Construction will be a very stressful time for you—from looming deadlines to get your TTB permit to equipment showing up. And of course, you can anticipate something going wrong, whether it’s a contraction with great recommendations showing up and installing everything wrong, materials being delayed, or being unable to building anything due to weather. This is by far the worst part of the journey in starting a distillery, but pull through because you’re almost ready to officially open doors.

Once construction is done, it will be time to start installing your equipment. If the planning process went well, every connection you need should be there waiting for the supplier to hook up the equipment and then run through a test. If you have your license at this point, it’s great to make a batch of your spirit with the equipment while the supplier is standing there to make sure that everything works like it’s supposed to (e.g. the valves don’t stick or things don’t heat up). It’s much easier to work through these small issues with the supplier while they are standing there than once they’ve moved onto their next job. It may also be necessary to involve your engineers or contractors if the equipment doesn’t work. Some issues will need a profession diagnosis. For example, if your still is slow to heat up, he steam line may be undersized rather than the still being improperly designed.

Once you have your equipment working and your permits in place, it’s time to start making spirits!