StillSmart

Cost Per Litre

2011-03-31T13:48:27+00:00

I have been away from this account for a while, figured I should update these costings. I havent calculated the cost of operation into the figures, but at $0.13kwh off peak or $0.22kwh peak running at 2kw element works out quite small over all. Water consumption is pointless calculating, works out under 10c a run, less than 1c a litre
but still

$10.15 per 700ml bottle for the still spirits classic

$9.50 per 700ml bottle of GlenfiddchÂ© style

$10.15 per 700ml bottle for the Johnny Walker Black LabelÂ© Style
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... y=CNfj558J
Figures are based on my local HBS www.onestopbarshop.com.au, please note I focus deeply on quality of spirit, so prices maybe higher than mosts
Cheers,

Freelancement

Statistics: Posted by freelancement — Thu Mar 31, 2011 1:48 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-08-06T06:41:49+00:00

Thanks for the electrical calcs. That means distilling water (even if it takes 6 hours) is still far cheaper than buying it at the shops!
I agree that the Bundy flavour wasn\'t well replicated (I used Still spirits essence) altho it\'s still very drinkable. I mix with Coke so it doesn\'t have to be perfect.
However, when I picked up on the \'10% rule\' while reading this site\'s threads, I put in a splash of the real stuff and it has now come quite close to the good old original taste.
Sheers.

Statistics: Posted by ozibrewer — Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:41 am

Cost Per Litre

2010-08-05T16:39:45+00:00

I got VERY bored one afternoon, but i was supprised that the profile kits were cheaper than i expected, altho i dont think they are infusing like the classic flavourings.
but yeah, the spreadsheet means i can manipulate it and its all formulas so easy to update, should note that i have seperated the costings out distillate and the flavourings.
should add the air still have a 350w element? so ... (0.35w x $0.14KWh x 2hr) = $0.10 per run and zero water flow
If your trying to reproduce the bundy rum, its very difficult as bundy do not have a standardised flavour, from what i understand every batch is different from the next and the rum ages very well so its hard to compare

Statistics: Posted by freelancement — Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:39 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-08-02T19:52:59+00:00

Awesome analysis and summary FLM, thks. First chop this last w/e for the new still for me.
I\'ve done nothing as intensive for the calcs, mathematically spking, but rough estimates gives me between Aus$5-6 per 700ml bottle at 37% (matching Bundy the Bear)using consumable ingredients costing (ie, taking out all of the cost of the once off cap items such as easystill, hydrometers etc)depending on whether I single or double distilled and using Still Spirit essences.
I had wondered about the power costs so your data is v. reassuring.
Sheers.

Statistics: Posted by ozibrewer — Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:52 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-07-27T19:36:03+00:00

alright, dont know how to edit that post .... maybe someone can help with that, but here is my workshet
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... y=CNfj558J
the production packs im talking about are these, which i buy from my LHBS in Melbourne, Mornington
Turbo 6kg Production Pack - EZ Triple Distilled - Still Spirits

http://www.onestopbarshop.com.au/produc ... ts_id=1254
Air Still Production Pack 2.4Kg - Still Spirits

http://www.onestopbarshop.com.au/produc ... ts_id=1253
Turbo 8kg Production Pack - EZ Classic - Still Spirits

http://www.onestopbarshop.com.au/produc ... ts_id=1255
I should add, i didnt add the power, $0.13KWH so on a 2kw element over 5 hours thats $1.30, water is 40Â¢ a kilolitre .... these costs are insignificant.

main cost is time, and yeah upgraded to the new t500 so it uses less of my time haha

Statistics: Posted by freelancement — Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:36 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-07-27T19:20:49+00:00

hmmm that didnt post how i wanted to .... ill work on the format a bit, maybe a google doc

Statistics: Posted by freelancement — Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:20 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-07-27T19:19:50+00:00

hmmm i tried to upload my excel table .... failed lol
alright, you guys are going to hate me for this info dump but yeah and you may think i over pay for my spirit, but i have my reasons. comes down to simplisity and premium quality, which means its on TRUE par with commerical quality.

