Author: birendra@midnightmachines.io

Adding a Revenue Stream to Your Brewery or Winery?

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

What do beer and whiskey have in common? Both come from grains. What do Wine and Brandy have in common? Both come from fruit. If you’re already producing beer or wine, you are about 80% of the way to crafting a great whiskey or a great brandy. Adding a distilling venture to your brewery or winery can be used as not only a new revenue stream, but you can recover the expired, off-spec, or over-produced, beer and wine in your distillery. 

In our expansion video, we explain how adding a distilling operation can be advantageous. 

There are two main pieces of equipment that can be found in a brewery, winery, or distillery: the mash tun and the fermentation vessel.

Mash Tun: Brewers use a mash tun for creating wort out of barley, while distillers use the mash tun to create the wash. Same equipment, extremely similar starting materials, different outcomes.

Fermentation Vessels: Fermentation is used in all 3 operations. If you’ve already got your winery or brewery running, you can still use whatever stainless steel, conical, temperature-controlled fermenters you are already using in your operations. Chances are they are the same state-of-the-art equipment that modern distillers are using.

To turn your wort, saignee, wine, or beer into a spirit, you would need to add a still with a whiskey head and/or a short column. A tall column is otherwise optimal for vodka production in order to reduce the number of production runs to achieve the necessary purity.

Start-up distilleries that rely solely on spirits to generate revenue have the disadvantage of being relatively unknown. Therefore it can take some time to develop enough traction to start generating revenue. Existing breweries or wineries on the other hand already have an established customer base. This advantage can not be overstated. If your existing brewery business is carrying your fixed costs, it just makes good business sense to install an additional revenue stream. The ROI should be especially quick if you’re taking your off-spec material and turning it from a cost center to a profitable product. 

Relative to the tanks needed to make beer to feed the still, the cost of a distillation system for spirits production is just not that much more money. Having said that, it will always be best to confirm all existing utility capacities to make sure that the new still is adequately supplied without taking away from the primary model of being a brewery or winery. We have several different models that can be customized to meet your production needs to augment your existing business.

If you’re looking to earn more gains from your existing losses, reach out to us at 561-845-8009 so that we can help you get started!

How Long Does a Custom Still Take

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

Covid has wreaked havoc on the logistics world right now. Everywhere you look items are back ordered and out of stock because shipping demands are so elevated. So how long does it take to get a custom still? Production time is rather quick; once StillDragon gets your equipment in the production queue, actually making the equipment takes about 70 business days. The major delays come before and after the equipment is in the queue.

Typically still production is the quickest part, but there are other factors to keep in mind when ordering a custom still.

Customization:

StillDragon designs all equipment based on the information you give us. The more information you are able to give us, the smoother the design process will go. We provide 3D drawings for your review, where all dimensions should be verified with the space where you are putting the still. Unfortunately, each little change adds to the time it takes to get the designs just right and just the way you want them. This is where having as much information as possible upfront could help get you your equipment quicker.

Financing:

StillDragon reps are pretty good at listening to your concerns and requests for your equipment to supply you with a drawing and quote relatively quickly, usually within 3 business days. If you have all of your financings in place, the still can be in the production queue by the end of the week. However, StillDragon requires drawing approval and 50% down payment to put equipment into production, if you have to get loans and documents gathered to secure the funds, this can significantly delay getting your system into production- you are now at the mercy of the bank. 

Once StillDragon receives the deposit, final drawing approvals are requested and verified, then your equipment is in the production queue within 7 days.

Shipping Delays:

Surely you’ve seen empty shelves at your local stores, those are caused because there is a vast lack of shipping space. Although designed in the USA, StillDragon manufactures all equipment overseas to keep costs lower for you, but we fall victim to incurring shipping delays due to lack of space on container ships. We are currently booking our containers 6-8 weeks ahead of time and then hoping that the container gets on the boat. If everything goes smoothly, once the equipment has been loaded on the boat, it takes approximately 40 days to get to our port. There is about another week’s delay in getting the equipment from the port to our warehouse because the US is currently facing a truck driver shortage. Generally, estimating 60 days for shipping is a safe bet.

StillDragon has all custom equipment delivered to our warehouse so that it can be assembled and inspected for accuracy. Once the equipment is assembled, we build a custom crate and send you the final invoice. Once the final invoice is paid, it’s off our floor and headed to your door.

