Tirador

Congrates ... spend carefully ... Stephen

Give me a call and I'll tell you what we're doing and what a couple of the larger Absinthe producers in Europe are doing as well. S.

Try either 1) Malt Products http://www.maltproducts.com/products.molasses.html 2) Bundaberg Molassas http://www.bundysugar.com.au/molasses/molasses.html I've used Malt Products various products before and they're good. I've heard good things about Bundaberg but haven't used them. S.

I'd agree with steam. The old books on distilling say to use clean water and a brush. If there's a smell or the barrel has "soured", they say to turn the barrel over and burn a small amount of "oat hay" so that the smoke fills the barrel and leave it for a bit. This will "sweaten" the barrel again. This procedure is covered in at least a dozen books I have dating from the late 1700s all the way to about 1915, so there is likely some truth to it. I haven't tried it though. S.

What I've found with both my gin and a couple of experiemental products that have had this issue, is that I can pull back the amount of herbs and botanicals and still retain the flavor, hence my prior comments. Yes I know I'm pulling out flavor components, but the point is that I had so much in there, that the drinker doesn't notice the difference. The gentleman that just posted makes a good point as well ... if you filter to address the cloudiness you're simply removing the oils that come from your herbs and botanicals, and that provide flavor components. While you may or may not notice the difference, you're simply wasting herbs and botanicals at that point. My advice would be to try experimenting with lower quantities of your herbs and botanicals and see what happens (for your gin). For both your eau de vie and gin, I would strongly suggest you try letting each product rest in glass or stainless for a bit, as the cloudiness may go away on its own (i.e. the oils may drop back into solution), after a few days. As an example, when my gin is first deproofed it is slightly cloudy or opalessent, but we rest it in glass and it clears up after a few days and is fine. Now, if you're making an Absinthe you want to go waaaay in the other direction and get so much oil in it that it does get cloudy when deproofed. This is one of the reasons that Absinthe is bottled at such high proof. S.

Have you tried letting the cloudy spirit age in glass for a bit. I've seen gins that when deproofed end up cloudy, but that once they've rested in glass for a bit they clear up and stay clear ... Also, be careful of the tempurature when you deproof, as that could also lead to cloudiness. If that doesn't work, at least for the gin, you may want to reduce the amount of botanicals and herbs you're using ... and you may find that you can keep the flavor you want with less cost and eliminate your problem at the same time.

It does sound like a problem with oil dropping out of solution as you decrease the proof. What product is this? Is it a gin? S.

You don't happen to have a point of contact at Pavisa do you? S.

Marty, You sent me the list of items you're selling and I responded almost immediately with what I wanted to buy, but haven't heard anything back from you. Your e-mail said fist deposit gets the stuff, and I'd like to make a deposit or just pay for what I want ... but I can't if you won't reply. Stephen

Ethically and legally, the company identity would be established or founded on the date you incorporate or establish the legal entity of the company ... How've you been, by the way. It's been a long time. Nice to see you're moving forward. Stephen (the same Stephen that makes REDUX Absinthe).

Are these the standard tall Vodka bottles used for most of the Stoli line, or the premium bottles? S.

Mike, You may want to give the folks at Stranahan's a call. They sell their used barrels, and they would be ideal for what you're looking for (except that you'll get additional flavor components from their barrels that you wouldn't from new oak). I don't think they're very expensive and they like working with other distilleries and etc. Their number is (303) 296-7440. I don't know who you'd speak to, but give a call and tell them you're interested in used barrels. S.

Here here! Great article ... CONGRATULATIONS! S.

I'd also like to know who you are, what your background is in this community ... and what the purpose of your publication is? Is this a trade-directory, a book highlighting the artesan distilling movement on the U.S. ...? Who is your intended audience? All of us are busy trying to run businesses and create products ... and while free publicity (if indeed that is a part of what you're offering) is always good, I'm sure every business owner on this forum would like to know who you are and what your intentions are prior to letting you write about our businesses. S.

Let's see ... big dogs, electric fence, security system, shotgun, machine gun ... and of course, cement. Nothing will ever be totally secure. You could build your operation in a bunker and someone could find a way in. Further, my concern would be more about someone steeling product than copper. The product is far more pilferable. My advice would be to talk to the local authorities about what type of crime they're actually seeing, and what they recommend to minimize your risk. Then you need to figure out what you can afford to spend on security compared to what you might lose ... and if the crime rate is too high, perhaps you should be looking to do this elsewhere? My two cents. S.