Australians are lazy, as am I, if its not easy im not going to do it as i work too much as it is. So in the effort to keep me interested and the slightly more expensive setup means less work and significantly higher quality. otherwise the alternative is a bought $60 bottle, cbf otherwise.
Alright most of my product is using the triple distill yeast production packs so ill talk about that, if you read my other posts about the yeast its got 1/10 of the impurities which i go into depth. but my calculations are below for the 8kg aswell, merely find the difference when it comes to figre out the fully aggravated bottle costs
6 kg production pack produces approx \'3 litres\' @ 80%, 6 litres @ 40% (more like 3.5L but for calc purposes its 3) packs cost me $49.95 for everything i need in one nice small box.
8kg production packs produce significantly more but the impurities are higher, 4.8 litres @ 80%, 9.6 litres @ 40%
bottles$ per bottle

700ml bottle13.714$4.010

750ml bottle12.800$4.297

1125ml bottle8.530$6.448
fully aggravated out at 40% as filtered white spirit, unflavoured

700ml bottle, 8.571 bottles, $5.828

750ml bottle 8.000 bottles, $6.244

1125ml bottle 5.333 bottles, $9.366
Still Spirits Essense cost per bottle

Originals 5 litres per batch10.500aggravated triple distilled bottle

700ml bottle$1.470$7.298

750ml bottle$1.575$7.819

1125ml bottle$2.363$11.728

Top Shelf2.25 litres per batch8.950

700ml bottle$2.784$8.612

750ml bottle$2.983$9.227

1125ml bottle$4.475$13.841

Classics2.25 litres per batch13.950

700ml bottle$4.340$10.168

750ml bottle$4.650$10.894

1125ml bottle$6.975$16.341

Top Shelf Shnapps8.950650ml @40

1.125700ml bottle$6.780$12.607

750ml bottle$7.264$13.508

1125ml bottle$10.896$20.261

Top Shelf Cream Irish8.950 500ml @40

1.125700ml bottle$5.565$11.393

750ml bottle$5.963$12.206

1125ml bottle$8.944$18.309

Top Shelf Liqueur Yager8.950 950ml @40

1.125700ml bottle$9.244$15.071

750ml bottle$9.904$16.148

1125ml bottle$14.856$24.221
Profile Kit $8.950per 50 ml bottle$0.179

GlenfiddchÂ© styleml requiredessaggravated triple distilled bottle

700ml bottle20.720$3.709$9.536

750ml bottle22.200$3.974$10.218

LaphroaighÂ© Style

700ml bottle31.920$5.714$11.541

750ml bottle34.200$6.122$12.366

Johnny Walker Red LabelÂ© Style

700ml bottle19.880$3.559$9.386

750ml bottle21.300$3.813$10.056

Johnny Walker Black LabelÂ© Style

700ml bottle24.080$4.310$10.138

750ml bottle25.800$4.618$10.862

JamesonsÂ© Style

700ml bottle16.893$3.024$8.851

750ml bottle18.100$3.240$9.484

TeachersÂ© Style

700ml bottle30.800$5.513$11.341

750ml bottle33.000$5.907$12.151

Tullamore DewÂ© Style

700ml bottle21.373$3.826$9.653

750ml bottle22.900$4.099$10.343

Bourbon

700ml bottle31.360$5.613$11.441

750ml bottle33.600$6.014$12.258

Irish Whisky

700ml bottle24.267$4.344$10.171

750ml bottle26.000$4.654$10.898

Highland Whisky

700ml bottle28.093$5.029$10.856

750ml bottle30.100$5.388$11.632

Lowland Whisky

700ml bottle26.507$4.745$10.572

750ml bottle28.400$5.084$11.327

Statistics: Posted by freelancement — Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:19 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-07-27T18:53:36+00:00

Statistics: Posted by freelancement — Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:53 pm

Cost Per Litre

2010-05-05T01:09:33+00:00

hi goinbroke2,

$1.45 canadian is 92p uk according to www.xe.com very good considering thats your total cost, mines coming in at around Â£1/lt ish but i havent calculated the electricity used to add it on. p.s. still struggling to find a steel keg to have a go at your still design but ill keep tryin and post when i manage it,
cheers, hoppin

Statistics: Posted by hoppinmad — Wed May 05, 2010 1:09 am

Cost Per Litre

2010-05-04T01:56:58+00:00

Update....I went to Canadian Tire and filled the 20lb bottle for $10.00.