From the day of deposit to the end day it arrives at StillDragon, the lead time for custom distilling equipment is at least 137 business days, or roughly 6.5 months. That’s a good number to start with, but don’t forget to factor in design and customization, financing and approvals, as well as any possible shipping delays. While we are saying 6.5 months minimum, we tell our clients that the equipment should be delivered to your door in 6-8 months from the time of deposit is more realistic because of the many possible delays.

Give us a call to find out how we can minimize the time spent in designs and customization, and help get your distillery equipped in the time you need it!

5 Benefits of Using GNS

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

I know, I know, we are in the craft spirits industry, and buying neutral is just faking it and is cheating. The thing is, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions and it is wholly possible to include Grain Neutral Spirit (GNS, or NGS, or just “neutral”) into a successful business model. Grain to glass is a wonderful practice and quality products almost always have quality ingredients but we all have different restraints, focuses, and budgets. The craft of distilling should be respected but we are running businesses and in certain cases, it can make sense to be creative and work with what you’re got. SO without further ado, let’s dive into five ways that GNS can add to your distillation program.

1. Depending on the operation it can eliminate the need for fermentation all together

If you are making a Gin or other flavored spirit starting with GNS as your base can save a ton of labor and raw material costs that a fermentation program will need. By outsourcing this part of the process you do lose almost all control over the initial input to your production process but unless you are farming your own grain you probably don’t have that level of control anyway. 

2. GNS is a blank pallet and a great starting point to add flavor

If you’re going to be adding flavoring to your final spirit through vapor infusion, maceration, or any other means then using a high-quality neutral spirit gives you a blank canvas to work with. It’s very difficult to get all the residual flavor out of spirits by distillation alone, it can take filtration or additional processing to get a truly neutral spirit. By having someone else take this part of the production process off your hands you can focus on other aspects of making a wonderful spirit.

3. Lower barrier to entry since it doesn’t need as much equipment

Depending on the quality of neutral you source you may only need to do a limited amount of processing to add in the flavor profile you’re looking to make a wonderful spirit. To make a neutral spirit from scratch you’ll need a very tall column, normally 18 plus plates, and potentially a filter of some kind to remove any residual flavor in the spirit. This can free up some of your equipment budgets to focus on other spirits or maybe get you that bigger gin basket you’ve had your eve on.

4. Lower price point 

Neutral spirits are actually cheaper than water in many cases. Buying neutral spirits and cleaning them up can actually save money on grain and labor costs versus making the vodka yourself. That being said, there is no substitute for experience, you’re just gaining a different kind of experience by going this route. 

5. Gaining experience

Starting with GNS as a stepping stone before you start a full neutral spirit production facility can help you have hands-on experience so that you can have an idea of how much neutral you need to meet your production demands and you can size your equipment accordingly. 

Hopefully, this guide has helped you think about different ways to incorporate GNS into your production plans and think about different ways to structure your business. While making every product on your line from scratch is a noble idea, sometimes you have to make a decision on where your resources are best spent and keep an eye on the long term. We’re happy to help with your business planning and if you have any questions please give us a call!

Sustainability in Distilling

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

Distilling sustainability will be a topic that will be discussed for the foreseeable future and we likely will be talking about it at least throughout our lifetimes. We’ve talked about sustainability in a past blog here but there are so many other facets to consider. Recycling heat, repurposing spent grain, staying local, and disposing of waste properly is still as important today as when the article was written (way back in April of 2020) but there are many other ways to help your business be more sustainable.

Sustainable is an interesting word because even though it has taken on many new connotations with the growing green movement its core meaning still remains intact. Sustainability doesn’t necessarily mean a zero carbon footprint, running off 100% renewables, or zero waste. There’s a lot that goes into making something that is sustainable and resilient enough to last through the years and while we can’t cover everything in a single blog post, we can touch on a few more topics to get you thinking about the changes you can implement to get moving in the right direction or at least thinking bout changes you can make.  

Incremental changes can make a big difference. You can have a huge impact on the environment and your variable costs by adding in energy capacity from renewable resources where it makes sense. Your kettle may be too big to run off of solar alone but if you can offset even a fraction of your total usage by putting your lights or HLT on solar. Those little changes can add up over the course of a year and save you money over time.

If solar isn’t an option there are other renewable energy sources. Switching to geothermal cooling can be expensive upfront but it can drastically offset temperature control costs over time. If you’re building a legacy business then this can be huge and if you have a 4-year exit strategy then this may make your offer more attractive. The cost/benefit analysis will vary case by case so do your due diligence, crunch some numbers, and see what makes the most sense for your business plan.

