Jump to content

trinacria

Members
  • Posts

    31
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by trinacria

  1. Very nice Joe! What's the throughput and cost on that bad boy?
  2. While reading through the "Start-up Budget" thread, as well as numerous others, I got to thinking. Experience counts and has value. Most people on this forum didn't come from a distilling background. But that doesn't preclude anyone from utilizing whatever experiences they do have to their advantage. Engineers often design or build their own equipment, folks in business have certain advantages at their disposal. Your best friend might be the town fire marshal or sit on the planning commission... You get the idea. So, my question, to you: Looking back, how has your life before distilling helped you? Has it saved you significant capital in start up costs or operation? Has it saved your bacon? Made it possible for you to open your distillery?
  3. Sorry to hear about your headache. Are you constructing a new building from the ground up or renovating an existing one?
  4. Great topic! Mash, could you please elaborate a bit on state laws? Im out in California but would be very interested in hearing a bit about your particular difficulties. Ya know, knowledge is power and all.
  5. As the topic suggests Im looking for people who run continuous stills (preferably a continuous fractioning set up but also if you run a continuous stripper). Recently I visited Greenbar Distillery in Los Angeles and was very impressed with their set up: A continuous fractioning still as well as a 100 gallon, 4 plate pot. A very nice set up and they make some wonderful products. Needless to say it got me to thinking. I've read the lengthy thread started by Mr. Heising and have reached out to the known manufacturers of said equipment (Heising, McKee. Dehner, I'll be contacting you in the next few days. Did I miss anyone else?) but Im looking to chat with some operators and learn about their experiences with such equipment. Operations, equipment manufacturers and so on. Anyone willing to chat please let me know. Thanks all. -Frank
  6. I've gotten this one. I just respond I run a linux system.... Silence.
  7. Hey guys great thread. I'm a commercial beekeeper by trade and will definitely be utilizing honey when I open up shop. The sheer number of varietals and flavors make for endless flavor profiles in spirits. Just an FYI to anyone interested in using honey as an ingredient in their products. If you aren't already aware, good honey (honey that isn't from China and thus tainted) isn't cheap. Looking at things long term it's only going to get increasingly more expensive. More so than it has in the last five years or so. Not trying to spook or deter anyone in anyway but just wanted to share my insight with you all!
  8. Looks fantastic! Definitely makes me want to place an order for one of your stills today... damn due diligence! Did I read that wrong or am I to understand bain marie can be "fired" with natural gas instead of heating elements?
  9. I can't speak to price not can I speak to what elements should be included as I am still aways off from applying for my DSP. That said I think something electronic, and as close to idiot proof as possible, would be a fantastic thing! Please keep us posted. I'd definitely be interested in something like this when I open up.
  10. So Im plugging along on my journey to opening up. The local authorities are on board with everything on paper. Investors lining up and I'll likely begin making purchases in a few months... well you get the idea. Now Im not looking to get ahead of myself as Im aways form even getting permitted but I am looking and developing a long term plan. Im curious at which point during your operation did you guys upgrade to a larger still? I'm sure everyone's answer will vary. Also, Im aware there are numerous factors specific to everyone's operation but I'd appreciate some input from you guys who have upgraded or are in the process of/thinking of upgrading. What criteria did you set/reach for you to pull the trigger or begin thinking about upgrading? With the turnaround time on still construction I'd imagine most people wouldn't wait to be running full time, 5 days a week before upgrading. Or what you? For those curious I'll be starting with a sixty gallon rig. As always thanks for the input everyone.
  11. Given the capacity OP posted what would a realistic output be given the same parameters? 300-500 cases?
  12. Honestly this whole thing has become terribly disappointing and is on the verge of getting nasty/flaming out. Guy Im sorry if you feel ganged up on or unappreciated for what you do in running the forum. We all understand you're a busy person with a distillery to run, and Im sure tons of other stuff to do. We all have things on our plate as well. There have been several proposals and ideas brought up as to how to remedy this situation. Whenever you have time could you please address them? It's pretty evident that a lot of us are unclear on the formal rules and structure of the forum and we appreciate you filling us in but if you could address some of the proposed work arounds it would be most helpful and appreciated by all of us. That way we'll know if there's any agreeable solution for all parties involved and we can all make our own decisions about our involvement from there. Just a thought.
  13. At the risk of being a broken record I have to second the sentiments of just about everyone on this thread. As a startup (who actually hopes to begin starting up later this year) this site has been an invaluable resource. I understand that there need to be rules and guidelines to maintain order and civility but to me, blindly forbidding supplier reviews flies directly in the face of the stated purpose of- "sharing knowledge"- ADI Forums. Knowledge is power and, in business, power is money. It's a bit disappointing that ADI forums would deprive it's users of potentially very powerful knowledge. Furthermore, I'd just like to add that, I find it more than a little offensive that 1. you use the term "one sided review" indicating that we're somehow incapable of being objective in our reviews of experiences with suppliers. And, 2. Insinuating that we're somehow incapable of discerning honest reviews from BS. Just my two cents but like ASD said, "I disagree with this decision. but i have no ownership of these forums."
