Stumpy's

We can help you out for sure. Small minimums, low rates, high level of automation. We also offer liquid production/sourcing and bonded storage. Please let us know if you'd like to chat sometime!

Congrats on your new role! That is awesome.

Goodness....things I wish I knew earlier...is there a character limit on these posts?? haha.

Making whiskey is the fun and romantic part about the business. Selling it is the hard part. It is a hell of a lot easier to scale a distillery than it is distillery sales. 

Understand your weaknesses and hire people that are better than you. 

People have been doing this for thousands of years. Good Lord, there aren't hardly any secrets so let people take pictures in your distillery! None of our brands, technicques, tactics, etc haven't been done before. "Unique" ideas you think you have don't make money; proper execution of a plan makes money.

Learn how to say "no" and not feel bad about it. If it doesn't feel right for you or your business, use those 2 little letters together. Sometimes it's harder than it sounds.

If it doesn't make sense, it proabaly doesn't make cents; and if it doesn't make cents, it doesn't make dollars. Make sure to take care of your house before you take care of someone else's.

For God's sake, DON'T LET ANYONE EFF UP THE TTB REPORTING! It really isn't that hard, just +'s and -'s. Dot every i and cross every t as soon as an event happens. It's about attention to detail, not bookkeeping. Don't put it off and fall into the trap of "I'll get that later". The more PGs that go out the door, the bigger the magnifying glass. Make sure that when you delegate that responsibility, you trust, but verify. It's your butt on the line.

Make sure there is redundancy in your system...not just the production equipment...people too. Cross-training is super important. If you lose a key person that is the only subject matter expert in your organization, how do you recover?

A lesson that I am still learning: your time is your currency and you can't ever make any more of it. Spend it wisely. There are plenty of days you can find a reason to stay at the distillery until the wee hours of the morning. The truth is that the work will still be there when you get back in the morning but those hours won't be. Days go slow and years go fast. People talk about work-life balance and that is unbelieveably hard to find in a new distillery. Make sure you understand where that teeter-totter tips for you, your family, and your company. The point won't be the same for all 3 and it's up to you balance it.

Most importantly, and you already know this, it's all about people. It took me far too long to realize that this business is ALL about relationships. 

I think that's enough for now. Probably time to go grab another glass of bourbon and prophesize a bit more! haha. Congrats again and great post! Making the post alone says a lot about you. Cheers!

19 hours ago, lowerylisa1 said:

ISO a source for 55C/44W/1MB, or a similar percentage, to put into 58 barrels for bourbon other than MGP. Must be high wheat.

Hey Lisa,

I can help you with that on pretty quick turn around. We have a bit of capacity we could squeeze this volume into. We operate all copper 28" column with all copper 800 gallon doubler. No issues running high wheat at all. If you'd like to chat, please feel free to shoot me an email to Adam.Stumpf -at- StumpysSpirits -dot- com. Thanks!

Hello All! We are clearing out the warehouse and have some excess totes of new make bourbon we are looking to move. 2 Recipes Available:

75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malt

75% Corn, 21% Wheat, 4% Malt

I have about 20 totes of each. Price is $11.00/PG (TOTE INCLUDED). Proof is 130-135. Minimum order of 1 tote. Willing to discount to $9.00/PG on 20+ totes.

I can also barrel the bourbon for you in new ISC barrels (toasted w/ #2 char). All in price is $1,000 per barrel. Minimum order of 8 barrels.

We also have a bit on contract capacity left in this year's schedule. We can do completely custom mashbills on a 550 PG minimum order.

If interested please email Adam.Stumpf -at- StumpysSpirits -dot- com

Hello! We are finishing off our 2024 new make whiskey contracts and have about 2,000 barrels worth of production left. All whiskey is barreled in new ISC cooperage and entered at 120 proof (entry proof can be modified).

Bourbon - 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malt - $1,000/bbl

Bourbon - 60% corn, 25% rye, 15% malt - $1,100/bbl

Rye - 51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malt - $1,100/bbl

Rye - 95% rye, 5% malt - $1,300/bbl

Custom mashbills available with small minimums. All production is run on a 28" solid copper column with an 800 gallon copper doubler. Please email adam d.o.t. stumpf @@@ stumpysspirits d.o.t. com for more info. Thanks!

Do you happen to have a pic of the clear sleeves?

PM Sent

That's the one! Aaron added some awesome equipment to the lot. Cooker, heat exchanger, and centri-sifter look awesome. Not going to lie....thought about buying it back but when I mentioned it to the war department (my wife 😜), I was met with a resounding "eff-you!" 🤣

Hello! We are finishing off our 2024 new make whiskey contracts and have about 2,000 barrels worth of production left. All whiskey is barreled in ISC #4 char barrels. 75%+ corn bourbon recipes starting at $1,000 per barrel. Custom mashbills available with small minimums. All production is run on a 28" solid copper column with an 800 gallon copper doubler. Please email adam d.o.t. stumpf @@@ stumpysspirits d.o.t. com for more info. Thanks!

