With all of the work we have had to do for the Mason County Building Department, we have not had a chance, until a week ago, to begin assembling our second still.
This still is from Artisan Still Design in Canada. It will be used for our gins, and many other spirits.
We are so excited to start distilling, and hope to meet all of the requirements of the building department before Christmas.
The Mason County building department is slowly adding to its list of requirements for the Certificate of Occupancy for the distillery.
The front of the Distillery has two double doors. These doors were custom made, and we like them very much. One of the double doors opens into the production area. We have no employees, and Chuck and Jan will be distilling in the production area. Usually, it will be just Chuck, while Jan works in the tasting room.
Originally, when we started the project, we had thought the big expense for the doors would be the locks required by the federal TTB. Early in the project we had these locks installed. But that was the least of the door requirements. First, the Mason County building department had us put an exit sign above the doors. This sign had to meet certain requirements. Then, they wanted the locking system changed, and the dead bolt moved from the door on one side to the door on the other side. (Chuck will be safe from the stampeding people.) Then there was the required fire alarm system, and components for that system were added on one side of the doors. The first week of December was the week for several new fire extinguishers, and one has been installed next to these doors.
The doors are beginning to look garish with all of the accoutrements. But wait, that’s not all. Now we have been informed that the exit sign is not sufficient. We must buy back-up lighting to put above the doors to help Chuck find his way out.
As of today (Dec. 12), we still do not have our certificate of occupancy, and cannot distill, so we have no liquor to sell. However, we do have t-shirts, aprons, and other items with the Hardware Distillery logo.
We were excited to have our first mail order request from Mary and Ron. Here is Mary, our good-looking customer.
We are very excited to be featured in the first issue of Artisan Spirit Magazine, a new magazine being launched in the Pacific Northwest.
The magazine is professional, and the article about the Hardware Distillery looks great. When we received the preview of the article, I started reading along and my eyes came to a sudden stop. I was blinded by the word: sexagenarian. At first there was a glimmer of hope that the word was self-referential to its first 3 letters, but in my heart I knew what it really meant. Chuck and I are in our 60s.
My sexagenarian eyes returned to reading. The rest of the article is informative and well-written. I am proud to be a part of it, and feel very lucky to be in the inaugural issue of Artisan Spirit Magazine. You can find Artisan Spirit on Facebook, too.
We are still hopeful that we can be open by the day after Thanksgiving. However, here are the reasons for our delays and what we must accomplish in order to start distilling. I read Franz Kafka’s The Castle in high school. I feel like I need to re-read it, because we are living that life.
This is a photo of the fire sprinkler that was finally installed last week. The Mason County Building Department is requiring our little distillery to have a fire sprinkler system. The alternative is to have firewalls and learn to live without windows. We chose the fire sprinkler system.
Back in April 2012, our contractor sought bids for the fire sprinkler system. We had thought that the worst-case scenario would be the cost of the fire sprinkler system. But no, that was not to be the case.
Unfortunately, no building in Hoodsport has a sprinkler system. The designer/engineer for our tiny sprinkler system needed to know the water pressure in order to design our system. We mistakenly thought someone, either our contractor or our fire sprinkler contractor, would be working on this. Weeks passed with nothing happening, and we figured out that we had to be the ones to find out the water pressure. We asked the Mason County building department for the water pressure. They did not know. We asked the local fire department for the water pressure. They did not know. We asked the local PUD that provides the water. They did not know.
All of these agencies told us that it was likely that there would be low water pressure. If that were the case, we would have to buy large water tanks, and water pumps. These water pumps are very expensive, and Chuck and I lost sleep wondering how we would pay for them.
When I met with the PUD, the engineer was very friendly. I like her. She jokingly suggested that we might have to buy a separate piece of property to hold these large storage tanks. I know she meant well. I still lost several nights of sleep.
It turns out that the test for water pressure is done by releasing water from one fire hydrant for a set period of time, and then checking the residuary water pressure. Two fire hydrants and catch basins are required for the test.
At a meeting with the PUD, Chuck was told that the PUD thought there were no catch basins. Without catch basins, the water from the fire hydrants would flood surrounding property, and the test could not be done. We could not imagine that there would not be any catch basins.
By this time, our contractor had given up on this part of our project. Because neither the PUD nor the building department knew the location or existence of catch basins, and had no inclination to find them, Chuck had to find the catch basins for the test to take place. Chuck found them, and drew a map of the fire hydrants and the catch basins. He gave this map to the PUD and to the building department.
