looking for a MSDS sheet for 50% ALC

[UT distiller]

Hi,

The building inspector needs to be sure we are a F1 rating in order to give us the green light to build. He needs a MSDS on what we would be setting proof at. So, I am looking for a MSDS sheet for 100 proof/50% alcohol. Anyone out there with this useful piece of information?

Cheers,

Jeff

[Gwydion Stone]

I think some of these guys might have one.

[DrewKulsveen]

Send me an email and I'll send it to you.

[UT distiller]

Oh, Brilliant! Google I should have known. Thank you GStone!

[Artesian Distillers]

Hi Jeff

We used an ex fire chief for our "city encounter" if u will.. He is awesome and knows the codes inside out.. I highly recommend him..

Steve Dalbey 563-299-2888

I had the exact same issues.. he resolved them.. the inspection can and WILL read the codes wrong.. be very careful of what they confine you to!!!

[UT distiller]

ART D,

Thank you for the contact. I might try calling him. Our building inspector is truly on our side but he is definately concerned. We are expanding our building and the distillery is phase two in the project.

Jeff

[sailorman9]

Read NFPA-Uniform Fire Codes-Hazardous Materials Codes:

4.0.1 Bottles < 4L

4.0.2 Exemptions & (9) Storage in Wood Casks

4.0.3 Capped containers in unlimited quantities

My architect knew of these laws and wrote me an F1 classification, which was approved. It was done, not to help me get started, but because it is the law.

I copied this awile ago from somewhere in the forum:

I'll add something here that has been helpful to me along with the exception codes that were listed above (there are more exceptions in the IFC if anyone is interested). Guy, I noticed in another post that you got a H3 Hazardous Occupancy permit which made your local fire officials happy. In my opinion you have painted yourself in a corner by admitting your products are hazardous. By steering your local building/fire guys in the direction that you are manufacturing a FOOD GRADE PRODUCT, there is no hazard.... if this were a hazardous material you would not be able to sell it to the public for consumption (I think the only alcoholic beverage that has an MSDS label on it is everclear). That is exactly the scope of the exceptions in the IFC Chapter 27 and Chapter 34 codes: to allow beer, wine, and spirits to remain on-site without being bound by hazardous/combustible/flammable code definitions.

So, my suggestion to anyone that reads this thread is to look these codes up and let your local officials know that you are making a consumable food grade product that is not dangerous. Do not give in to MSDS sheets for your spirits (required for non-consumable hazardous materials), H3 occupancy (manufacturing fireworks and explosives fall into this occupancy category), or any other forms of subjective bargaining to insinuate what we do is dangerous. Trust me, if you have another distillery in the state, or even a neighboring state, that is bound by all of the hazardous regulations you will fall victim to it too. If we all set the precedent that what we are doing is safe and can back that up with ICC codes, everyone will be better off in the long run. This all, of course, is subject to local approval but what I have written here will give you plenty of meat to argue the point.

I have more on this issue, but this pretty much covers the appropriate code exceptions for distilling applications.

Bryan Schultz

RoughStock Distillery Inc.

Bozeman Montana

www.montanawhiskey.com

I should have clarified this point. As an example, my absinthe is exempt using the above rule because I go from the still, to a barrel, back into a processing tank, back to a barrel, and then into a bottle...and the lowest abv is 65%. IMHO, this exemption has the fingerprints of the big whiskey lobby all over it. And I thank them for it.

So, according to the code, I never "Store" my distilled spirits. It's either in processing, barrels, or bottles.

Another code I found during my investigation:

NFPA 400 (new version of NFPA 30): Hazardous Materials Code

__________

We must know how to talk to these building inspectors; not many have read the regs from cover to cover, because the documents are so large. Just like dealing with the TTB, many have their own oppinions.

Good Luck,

Curt

[grehorst]

.../

We must know how to talk to these building inspectors; not many have read the regs from cover to cover, because the documents are so large. Just like dealing with the TTB, many have their own oppinions.

Good Luck,

Curt

Curt, Don't paint with a broad brush. Everyone's situation is different. We had F1 in our original location and by the time we expanded, our (non barrel) storage needs increased beyond what is allowed by F1. What you missed about our situation is we often store amounts of alcohol larger than F1 allows. We also are in a large city where inspectors and planners have experience with what they classify as hazardous. Interpretations may have been different elsewhere.

Guy