Water will continue to be a growing area of concern in the years to come as well. If you’re looking to make a legacy business then being conscious of how it’s used when distilling sustainably will help the longevity of your operation. If recycling the water in your operation is difficult or just not feasible for whatever reason it may be worth looking into adding in closed-loop systems to reduce waste. We touched on geothermal above but solar water heating or a number of options are available to tie your energy and water systems together to keep as much out of the drain as possible. 

Sustainability is about creating a legacy business that will be around in 18 or 80 years so that the spirits you’re putting away now will be able to reach their full potential and your grandchildren can tour the company, and legacy, that you built from scratch. Finding ways to reuse any resource, whether it be materials, energy, or old equipment, will help you keep things out of the landfill and hopefully keep money in your pocket. There’s no one size fits all solution and not everyone will benefit equally from any one strategy. Thinking about where you want to be in the next five, ten, or fifty years will help you figure out the best way to bring more sustainability into your business. We’d love to hear from you on what your best practices are so reach out and let us know!

Who Fixes Broken Distillery Equipment?

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

Most of us have known someone who started on a shoestring budget and “saved” their way into bankruptcy or ended up spending more money and/or man-hours finding workarounds for something that seemed like a piece of affordable distillery equipment. Just because you’ve found an Affordable distillery equipment deal doesn’t mean that it’s the right tool for the job. 

Sometimes spending a little extra money can save you a lot of money in the long run but it can take knowing what you want or at least which direction you want to go in to maximize your benefits. Some systems are of Corson need of repair but we can improve performance on many systems out there. 

If you’ve already been producing spirits for a while it’s pretty easy to know where your headaches are and what tasks suck up a lot of your time. If you’ve already identified your bottlenecks it will help us know where to get started. Sometimes the solutions and root causes of an issue may not be as obvious as they appear to be on the surface. You may not need a completely new system to get a production boost, identifying your bottlenecks and replacing individual parts can sometimes make a huge difference. 

If you’re blowing past your condenser then you either need more coolant or more surface area. However, trying to collect more distillate while maintaining the same quality can be a more complicated question to answer once you eliminate the obvious bottlenecks. Sometimes all you need to increase production is to upgrade your column size to increase vapor throughput but sometimes your bottlenecks are more difficult to diagnose.

This is where StillDragon can add a lot of value and hopefully help a lot. We spend a good amount of time fixing other companies’ older equipment, it’s one of the major benefits of being modular and being in business for almost a decade. Technology improves over time and your production needs will hopefully change as your business grows but there’s no need to throw out perfectly good components. 

The trick is to make sure you’re optimizing configurations to make the system work better as a whole and make everything work together so the whole operation is greater than the sum of its parts. If you have a 12-inch column and a 6-inch condenser, or vice versa, you’re not pairing the equipment suitably to maximize efficiency. By looking at the system holistically you’ll be way ahead of the game and have a better idea of where to spend your resources wisely. 

Just because parts and pieces don’t perform like you’re looking for doesn’t mean that they can’t be repurposed in your upgrade to do a different job or even the same job in a different way. Lots of our customers use their old systems as a recipe development still or a finishing still and use their larger equipment for stripping. By keeping your old equipment around you’re adding redundancy to your process so that you can be running systems in parallel or have a backup in case something needs to go down for maintenance. 

Once you fix one set of bottlenecks you’ll find where your next set of bottlenecks is and you’ll want to make some decisions. Sometimes these will be quick and easy fixes and sometimes it takes a lot of effort, and/or cash, to truly fix the problem. Having clear goals will help a lot in this process so that you’re not wasting time and money on a problem that will be irrelevant later. Sometimes you can make a big impact with a small change, but sometimes you need a complete overhaul to take things to the next level. 

Affordable distilling equipment repairs and upgrades don’t have to break the bank but spending your resources wisely will help you get the best bang for your buck. Of Corson repairs and upgrades come in many forms and there’s no one size fits all solution. Give us a call, or email Brad@stilldragon.com so we can discuss the best options to take what you have and augment it to hit your current goals.

What is the Biggest Difference Between a Rum Still and a Vodka Still?

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

Theoretically, Vodka is a pretty easy spirit to produce in the sense that it is the least artful because you are just stripping down to the cleanest possible end result. However, making vodka requires the most amount of resources, therefore vodka is the hardest of all with respect to expenditures. You can run your vodka through the same still that produces a flavorful rum, but in order to achieve that clean, neutral spirit that is vodka, you will have to run it through the pot multiple times.