So far I\'ve ran two strips and two spirit runs and there is still propane left. (now that I\'m using a more efficient burner.
So,
Now I\'m guessing in the $1.45 per litre range. (don\'t know in pounds)

Statistics: Posted by goinbroke2 — Tue May 04, 2010 1:56 am

Cost Per Litre

2010-02-15T20:08:31+00:00

Cost GBP

Water 21 ltrs Â£0.00

Gypsom 1 tsp Â£0.04

Citric Acid 1 tsp Â£0.05

Wine Nutrient 1.5 tsp Â£0.77

Epsom Salts pinch of Â£0.01

Yeast 1/2 tin Â£1.32

Sugar 5.5kgÂ£3.07

Electricity Heating Â£1.47

Electricity Distilling Â£1.47
Total Â£8.20
7 Bottles of 750 ml Â£1.17 per bottle

or Â£1.56 per litre
This post has taken a while to pull together.

The whole process has taken about 6 weeks to record from the beginning of the mash to the last distil.

Statistics: Posted by v4mpy — Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:08 pm

Cost Per Litre

2009-12-05T06:38:02+00:00

WOO HOO! I got a record of some sorts...for something...I think...unconfirmed...hahaha
I use bakers yeast, I\'ve used distillers yeast and brewing yeast..hell I\'ve used wine yeast trying to get more ABV. But really, whiskey yeast would probably be better if your doing an all mash grain bill and not using sugar. I find sugar will give you a unique flavour that over powers whatever type of yeast you use. The results you possibly might see are not worth the extra expence. (in my opinion of course)
With oaking, I\'d love to try a barrel or keg but for now I find a cube in glass seems to work quite well. In the bottle the downside is the room 30-50 750ml bottles take up. The upside is I can unscrew the cap and sample at anytime so easily. If I did get some to last a year or so I could determine when it was \"done\" oaking and remove the cube and leave it in glass where it won\'t change anymore. Again my opinion that is.
What an awesome hobby eh?

Statistics: Posted by goinbroke2 — Sat Dec 05, 2009 6:38 am

Cost Per Litre

2009-12-03T03:22:45+00:00

Goinbroke2

think that must be the record for the longest post,thanks for all the info mate,i am going to give it a go there is an animal feed store about 5 miles away from where i live so should be able to get the cracked corn ok,might try using a whisky yeast that they have at the HB shop,i have found myself that using oak chips to age the finished spirit makes a hell of a difference it would be good to get hold of a small oak barrel to use for this but have had no luck so far,the local HB shop said they used to be able to get hold of them but so many of the ones they sold leaked like a sieve so they gave up selling them

Statistics: Posted by optic — Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:22 am

Cost Per Litre

2009-12-02T17:19:16+00:00

Mine rund about AU$ 1.50 per 750ml bottle.

No that you can get 750ml bottles in Australia anymore thought. Te made them all 700ml for spirits and the price stayed the same

