Paul Tomaszewski

§ 5.22 The standards of identity. Class 2; whisky. “Whisky” is an alcoholic distillate from a fermented mash of grain produced at less than 190° proof in such manner that the distillate possesses the taste, aroma, and characteristics generally attributed to whisky, stored in oak containers (except that corn whisky need not be so stored), and bottled at not less than 80° proof, and also includes mixtures of such distillates for which no specific standards of identity are prescribed. Bottom line, if it's white and you want to call it "whisk(e)y," it's either "aged for a period of time in oak containers," no minimum req. there, or it's at least 80% corn mash... or at least that's how it's SUPPOSED to be.

I know many of you out there are far better with these new-fangled computer machines than I (I still don't have a text or data plan for my phone, just to give you an idea of how behind the times I am), and was wondering if you have formulated a user-friendly, possibly excel or other program, system for tracking production from beginning to bottle. I'm still using paper forms that I print out and before I attempt to devise my own electronic system, wondering if any of you have one. Make me an offer if you want payment.

Everyone wants their cut my friend. If the state isn't getting their tax, than I can almost promise you that you aren't legal. If you have a "gift shop" and can sell, than there's a possibility that you giving it away is legal because the taxes are paid. Bottom line, if the taxes aren't paid at all levels, you have to be cautious.

If a doctor or lawyer practices for 10 years, they may have 10 years experience, but then they start a new practice in their name, when was that founded/established? I'd say when they start practicing as the new business, not the old one.

My argument for craft distilleries continues to be twofold: 1. In America you've had variations upon variations of the same type of whiskies made by a handful of large, industrial operations, ie bourbon or bourbon or... bourbon! (or tennessee whiskey, more or less in itself a variation on bourbon). Ten years from now you'll see dozens of types of whiskies, aged and made well (the market will help that out), that the big distilleries have no desire to tinker with. And 2. You may not like certain types of products, but if I can run a business and the market decides a product is viable, than so be it. I detest certain whiskies and many types of alcoholic beverages out there, but if someone can sell them and make a profit, more power to them. That also being said, I'd never make something that I wouldn't drink either.

May I suggest that we have a simple website address with the letter and an overview of the info to refer people to? For example, I'd like to post the info on my business/personal facebook, twitter, etc. and have as many folks in as many districts contact their reps and senators to aid in the effort and if they can go to a website and get the basic info, I believe that will help things.

Depending on where you are, this time of year you could freeze it and that'll extend it's lifespan. Since we load only liquid beer in our still (pot still), our SM is all liquid as well. We still use nutrients only because I look at them as an insurance policy. I've done some playing around with less/no nutrients and have had varying results, so I opt for using them. We put in the SM when we fill the water into our cookers and it gets boiled prior to adding grain.

We have several video cameras, 4 large dogs (including one 95 lb. german shepherd named "Rudolf" who is trained to attack), enough firepower for me to relive my combat days, and the sheriff gave me his cell number. However, I believe one of our best security measures is our very nice sign on the front gate (when it's closed) that reads the following: WARNING! THIS IS A US GOVERNMENT BONDED FACILITY. PREMISED UNDER 24-HOUR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE. TRESPASSING WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF A REGISTERED OFFICIAL IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. FEDERAL AUTHORITIES WILL BE NOTIFIED IN THE EVENT OF ANY UNAUTHORIZED TRESPASSING, THEFT, DAMAGE, OR TAMPERING WITH ANY AND ALL PROPERTY. When that's closed and I'm here, I've seen folks speed off with a dust cloud behind them, and I don't believe there's anything there that's not truthful on that sign. Now I must mention that BEFORE that very nice sign is another one that says "We're sorry we missed you, blah blah blah." So IF they do decide to bypass that one, the other one's there for them to enjoy.

Just an example, I know the state of Tennessee has some funny laws associated with that where you can't have a bar or liquor store within 800 ft. of a church. Definitely check your state regs and, if you can't get ahold of the actual document(s) yourself, ask several sources before you assume that your first answer is right.

