TetonDistillery

Was there ever any other information about that other explosion in Oklahoma?

Paul Chen, you won't win yourself any new customers around here by bashing Rockwood Glass. I would suggest you focus on offering your own products and services. Nothing is gained for you by attacking Rockwood Glass. Several regular members of this forum have visited Henri Berthe in China and toured his factory. Whether he owns that factory himself or has a joint venture partner is irrelevant. Henri and Rockwood Glass stand behind the quality and they have done a fine job for us so far.

Not by state. However your profile says Minnesota and Tesla does have a store and service center there. So odds are there are several hundred Tesla cars already in the area. 6801 Washington Ave S Eden Prairie, MN 55344 http://www.teslamotors.com/findus#/bounds/?search=store,service,supercharger&place=edenprairie

kckadi, Those are all good points and I have to admit that I have never looked into that issue before. We also have solar panels on the roof that help to offset about 30% of our energy and likely lowers those Peak Demand charges. We do have electric steam boilers in our distillery, so our peak numbers are MUCH higher than the 17 kW from the EV charger. Our electric steam boilers are 58 kW and 72 kW. I am not going to worry about it. This is something we are going to offer because we expect the EV traffic to increase dramatically in the coming years. If it costs us a bit more money, we think the additional tasting room sales will more than make up for it.

We tried spraying the outside of the barrels occasionally, however that leads to rust on the metal bands. It likely does keep the barrel hydrated enough to minimize leaks, but expect to have really rusty looking barrels within a few months.

You don't want barrels sitting around empty for that long. They will dry out and spring leaks. The suppliers that I have ordered from seem to be on a quarterly delivery schedule. However you will need to be on their schedule way in advance of that. Sometimes up to a year in advance.

Taste. Clarity is not an issue.

We drilled an injection well on our property. We pull cold mountain water out of the aquifer for cooling, then shoot it right back down into the aquifer. It doesn't even require water rights because we are not consuming any water.

That is exactly what we did also. My brother bought a cheapo $100 deep freezer from Best Buy. There is a now a large block of ice inside the freezer and copper tubing running back and forth through the block of ice. We drilled a hole in the side of the freezer for the entry and exit tubes. We now have 3 of those freezers lined up next to each other being used in the chill filtering process. The pumps send liquid from the 55 gallon stainless steel barrel into the freezer ---> flows through frozen copper tubes encased in a block of ice (30 feet of copper tube going back and forth inside of ice block) --> (now very cold vodka) pumped up to funnel full of charcoal and garnet crystal ---> drops via gravity back into the 55 gallon stainless steel barrel ---> restart cycle back into the freezer..... So we just turn the pump on and let it run for 24 hours. Roughly 50 gallons at a time running through that system. We estimate the full volume goes through the cycle about 6 times in a 24 hours period. We have 3 of those full systems setup next to each other, so we can process about 100-150 gallons per day. It is a very cheap setup overall. It is also very modular as you grow. Just buy another and set it up next to the others.

Our local electricity is hydro and we have solar panels on the roof. So our cost of electricity is VERY low per kwh at 10 cents or so. At 10 cents per kwh that is roughly something like $1.00 to $3.00 of electricity consumed by a Tesla visitor. That first Tesla owner purchased a full case of our spirits and spent $250+ in our distillery. So I am sure overall we came out profitable on the visit. We offer the electricity for free. The max power draw is 17 kW (208 volts, 80 amps) It has it's own dedicated circuit, just like any piece of equipment such a dryer would, so it is not causing any issue on our power panel. The full battery pack on a Tesla Model S is 85 kwh, but most EVs are not arriving empty. A visitor more likely would arrive with around 50% to 70% remaining on their battery pack. So any given person using it would likely only recharge for 30-60 minutes while taking a tour or grabbing a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant. So in reality, 10 kwh to 30 kwh it more likely to be the amount of electricity consumed. Since that first visit we had a second Tesla also visit. That second Tesla owner also took a tour and bought a few bottles. So overall I am not worried about losing money on electricity. I can tell already that they are spending way more money than the electricity expense. We have added our location to all of the EV recharging maps used by the Tesla owners. I believe that is how they are finding us. As more Superchargers are installed enabling easy long distance road trips to Yellowstone, we expect a lot more visitors in 2015. http://www.plugshare.com http://www.teslamotors.com/findus#

Update on the Chip Tate / Balcones situation. http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/10/19/balcones-founder-chip-tate-speaks-freely/ It looks like they are going to mediation to work out who buys out who.

