SlickFloss

If you're liquid and ready to rumble talk to McKee and get yourself a Ferrari bro, we gotta headframe coming in Jan As for a pot I gotta CDS/SM system and I'm really happy with the still, she purrs. SM has the second worst customer service ever though imo and is not a good partner for our industry members as growing enterprises. I have never worked with the guy from affordable but he's very up front and honest about his sourcing and fabrication... from the post stalking I've done of him he truly grasps and understands dist technology, its capabilities and limitations, and his pricing is rad. I know some of the guys at HBS and I like them a lot, but I do think they're capabilities have some limitations- they are learning fast and are passionate about their work though. For american made I do not think there will be a better deal for you if you're only looking at dollars and cents..... The Haneys are great people. If you need to save some cash scroll the forums here and look for a disco still, Chinese stills are always cheap but some people will look at you as a pariah, Affordable is a great option as discussed, and if you want something more customized I would contact Cassel and ask him to design you a set up to be manufactured by someone other than SM..... I would honestly contact McKee and see if they have the copper capability to manu a Cassel pot for you guys....... Their manu. team is out of this world they're a pleasure to do business with and your money is going to a higher cause in Butte. Cheers bro

As was earlier mentioned yeast will need refrigeration unless you propagate naturally, which although risky I think would be to your credit and make you absolutely unique (and save you some cash, but replicability will be tough). Is your slab already poured?

Echoing everyone above: Look into the sombrero of death concept. You have a large one in your plans and its a problem. I would consider making your single line floor drain a T if you're using a basic trench, especially if your floor isn't already pitched for a floor drain (I'm assuming you're moving into a building and installing your own trench). I would look into the floor slit drain if I were you, and if you added it it would work well as a single line or a T. As a smaller operation it will be expensive but it will really help you keep everything sanitary being able to flush that out easily and allow for less operators. I would add another concrete pad for a chiller or put it on roof. Where is your air compressor? Intrinsically safe instead of explosion proof will save you alot of money. You definitely don't have enough storage, think about fitting grain bags, enzyme, nutrients, tools, hardware supply (Oar, mixers, hoses, siphon tubes, lab type equipment, refractometer, hydrometer, etc.) all in that small supply storage. I think you should add a hoist/lift to the ceiling somewhere, this could help to allow you to run as a single operator. Where will you store samples of finished goods? You need some processing tanks of some type. Blending Proofing Mixing Cleaning they can do it all but you need them to do anything.

Distillation Principles and Practices Sydney Young Fundamentals of Distillery Practice Willkie/Prochaska Distillation Principles and Design Procedures Hengstebeck Lean Thinking Womack The above books were integral to our design and procedure development. Delve deep into Lean thinking, the Toyota Way, and Six Sigma well before you plan anything in your project. The following are great resources as well: Distillers Grain Manual Willkie and Mather Designing Great Beers Daniels Search for any of the Joseph E Seagrams and Sons Inc publications by ISBN on the interwebs...... super hard to find but amazing resources and not a lot of people have seen them! I run a search every couple weeks and have ended up with a few texts most people probably don't even know exist (I didn't) out of weird used book shops......

Im glad you did your research on ice its something a lot of people over look! Somethings to keep in mind when sizing an ice maker and choosing type as well: -Size of your tasting room and complexity of your cocktail program: how much ice goes into constructing and serving one cocktail, and if your tasting room is a hit, whats your anticipated maximum output of cocktails per hour, per night? If you come in under the ice is just never used.... if you come in over on your need you will be castrated. -How often are you going to have special events and what is going to be their size? Its not appropriate to run out of ice when throwing a wedding. -Depending on where you are and what drink you want to serve: top hat ice is usually larger, harder, clear ice and is not best for frozen cocktails or blended drinks so keep that in mind!

I've used brokers in all control states to various but mainly unimpressive results. Getting menus and features printed is more complicated w brokers over distributors and you're better off doing it yourself in most cases. On top of that, their coverage is limited in those states, they don't hit full markets, they try to group you with their other brands in promotions etc. to the detriment of your own brand (its never about whats good for your single brand, but their portfolio as a whole- where as distrib. will have profit in the success of your brand individually). In most states brokers cannot even take or fulfill orders, and my main issue with them is the lack of reporting. In states where brokers would be valuable, reporting is limited and usually unavailable, so their reporting to you will be incomplete. Fuck brokers. Do the leg work yourself and save the margin for yourself, its just another leech trying to pull value from sales you and your brand likely generated for yourself.

ASD manufactured?

Before you select an ice maker I would suggest selecting a type of ice you want to make. One that looks good in the glasses you have, complements the cocktails you offer, and melts at the rate you wish for dilution. Ice is a major component of any cocktail.

Alibaba is an amazing resource for bulk bar items that big buys use effectively for marketing

They make good barrels. I have a 15 gallon used brandy barrel from Old Sugar Distillery I'm using as a test batch for some port finishing. Sealed up with essentially no issue at all and is holding fluid exceptionally well.

Given the size and scope of your budget in comparison with big boys, and likely even mid cap suppliers, you are absolutely barking up the wrong tree here. Why would you devalue your brand and at the same time cut out your own margin (which you probably haven't protected enough as is)? Your distributor is taking advantage of your inexperience with programming if they are over pushing pay to play.... Set yourself up for success with distributors who believe in your brand and the value it holds. If the team believes, the team succeeds. If you devalue your brand by supporting it in the market when you shouldn't have to (because your product is not a commodity) why would anyone else respect what you're peddling?