This may not seem like that big of a deal, but have you factored in the man-hours it takes to run the still, plus the cost for the power to run the still X number of times. As you start to factor in the costs, you can see the profit margins on the vodka start to decrease. Whereas for Rum, a theoretically easy spirit to make as well, probably only needs to be run through your pot still once or twice to make a pretty good spirit, keeping your profit margins on rum more steady.

In order to keep your planned profit margins, you would need to reduce your labor costs and try to decrease the cost of power, which is most easily done with a system that doesn’t need multiple runs to produce a neutral spirit. This decrease in expenditures can be achieved by using a taller column with more plates. The initial investment may be higher, but the variable costs will be lower allowing for a better profit margin and quicker return on investment.

Let’s look at this example to demonstrate the differences:

We already know that every phase change cycle is a distillation run, so once through the pot still is one distillation run. To get a 4 times distilled vodka, you would need to run your product through a pot still 4 times. That’s 4 heat-ups and 4 full runs.

If you have a 4 plate column, you are getting 4 distillation cycles in one run. (Although according to the TTB, you can’t put 4x distilled on your bottle. See this article for more on what the TTB considers a distillation cycle) With the 4 plate column, instead of heating up your kettle 4 times, you are only heating it once- if it takes you 2 hours to heat your kettle each time, you are saving 6 hours of heat up time right there. You’re also cutting back on how long you are running your still overall. Let’s say it takes you 4 hours to run your wash through the pot still each time, that’s 16 hours of run time to produce your vodka. If you were to add 4 plates to your column, it could still take 4 hours to run your wash through the still, but instead of having to do it 3 more times, you have achieved the same result in a quarter of the time. Look more labor hours saved! In this example, you’ve saved a total of 18 hours of labor. That’s 18 hours that can be spent bottling, labeling, or marketing.

Please note: this example is just using easy numbers here, if you are looking for more exact information, give us a call at 561-845-8009, or click the chat button and we will be happy to get you the correct information for your specific situation.

The main takeaway here is one of the biggest differences of a rum still versus a vodka still is the profitability. While a true vodka column may cost more upfront, it allows for lower variable expenses per run, and better profit margins on the end product. Who doesn’t want to spend less time running and more time selling?

Can You Have Too Much CIP?

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

For those not yet in the know, CIP stands for clean in place.

CIP is a system primarily used for sanitation applications that allow the equipment operator to clean and sanitize equipment without having to either partially or fully disassemble one’s tanks and related piping. For large systems, this can be a big time saver.

The answer to the question that the title of this write-up implies is that aside from the expense associated with incorporating a CIP system, it’s not going to hurt to have too much CIP. The real question is where will CIP provide the least benefit if the budget matters? The answer to that if you are a boutique distillery operator, it is your still.

The distillation process separates ethanol from the kettle charge and forces ethanol vapor through the distillation apparatus. Ethanol is a solvent.  Many solvents (including ethanol) act as very good cleaning agents. The problem is that fusel oils can also get carried into the distillation apparatus. This is particularly true toward the end of the run when most of the ethanol has been liberated and the remaining constituents in the kettle are what the old-timers would call back-ins. Basically, this is spent or depleted beer or wine that once vaporized will carry heavier, oily constituents into the distillation apparatus.

However, the next distillation will then force more ethanol through the apparatus and effectively clean the system.

Now I’m not saying that over time the distillation apparatus will not require cleaning. I’m simply saying that the still does not have to be cleaned after every run beyond a basic hose down in the kettle.

How big is your equipment? If 80% (or so) of your still is accessible from the ground or a small step stool, you would be wasting money on a CIP system in my honest opinion. Simply remove your parrot if you have one, connect a (distillery) hose to the discharge end of the system, and backflush the system from the product condenser back to the kettle. Allow the kettle to fill to an appreciable level, fire the kettle, bring the liquid in the kettle to a boil and then blow steam back through the column without any coolant flow through any of the heat exchangers, and voila’! That is usually enough to keep things tidy on the inside most of the time.

The caveat to that as mentioned can be an accumulation of oils present within pretty much all agricultural products. These Fusel oils can coat the inside of the distillation apparatus during long-term operation. Rum oils produced from blackstrap molasses fermentation come to mind. This accumulation of sticky oils can build up within the apparatus and become very difficult to remove even with an integrated CIP system. Manual cleaning would be necessary at this point if one finds that the accumulation of oils adversely affects the operation of the still or adversely changes the flavor profile of the finished spirit. CIP spray balls very likely will not have the ability to clean this tar-like accumulation of material out of the still. Seriously, this tar-like substance is bullfrog tuff stuff.

