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Hi all, 

  I'm working with limited space in planning a distillery, about 800 square feet.  However, we have essentially unlimited space elsewhere (close by) where we will be milling to have a mash tun and maybe a fermenter or two.  Point is that we are considering off site mashing.  Any pros and cons you can suggest?  Obviously energy, efficiency, extra costs in labor and possible contamination are ony mind. Has anyone done it?  Have success or failure advice?  Thanks!  

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A full tote will be in excess of a ton, probably closer to 2400-2500lbs - which means forklifts and if you are transporting yourself, a halfway decent pickup or even better, a trailer.

Fermenting in an off-site location?  It better be a distillery or brewery, and you'll need to transfer in bond if you've fermented there.

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Ferment sweet wort production but ferment within your DSP location.. Otherwise your recording transfer of ~8-10%ABV beer from what licenced/ bonded location?

Or - set up two separate licenced entities - a brewery & DSP.. DSP covers both & transfer from one to the other.

Thats my understanding & y'all welcome to correct me.

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7 hours ago, sjwood3 said:

Valid question.  Suffices to say the concept requires the still in our primary location.  

I wish we could pipe it!  But not an option. :)

I would rethink the concept personally. Simply put distilling exists as way to store and minimize transport cost of raw material. In France, they used to have mobile stills that would go from vineyard to vineyard, bring the still to the fruit not the fruit to the still. Not saying you can't do what you want to do, but it hardly seems worth it, regardless of the 'concept'. If it is a high traffic area and you want people to see your cool still, get an ugly stripping still at the other facility and just truck low wines. That's what Buffalo Trace does with the Bowman Distillery.

Everything about moving the mash and having two facilities will only increase your cost and lower your margin, and provides zero value add to customers in the process.

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If you have access to your own truck, I'd do it. If you are paying a trucking company to do it, I'd look at the costs per batch because it will add up over a year.

Before we got our vodka mashing process down I had another local distillery contract a few batches. I think it cost me about $70 one way to move the totes, and I pitched the yeast once they hit my loading dock just to make sure I was compliant with the regulations.  If we continued that process it would have been about $140/week which quickly adds up to $7200 in yearly production costs.

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  • 1 month later...

Has anyone confirmed whether the TTB is on board with this?  I'm also considering this as an idea to reduce initial capital investment, but reading through the DSP regulations yesterday has me wondering if it's technically allowed.  The CFR made it sound like mashing must be done under the DSP.

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1 minute ago, BoydLabBuck said:

Has anyone confirmed whether the TTB is on board with this?  I'm also considering this as an idea to reduce initial capital investment, but reading through the DSP regulations yesterday has me wondering if it's technically allowed.  The CFR made it sound like mashing must be done under the DSP.

I know of a few people mashing off site in brewery then bringing the wart to the dsp and pitching yeast. Until yeast is added its just cooked grain.  Anyone can cook grain no license necessary.  But when you pitch yeast its then on the books.  

but iv been wrong before  

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