We use Rockwood Glass in China. But you have to be willing to do 20,000 with them to make it worthwhile with the shipping costs. Lower prices per unit, but you have to pay ocean freight to get a container to you. http://rockwoodglass.com/ Henri Berthe is a Frenchman who has setup his operation in China. So you really get European quality and Asian prices. We have visited his factory and I know a few other active members of the ADI Forums have also visited his factory.

With that amount of mash you can have thermal incline inside of the fermentation tank. Basically different temperatures at different levels inside the tank. That changes the fermentation of sugars at those temperatures. Having the motor and stirring paddles keeps everything nice and even. Jacketed for cooling allows us to keep everything at a constant temperature = happy yeast that live longer. We have built 6 of these for ourselves in our distillery to expand our production. They are a very efficient use of floorspace in the distillery. There are two other distilleries that have each ordered 4 of these 3500 liters (925 gallon) fermentation tanks.

Here is our new 3500 liter (925 gallon) fermentation tank. (more info here if you want one just like it) http://www.tetondistillery.com/distillery-equipment/fermentation-tank-1600-liters-422-gallons Jacketed for cooling (available with conical bottom also) SUS 304 Stainless Steel Side manhole CIP Cleaning Ball Thermometer Pressure Gauge Sampling Port Stand with adjustable legs Mixer - motor with shaft and paddle Our price includes the motor (other providers usually do not)

It is only $750 now. If you have a good location, they will give two of them to you for free in certain circumstances. http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/model-s-charging-adapters/products/high-power-wall-connector It doesn't need a 100 amp circuit. That is the maximum that it can utilize. You can also connect it to a 50 amp or any level of power available. Most people do 100 amp circuits, but anything from 20 to 50 amps is also fine.

Tesla will give them to you for free if you are willing to connect them to 100 amp circuits and make them available for free to your customers. If you install two of them on your property, Tesla will add your location to the navigation system in the cars. Right now only Supercharger locations are in the car maps, but in a few months they are going to be sending an online update to all cars with all of these other locations like hotels and other destinations that offer these charging locations. For example, here is what the Tesla map says about Grand Teton Distillery. We plan to add a second Tesla unit so our location is added to the car navigation system. http://www.teslamotors.com/findus#/bounds/?search=store,service,supercharger&place=dc1527 It is mostly hotels that have them now. But I asked and Tesla agreed that our distillery was a useful location and sent us a free High Power Wall Connector (HPWC) We installed it on a 100 amp circuit so that it will deliver 208 volts and 80 amps (16.6 kW) to an EV. Superchargers are even more insane levels of power. Those deliver almost 400 volts and 300 amps (120 kW). Tesla puts those on highways every 120-150 miles. http://supercharge.info/ Here is the map where hotels and other destination are located. This extra info will soon be sent to the car owners and be in the navigation system. http://www.teslamotors.com/findus#/bounds/

This was a cool visitor to our distillery today. Our first Tesla showed up at the distillery today to use our newly installed EV charger. The owner purchased a case of our spirits and took a tour while she recharged her car. Suggestion to all distillery owners, install an EV charger and make it available for free electricity to EV owners. They will likely buy a few bottles. The cost of the electricity is negligible.

Congrats Jim !!! I have tried your Blackberry Liqueur and it is a great one. When we were on Whidbey Island we tried to stop by your distillery but it was closed. I will catch you next time.