Your best bet is probably an aerobic wastewater lagoon. Get out AS MUCH as you possibly can, in terms of solids. We go down to 25 microns...vibrating sifter, screw press, and then self cleaning filter. Once you get down to that point, depending on your effluent COD and BOD, you should be able to adjust the pH with something like a hydrated lime solution and then send to your lagoon. I've seen some folks run through a RO filter at this point to recycle some of the water into a boiler, etc. Make sure your lagoon has plenty of aeration to keep the bugs happy. This was the bane of my existence for quite some time. good luck! haha

We have 500 barrels of bourbon we are selling for a bulk/wholesale client. The mashbill is 85% Jimmy Red Corn, 12.5% Rye, 2.5% malt. Ages range from new fill to 46 months. Entered into new cooperage at 110 proof. Cooperage varies. The whiskey is fantastic quality, with the heirloom corn really complimenting the rye and providing a very nice balanced bourbon that is great for single barrels and a blending base. Happy to provide samples for serious buyers. Please inquire to Adam.Stumpf (.a.t.) StumpysSpirits.com for pricing. Thanks!

Hello! We are looking to complete an internal audit of our records, reporting, and procedures. Does anyone have a recommendation for a consultant that might be a good fit?

Thanks!

Adam

@Bolverk, close. The SD design in the youtube video operates a bit differently than the vendome and what I described above. The SD design sends all alcohol to the doubler, heads/hearts/tails, and then reboils so with that temp gradient being hottest on bottom, tails accumulate in the doubler, hearts come off the side draw, and heads come off above the top dephleg.

The vented low wines condenser design, like vendome uses in some cases never allows the heads to make it to the doubler. The heads (components with the lowest boiling/condensing point) are never condensed when they come off the stripping column. Instead they are vented out of the low wines condenser in vapor form...out of the system. Now all you're left with are hearts and tails that go to the doubler. The doubler is temp controlled so that only the lowest boiling compounds in it (hearts) convert to vapor and move to the high wines condenser. The tails will remain in the doubler in liquid form. You end up with a bit of tails accumulation in the doubler as the run progresses. As these tails build up, they can be pumped out to a number of places....low wines receiver, into the beer feed, into the beer well, etc. It takes careful control if you introduce those accumulated low wines back into the stripping column. 

You are correct about tails leaving the base of the col. Eventually, in that case, the undesirable tails products will either push out of the base of the stripping column when recycled or dumped to drain, back to the beer well, etc. If running them back into the stripping column, you may need to drop your base temperature to prevent choking and hydraulic loading of particular plates where certain compounds separate. The doubler ends up being the mechanism to separate the hearts from the tails and raises the proof to an acceptable level for high wines.

Cheers!

1 minute ago, Bolverk said:

Old thread I know... sorry.

 

I've been studying the design of this still and I cannot for the life of me figure out how heads are "cut". I know in other designs a dephlag is used as a vapor gate to take heads off the top but I just don't understand this design... can anyone explain it?

Thanks in advance 

B

Some continuous stills don't specifically pull the "heads" off. Rougher cut, longer time in deeper charred barrel to rely on char of the barrel to remove impurities. Keep in mind that the char is inert...it's charcoal. A barrel "charcoal filters" whiskey as it moves in and out of the wood. All of the flavor and aroma come from the toasted layer that is behind the char.

Some have a vented low wines condenser. Heads/Hearts/Tails all come off the beer column. LW condenser is cooled just enough that the hearts and tails condense and flow to the doubler. The heads are kept in vapor form in the condenser and pulled off on a vent that is usually about 1/3 up the condenser. Now you have hearts and tails in the doubler. Doubler is heated enough to boil the hearts off. Hearts come off as your high wines. Tails accumulate in the doubler and can be recycled back into the system or beer well. It's a pretty slick, but simple design.

Hello,

We have 500 barrels of bourbon we are selling for a bulk/wholesale client. The mashbill is 85% Jimmy Red Corn, 12.5% Rye, 2.5% malt. Ages range from new fill to 46 months. Entered into new cooperage at 110 proof. Cooperage varies. The whiskey is fantastic quality, with the heirloom corn really complimenting the rye and providing a very nice balanced bourbon that is great for single barrels and a blending base. Happy to provide samples for serious buyers. Please inquire to Adam.Stumpf (.a.t.) StumpysSpirits.com for pricing. Thanks!

I'll take the full lot of they are not yet spoken for.

Hello. I'd definitely be interested in picking all of these up if you still have them available. Thanks! Adam

On feeding stillage:

Without any grain solids, there will not be many total digestible nutrients. Your stillage will also be very acidic (prob in the 3-4 pH range) and high in phosphorus and sulfur which will likely push your animals above recommended dietary levels. I've heard this will turn the meat squishy and slimy....and not in a good "tender" kind of way. The acidity will also be a concern for their teeth if you care. I've heard of some animals fed nothing but slop and some pretty significant issues present themselves in their mouths.

