GNS to Vodka Distilled by X

[CFry]

How does one go about using GNS to produce vodka and claim the vodka has been distilled by your own distillery? I greatly appreciate tips and comments.

CFry

[Gwydion Stone]

Are you planning to redistill the GNS?

[coop]

I would not do it. If you have a still why not use it? Coop

[CFry]

That is the option we are hoping for. If we 'redistill' the GNS, in the eyes of the Fed, can we call the vodka distilled by ourselves? Or must we blend the GNS with our own distilled spirit? Thanks. CFry

Are you planning to redistill the GNS?

[Marc]

Isn't that what the folks at Hangar One do for their vodka?

[CFry]

I would not do it. If you have a still why not use it? Coop

Unfortunately, our A Holstein still only has three plates which makes it impossible (in it's current setup) to reach the vodka mark.

I have been talking to Chip at Ultra-Pure and he states that he supplies numerous artisan distilleries with GNS. He suggested to me using GNS to produce vodka is done, however, I am interested in hearing that from the distillers, themselves. Thanks for your input.

[Paul G]

How does one go about using GNS to produce vodka and claim the vodka has been distilled by your own distillery?

I believe the obvious answer is: "by distilling it."

On the other hand, why would you take a ready to use spirit and go through the expense of redistilling it just to say that you did. To me, the cost of a still and the utilities to operate it seem to be a bit over the top for some labeling/marketing.

If your three plate still won't get it "just so" the first go-round, chug through a few batches and redistill the proceeds of those batches...then you have effectively 6 plates.

I have been talking to Chip at Ultra-Pure and he states that he supplies numerous artisan distilleries with GNS. He suggested to me using GNS to produce vodka is done, however, I am interested in hearing that from the distillers, themselves.

Are these distilleries to whom he sells making vodka, or are they using it as base spirit for such things as gin, absinthe, etc.? There's a long standing soapbox among our members concerning brands that merely repackage GNS but advertise as if they are the ones distilling it. In other words, I don't think that, on a regulatory level, the fact that you distilled it yourself (in any capacity) is required in order to put such verbiage on the label that would lead a consumer to think that you did.

It really comes down to integrity. Are *you* comfortable labeling something in a manner that states (or implies) that you distilled it when you didn't?

As an example from my own perspective:

If I make vodka and say that I distilled it, it would be from the raw materials right up to the final bottling. I wouldn't feel right saying I took the product of somebody else's still and ran it through mine just for the sake of putting on the label that It was distilled by me. [1]

If I make gin, I may purchase GNS for base spirit for the sake of cost effectiveness. I can comfortably say that I distilled the gin myself as I'm not claiming that I distilled the base spirit. The final product is sufficiently different from the individual ingredients as to say it's a whole new product altogether...the process by which that was affected was performed by me in my facility, therefore it's (in my estimation) fair to say I distilled it. In contrast to this, if I take GNS and redistill it only to dilute and call it vodka, it can be argued that I've done nothing to substantially change the properties of the ingredients in order to make a new product.

Cheers,

Paul

[1] In my time with Uncle Sam's Yacht Club the Navy, we would load food and supplies onto the boat by hand, passing it person by person from the pier to wherever it was to be stored. There would be the occasional smart-aleck who would casually stand in line and simply touch the box or can as it passed by him so he could claim that he helped out because he at least touched the stores being loaded. I see this as a parallel to redistilling perfectly good GNS just for the sake of saying that it was done in house...albeit with much less effort expended. It's the same net result.

[coop]

On a additional note, if you are counting on local or even state wide support of a locally distilled and bottled product you will find out as soon as people start reading the label, which they will, and find out you are miss leading them your sales will go south. That has happened to several companies here in Colorado. The label is required to have on it somewhere "Distilled by and Bottled by". Coop

[Classick]

I believe that according to the regulations... because the GNS has already been distilled to 190+ proof, if you re-distill it to something less than that, you can still call it vodka.

You would be in fact rectifying an already distilled spirit.

If you make a distillation of the product, then you can legally say, distilled and bottled by your company. If for some reason, you decide to buy the majority of your base material ( that you arent planning on re-distilling), you could always consider having THAT distillery get a Doing Business As ( DBA) under your name, so the bottle could still say distilled and bottled by your company.

this is not ideal, but its legal

[CFry]

It really comes down to integrity. Are *you* comfortable labeling something in a manner that states (or implies) that you distilled it when you didn't?

Cheers,

Paul

That truly is an excellent point. I wish start from handling the grain on up, however, I am not in a pleasant situation. I joined a distillery that has been bleeding money for 3 years and the still provided to me cannot produce vodka. And when my boss is extremely hesitant to purchase a vessel which can do the job, it makes meeting the goal of starting to sell products 5 months after starting to distill products and starting a career as a distiller, to say the least, frustrating.

On a additional note, if you are counting on local or even state wide support of a locally distilled and bottled product you will find out as soon as people start reading the label, which they will, and find out you are miss leading them your sales will go south. That has happened to several companies here in Colorado. The label is required to have on it somewhere "Distilled by and Bottled by". Coop

That is also a point I must drive home with the owner.

I believe that according to the regulations... because the GNS has already been distilled to 190+ proof, if you re-distill it to something less than that, you can still call it vodka.

You would be in fact rectifying an already distilled spirit.

If you make a distillation of the product, then you can legally say, distilled and bottled by your company. If for some reason, you decide to buy the majority of your base material ( that you arent planning on re-distilling), you could always consider having THAT distillery get a Doing Business As ( DBA) under your name, so the bottle could still say distilled and bottled by your company.

this is not ideal, but its legal

All your comments got the light bulb to click. As a distiller, one is not limited to producing vodka as a readily created spirit (i.e. not store in barrels). There are other ways to support growth and long term development!

As my friend, a Czech Brewmaster, stated, "You make good solutions." So I have formulated a solution to the problem, and, in the end, I shall formulate a most delicious solution. CFry