Ok, let’s regroup. What was the question? Perhaps it should be when is too much CIP not enough!

For larger systems that are not accessible from the ground level, CIP can certainly expedite the labor associated with routine cleaning inside the apparatus. CIP is also extremely handy when applying a sanitizer over the interior surfaces of large cookers and fermentation equipment. Cookers with false bottoms, fermenters, pumps as well as “sanitary” piping is especially important to keep clean and sanitary, but trickier to clean and sanitize well enough to avoid any unwanted bacteria that may bloom inside the vessel’s nooks and crannies. All of this is more easily and thoroughly done manually if the equipment is easily accessible from the ground level or from a step stool. Large facilities will absolutely benefit from CIP systems.

Another thing worth mentioning is that spent beer is fairly acidic. Soaking stainless steel and copper parts in spent beer is a great way to bring back the shine to those parts.

Can you have too much CIP? Well, that depends. Is CIP helpful? Absolutely.

Advanced Distilling: Managing Distilling Waste

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

Once your product production gets to a certain point things that were no big deal previously start to become something you need to account for. Managing distilling waste is a headache for distillers of all sizes but the larger you grow the larger the issues can become.

The methods used to get rid of a small amount of waste aren’t necessarily the best way to deal with a large amount and it can take retooling your plan a bit to make sure you’re not sitting on mountains of waste material or mounting fines for improper disposal. Proper disposal methods can vary from municipality to municipality and always check with your local authority before implementing any disposal plan.  

Distilling waste can come in several forms and they all need individual action plans to dispose of accordingly. Some waste streams can be recycled back into your system so that they have a minimal external impact but others have to be processed properly before being disposed of.

One of the main waste streams from distilleries is process water and this can be either very easy or a huge pain depending on the rules you have to deal with and how dirty the water is. If you’re not using a closed-loop system the grey process water from your cooling and heating systems can potentially be recycled into other applications like cleaning water or if given the ok by your municipality can be sent down the drain. Tails are another wastewater source that may need special attention. 

Spent grain can be a little more difficult to deal with because you’ve got a solid component to account for in addition to a liquid component. If you’re lautering and sparging you’ve already got a reasonably good solid separation but if you’re distilling on the grain you will likely want to use some sort of grain separator to get as much of the water out as possible. There are a lot of reasons why drier material is better, if it’s going to be disposed of off-site then transporting that extra water weight is a waste of fuel.

Spent grain is full of useable nutrients in the grain and it is vitamin-rich so landfilling is not the best option. Farms and bakeries can be great places to offload your spent grain and if it’s going to a farm most livestock prefers a drier feed rather than a slurry. Spent grain spoils in a few days so having options on where to send it for reprocessing can help you avoid sending it to a landfill.    

Heads may not be a large source of waste by volume but they can pose a problem in some municipalities. Some distillers have experimented with recycling heads back into the system on their next batch to recover some of the usable alcohols and add more flavor components. Other distillers end up using them for stainless steel cleaner or sending them out to laboratories as solvents and reagents. Regardless of the method you choose, be sure to check with your local municipality on their preferred method of disposal to make sure you are in compliance. 

Managing distilling waste is not a one size fits all endeavor and everyone will have their own unique solutions and hurdles to overcome. Every municipality has different processing capabilities and requirements so always check with them first. Sometimes you have to get creative and find alternatives.

If your local farmers are flakey and the bakeries are not interested, maybe there’s a fertilizer plant or some other processor that would be interested in the solids or the wastewater you’re generating. Networking with your local producers in other industries can pay dividends in that regard. What are some of your most creative waste management solutions? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Heads, Hearts, and Tails

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

As mentioned in a previous blog post, Heads, Hearts & Tails can be generally defined as the following:

  • Heads: Spirits from the beginning of the run that contain a high percentage of low boiling point alcohols and other compounds such as aldehydes and ethyl acetate.
  • Hearts: The desirable middle alcohols from your run.
  • Tails: A distillate containing a high percentage of fusel oil and little alcohol at the end of the run.

 Let’s take this blog in another direction to further add to the often conflicting advice given to newbie distillers, shall we? You’re welcome.

 So often the new distiller views their skill level based upon his or her ability to know where to make the exact cut between each (heads, hearts, or tails) part of the run. To the fledgling distiller, pinpointing the exact transition between each segment of the run can be interpreted as finding the good alcohol vs the bad alcohol. However, collecting distillate based on the most insipid sensory awareness profiles is what actually happens to many newly minted distillers that read and perhaps misinterpret how making cuts should benefit finished spirits? This strategy of exactitude works really well for those who make alcohol with table sugar only. But soon wears thin with those making an all-grain whiskey or a full-bodied rum/rhum.

