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Still Manufacture Issues


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Sorry to hear that Peter, been watching your progress via Facebook. Been meaning to stop by as well. You seem to be all set except for the actual still itself.

Hope you can suss all this out with Still Craft. I looked at their systems as well, they seem to be a "broker" as opposed to an actual manufacturer. So that is where the delay might be coming into play.

Best of luck with getting the issue resolved.

See you soon,

Larry

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A friend of mine NEVER got his equipment after the delivery time doubled! He canceled the order. I live near where they say they operate and asked if I could swing by and see their set-up but they were always "switching locations".

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It breaks my heart that people are actually giving money to a company like this. I can't find one thing on that site that conveys legitimacy to me. Certainly not the links to their "affiliate program" nor the "30 second financing approval" nor the broken blog page, nor the lack of an actual address on the contact page.. Is it the lack of a single original, non stock photo, on their site that makes you say "yeah, I want to do business with this place"? Perhaps on the Facebook page they link to they have something that seems legit? https://www.facebook.com/Volusion wait, no, thats a spammy as canned meat looking page for some software company?! WTF?

Do we have a single photo of a distillery using or installing a piece of equipment purchased from this site?

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According to a WHOIS lookup, the domain still-craft.com belongs to:

Admin:
Jay Overmyer
StillCraft
3500 Biscayne Rd

McHenry, IL 60050
US
Phone:+1.8472931157 Fax:
Email: jay.overmyer@yahoo.com

A quick trip to Google Maps Street View reveals that this is pretty clearly a residential neighborhood. Draw your own conclusions.

OP, I hope you paid by credit card.

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The stills they sell come from a chinese manufacturer called HGM (the supplier for Premier Stainless) and can be bought from Premier or GW Kent for smaller coin. It's a pretty good still, 60 gal capacity...I've used one quite a bit, though I don't have one right now.

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Yeah.. What seems to be the actual manufacturers site:

http://www.hgmbrewing.com/cn/pro_list.asp?aid=172&sid=153

and this re seller actually seems to have a few more pictures:

http://www.deutschebeverage.com/distill.html#images/D28.jpg

but it also looks like he got a bit confused and mixed in a few pictures of some Carl stills?

Neither Premier nor GW Kent list any distillation equipment on their sites..

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I would suggest these still manufacturers and to stay away from anyone else.

Alembics

1. Copper Alembic (http://www.copper-alembic.com) Been around for forever, great customer service and products at very reasonable prices. Highly customizable, talk to David.

2. Hoga Company (http://www.hogastills.com) Great manufacturer and reasonable prices though limited customizability.

3. Forsyth (http://www.forsyths.com) Great large whiskey producer.

4. Vendome Copper (http://www.vendomecopper.com) Best in the game for large scale alembic and copper stills.

Column

1. Ulrich Kothe (http://www.kothe-distilling.com/newsite/) Top of the line!

2. Artisan Still Design (http://artisanstilldesign.com) DUH! amazing product and amazing guy! I can't recommend them highly enough!

3. Carl (http://www.brewing-distilling.com/page2/ccarl-stills.html)

4. Holstein (http://www.a-holstein.de/index.php?id=159)

Now these are not in any specific order and I'm sure there are a few other good ones around that I am missing but I generally tend to stay away from still manufacturers who push the recent moonshine craze in your face. Nothing wrong with moonshine but the way it's advertised of late really just speaks to the people who are only in it for the money and not for quality. Hope you get the situation worked out.

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Yes and Jesse at Trident installed one in the Argyle/Greenwich area just last year. Which is only about a half hour from where your place is Peter, so you could check that one out.

Best of luck with this nightmare!

I'd also put Vendome in the "column" still category... the one at Lake George Distilling Company of great.

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Neither Premier nor GW Kent list any distillation equipment on their sites..

You're right...the GW Kent page has removed the "aroma still," and Rob has removed the still from Premier, as well. However, both the outfit that I used to work for and Yuseff from Ballast point bought these stills from Premier, and I have pix of Rob and Michelle Soltys with the very still I used to run.

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Thanks for that info Natrat. A Google image search does indeed show one of these stills at Ballast Point:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbitesnbrews.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F11%2FAM64.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbitesnbrews.com%2F2011%2F11%2Fballast-point-brewing%2F&h=3264&w=4928&tbnid=l8Tvlh-0uLzeWM%3A&zoom=1&docid=tLadojFoXZ1E4M&ei=YTyfU_uID4-xyASdlgE&tbm=isch&ved=0CCIQMygGMAY&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=933&page=1&start=0&ndsp=43

It looks like they also have another still:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia-cdn.tripadvisor.com%2Fmedia%2Fphoto-s%2F03%2Fe5%2F0b%2F15%2Fballast-point-brewing.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripadvisor.com%2FLocationPhotoDirectLink-g60750-d2621982-i65342238-Ballast_Point_Brewing_Spirits-San_Diego_California.html&h=450&w=337&tbnid=IAVZR5FQHPf15M%3A&zoom=1&docid=ITCEH2B-sJV0xM&itg=1&ei=YTyfU_uID4-xyASdlgE&tbm=isch&ved=0CGgQMyhDMEM&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=640&page=2&start=43&ndsp=45

Any idea who built that still? I love the old-school look it has.

It seems like HGM might do better with their own direct sales people here in the states instead of selling to every company that wants to pretend like they manufacture their own stills. I have no issue with Chinese made equipment, its just all these shady vendors who lead customers into thinking that they are an actual builder; when in fact they are not.

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  • 3 weeks later...

When I looked at the Still Craft site, I recognize one of the still columns they show as a kothe still--so obviously they aren't "forth-right" with their information. Vendome doesn't cost 250k unless you are getting a 500 gallon full batch system, and for 250k you can get a really nice fully automated kothe still...Trident aka Jesse, is a solid manufacturer.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Whew - thanks all! Just got a massive quote price increase and turnaround time lengthening off the map from one of the "tried and true" biggies, which would have put us under before we started. Desperately insisting upon U.S. made, Red Boot Stills - we'll be talking soon!

Again, WOW, just WOW! I had been a bit skeptical of these forums, but I stand (actually, sit) corrected. I've been in contact with a couple of the "up and comer" still manufacturers and will never look back at any of the "bigs." Lightening fast response, incredibly better pricing, quicker turnaround, vastly more support, and basically more solid designs. Full disclosure - I'm speaking as an antique professional engineer here. I'm thinking that the "little guys" get what we startups are all about. Again, thanks all!

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  • 4 months later...

Well looks like all the Still builders are getting busy, probably means Craft distilling is ramping up.

just ordered my 300 gal still from Jesse at Trident, busy man but great to talk with.

Looking forward to getting up and running later summer 2015. now just 10,000 more details to figure out.

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Howdy,

I specify Jess's mash coolers on my cooling systems and you're right about him being a busy man!

There isn't too much he doesn't know about steam, too!!

Let me know when you're ready to get some chiller system quotes and I'll set you up.

I just shipped out a chiller system to W CT and it has one of Jess's mash coolers. It's pretty much installed now, so if you'd like some pictures, email me -mike@mgthermalconsulting.com.

Mike

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