Mo' Money Mo' Copper

The equipment involved in the distillation process is one of the most vital aspects of running a true craft distillery. The type of still used, the filtration system, the mill for the grain are all important in the process of making delicious and smooth spirits. Knowing the equipment well and what’s best for each individual distillery could set them apart from the competition.

Speaking of new equipment, we got another still! It’s an Arnold Holstein, like our other still, but this one is about double the size with a 2500 liter kettle or about 660 gallons. It’s a beast of a still weighing in at 6000 pounds of copper. This gives us the potential to make a lot of booze! As previously stated, knowing the specifications of the still gave us insight into whether this was the right purchase for us. So what led us to buy the still that we did?

We had a couple of main objectives for this new still that would help us grow as a business, and the first thing was to start doing contract distilling. Merchant distilling is pretty common practice today as many companies don’t have the resources themselves to make their own spirits, so they go to someone who does. For those who are interested in making their own spirits but don’t have a still themselves can now come to us to make their product. Anyone from individuals looking to start their own brand, restaurants wanting their own in-house spirits, or other distilleries looking for a new distillery to make their base product can now use us as a resource. What’s best about having two stills is now we can do contract distilling and continue our own production as well.

The second objective of this new still is to streamline our own production process. Our new still has four plates, which once the product is run through from start to finish means that it has been distilled five times, each plate acting as an additional distillation. As good as this may sound, five times distilled doesn’t really cut it for us. Our old still has the capacity to distill 37 times which makes our spirits much smoother. In order to streamline our distillation process, we can run a rough cut of a batch through the first still, then transfer it to the old still for the final cut, and we can repeat this process while utilizing both stills. This process will especially help with our whiskey and rum production in order to get our spirits in the barrel quicker.

So what should you expect from us in the future? First, there is a much less likely chance that we will run out of a product now because our distillation schedule will accommodate the use of both stills, allowing us to put more product out faster. We are also looking for people who are interested in getting a product into the spirits industry and want to use our still to make their spirits. We plan on introducing new products this year and this additional still will allow us to get those spirits to you guys sooner. We’re excited about this new chapter at Grand Traverse Distillery, and we can’t wait to show you what we’re working on later in the year!

If you’re interested in doing contract distilling with us, check out our website for more information and how to get in contact with us!

https://www.grandtraversedistillery.com/home

Cheers!

Kent