Blog posts by or about the iStill Team.
We are adding 100 m2 (around 1,000 square feet) to our assembly halls. The additional space will be used to establish an iStill Mini assembly line. Here are a few pictures of us putting the stairs in. Pallet docking station is next …
Building the stairs …
Floor space and pallet docking station …
Top-down view …
We expect to release a new website in a few weeks from now. The website will support a more integrated and logical customer journey, and will have 3d-models of the iStills as well as augmented reality. “Augmented reality” as in that you select your iStill and walk with your phone through your distillery hall, so that the software can show you how it looks, with the iStill in place!
Christiaan is programming the new website …
Digital iStill Mini added to the real world …
Impression new website …
The new … iStill Micron?
Vincent: “Are copper plate and bowl properly installed for heads collection?”
Odin: “We really need a French translation of our assembly manual!”
For an introduction on iStill Online, please see:
We are slowly loading the site with more content. The site differentiates between customers, iStill University students, and people interested in iStill. When you visit the site, you can now fill out your relationship with iStill. As a customer you get access to the manuals and Q&A. New students get access to the iStill University Online (work in progress!)
After registering, the iStill Team will verify the application and grant you access. After access is granted, you can fill in your profile with more detail, like what iStill(s) you are running. As a result, you will see the information specific to your account and profile!
Hmmm … writing it up actually makes it look more work than it is … so here is my invite to you:
Got to: https://istill.web.app/videos and register!!!
New World Distillery’s Ashley Cross makes an amazing gin … and more! Stay safe, stay healthy …
Introduction
We are very proud to inform you that iStill Online just went live! What it is? An online community from and for iStill customers and aficionados. For people that are interested in craft and advanced distilling! Go check it out via http://www.iStill.com/online !!!
Lay-out and Levels
What iStill Online offers? Basically there are five major topics:
There are three levels at which you can participate:
Articles
A selection of articles is available to all. We want to share our experience and knowledge with as many people as possible. The articles are therefore open and available for anyone that wants to research distillation, advanced distilling, craft distillation, or iStill.
Videos (iStill University online!)
The whole iStill University Training is video-taped. People interested in the iStill University’s curriculum, distillers that want to learn more about the craft and science behind their (future) job can subscribe and order and study online. Purchasing the online iStill University Training is possible from next week onwards.
The online iStill University consists of 25 series of videos, ranging from making whiskey, gin and vodka, to still design, and the business side of affairs. Two videos are shared for free, so that potential students can get a good feel for the level of detail and practical applications the iStill University Training offers, before investing in their further education.
“Yeast Management” is the first video that’s free for all to see and enjoy. “Understanding Barrels” is the second one. Have fun watching them! We feel they contain information any distiller should have access to.
My Distillery
This is where you design your own distillery. In such a way that iStill Online remembers you and your design, so that you can easily come back and improve your plans as time progresses. The design center is already fully operational. The memory function will be added next week. My Distillery is available for free and for everyone.
Calculators
Calculators are available for customers and people that followed the iStill University Training. In the past or now, via online. The calculators help you hone your business and distilling processes. We are currently building calculators that help you gain insight in yield, operating costs, brewing vs. distilling capacity, ABV/proof, SO2, and more.
Support
This part of iStill Online is specific for our customers. What you can find under Support? Well, your manuals, for instance. On iStill assembly, testing, calibration, and cleaning. There will be a Q&A, that helps answer your questions. If you have an issue, Support is the section where you can find the online Issue Management Protocol. Customers will be informed about registering for support in the next few days.
iStill Online …
1. We cancelled the iStill University Course planned for the end of March. Students have been informed. Traveling from around the world, and assembling in a group from all over the world, didn’t seem right. The tickets will stay valid, and students will be invited to other courses, that we planned for later this year, for free.
2. The trade-shows in the USA (ACSA, ADI and CBC) were cancelled due to the Corona virus, so you won’t be able to visit us there. Please know that we are working hard to fill the knowledge-gap you may find yourself in, with no trade-shows to participate at, and to get you the information you need to start or upgrade your craft distillery. How? By filming and releasing a series of informational/instructional videos on the original dates of the now cancelled shows. More info soon!
3. At iStill’s production facilities it is business as usual. So far, no one has fallen ill, and we have taken measures to minimize the risk of anyone getting sick. Production, to keep up with the huge boost in demand 2020 shows, has actually been upped and if anything, we expect to be perfectly able to deliver the iStills you ordered on schedule. If not ahead of it.
If anything changes, if any new information presents itself, that we need to act upon, please rest assured that we’ll approach it the iStill-way. With decisive action at our end and open communications with our friends and customers all over the world.
For now, stay healthy and prosper.
Regards, Odin
CEO of iStill.
Introduction
We are happy to inform you that we launch a Referral Program! This post explains how it works and how you can benefit, both as an existing iStill customer and as someone ordering our equipment for the first time, and investigating how it is to work with iStill.
Existing iStill customers
There is no better publicity than word of mouth. And who is better equipped to inform wannabe iStill distillers about how it is to work with an iStill? Right, exactly, our existing customer database!
So, if you are a customer, helping us and others out by spreading the iStill gospel and answering questions, why don’t we remunerate that? Well, from Februari 1st onwards we do.
When a potential new iStill customer visits your distillery, and he or she finds that visit and your help valuable, ends up buying a still, under the condition that he mentions your distillery specifically, you get a referral fee.
The referral fee is based on the equipment the new customer buys. As follows:
Does someone buy, for instance, an iStill 2000 and and iStill Fermenter 5000, well, if the new distiller tells us they visited you and enjoyed your help, you get EUR 1.000,- for the iStill 2000, and EUR 250,- for the iStill Fermenter 5000. A total of EUR 1.250,- that can be either billed to us or used to purchase additional iStill equipment.
Please note that customers that are in default, and didn’t pay their bills, are excluded from the Referral Fee Program.
First time iStill buyers
We find it important that you inform yourself before making a purchase decision. You probably found us online, on one of the forums, or via a visit to an existing iStill customer. Reaching out to us, to organize a phone or Skype call, is probably your first step. After we spoke to each other, we’ll probably advise you to visit a customer of ours in your neck of the woods and/or follow the iStill University course. Purchase decisions usually take place just before or after your visit to our distillation course.
If you meet one of our existing distilleries, and find that visit beneficial, please inform us when you are ready to order. We’ll then make sure that they get adequate compensation for their time and for helping you out.
When you want to meet one of our customers, Chris can help with suggestions and a proper introduction.
Please note that the Referral Fee Program starts on February 1st 2020.
Referral Program in two words …