And so, as the distiller gains more and more experience making cuts, the distiller ends up being quite good at finding the dead center Hearts cut.  In doing so he/she becomes quite skilled at making a very “smooth” spirit. Yes, very “smooth”. So “smooth”.  The “smoothest”. Nobody makes it “smoother”.  Oy, that sounds suitably forgettable.

 The problem here with this quest for “smooth” is that unless the distiller is trying to render textbook neutral, the finished spirit very much lacks complexity. Further downstream, barrel aging then produces a finished spirit that is ever so one-dimensional. Now if you are the type of consumer that enjoys or prefers a whiskey and coke, or a rum and coke then perhaps this tact suits you just fine? And that’s fine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking what you like. Heck, I like ketchup on my eggs, liver & onions and even more, secretly don’t really mind pineapple & Canadian bacon on my pizza.

The evolution of the distiller’s sensory awareness skills eventually progresses to the point where he/she will start to question why his (or her) spirit seems to be lacking. Indeed, nowhere near the tasting notes of whiskey or rums coming out of some of the more well-established distilleries. One even starts to realize that some of the lesser established distilleries are making better spirits as well. That can be a kick in the pills aye?

There are a lot of variables to making a good spirit. Mash bill, yeast strain, fermentation temps, distillation technique, barrel aging, and blending. Each of those steps mentioned also has a subset list of variables, but the distillation technique is definitely a major part of the equation.

The progression continues along, and the distiller slowly starts to gain confidence that dipping his toe into either end of the center cut is ok. An incremental move toward the dark side!

As with many things, less can be more. This is true in cooking, right? Too much sugar. Too much salt, too much pepper can be off-putting. And yet food tastes better when correctly seasoned.  The goal here is to install just enough flavor components to not overwhelm. But rather enhance. The same analogy is true for proper cocktails and therefore also true for spirits. Naturally, the above comment is indeed wide open for interpretation since not everyone has the same tolerance for moving too far North or South of insipid.

Start slowly by adding back small volumes of distillate that typically wouldn’t make the center cut on your old strict way of identifying your keeper, smooth spirit.  As always, utilize your sensory awareness team for feedback. And most importantly it is critical to remember that cut points are not a fixed metric. Not every distiller determines where cuts are made in the same way. Especially when each is running different types of stills and processing different types of beer or wine.

Whether you are making moonshine, vodka, or Armagnac, each process will surely have different cut points according to the interpretation of the distiller. And finally, you have to be willing to admit to yourself when pushing just a bit too far. Don’t get trapped into sunk cost fallacy thinking because you’ve put in so much work, have grown impatient, and just want to get it in the bottle. 

Now I know what you all are thinking. In the first blog about making cuts “you told me to cut clean”. And in this blog “you’re telling me to loosen up and cut a little dirty”. Yes, I know. It can be confusing. But look at it this way, Picasso first learned to draw and paint more anatomically accurate pieces of artwork. As time passed, however, his artwork became less symmetrical, more complex, and more open to interpretation. Does that make sense? Similarly, distilling can be very basic. After all, it’s just evaporation, right? On the other hand, distilling a fine, legacy spirit is one of the most nuanced, artful tasks there is.

Happy distilling, good luck moving forward, and don’t forget to take lots of notes.

Starting a Distillery: Questions to Ask Yourself

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

You’ve been perusing the different moonshine stills for sale and distilling accessories on the market and you’ve decided you want to start a distillery. It’s a big step and we’ve written a few different blogs about starting distilleries and how to get things going but it never hurts to ask yourself a few questions before jumping in feet first. This is hopefully a solution to analysis paralysis and will give you more of a comfort level with your vision for this project and where you want to take it.

The Basics

The first question to ask yourself is: why am I starting a distillery? This may sound pretty basic but it’s a really important question and there are no wrong answers. Knowing why you want to do this will help inform how you’re going to make it happen.

Do you want to be the next (insert gigantic spirit brand here) or are you looking to create something more boutique and niche? Is this solely a money-making endeavor or are you ok with lower profit and sticking to your vision of what the product and/or production process should be? The answer to these questions will help you make decisions and inform how you proceed to make your vision a reality. And don’t be afraid to pivot! Your plans should be a living document based on the reality in front of you. If something isn’t working the way you thought it’s ok to adapt.