Here is an article about the solera system. http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/a-new-solera-bourbon-stands-out/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

They are not in discovery. This was merely a court order as part of a TRO to return his phone and computer. There is no order for him to provide passwords or to provide access to the device. I would also enable the option where the device automatically wipes itself after 10 failed passcode attempts. Then you can just blame the other side that they did it themselves. The court will likely never be able to figure it out. And people forget their old passwords all of the time. If it were me, for all intents the device would be useless for discovery if the case gets that far. Objecting to discovery every step of the way would be my strategy. I would go on offense against Greg Allen, I wouldn't be sitting back on defense all of the time. This is all theoretical in terms of the root issue. Greg Allen and his investors are destroying the value of their investment with this strategy. They cannot keep Chip Tate silent forever without a settlement out of court and an agreement for non-disparagement. There is no scenario where Chip just walks away quietly without any payoff. Chip has first amendment rights and will eventually be able to share his story with the media. When Chip does start talking, the value of the Balcones brand will crater. If Greg Allen and co want to salvage any part of their investment and preserve any value in the Balcones brand, then they need to figure out a graceful way to bring this back from the edge of the cliff they are on. The scorched earth strategy on Chip Tate will just destroy the value of their brand. I am surprised they are moving ahead with the $15 million expansion with this cloud hanging over everything.

Chip could also upgrade to iOS8, which is fully encrypted, prior to handing his phone in. Even the FBI is complaining that it is causing them problems. Or you could just drop it in the toilet on accident. Then hand your phone in to technically meet the requirements of the court order. After that, buy a new phone with your personal money. Once you restore a backup from iCloud (or whatever Android uses) it is now your personal phone 100%. Having been involved in court cases personally, I can assure you that these things happen all the time. I think Chip is going about this the wrong way. The court cannot silence him in this manner. If I were in his position, I would be appealing the judge's order. I would also file a counterclaim and seek to get an injunction halting the illegal decisions that the board of directors are making without Chip in the meetings. If Chip's info is correct, the board cannot take action without a quorum being present. Chip not attending denies them a quorum. Chip needs to go on offense, not just sit back and take the bullets coming his direction. But that all depends on his personal resources. If Chip doesn't have the money to fight this legal battle, then he is likely going to get skinned alive in this process.

It looks like Chip removed his personal info from his company phone before returning it, so they found him in contempt of court. Frankly, I would have done the same thing Chip did. Your phone typically has a mix of personal and business email accounts and phone contacts. No way would I give that to them. http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/judge-rules-balcones-distilling-founder-in-contempt-of-court/article_5ff51a06-a2ce-5bfa-be91-6075e5eb6da8.html

While I am all for innovation, the problem becomes that legally there are certain rules as to what you can call the end product if not done a certain way. Barrels are a key part of what we do. Efficient or not, that is now part of the product.

As for conspiracy theories .... Imagine the impact on craft whiskey distilleries if ISC were to be bought by Makers Mark or Jack Daniels. Jamesbendar, those are all thoughts that I have been having while talking this out with others here in our distillery. I think there is enough scale to operate a profitable cooperage if you are producing 5,000+ barrels per year. That equals roughly 14 barrels per day of production. There are craft distilleries I have visited that are doing several barrels per day of production. We aspire to that level of whiskey production and storage within Teton Distillery ourselves. So basically I think that if I started a new cooperage myself (with investors) I am pretty sure I could sell most of those barrels to just our own distillery and a few others that I know. I would rather keep those barrel profit margins nearby rather than pay that extra money to other companies. So while I agree that my costs of production initially will be higher than existing players, I think I can bring that down to a competitive cost structure within a reasonable period of time. Also on the positive side, we would then guarantee our own supply of barrels and not have to worry any more about the other barrel suppliers determining our growth rate for whiskey. That is why the majors have their own barrel making facilities. Here is a picture of our new barrel storage warehouse on the right. You can see our distillery on the left. So we have plenty of room to build more storage space for barrels.

That is an idea. We could call it "Craft Cooperage Co-op" or something goofy like that.