The big difference between you and I, other then you being able to answer all the questions above, is I think she's beautiful.

We are debt free over here, we can spend time doing whatever we wish

several things in response....... I'm not knocking your business, but I can always build cheaper than I can purchase from you..... you just quoted me your best sweetheart deal, I employ welders and steamfitters who are on salary their labor is a sunken cost and the equipment is as cheap as I can source it- in the midwest that is cheaaaaaapppppp Plus I don't make a margin on myself : )

Using a direct element with Rye on grain is going to take many really painful learning experiences for you to become an expert at doing it.... that being said maybe you are dedicated to learning those lessons and stubborn in your desire to become an on grain rye direct element cooking machine.... If this is the case may I recommend you pitch a little (a lottle maybe.......) barley malt early in your cook (above conversion temps) to help thin out your stillage? It works well for moi! I cook in a 240 gal jacketed cooker BUT I learned all my basics on a hill billy 5 gal direct element and all my mash bills are grain in and most have at least a little rye

Bill is my home boy! There are many sober people in this industry...... probably not on these boards but in the industry a ton... Most people cannot stay in the industry and be sober but there are some of the more "hard headed" that refuse to allow their alcoholism so get in the way of the gift they have to share with the world: purveying fine spirits and/or cocktails.

You can very easily construct a facility out of used dairy for a fraction of the price of conventional suppliers with the right team of contractors (steam fitters, welders, plumbers, and electricians) if you're flexible with your capacity and can afford to wait to piece things together during construction...... Heres a dirty little secret every still manufacturer doesn't want you to know, a still is literally a batch pasteurizer (or a stem kettle) with a helmet on top hooked up to a condenser......... a 1000 gal still can run you over 100k..... or with a ton of elbow grease you can make a pasteurizer/kettle into a 1000 gallon still for 15 k all in...... Other great places to look are places selling old naval/marine equipment (kettles from battle ships make great stills) Sailorman Ullmers is down street from me! Are you in the WI guild?

So you didn't find their designs antiquated at all in terms of modern process needs? Have you used the equipment yet? What size still did you get the 240? How big is your mash tun? Are you happy with the included CIP? You didn't find their knowledge of equipment possibilities limited? They delivered everything at once and didn't leave any of your order delinquent?

I have an interesting experience with Chinese manufactured stainless equipment and probably a much more unique and extensive history with large suppliers in China..... Anyways because of these reasons China was my first place to look for still manufacturing, and was something I quickly abandoned...... Anyways your main issue isn't going to be quality of raw materials for construction, but rather quality control of plant equipment was manufactured in.... Case in point, if your supplier makes anything other than distillery equipment in their plant (which they for sure do) your still will likely be welded in between two other things, lets say an "iron" table (patio furniture) and component pieces for a pre fabbed playground that need to be assembled on site.... So although you may have tight welds on your still, and great craftsmanship in design, we are talking about fucking china, the wild wild east. They will be grinding and welding and cutting the other equipment without curtain/barrier right next to your still.... So despite craftsmanship and quality in initial raw materials, you have iron and low grade steel from the patio furniture embedded into your stainless as well as aluminum and more low grade steel peppering the other side of your vessel from the slides and monkey bars being fabricated in the other station...... ..... All this will be polished over and shipped out only to pop out as rust spots in your stainless a few years later..... I have seen this in several pieces of Chinese manu'd brew kettles, fermenters, and one still. I have seen even more of these on cheap dairy equipment purchased by many of my suppliers and neighbors....... I'm not saying China cannot fulfill your needs and provide great products, I'm just saying there are different standards of practice and manufacturing there and you need to do more homework on what and how things are being manufactured over seas......

Whip yourself up 4 wort chillers (copper coils, run them concurrently off cool source not consecutively) and place them in the four corners of tote through the man way and you got yourself a pretty wicked fermenter..... Also, whip up your own CIP by modifying a tote top to take a spray ball and just detach one off one of your main vessels if you have them detachable (try clamped on) or just buy one...... and bravo! you got CIP'd fermenters for next to nothing if you do them yourself.....

I have had limited interaction with Corson, much less than others here, but they seemed like alright people when we dealt with them.... That being said they sold me a whiskey thief that does not do its job very well...... .......thank god actually because theres enough whiskey thieves around here as is.....

You should just buy a steam or an industrial electric kettle and fit a rudimentary head onto of it- no need for copper if its just a beer stripper and it looks like your trying to save some pennies

My big problem with thumper essentially came down to efficiency. A poor design could tax the energy needs of the system more than help it. What size system are we talking, whats its heat source, and how important are the energy efficiencies for you? You can also modify and design a multistaged thumper that is more efficient and thus more like a column if you were feeling saucy enough and had requisite skills.

Where are you located? We operate in a large ag centered midwest state and we have absolutely zero waste streams that we do not make money on other then packaging we substandard recycling and absolute trash..... Organic farmers and chem industry can use everything you produce (heads tails stillage etc) you just need to get creative in finding the right people

Who manufactured? true cont columns are hard to come by in micro but I see why you sized up. Nice piece bro!