Statistics: Posted by HangOver — Wed Dec 02, 2009 5:19 pm

Cost Per Litre

2009-12-02T08:49:49+00:00

My process?
I put a 30L stock pot on the stove and bring the water up hot then add as much of the 40lb\'s of sugar as it will take and still disolve. Stir the hell out of it for 15-20 minutes (or until the wife yells )to infuse it. Put 40lb\'s of cracked corn in the fermenter and pour the boiling sugar water on top and stir it up. Add tap water until it is about half full and add the rest of the sugar. I made a hardwood paddle in the shop that\'s about 4ft long to reach the bottom of the fermenter. Stir the crap out of it while adding all the sugar and then bring the water up to about 7/8\'s full. Get my strainer and scoop out the chaff/crap floating on top. Put in about 1/2 cup of lemon juice. (stir the..you get the idea..)
Take a 2L mixing bowl and fill half way with luke warm water and a sprinkle of sugar then put in about...hmmm..don\'t really measure...5-6 tablespoons of bakers yeast and let it sit for 15-20 minutes open to the air to let the yeast grow. (floculate, ooh big word!) Dump that into the fermenter and then about an hour later I put in about 10-15 more tablespoons of yeast...just because. Throw the lid on and let it ferment away for a couple weeks or so, doesn\'t really matter, when it\'s done it sits until I have time to run it. Last batch probably sat a month or more.
By this time it is done fermenting, the lee\'s have settled to the bottom and you have about 80-100L of clear liquid on top at about 12-14%abv. I syphon out the liquid about 40L at a time and strip it. 2 40L runs and a 20L run from about 120L or so. The rest is absorbed into the corn/evaporated.
Take the backset from the still(about 20L) and put it in the stockpot hot and add the sugar for the next batch. Stir it up and dump it in the fermenter and start over.
A couple notes, as you know backset stinks..BAD! Don\'t take it in the house to heat on the stove to add your sugar..stinks the house for two days and mama ain\'t happy at all!

Second, when you finish fermenting the nutrients taken out of the corn will turn it white. (it\'s spent) instead of trying to scoop out the spent corn so you can add an equal amount, put your sugar water in the fermenter and the spent corn floats where good corn won\'t. If you just add water it won\'t float as good, you must add your sugar and up they float.
So, for 20L pail...(same for your 25L just more water) I think my recipe was 10lb\'s of corn, 10lb\'s of sugar, fill up with water and sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of bread yeast. Give it a couple tablespoons of lemon juice if your water\'s ph is high. Around here it\'s about 7, add some lemon juice and it drops to about 5-5.5 which is good. Oh yeah, the lemon juice I use is just store bought that you would have in your fridge.

What else...oh yeah, a 4L icecream container holds 5lb\'s of cracked corn when rounded full. The cracked corn is just that, the corn you would feed horses or birds or whatever. Each kernal is broken into 4-5 pieces and if it\'s from a feed store for animals it won\'t have any pesticides etc because that would kill the horses.

Here it\'s between $10-13 for a 55lb bag.
Is there a record for long drawn out blabbering posts?? LOL!

Hope this helps.
Oh crap, I almost forgot! I strip it then when I have 40-45L of low wines at about 45-55% I run a spirit run and collect in 500ml mason jars. Keep them in order and cover with clean cloth or rags. After a day or so of airing out I start in the middle and work my way one jar at a time until I get purfume/off taste for heads or wet cardboard/watery taste for tails. Back up one each way and dump the middle (hearts) in one 20L glass carboy and the heads/tails go in another glass carboy. I forget what the last batch was but it was about 19L at 68% of heart and 14L of feigns at 55%. I throw away the first 250ml as foreshots.
I put the corn whiskey in 750ml whiskey bottles and add one cube (1\"X1\") of toasted hungarian oak per bottle. Store them away and try to forget about them. After about a week I find they taste/smell worse then when first bottled. After about 3-4 weeks they start to get nice, after about 6months they are AWESOME and certainly better than anything you can buy. (actually others said that, not just me hehehe)
About the only other thing I can think of is I try to get to the bottles once a week or so and shake them up and open the cap to air them out/get rid of nasties. Sometimes I\'ll load 20-30 bottles in the freezer for a couple days and then take them out for a couple days just to \"distress age\" them. (again until mama yells \"the freezer\'s full of likker, get it out so I can put the groceries away\" !!!
Probably forgot something...but there you go.

Statistics: Posted by goinbroke2 — Wed Dec 02, 2009 8:49 am