  14. I've been in a few distilleries that did not have any flour drains. I don't think it's an issue on the federal level. I've personally looked into it in my area of California and on the local level it wasn't an issue either. Amusingly though, when I told them I wouldn't be dumping anything down the drain and all "waste water" would go to local farms they seemed very disappointed in not being able to assess me an additional waste water fee on my building.
  15. An easy way to source material locally is to go to a local farmers market. Now odds are there won't be a grain farmer at it but farming is a close knit community and as such some farmer at the market should be able to point you in the right direction.
  16. This is what I sort of assumed and it makes perfect sense. I made the assumption that if a smaller set up (such as previously mentioned) were capable of producing 190 proof spirit in a single run that it would indeed be pretty well stripped of flavor. As this is apparently not the case then everything else (cost of multiple runs...) logically falls into place. I edited my original post to clarify that I am personally not planning on producing vodka but, as I've been researching various still manufacturers, this question did enter my mind. Thanks mate.
  17. So Im curious about the effectiveness/efficiency of the number of plates on a still. Now lets say I want to make vodka and I go with a larger still manufacturer, their set up will have 16+ plates. But if Im starting on a tighter budget and go with a component type set up, say the hillbilly flute or still dragon, I can apparently get by on making vodka with far fewer plates. Why is this? I get that more plates = a more pure distillate so it that it? The bigger systems simply produce a superior product in one run vs a smaller system requiring maybe two runs to get something comparable? Is it a scalability issue; bigger pot/more vapor = a need for more plates? Or, is it something else entirely and Im way off base/have a huge gap in my knowledge/understanding? EDIT: Just to clarify I am not sold on producing vodka. In fact I'd say I'm 95% set against it. This is just something that, as I've been researching and drafting my business plan, I've been really curious about.
  18. Todd, I agree with you 100%. I just hope to clarify that I was in no way supporting Legacy or suggesting it would be a good idea. Obviously such a decision is very personal and dependent upon each distilleries specific situation. Just wanted to clarify should anyway get the wrong message from my explanation above.
  19. I've worked in Hollywood for a bit so maybe I can shine some light on this for ya. There are two entirely different routes of product placement "clearance" in film/tv. One is unintentional. This occurs, usually with signage in the background of scenes, when a name/brand isn't intended to be in the scene but for reasons beyond productions control ends up there. In such a case the production's or studio's clearance department will work tirelessly to get clearance and thus avoid a costly lawsuit/legal action. The opposite of that is clearly intentional and this goes down in one of two ways. Either production finds you or you find them. The former occurring when someone in power likes the brand and solicites them. The later method, which is what seems to have happened to you (albeit without you asking for it) is someone is trying to get your product placed. There are reputable companies that do this for a price and it seems they've solicited you and your product. It's an entirely legit business model that does very well for the product placement companies and CAN do well for the company whose product is being placed. That said there is a red flag from this company. First and foremost the $5000 to prevent your brand from getting bad PR. Now these companies do charge and that fee depends on a lot of factors. Some companies only want their product seen in a certain light and that can greatly limit the opportunities to place your product and result in more work for the placement company. That said, such companies usually aren't as blunt about it. The tactlessness of this phone call flies directly in the face of the industry norm for Hollywood advertising. Secondly (and most telling imo) their website is not the best and their headquarters is located in a part of town that is more closely associated with physical elements of production (gear rental etc) than the creative/marketing aspects. Does this mean they're a predatory or bad company? No not in the least. Plenty of good companies have bad websites and real estate in LA is insane. It just means that this product placement firm is not the big time. No problem with that, very few distillers on this forum are remotely close to being that ourselves but hey, we're striving and it seems this company is too. It's just something to take into consideration when evaluating the call you received. Bottom line: From my perspective I wouldn't call this a scam right off the bat. If you're interested you could clarify the $5000 fee to show your product in a good light and perhaps inquire as to how he's familiar with your product. Does he actually know it or was he fishing the internet to drum up business to meet a quota? I've looked at your label online and it is very clear and easy to read, and it would be so in probably 90% of filming situations. As such your product would be easy for them to place and theoretically would look very well on screen. It's "ready for it's closeup" so to speak. Anyway that's just my longwinded take on things. Also there is a film currently in production starring John Goodman and Mark Walhberg. It's called The Gambler and it's a remake of a movie from 74.
  20. Im shooting for a 2015 opening in Northern California. Best of luck to you!
  21. Very clever idea! Setting some ground rules/limits definitely is a good idea when doing such a thing. Though Im sure that didn't stop some from submitting some, shall we say, colorful submissions.
  22. Aren't you afraid the spirit still will, ya know, get jealous?
×
×
  • Create New...