Operations: Configure Dx5 to Receive Beer, Wine or Cider from Brewery or Winery for Distillation (Read Time: 6 mins)

There are several items in DISTILL x 5 which need to be configured in order to receive Wine, Beer or Cider for distillation:

• Placeholder Raw Material with Custom Fermentable Reporting Category
• Batch Type for the beer/wine/cider, enabled in Post-Fermentation Holding
• Batch Type for the distillate, enabled in Production/Storage
• Supplier, representing the Brewery, Winery or Cidery sending the product
• Bonded Product, which connects your Supplier to the right Batch Type
• Available vessel, enabled in Post-Fermentation Holding

In broad strokes: You'll need to track the liquid in two places: as a "placeholder" Raw Material, and as a Bonded Product received via TIB. You will set up a placeholder Raw Material to enable proper Production Part VI reporting; you'll add (via "Add Materials") that placeholder Raw Material to the beer/wine/cider liquid that you receive. The beer/wine/cider will be represented by a batch type and received using the "Transfer in Bond" functionality in DISTILL x 5 - even though these technically are not Transferred in Bond.

Once received into the Post-Fermentation Holding (Production) account, you can then "charge" your still with the liquid and collect your distillate.

This sounds like a lot, but it's actually pretty straightforward once you have configured your system correctly.

1. Set Up a Raw Material with a Custom Fermentable Reporting Type assigned:

Navigate to: Inventory > Overview and click the "Add Item" button in the top right:

• Once on the New Item form, enter a Name for this item, for example: "Wine", "Cherry Wine", "Apple Cider", or "Beer"
• Click the Item Category drop-down menu, and select Raw Materials. The form will populate new fields to complete based on the category selected here
• Enter an optional Item #, if desired (for internal tracking purposes)
• In the Track By field, select VOLUME
• In the Volume Unit field, choose Gallons (gal) 
• Enter an optional Description for this item, if desired.
• Check the Dated box to assign an item creation date in the past. If this option is not selected, the item's creation date will be the date/time of entry.
  
  • This option should be utilized by users who intend to create an inventory item, and then backdate the first inventory transactions on this item.
  • QBO-enabled Users: Assigning a past creation date to the item will push the correct creation date to QBO in the onset, prevent backdating errors when those initial inventory transactions are entered.
• In the "Raw Materials Info" box, choose the "+ Add a custom reporting type" option in the "Fermentable Reporting Type" category. 
• Give the Custom Reporting Category the same name as your Raw Material (e.g. Cherry Wine)
• Choose the appropriate category (Fruit & Fruit Products for wine/cider; Grain & Grain Products for beer)
• Important: Click "Save Type" to commit the new custom reporting type to the database, otherwise it wont "stick"!

• The remaining fields on the "Add Raw Material" page are optional, but it might make sense to define a "Starting Inventory" that matches the liquid quantity you are receiving (270 gallons shown here). Click "Create" to store the new Raw Material.

2. Set up a Beer/Wine/Cider Batch Type (if needed) and enable Batch Type in Post-Ferm Holding Operational Stage:

• See this resource for guidance on creating Batch Types for Post-Ferm processes: Best Practices: Building Post-Ferm Holding Batch Types (Video + Resources).
• To Edit an existing Batch Type, navigate to Operations > Setup > Batch Types and click the blue arrows to the right of the Batch Type in need and click Edit:
  • Click the box next to Production if not already selected, then click the box to enable in Post-Ferm Holding and Distillation. Beer/Cider/Wine used for Distillation can be stored in Post-Ferm Holding in Dx5

3. Set up a Spirit (Distillate) Batch Type (if needed) and enable Batch Type in Bulk Production and Storage:

• See this resource for guidance on creating Batch Types: Setup: Create a Batch Type (Read Time: 5 mins)
  
  
• To Edit an existing Batch Type, navigate to Operations > Setup > Batch Types and click the blue arrows to the right of the Batch Type in need and click Edit:
  • Click the box next to Production if not already selected, then click the box to enable in Bulk Production. Similarly, check the Storage box if not already selected, and enable in Bulk Storage. 

4. Add a Supplier to represent the Winery, Cidery or Brewery (if not already present)

Navigate to: Inventory > Suppliers and click on the "Add New Supplier" link in the top right:

Enter the Supplier's name and State - all other fields are optional.

5. Set Up the Bonded Product

Refer to the following resource for guidance on setting up a Bonded Product to represent your Wine, Cider or Beer:

• Setup: Add New Bonded Product (Read Time: 2 mins)
• The Batch Type that you specify when building the Bonded Product should reflect the beer, wine or cider batch type you built in Step 2.

Note: When building your Bonded Product, Dx5 will prompt you for the product's alcohol content. This is merely a template value and you can safely enter an approximation. When you record the receipt of the liquid, you can override the template value and enter the true ABV.

6. Create/Enable a Vessel/Container in Post-Ferm Holding:

• If the required Vessel/Container for the liquid has not yet been created in the system, navigate to Operations > Setup. Click Setup Actions in the top right corner, then +Add Vessel/Container. A short video on this process can be viewed here: Setup: Add New Vessel (Video)
  
  
• To enable an existing Vessel/Container in Post-Ferm Holding, see guidance in this article: Operations: Add a Vessel Stage (Read Time: 1 min).

Now that you've set up your system, you can proceed to Operations: Receive Beer, Wine or Cider from Brewery or Winery for Distillation (Read Time: 6 mins).