It then took weeks of coordination for the test to occur. We learned through the prior Fire Marshal for the Mason County Building Department that the current Fire Marshal had the equipment to do the test. Chuck sent an email to the current Fire Marshal every week for a few weeks, with no response. Jan enlisted the help of the PUD. Finally the Mason County building department found the necessary testing equipment, which was actually at a neighboring fire department. We received a call on a Friday morning, and the pressure test took place that same day. It took less than two hours, after months of effort.
Now that the water pressure was known, it was time to move forward with the plans for the fire sprinkler system. More layers. We sent the test results to our contractor. He sent them to the fire sprinkler contractor. The fire sprinkler contractor sent them to the fire sprinkler designer.
We did not hear back for a week, and asked what is happening. The designer was on a two-week vacation.
Finally the plans were finished and submitted to the Mason County Building Department for a permit.
It is now September. Another surprise is on the horizon. In addition to requiring a fire sprinkler system, the Building Department is requiring us to have a commercial fire alarm system. These are surprisingly expensive for a small commercial building, and require on-going monitoring costs.
Meanwhile, we are also learning that this fire sprinkler system will require a four-inch pipe from the water main to our building. The good news is that the water main runs directly in front of the distillery. Unfortunately, so does Highway 101. For a brief period of time, the PUD thinks that the Washington State Department of Transportation will not be involved, because the water-main is 34 feet from the center-line of Highway 101, and the highway right-of-way extends 30 feet from the center-line prior to and after leaving Hoodsport.
We then learn that the right-of-way for the properties in Hoodsport are not the same. In fact, the highway right-of-way differs for each lot and is a patch-work of distances.
The right-of-way in front of our building is 40 feet from the center line of Highway 101. As a consequence, the water-main is just inches within the highway right-of-way and we must get a permit from the Washington State Department of Transportation to proceed.
As our luck would have it, the building next door has a highway right-of-way of 30 feet and the Department of Transportation would not be involved, if the project were taking place next door.
Fortunately, the PUD drew the plans and submitted them to the Department of Transportation. It is anticipated that the Department of Transportation will grant the permit by mid-October. Unfortunately, there only two PUD employees who are qualified to excavate, install the hot tap, and re-asphalt. One of them will be on vacation the last two weeks of October. The earliest they can begin the work is October 30.
The blue mark in the photo shows the location of the hot tap. The measuring tape shows the distance to our building.
At first we were told that the first few feet (inches) of excavation and re-asphalting from the blue mark to our property line would be done by the PUD. The next few feet (inches) of excavation and re-asphalting would be done by someone hired by us, and then our plumber would tie the new pipe into the fire sprinkler system, which sits inside the building right next to the point of the new pipe’s entry into the building. All of this work would have to be done at the same time. Chuck and I wondered how they were going to fit all of this equipment and personnel into such a small space.
We had a bit of luck: the PUD volunteered to do all of the excavation and re-asphalting, so long as we paid up front, which we did the day we received the invoice.
As of today, we are waiting for the permit from the Washington State Department of Transportation. We are also waiting for the permit from the Mason County Building Department for the fire alarm system.
Once all of the work is done, there must be a test of the fire sprinkler system.
But that’s not all. We still have to have the rest of the building certified for occupancy.
When that is completed, the Washington State Liquor Control Board must do its final inspection.
I think Franz Kafka was on to something.
For many years I had a Post Office box in Seattle. I opened it in 1999 with a friend. We shared the box for a year or two, and then she decided she did not want to use it anymore. We notified the Post Office, and I continued to use it.
When I opened a Post Office box in Hoodsport for our distillery it was time to close the box in Seattle. I took my keys to the Seattle Post Office. The records were checked, and I was told that I did not have the authority to close it.
I spoke to three Post Office employees, who all agreed that I had been the only one to use it for the past 11 years. Nonetheless, they held their ground and followed their rules. My friend had to be present to close the box.
My friend travels extensively, and I did not know when she would be in Seattle to close it. As I no longer needed it, I wanted to turn in my keys. I asked for a receipt for the keys, as lost keys incur an additional cost. Not possible. The Post Office employee who gives receipts was not there that day. No one else had the authority to give me a receipt. These are the rules of the Seattle Post Office.
We had hoped to be open and selling our products by Labor Day Weekend. Instead, on that weekend we opened our doors and worked with the electricians as work on the distillery continued. It was a sunny weekend. The sunlight came in through the open doors. The locals stopped by and gave us encouragement.
I was reminded of Hoodsport Days this past July when we opened our doors, but just to show people the distillery and hopefully sell a t-shirt or a shot glass. The shot glasses were on display, but it was not easy to read the words on the glass, so I put coffee from the day before into the shot glasses, and added a little water. It looked pretty good. I remember a tall man, who must have been very thirsty, ask if the shot glasses were samples. I explained what was in them. He said “Oh, okay,” and drank it in one gulp. Surprisingly, all he said was, “Thank you.”