Actually, and as I told Bill the other day, there are now bots (i.e. software programs designed to go out on the web and do things), that are capable of signing up for an account and then posting spam ... and much worse. It's likely that we're (i.e. this forum) is not being directly targeted by individuals taking the time to sign up, but rather is being targeted by various bots. Other forums that I know of are being hit with similar "attacks". I don't have a solid answer as to how to minimize these types of intrusions, but I do know that we can't prevent them ... only make it more difficult. Anyway, my two cents. I've asked a couple of serious cyber security folks I do business with about what this forum is excperiencing as well and we'll see if they don't have any ideas. Bill ... I'll let you know if I come up with anything that's easy and cost-effective to impliment. S.

Great to hear from you Gwydion ... I know, I spell horribly when I'm typing on these things. I'm a victum of the spell-check crutch. How've you been? I've been meaning to say hi for some time ... ever since my drinking a large portion of a bottle of your stuff on my last visit to Pravda. I hope things are going well for you. As you may or may not know, I relocated to Colorado over the last year and it substantially delayed getting Redux to market ... and with all the new Absinthes around I'm debating if I want to sell it here in the U.S. at all. I've got ready customers off-shore, so I do need to do something with the brand though and soon or those will disappear (it may already be too late ...). Anyway, we should catch up some time. S.

I'd love to share some knowledge. Raw material is the key, both in cost and in quality of flavor ... some of what I'm trying to learn is based yeild tied to brix level, and some of the halding issues beginning with the pomace coming out of the crusher. I know what some producers in Italy and Spain are doing and I've watched producers in Greece so I have an idea there too ... but we're operating in a much different environment. Anyway, how do I reach you? S.

Jonathan, The grappas in Italy, by law must use pomace and further that pomace must be used without any water added (though a lot of producers there select the grapes and crush specifically to produce pomace for their grappa ... as opposed to using the traditional pomace casts-off from the wine making process). They also now use special stills that further change the process (though there is a lot of agrument whether or not these steam-stills make a better product or not). If it's called grappa and it's produced in Italy, it's made from pomace, not a whole skin wine (at least if the distiller follows their laws). In the US and South Africa there are producers making what they call Grappa that are actually whole skin wine based Eaux de Vie, so of course they are smoother ... they're simply unaged grape brandy, and a very different product. For that matter, the "premium" Tsipuro you buy in Greece is often not true Tsipuro (greek/macedonian pumace brandy), but rather simply a quality unaged grape brandy that is labled as such. We're going to be producing grappa using pomace cast-off from the wine making process, not making a grape brandy and labelling it as grappa. We will use the same methods that the higher quality grappa producers in Italy have traditionally used to make decent grappa (including using an old Alquitar still similar to those used in wineries in both Italy and Spain to make grappa or pomace brandy for the last couple hundred years)... and we'll see how it works. We will also be producing a whole skin grape wine based product as well, but will be calling that what it is ... a grape Eau de Vie. Thanks for the comments though.

Steven, I'm not sure how some former hedge-fund exec's getting written up in a wall street tabloid is "Great Press". This story just reinforces the widespread belief outside of wall street that folks on the street are out of touch with reality. Ed's story is not unique, except that he's a wall street guy (and likely not unique there either). There is an explosion in artisan distilling in this country ... and lots of folks are making the plunge (some well thought out, some poorly planned) into the small-batch distilling industry. Some will survive and prosper, others will not. What Ed is doing is, while risky, an adventure ... and likely a labor of love. What this story is NOT is newsworthy ... at least not until he actually accomplishes something other than a couple of batches of hooch. Just because he's a wall street guy does not make his choice something to crow about! Ed, when you've made an award-winning product that’s in distribution and you’ve shown a profit, then perhaps you should be crowing to your buddies on the street and getting stories written up in wall street tabloids. In the mean time feel free to participate in this forum, and ask others here for advice, councel, wisdom, etc. ... and Ed, if there is anything I can do to assist you with your project, feel free to e-mail me. S.

I am preparing to produce grappa this fall (fall 2011). I have distilled pumice brandies before so my questions aren't necessarily technical (though I might have a few of those too), but I'd like to speak with folks that are commercially producing pumice brandies here in the U.S. ... I've got a couple of questions that I'd like to ask actual producers here, rather then posting them on the forum. I have plenty of European contacts ... but have U.S. specific questions. So, if anyone wants to get in touch that would be really great. S.

Yup, I read that ... and I think you might be right, but I'm just not sure. Anyone else have a thought or two? S.

Has anyone looked into the applicability of IRS Section 174 to distilled product development and/or the development of manufactureing processes for the production of distilled products? I'm reviewing the regs now for our taxes and am curios as to what if any thoughts others in the community have. S.

Congratulations ... just make sure you've got a solid plan on how to use it, and spend it wisely.