You’ll also want to ask: what is the market for the spirit(s) I’m planning on making? How much volume do I want to add to that market? This ties in with the question above to determine the size and production capabilities of the facility you’ll need. There are a lot of wonderful products out on the market that people just aren’t aware of and if you’re trying to be as big as (insert gigantic spirit brand here) with a spirit that has a market share of half of (insert gigantic spirit brand here) you have a lot of customer education and market building to get there.

That being said, there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious about how much you can grow. If we weren’t ambitious and driven we wouldn’t be starting a company and trying to make a name for ourselves. Knowing how big a market we’re trying to capture will help us in our next question to ask ourselves.

More Questions to Ask Yourself

How am I going to make my spirits? This question is a little more in the weeds than the last two but it is just as, if not more, important. Are you planning on using a traditional pot still, reflux column, or continuous system? Each of these technologies has a place and its own strengths and weaknesses and they’re all different.

The amount of work it takes to get a vodka made on a pot still is astronomically higher than on a reflux column or a continuous system. On the other hand, to my knowledge, you can’t make a super funky Jamaican-style rum on a taller reflux column. These are just general guidelines though and at the end of the day, the systems are tools you use to make your product, although quality equipment can help you make a quality spirit. 

Once you know how you’re going to make your spirit you’ll need to know: how big of a system do I really need? This is an important question and it can be deceptively difficult to answer. Too small and you’ll outgrow your system quickly and need to spend the money again on a larger system to keep up with demand. If you go too big too soon you may be tying your operating capital in the equipment.

A great way to think of this is that sizing your equipment is like buying shoes for your kids, you need room for growth but you can’t get something so big it outpaces your production needs in the beginning. If you’re planning on having an aged product you’ll want to factor that production in as well. It’s wise to go on and put barrels away as much as possible because you can’t cheat time (rapid aging aside, which is a whole separate article). Don’t forget to think about fermenting and potentially mashing equipment, you’ll need to feed the system to keep it running and everything needs to work together to work optimally.

Now that you know the type of equipment you want to use you should think about whether your equipment needs to focus on form, function, or both? Is this strictly for production and no one will ever see it or is this going to be the centerpiece of tours and/or your tasting room? This can have a significant impact on the final price and there’s no one size fits all answer. Even industrial equipment not made for aesthetics can fit into the right design scheme and a beautifully decorated system can be too decorative for its surroundings. Everything needs to work together to get the right layout for your model.

Finally, you’ll want to ask yourself: am I going to build a space around the equipment and process or am I going to fit the process into my space? Similar to the design aspects above, your working process needs to be workable with the space you’re going to be in. It’s not always possible to build a brand new building to house your facility and sometimes the location that fits your needs isn’t the perfect spot for your plan. Just like the question about why you’re starting your distillery, this can and probably should be a fluid plan that you can adjust as needed.

This is by no means a comprehensive list but it should help you get started. Anytime you’re starting up a new company the to-do list is seemingly never-ending but if you have a good road map in place it can help you make decisions more quickly and hopefully use your time wisely. What questions do you have or wish you’d asked when getting started? Comment below and let us know and if there are any questions you have for us we’d love to hear them!

Putting Together a StillDragon Reflux Dash

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

You’ve finally decided what equipment would be best for your distillery, and it is arriving. The delivery driver dropped off a little bit of copper, a bit of stainless steel, and a whole lot of parts. What do you do now? Understanding how your distilling equipment should be correctly assembled is one of the most important things you can learn. After all, you can’t make a good product if your equipment is set up wrong. 

Setting Up Your StillDragon Reflux Dash

The first step occurs while you are unpacking your delivery. You’ll want to be able to identify each item, sort everything out by likeness, and check off that you’ve received all of the parts you ordered. Hopefully, you’ll have ordered a few spare gaskets and clamps just in case. It’s never a bad thing to have extra clamps and gaskets.

Once all the equipment is sorted, you can start assembling, this is also where being able to identify each of the parts is a good thing. You will want to start by assembling the caps onto the plates. For a quick read on the assembly of Bubble Caps and ProCaps, check out this short video. Once you’ve got the caps on the plates the assembly can go pretty quickly. 

With your kettle in front of you, you will first add your starter collar to the kettle. This will keep your first plate from getting any foam up on it. All you need to do is lay the gasket on your kettle connection and place the pipe, then secure it with a clamp. Now here is where it can get a little confusing, the next addition on top of the starter collar is the Plate Gasket. This gasket is specifically designed to allow the plate to sit on the ferrule while still creating a seal; in other words, the gasket will go around the outside of the plate.