If you were running grain and were to dewater the stillage, the dewatered material would be a decent to great feed, depending on its dryness and storability. 

You could certainly feed whole stillage (grain or not, I suppose) as long as you rationed your animals diets properly. Depending on the size of your operation, a TMR mixer would be great to blend the stillage in with something like alfalfa, corn stalk bales, lime/minerals, silage, etc. Long and drawn out explanation but at the end of the day, as long as you account for it with proper rations and do not do free-choice, you should be good.

On land applying:

Be careful land applying, especially in regards to the EPA. Stillage is considered industrial discharge and requires permits for land application. As I mentioned above, it is also very acidic so you will need to consider increasing lime rates where you are going to spread or knife it in.

Certainly not the end all, be all, but hope this helps. Cheers!

Uncertain at the moment, but we may be looking to get out of our 3000 gallon mash tank next year. Direct steam injected, jacketed, insulated, grist hydrator, side entry agitator, CIP spray balls. Currently cooking 130 bushels of wheated bourbon.

Echoing what all of the others said. Not sure how big of an expansion you're looking at, but if it's sizable, caustic is going to be the least of your worries. COD and BOD of stillage are absolutely massive and depending on how the waste stream is routed, the caustic wash down water would/could help neutralize the acidic nature of the stillage. We are in a rural location so sewer is not an option for us. Here is the process flow for our stillage and process wastewater.

Stillage is pumped through a rotary drum screener with a fine screen > thickened grain then drops to a screw press > dewatered grain dropped into a dryer system where is is dried for sale. Effluent captured from the screener and the screw press is pH adjusted with a mixture of mag and calcium hydroxide in a pH balance tank and flocculant is added. The mixture is then moved into a clarifier where the suspended solids are allowed to drop out. Cleaner, pH adjusted effluent is decanted off the top of the clarifier and is the final waste stream. The solids that floc out to the bottom of the clarifier are pumped into the drying system as they accumulate.

Not sure if you have a Brenntag in your area, but they were a great resource for us in testing our waste stream. We use their alka240 product to adjust pH and have been very happy with the results.

Agree with what the others said regarding temp, etc. Some great info there.

We had a similar issue with pH crashing. It's likely due to a bacterial infection. How are you sterilizing your transfer equipment and heat exchanger? Steaming any lines/hoses/heat exchangers is an effective way of doing it. Depending on the pump's design, you may not be able to steam the pump so might want to look at a contact sanitizer or caustic solution. 

We thought we were being super clean and ended up finding 2 sources of infection...1. the grist hydrator (perforated ring design). after adding grain, there would be some grain that got in the water ring and turned into fun stuff. 2. dead end in hx piping...the manifold that fed our hx had about a 2" long piece of pipe that extended beyond the final section. It filled up with some pretty cool stuff if you are into dunder pits. haha.

After doing a good hot caustic CIP on everything, we would see yield in the 3.2-3.5 PG/bushel range. Over the course of time, that would drop...in one instance down to 2 PG/bushel. After isolating these issues and addressing them, and being fanatics about temp and pH in the cooking process, we are now running about 4.5 PG/bushel. No matter how clean you think you are being, odds are that if you have a pH crash, it's from acid-forming bacteria inoculating your mash and competing with yeast. Using that PG/bushel metric really helped us dial in our process and understand what impacts changes made to the final yield.

Hope this helps! Cheers! Adam

ISO an 80-100 ton air-cooled chiller. Ideally a refrigerant newer than R22. Ideally 208V/60Hz input. Please let me know if you have anything! Thanks!

Hi There. Most large continuous columns utilize live steam injection on the base of the beer column. Our column has a few rectifying plates on top of the stripping section that push our low wines to 120-125 proof. We then double off our high wines to 132-140 proof. If you are looking for GNS proofs, your rectifying section should utilize a reboiler at the base instead of live steam as to not dilute the product you are trying to take to 95%. Dilution may be used in other parts of a continuous GNS system for oil removal but that is a bit of a different animal. While I have not run a still that uses live steam at the base of a rectifying column, I suppose it could be done, you would just need more plates than a column w/ a reboiler to strip the excess water used in the heating process...may also take a slightly larger diameter to cope with the additional boil up and down flow.

At the end of the day, a continuous column is all about balance and equilibrium. Matching boilup to plate hydraulics and desired output. Sorry...long winded answer but I hope this helps a bit!

VERY interested. We currently grow barley and have it custom malted. Would love to bring that in house.

We had our pot/column on one. Bulb read water temp inside the dephleg. We tried to hold 20C there. The inlet of the dephleg was on bottom with constant pressure. The outlet of the dephleg was on top and that is where the Danfoss was. Hope this helps!