BWFiggins

ANNOUNCING: SPIRITS INSTITUTE PUGET SOUND, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON For aspiring owners of craft distilleries and practitioners of craft distilling, the series of workshops previously called Artisan Craft Distilling is now CRAFT DISTILLATION: ART & SCIENCE, COMMERCE & COMPLIANCE. Wholly presented by Spirits Institute Puget Sound, an organization dedicated to spirits education, the workshops are hosted by the newly established Batch 206 Distillery in Seattle's InterBay district. SIPS has been welcomed by Batch 206 with its generously appointed classroom and highly advanced distillery. The title says it all. Craft Distillation: Art & Science, Commerce & Compliance represents the best educational value for aspiring craft distillers. Registration for Craft Distillation: Art & Science, Commerce & Compliance has just begun for the next week-long workshop, scheduled for March 12 - 16, 2012. For more information, including the workshop syllabus and accommodations, use the following links: www.SIPSclass.org www.Batch206.com

Yes, Dave, here you go. If a 750 ml volume is optional, my contact has a one-litre swing-top in amber, and his name is John Jones from Berlin Packaging, a company that has recently acquired the catalogue of Freund Packaging. Pallet pricing differs greatly from the listed case prices. Tell him that I referred you: www.freundcontainer.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_1101B01_A_ss_E_swing-top John.Jones@BerlinPackaging.com 651.578.9606 You're welcome!

Ethyl acetate and acetaldehyde, both pre-cursors of acetic acid, and both very volatile at low temperatures. Quite normal, really, but you will reduce these by-products in subsequent batches when hygiene improves and microbial decay of ethyl alcohol is reduced.

Hi Dan, I am an American distiller and I received my credentials from the Institute of Brewing & Distilling in London. They offer a General Certificate of Distilling (four-hour examination) and a Graduate Diploma of Distilling (in modules). I hold both, and I highly recommend the coursework. You can even attend externally and take the examination at your local school or college after reviewing the study materials that they will send to you. Quite affordable, too! What about combining your metal-smithing with distillation and build small stills for the industry? Send off a note whenever you'd like to "talk shop!" All the best, Rusty

Hi Ryan, I am known for offering a good word of encouragement. Please do us the honour of becoming a registered member of the forum if you are asking for guidance and financial backing. Perhaps I can help: Email me

The flavour scientists at McCormick Spices (no connection to McCormick Distillery) said a couple of years ago that rye whisky pairs well with any foods that have sage in them. As for cocktails, keep in mind that your new-make rye spirit is no doubt peppery or spicy, so dream up your proprietary cocktail recipes accordingly!

Are you using dirty bottles? Spirits-grade glass, while still quite warm, gets packed with each bottle placed upside-down in the carton, or the whole carton is inverted when it is stacked onto a pallet. Quite generally, this is to avoid any dust particles or cardboard specks from entering the glass, though some still make it inside. A one-second sparge of compressed gas such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide or beverage gas (a mixture of both) is what you need to rid the bottle of any particulate, while the bottle is inverted of course. How does one sterilize each bottle (I always get this one)? Why, just place your spirits inside it, of course! Have a great bottling session, and don't forget to supply everyone with powder-free latex gloves! All the best,

Welcome Aaron, and in what part of the country do the two of you reside? What products do you wish to create? All the best, BWF

Hi Colin, try these: www.nova-techusa.com for thermometers and Bellwether hydrometers, and www.anton-paar.com for their DMA-35 densitometer, it's just tops! A happy and prosperous new year to you! Rusty

Hey Free Range, Our caustic agent is potassium hydroxide, a more environment-friendly alternative to sodium hydroxide (lye), and our acidic agent is citric acid. Just drip dry, and your copper will be shiny and new, ready for the next batch of anything that you're producing. Just one producer's perspective! Best wishes to you at Christmastime, Rusty