If you aren’t using the Plate Gasket, you’ll notice that the plate sits on the inside of the gasket rather than on the ferrule and you won’t be able to create a good seal with the next addition. This leads us to the next step, adding the Sight Glass Tee. If the gasket and plate were installed properly, the tee should just pop right on and be in correct alignment. Then you can secure the tee with another clamp. You’re going to repeat these steps for all of your tees- plate gasket and plate, tee, and then clamp it together. Some distillers choose to use 4 plates in their column, while others choose more- it all depends on what final product you want to make. 

Once you’ve added your last tee, put a level on the top tee and adjust as necessary, now you want to add the Dephlegmator (aka Dephleg, Partial Reflux Condenser), this condenser has larger through pipes to allow partial reflux where some vapor can flow up while some are knocked down to the plate below. Although StillDragon cleans the equipment before sending it out, give the through pipes a good cleaning (the tools in a rifle cleaning kit can be very useful for this process) to make sure you won’t have any issues. Once you’ve made sure it’s clean, add a regular gasket to the top of your last tee and place the Dephleg on top, then clamp it down. Go ahead and add the level on the top just to make sure everything is sitting just right. 

Now that you’ve got the column assembled, you’ll want to reduce your vapor path to the size of the lyne arm pipe. StillDragon recommends using a 2” Lyne Arm because it is convenient to keep it modular, however, consideration should be made if you are moving to a larger system as vapor speed can affect the quality of the end product. The lyne arm is made up of a bend at the top of the column, whether it be a normal 180-degree bend or an elongated one to get the arm away from the kettle, connected to the Product Shotgun, and then the parrot kit. The Product Shotgun will knock down all vapor and turn it into the final distillate that flows through and out of the Parrot Kit. Don’t forget to add your alcometer to the Parrot Kit so that you can see what proof you are distilling at.

You’ve now completed the assembly of your distilling equipment. Take a rest, and a few pictures, then get back to work! If you have any questions or run into any issues, give us a call and we will be happy to walk you through the process.

TTB Classification: What is Agave Spirit vs Tequila vs Mezcal

Posted on by birendra@midnightmachines.io

Everyone has at least heard of tequila, Mexico’s most famous distilled spirit but there’s more to the world of agave spirits than just this single expression. Mezcal and the far more general “agave spirit” category are now recognized by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and have opened up the category for new entrants.

Agave Spirits are a newer category officially recognized by the TTB on May 4, 2020, when the rule update went into effect. The ruling also defined mezcal as its own identity whereas before only tequila was recognized under the previous rules. Anything that is not considered tequila or mezcal falls under the Agave Spirit category. Both Tequila and Mezcal must be made in Mexico according to Mexican laws and regulations to be recognized as such by the TTB. This means that any agave spirit made in the US must fall under the catch-all category.

Differences Between Agave Spirit vs Tequila vs Mezcal

There are some significant differences between tequila and mezcal and something to keep in mind is that all tequila is mezcal but not all mezcal is tequila and they’re both agave spirits. Tequila and mezcal hail from different regions in Mexico, the creatively named tequila region includes the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas where mezcal can legally come from anywhere in Mexico. The differences go far beyond a geographical separation and the two spirits having different production methods. The processes used to release the sugars in the agave pina vary, Tequilas are usually steamed and Mezcal is traditionally smoked or roasted. This gives mezcal its distinctive smokey flavor and sets it apart from tequila. Tequila must also be made with 51% blue weber agave whereas mezcal can be made with a wide variety of agave. 

Agave spirits are a separate class all on their own according to the TTB. In order to classify as an agave spirit, the mash must include at least 51% agave of any species and distilled to less than 95% alcohol by volume and bottled at or above 40% alcohol by volume. Aside from that, there are a lot of liberties in the category and there’s a lot of room to be creative. Aging, blending, flavoring, and coloring are all allowed in this class of spirit so there’s a lot of room to develop a unique brand identity in this class. 

This new TTB ruling gives agave-based spirits some solid clarifications for tequila and mezcal but the agave spirit catch-all is still the wild west. At least these agave expressions have a more solid home now and hopefully, this will help the increasingly popular mezcal cement its identity with consumers. Overall this is a step in the right direction and perhaps more types of agave spirits will be added in the future. Sotol seems to be gaining a good bit of interest so maybe that’s what’s next. What’s your favorite agave spirit? Write a comment below or give us a call at 561-845-8009 to let us know!

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