We've used several techniques for separating our solids prior to distillation. So far, the best method is separating after fermentation (therefore no worries for bacteria buildup during separation and I prefer to ferment on the grain anyways). The actual "equipment" (if you want to call it that), are some drums that we've outfitted with some window screen material. However, it doesn't hold up for more than a month or two and we have to replace it as holes/tears come. I was wondering about any recommendations for some sturdier mesh material that we could line our drainers with that will hold up for better duration.

We have 12 x 55-gal stainless steel drums for sale, all in great condition, $400/barrel, call or e-mail us at (270) 640-7744, paul@mbrdistillery.com. We converted some to mashing pots and storage for spirits, but have no immediate need for the 12 additional that we have on hand.

You should allow yourself at least 6 months of time for product development, especially if you have to submit a formula. I've had labels take 2 days to get approved, I've had them take 2 months. Add in up to 2 months of formula approval time and that gives you two months to do what you need to. And considering how much label design, printing, and your overall packaging tends to cost, the gs1 membership fee is relatively tame (although I do agree that it is like getting smacked in the face with a Louisville slugger when you take into account that it's a complete racket and EXTREMELY overpriced and something that is easy to forget when doing your initial number crunching).

Here's the deal folks. When it comes to American whiskies, for the past 50+ years you've had a pick of 16 flavors of vanilla. For the most part there's been bourbon, tennessee whiskey (almost bourbon), and rye. The vast majority of those are corn-based (or rye) and aged in new, charred oak. However, there are literally hundreds of possibilities for products when you take into account grain bill, distillation proof, and the barrel itself. Up until microdistilleries, you had less than a dozen large-scale whiskey distilleries, all mass producing the same type of whiskey. Whether you think these products are good or bad, they are still all the exact same type of product, for the most part. Now take Scotland, you've got hundreds of distilleries, producing a much more varied array of products. Although (for those distilleries that do) we're in the business of making whiskey, and that typically takes some time, I believe that the average consumer would prefer to have some chocolate, strawberry, and banana, vs. just 16 different types of vanilla. YOU may not LOVE every whiskey produced, but adding some variety and spice to the scene is going to push the envelope and may even spur a new interest in a few new types of American whiskey. We do a bourbon, but we also make a malt whiskey, as well as a dark fired corn-based whiskey that's aged in used barrels (my personal favorite). We've experimented with toasted oak and in my fermenter right now is our first wheat mash that will be aged in used, charred oak barrels. Eventually I plan to do some experimenting with wine barrels, the sky's the limit. And, as my wife says, if someone out there does appreciate our product(s) and buys them so we can pay the bills, that is our first priority. If someone out there makes the craziest mashbill possible, then ages it in a barrel for 3 months, I don't care if I like it or not. However, if it's going into less charted territory for an American distillery, I say go for it at least for the sake of experimenting.

Ensure your tasting room/gift shop is in a separate enclosure (walls dividing) from the distillery. Also, it helps to have a "tax-paid" area that is separate from the distillery (as in, not bonded) for storing product that has already been taxed at the federal level.

So many people have been posting lately about how to gain investment in their plans; could you give us some insight into what was key to gaining that type of financial investment in your business? What specific strengths do you think were worthwhile in gaining their support and backing? Just out of curiousity, how many people did it take to get to the 1 million dollar mark? (if you don't mind sharing that with the forum).

From KY ABC's standpoint the only thing they would enforce is who in Kentucky that whiskey came from. So if you called me, wanted me to make you said whiskey, and it didn't fulfill that statute and I sold it to you, then you bottled it the wrong way, they'll come after me and revoke my license. At least that's what the law states. If they'd actually revoke a distiller's license for this offense is yet to be seen, but you will notice that the only whiskey that we make that is labeled "Kentucky" is our "White Dog" and "Black Dog," which are both corn whiskies. Since we haven't aged anything yet for a year or more (bourbon, malt, etc.), none of those have "Kentucky" or any other statement implying Kentucky origin other than our production statement on the label.

For reference only, I would suggest that you and anyone in a similar case be sure to take into account any state regs (especially when we're talking about KY) that may affect your situation. In your case, you should have no issues. However, just for reference that KY requires that any whiskey (other than corn whiskey) made within the state be aged AT LEAST one year and one day in order to use the reference "Kentucky" or any other insinuation of Kentucky origin UNLESS the statement is contained within the federal production statement (ie distilled & bottled by xyz distillery, Louisville, KY). If you want to check any of this out, just lookup "Kentucky revised statutes" online and go to the alcohol chapters (240 and on).

