Operations: Receive Beer, Wine or Cider from Brewery or Winery for Distillation (Read Time: 4 mins)

Before attempting to receive Beer, Wine or Cider for Distillation, please review the following resource: Operations: Configure Dx5 to Receive Beer, Wine or Cider from Brewery or Winery for Distillation (Read Time: 6 mins)

Once the Beer, Wine or Cider is established in your Dx5 system, Receive it and track the Fermentable Material Type applied via the process steps below:

1. Receive the Liquid

• Navigate to Operations > Overview and click the Receive Spirit button in the top right of the page:
  
• On the Receive Spirit form, choose the Product Received from the drop-down menu, adjust the Received Proof/ABV on the current receipt accordingly, and select the appropriate Batch Type to identify the liquid (beer, cider, wine) 
• Choose the Post-Ferm Holding Stage and select a Destination Vessel to receive the liquid
• Enter the Volume received into the Received Quantity field, and upload any accompanying BOL documents associated with the physical transaction if desired (.png, .pdf or .jpeg file types accepted). 
• A video of this receipt process can be viewed here: Operations: Receive Spirit In-Bond (Video). 
  • Note: Even though you are not receiving spirit, you still use the Receive In-Bond functionality to record the receipt of beer, wine or cider in Dx5.

2. Record the use of the Raw Material for Production Part VI tracking

• From the Batch Details page of the liquid received into Post-Ferm Holding, navigate to Batch Actions > Add Materials.  
• Select the Add Single Material option, then choose the appropriate Raw Material from the drop-down menu (e.g. Cherry Wine)
• Enter the Quantity (in Gallons/Liters) received, and click Add Raw Material to complete.
• The gallons of liquid you have received will now report on Production Part VI 
• You may proceed to Charge your Still with the beer/wine/cider
• When collecting distillate, be sure to select the correct Batch Type (do not use the beer/wine/cider batch type for the distillate, use a spirit-specific Batch Type with the correct reporting categories).

Common Compliance Questions

Q: Do I need to file a "transfer in bond" permit amendment in order to receive beer, wine or cider?
A: No. Receipts of beer, wine and cider do not require a permit amendment, although the winery/brewery must prepare and provide their customary shipping documents for bulk product, which include details about the composition of the product, alcohol content, and information about the producer.

Q: A brewery has some bad beer that they want me to distill. Can I make whiskey out of it?
A: You can distill the beer, but you typically cannot call it Whiskey. The presence of hops in beer renders its distillate a Distilled Spirit Specialty product. Typically, the label declaration is "Spirits Distilled from Grain with Hops"; you cannot use the word Whiskey on the label if you have distilled a product with hops in it.

Q: A winery has some chaptalized (sugar added prior to fermentation) wine or cider that I would like to distill. Is this permitted?
A: You can distill the chaptalized wine, but you typically cannot call it Brandy. The presence of added sugar renders its distillate a Distilled Spirits Specialty product. You may only produce Brandy from natural wine, which was produced by a bonded wine cellar. Of course, you can also produce Brandy by fermenting fruit at your DSP.

Q: Do I need a TTB Formula in order to distill beer, wine or cider?
A: Yes, unless your intent to distill those products was covered in your Permit Application's "Statement of Production Procedure"