Hi Phil, You only fall victim to barrel contamination if you place your spirits within that cask. Trust your nose, you have some kind of funk in that barrel. Try a strong solution of soda ash in hot water, followed by even stronger citric acid solution, and you may be able to sweeten up that musty barrel. One should be able to smell either toasted oak, the product that once was in that barrel prior to it being emptied, or some of both. Also, avoid filling barrels that smell like acetone, as nail-polish remover will be the striking feature of your aged spirits. Make a planter out of that cask if it cannot be revived! I think all distillers should get handy with a hoop driver and hammer once in awhile, and take a head off of a barrel and inspect what is inside. It will make you appreciate the cooper's trade ever so much more! All the best, Rusty

Welcome to the top of the heap!

My supplier is Phil at ACI Cork ( [url=]"http://www.acicorkusa.com"[/url] ), and they are the best in the business. 1000 bar-top corks with wooden tops for $145.00! Tell him I sent you! All the best, Rusty

True indeed, Cheryl, direct firing has hardly been relegated to obsolescence in all the distilling districts of France. There, it is not only alive and well, but it is compulsory as a matter of law to distil with wood or gas flame in Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados. From Robert's viewpoint, however, it is not a method to consider because of his involvement in the sales of steam and water bath equipment. One cannot discount direct-immersion electric as means of directly heating the substrate. No scorching! All the best,

I love that one! A close version of the old saying was trademarked by Athena Malts in Oregon a while back.

Hi Steven, It's 1.5-inch dairy. Have J.J. from Central Industrial Sales in Pasco adapt it to 1.5" Tri-clover for you. 509.727.1518. All the best, Rusty

Try looking into the Bruichladdich Whisky Academy at their distillery in Islay.

Dear Dusty and Jesse; Allow to say thank you for the great packaging and speedy shipping. I received this thief on the other side of the country from you in just two days after you received payment. I am reviewing its performance and will send my observations to you in a private message. Anyone who is interested in my review should contact me off-site. All the best, Rusty

One gram of ascorbic acid per 75 gallons neutralizes and precipitates the 3 ppm of chloramine present in municipal water. All unbound chlorine gas comes off with the fore-shots. It is always advisable to purify your process water prior to brewing, so in-line filtration would be the primary choice before you went with the Vitamin C method. My $0.02 worth! All the best, Rusty

I'll take one!

Excellent insight, Chuck. You are right on the money! As far as I know, Big Bend Community College (Moses Lake, Washington) is still marketing its course as Artisan Craft Distilling Workshop, with no plan to trademark that phrase. If challenged, it will most likely use the words short-course or seminar to convey the same thing, relatively speaking. The one-week symposium will still attract upwards of 50 attendees every six months, under any name it chooses.

Hi Scott, We are all human, and thankfully so! It is my prediction that Kris Berglund will respond in due course, and he may even temper his position in light of the prevailing opinions and objections. All the best,

Dear Colleagues; I wish it to be known that I am personally in awe of Dr Kris Berglund's depth of knowledge concerning the physical principles of distillation. He is a real treasure to this industry, and should be recognised as an outstanding educator. In the matter of his seeking trademark protection for the phrase Artisan Distilling Workshop, it is plain to see here that there is an overwhelming feeling of objection toward this application. I respectfully objected to his claim in the appropriate manner, and I think that it is a matter of personal choice if you wish to object in your own way. In keeping with the sense of great civility that we share on this discussion forum, however, I urge everyone to please refrain from character judgements, emotionally charged sentiment and vitriol. I fully admire the impassioned nature of craft distillers, but we have not yet heard from the good doctor on this issue since receiving his 'cease and desist' letters. Dr Berglund, despite his recent need to seek trademark protection of a seemingly generic phrase, is a soft-spoken scientist, an intellectual giant, and a luminary in the discipline of distillation science, irrespective of what you may think of his academic post. We have been together on the same panel of speakers at a conference, and I otherwise have a great deal of respect for him. Please proceed in a calm manner if in fact yours is the stronger, wiser position, and the right way will be chosen! All the very best, Berle W Figgins, Jr