Congrats to you Christian, look forward to paying you a visit down the road once y'all get up and going.

Alright ladies and gents, I know I'm possibly resurrecting a sleeping giant with this one. However, after talking to Ralph for a while and dealing with this for several months now, I would like to see if I can come to a conclusion on my situation in the near future. Bottom line, if you have a residence next to and/or on the same piece of property as your dsp, could you please e-mail me @ paul@mbrdistillery.com and (if you're willing), I would like to call you and discuss things for a brief few minutes. I've been getting passed around by the feds and both myself and Ralph believe that my individual situation is perfectly legit for having a dwelling house next to (but not in connection with) the dsp/bonded buildings. If I can provide some references of some other examples to the feds when I submit my proposal to them, it may save me much money, time and heartache. For anyone willing to share their experiences on this matter it will be greatly appreciated and I'll put a gold star next to your name on my rolodex, plus you'll be saving me a whole bunch of money each month as some day I would like to pay myself something.

Well here's one that I don't think has been talked about, distilling a soybean mash. Haven't tried it yet, plan on doing so shortly as I have a local farmer/liquor store owner who would like to have me make something in that realm for him. I've only done grain and rum, so my assessment is to base it off of the starch/sugar content of corn. My understanding is that ballpark starch for corn is 60%, and in my research for soybeans it's 30% starch & 7% sugar. So, first of all, would that mean that I base my ratio of soybeans in the the mash off that figure or does anyone out there know something different? Also, would I just make it like a corn mash and cook it, then add some malt and/or enzymes to convert any of the starch? If no one has any knowledge/experience on this I'll be trying a small batch within the next month and post my findings. Not sure what the hay the feds will make me call it, probably "spirits distilled from soy and whatever else I put in there." I wouldn't make it a vodka, just some interesting soy spirit and see what it'd taste like.

This is merely my understanding, but I believe the whole thing with them only allowing KY distilleries has to do with the Commonwealth and not the festival itself. I believe that because they are an official "Kentucky festival," they cannot allow distillers from outside the state to setup or showcase their products. Now, that being said, if it's up to the KY General Assembly, you're more likely to walk across water than change that. Case in point, the state TRIED to change a very simple tasting law that would allow for some common sense changes (ie let us give 3 instead of only 2 samples per person per day) to make distilleries able to better promote their products across the state and on site at the distilleries and that didn't go through.

I'll start off by saying that this is merely MY HUMBLE OPINION. But, that being said, if you are asking a question like that I suggest you do some more research and VISIT some distilleries. The amount of runs is like asking how many flavors of ice cream do you need to have to be successful in the ice cream business, it depends on the operation, the equipment, the products that you want to make.

First of all (as mentioned by others), do your own business plan. There is a major learning curve that you set yourself up for when you have to do it from scratch. A business plan is a business plan, a monkey could do one. If you take someone else's business plan, you run the risk of copying them in ways that can be detrimental to your individual circumstances. However, in doing all of the research and pricing you get very good at being ACCURATE to the costs. It only takes one major screw-up on your projections for you to get shot down in the start-up phase(s). If you aren't able to set up your own business plan with financials, then you need to get someone on board who can do it. As said before, just cause you can make good hooch and think up a smart name for a product doesn't mean you can run a federal and state-licensed distilled spirits plant. IMHO, if you don't know enough about distilleries to figure out some basic projections for start-up costs, GO VISIT SOME AND SEE WHAT THEY HAVE AND HOW THEY MAKE THEIR PRODUCTS. You can only get so much by staring at a computer screen or talking on the phone.

Not to knock Chuck down, but they do care if the distillery is on the same legal piece of property as the residence. They are likely to require you to AT LEAST put up some sort of fence to separate the building(s) from the residence, but they may require you to subdivide. Another possible angle is that if one business holds the property and leases part to the distillery and part as a residence and they have a separate address, that could fly. Again, it comes down to a case by case basis and I am merely telling you about my experience with that matter.

And could the administrator please correct my spelling on the topic? gotta love typos (commercial)