industry experience. After about a month of back and forth over the bonds/application we had a perfected application. Then it only took them about 60 days and they did not come out and do any inspections. Our state was quick as they had seen one other distillery before us. I understand that another winery in our state took closer to 18 months to get their DSP permit and had many inspections. So I think our short application was an anomaly and would allow much more.

Cheers,

Keith

Sweetgrass Winery & Distillery

Union Maine

backrivergin.com