This order included one-liter bottles and 375-ml bottles. There were approximately 3,000 bottles.
There were several surprises with this first delivery.
First, the bottles were delivered a day late.
Second, the bottles were taken to the wrong address. FedEx gave the driver an incorrect address, and the bottles were taken to the wrong place, about twenty miles down the road.
Third, the bottles were stacked high on two pallets in the back of the delivery truck, and could not be off-loaded with the pallet jack, as they had been packed in such a way that the pallet jack was useless.
Fourth, the bottles did not come in boxes. This was one of the biggest surprises. They arrived on a pallet, in stacks (about 8 feet tall) on floppy, light-weight cardboard.
Fifth, we had just about the nicest FedEx driver. (I do not know why this surprises me, but he went way out of his way to help us.) Luckily, both Chuck and our son, Iain, were at the distillery at the time of the delivery. It took the three of them over two hours to off-load the bottles. The FedEx driver never complained.
We managed to get the bottles into the distillery. They are in the center of our production room and definitely in the way. It is surprising how much space they take. Now, I need to move the 3,000 bottles to a better location. I plan to look at it as a long walk, going back and forth about 1,000 times.
This week I am expecting the delivery of the 750 ml bottles This is a large order, approximately 4,000 bottles. I really do not know what to expect.
Just about everywhere I go I meet someone who is distilling at home. The backyards of America must be full of stills.
I recently bought a 3-basin sink. When I told the kitchen store employee what I wanted it for, he told me that he distills in his backyard. He gave me some good advice on parts I could buy at his store for my system.
A few days ago, I was in a small town, looking at junk shops. I saw a janitorial store, and went in to see if there was something I could use. I was chatting with the clerk, and told him that I was starting a distillery. He told me that there is a distillery in his town. He said, “You wouldn’t believe that we would have one in such a small town, but we do. It’s in my brother’s backyard.”
We have been given recipes for whiskey from the most unlikely sources. These recipes include the use of horse feed. I do plan to give this a try.
The Fourth of July in Hoodsport is a fun event. There is a street-fair, an auction, a town crier and, best of all, fireworks.
I do not know the source of the town’s display of fireworks, but there are fireworks stands just a few miles away on the reservation. I love the names of the stands, such as PyroMama and Illeagle.
My favorite stand has a more traditional name, the Finish Line. Every year I buy sparklers that are about 3 feet long, and are quite festive. They are wrapped in paper ribbons, and when lit have several different color phases. I share them with family and friends year round.
I love my sparklers. They are made of wood, and do not burn my fingers like the metal ones I remember as a child.
After spending some evenings with us, my older son told me that he is going to write an article for the AARP magazine about the elderly and the joy of sparklers.
He can do that. As for me, I am going to think about whiskey recipes to dedicate to my sparklers.
We bought our home in Seattle from Sophie Bell in 1988. She had lived here since 1944. At that time, she had moved into the home with her husband and six children.
When we bought our home from her, she was living alone. She had congestive heart failure, and, against her will, she was moving into assisted living. We had made an arrangement with her that she could take her time moving out, and we would take our time moving in. However, there was a deadline for her to move out.
That deadline came and went. I was unpacking our pots and pans in the kitchen. Sophie was sitting at the kitchen table, writing letters. She told me, “Honey, you will never be happy if you put your pots and pans there. Put them over here.” She pointed to a different cupboard.
Sophie was right. I put my pots and pans where she told me, and I was always happy in our home.
Chuck and I are unpacking our new distilling equipment. We are uncertain of the best places to put some of it. We sure do wish Sophie was here to tell us how to do it, and where it’s best to put our pots and pans.
Recently new oak barrels were delivered to the distillery. We had thought the delivery was not yet scheduled, but were mistaken. To make matters worse, no one was at our building to accept the delivery. On that day, Chuck and I were in Seattle.
The delivery-man called me, anxious to unload and make his next delivery. If someone could not let him in, he would return the barrels to a warehouse that is not open to the public.
I called our real estate agent, Pat. She has a key. But there was still the problem of unloading. On that particular day, the truck could not use its lift gate. Pat asked the distillery’s neighbor to help. He agreed, but a hand-cart would be necessary. Fortunately, his mother has a hand-cart. Hoodsport is a small town. He drove to her house to borrow it.
Hoodsport has been generous in its welcome. It feels like these oak barrels are now as much a part of the town of Hoodsport as our distillery.
