Salishseaorganicliqueurs

Jimmi, We'd love to have you by. We've just started construction on our space though so it's pretty much just an empty building. We've got about a month of construction work and then we'll start bringing in equipment so it might be best to wait till then. However, if you'd like to meet before that and perhaps try some of what we are working on feel free to shoot me a message.

Hey Jimmi, Just noticed we're located pretty much right next to each other. We're starting up in Lacey. We also have friends at fish brewing. Such a small small world!

Hi Curtis, You are looking at wanting to apply for a Distilled Spirits Plant (DSP) permit from the TTB. There will be several federal and state requirements for this. Some states allow experimental licenses for distillation, however, as far as the feds are concerned distilling alcohol without a DSP is a felony even if it's just for personal use. I would put in a call the Oregon State Liquor Control Board for more information on the subject but most states will also require your DSP before giving you any form of license. Filing for a DSP is a complex and time consuming process, essentially if you want to distill alcohol you have to start your own distillery. I may be wrong on this matter but this is what was represented to me by the TTB when I first contacted them, as well as what was represented to me by the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Also, I have a few attorneys who specialize in liquor laws and starting up distilleries that I can recommend to you, one is even based in portland. Feel free to shoot me a message and I can give you more details on the process and cost of starting up a distillery as well as who you should talk to. Of course you will probably get several more replies on here so make sure listen to them also. This forum is a great resource for people just starting out.

Sorry if I'm overstepping here, but perhaps this forum has grown too big for only two active moderators to manage. Perhaps it's time to promote a few more so that stress is taken off of you and the forum is allowed to grow and to continue to benefit all it's members? Seems like it'd be a win-win situation for everyone.

I agree with Natrat, sounds like early head cuts to me, try cutting a little bit later.

As a brand new distiller at a distillery just starting up I will repeat what has been said above and voice my concern about not being able to hear reviews of suppliers from others in the industry. We don't have months to waste on suppliers who produce faulty and dangerous products. I'm sure no one wants to miss important information on these suppliers that could lead to potentially dangerous situations both financially and physically. It would be UNHEALTHY for the industry not to have this resource, especially since, I don't know about you but I'm pretty busy and only really have time to check this forum and the distiller's guild forum for my state. If reviews were posted on some random site or other "review" forum not clearly attached to here it would most likely be missed by a lot of people. As above, I disagree with this decision but hold no ownership in this forum

Yes, I meant steel.

At least in the USA it's mostly natural gas, I believe, that's what we will be using to fuel the burner for our still. Pipe dimensions vary depending upon the BTU requirements of your equipment and what is available to your space. Most range between 1" and 2", we're using a 1.5" gas line which is getting us about 480,000 BTUs. As far as pressure rates that again varies upon your equipment, different pieces of equipment run at different pressures. Just remember, has to be black iron pipe used or else it will conflict with IFC requirements and you don't want that happening to you on an inspection, it could get VERY expensive.

A meet up sounds fun. We'll be there visiting on Tuesday.

Thanks Dave, I've heard of distilleries using electronic equipment to determine proof and keeping the TTB required equipment on hand. I'll do more research but either way it'll be up to the TTB as to how we determine the proof of our liqueurs.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to proof a liqueur that has a high sugar content. A normal hydrometer or densitometer won't work because the sugar changes the density. I'm wondering if there's some form of electronic instrument or such that would work for proofing? I can always do a bench distillation, I will have a lab still that I can use for this to satisfy the TTB but I would like something a bit faster and more efficient.

I was lucky enough to have a partner which had owned a real estate development business for the last 30 years so he already had a base of qualified investors which we could access to raise most of our required capital. The remaining bits we have been pulling in from family and friends.

Thanks Natrat, At this time it looks like we will be using non-gmo citric acid to clean our stills. I've talked with a couple of the other organic distillers in my state and it's what they are using to clean their stills.

Thanks, HedgeBird!

Wow, Thanks Natrat. I will contact some other organic distillers and ask them as well but I think you've given me several good leads.

Hi, What is everyone using to clean their stills after use? Does anyone know of any certified organic products that will work for cleaning a still? Could I just use soap and hot water?

Thanks Roy.

Tom, I think that would work just fine, I do not think there would be any issue creating a raised drain as long as you can tie into an existing waste line but you may want to check with your local municipality to be sure.

Jeff, we have talked with the municipality and they do not have a problem as long as it is under 250 degrees. They were more concerned with the contents of the wash than it's temperature. Thanks Ed, I will look into it.

I would say the need to be able to flush the wash from your still and to clean the floor of your distillery (which can get quite messy) tends to dictate the need for floor drains. I don't believe there are any requirements to have one but just consider that could have depending upon the size of your still hundreds of gallons of wash to dispose of after you have distilled the spirits from it. It's much cheaper to pay for the drain initially than to pay to have the wash pumped and trucked away. Also good for preventing your distillery from flooding in the event of an accident.

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of your sales would you say are paid for in cash vs credit cards? Just trying to figure out how much liquid cash may be flowing through our doors at any given time.

I am looking at finding a high temperature hose (something that could handle up to 200* F) to hook to the end of the 3" wide drain pipe on my still so I can feed it into our drain. Anyone have any suggestions as to what supplier I should use? Here's the ball valve that will be at the end of the drain pipe. http://www.copper-alembic.com/ns/product.php?id_product=307

How much would 200 cost me?

I would suggest either: 1. United Bottles and Packaging: http://www.unitedbottles.com 2. Saxco international: http://www.saxco.com Both are great bottle suppliers and I can provide you with contact info. If you are looking for customized or oddly shaped bottles I would suggest: 1. Fusion Glassworks: http://fusion-glassworks.com

Evan, We have just started construction on our distillery and will not be open to the public by the time of the conference, however, we'd be happy to set up a time to meet, and talk about what we are doing. Perhaps even let you sample a little bit of what we will be making. We are located in Lacey which is about an hour and a half drive south of Seattle. We are hoping to be at the conference on Tuesday for the day.