Author Topic: Culrain branching out  (Read 3345 times)

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Offline KrisNord

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Culrain branching out
« on: May 25, 2020, 09:58:15 PM »

To:- The government of SCIR

Culrain is one of the more modern whiskey distillaries within Ui Cenneslaig having been founded in 1976. We are looking to create new and exciting oppurtunities for our brand to expand its market and its appeal. As such we would like to enquiry whether, having heard of factory units avaliable for purchase, a distillary or similar unit may be purchased. We would require this to be in a rather rural setting and if possible on a river or lake. It is our intention to at first make only whiskey however we may diversify into other endeavours depending on the success of our new SCIR brands that will be developed. We look forward to working in your country hopefully in the near future.

Best Regards

Sarah Culrain
Executive Brand Officer

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2020, 12:15:37 AM »

To: Sarah Culrain

A site can most certainly be found for your purposes. Units in question are relatively easy to find, most of which are former facilities for the mass production of ethanol for wartime fuel constraints or grain mills, and as such should already contain much infrastructure needed for the distilling of whiskey. We have located a few choice options, of which are all located near local rivers and/or lakes, as requested. I am willing to personally show them to you if you would like to travel to Eltenbacht to discuss the matter further. I too look forward to working with your company soon, should you accept.

Sincerely,

Karl Hostäven
Minister of State Industry
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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2020, 05:42:40 AM »
Eltenbacht's regional airport was nestled in a plateau nestled between a river and the mountain range that bordered Ui Cenneslaig. Hangars were nestled in the safety of the rolling hills, their hangar doors painted with fading wartime camouflage. Eltenbacht was far enough away from the fighting that it was relatively peaceful, with only the occasional fighter making a landing to refuel and rearm. The spring rains had finally stopped around this season, allowing the rare sun to peek out from among the clouds.

Karl Hostäven stood waiting for the Culrain representative on the tarmac, feeling the cool summer breeze blow against his suit. A dark government car quietly waited behind him.
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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2020, 03:04:00 PM »
Like many distilleries the history of Culrain was the same. A man interested in whiskey drinking acquired some land, started making their own, then branched out to providing it to local hostilaries and then soon the nation. The only difference was Peter Culrain had done it 200 years after most had. The brand had become rather niche in the first few years but then thanks to celebrity endorsements and then the arrival of Peter's daughter Sarah and her connections to the youth market of the Cenneg University scene where she'd arranged nightclub events meant the brand had created a rather youthful appeal compared to that of the older more established brands. Today they had a fairly decent share of the Whiskey market in Ui Cenneslaig but that tended to be in the bars and clubs rather than with the connoseur of whiskey. Sarah hoped that something new might bring them more of that market with people keen to try something totally new and Cenneg style whiskey made in the SCIR could be exactly that.

Sarah had made the journey with two other. First there was Simon McCaul, a man in his 60's who had worked in the distillary all his life in one way or another. Today he was in charge of quality control in every step of the process from tasting the water, checking the ingredients and everything up until it got to the customer. The other person was Curtis Renfey, he was an engineer who was responsible for building the various facilities that the company used and the stills for the various drinks they made. As they arrived Sarah lead them from the rented private plane to meet Karl Hostäven. "Good morning sir." Sarah said cheerfully as they greeted him. "Thank you for agreeing to see us."

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2020, 07:59:52 PM »
Karl gave each of them a short bow, replying, "Of course. Welcome to the SICR." Straightening, he offered a hand to shake. "I trust your journey was smooth?"

He showed them onto the car, explaining as they rolled out of the city, "Eltenbacht's forests were used as a refuge for most of the fuel or chemical plants back in the days of the civil war. The ones being viewed today were built as part of fuel plants towards the latter stage of the war when they started using ethanol as the fuel for rocket artillery.  Our first one is Plant 33, built in 1934 on the bank of the Mie River."
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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2020, 11:05:13 PM »
"The journey was spot on" Sarah smiled as they shook hands, "Just a straight forward take off, fly about about and land." She added as they followed to the car. She listened intently as they made their way towards this Plant 33. "So if I may ask, the Mie River, what's the status of it, I mean when we say river are we talking mountain stream you're lucky to get a kayak down or are we talking raging torrent a naval fleet could get lost in?" It was the water that made the whiskey's first of three key ingredients.

Simon then asked, "These forests, are they famed for anything growing in them?" If what they wanted to achieve was a beverage that would be Culrain bit with a foreign twist it was important that there was something that made it stand out. Between the Cenneg and Cantabrian whiskey it was the peat they filtered with that often made a distinctive taste but obviously what you threw into the mix to distil was also key.

Finally Curtis asked his question, "When was the plant last used? I'm just thinking what kind of work we may need to do to the building."

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2020, 04:27:11 PM »
"The Mie River where Plant 33 is located is a series of rapids. It's moderately sized, enough for it to fit an average cargo ship in by width. The forests themselves grow wild berries, usually mixed into our domestic liquor for extra flavor. That and aside from the other herbs the forest grow are the only quite prominent ones. The main building was upgraded in 1951 for additional strengthening when the Orientals began using better jet bombers, so its structure should be solid. It shut down in 1983 after most of the ethanol-fueled vehicles and equipment in the country were decommissioned. It was upgraded in 1951 for additional shielding when the Orientals began using better jet bombers, so its structure should be solid. Most of the equipment was removed when it was decommissioned though, save a few fermentation vats that were built into the ground and deemed too expensive to remove."
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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2020, 08:55:40 PM »
"From the description you have given us this Plant would sound ideal." Sarah began, "Naturally we would need to do quiet a bit to adapt it."

Simon meanwhile was rather interested in what was growing, "The forest herbs might be an interesting addition to our whiskey." He mused, "What we would need to do however is perhaps run a few tests on the quality of the water. From my knowledge your nation has a lot of heavy industry and we often find that can have an impact on water quality. A whiskey is only as good as its ingredients" he shrugged, "Also if we are to take on the site for development would we be permitted to divert some of the river water for our use?"

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2020, 03:46:02 AM »
"Naturally," Karl answered, nodding his head. "Thankfully, the river itself sits within a nature preserve, so any industrial contamination should be minimal. Nevertheless, you are free to divert the amount of water in your zone for your use as needed."

The car rolled to a halt as it arrived on the outskirts of a large concrete structure, its camouflaged paint peeling from years of disuse. Tree canopies of trees hung over the roof, the parts not covered by branches shielded by paled tatters of netting. A large blast door faced them, a pair of government officers standing by waiting for them.

"Ah, we're here. The IFC has already performed several safety checks on it, so you are welcome to examine machinery and the structure of the building as you wish. Are there any questions so far?"
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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2020, 08:03:10 PM »
"In principle the site should be adaptable" Curtis replied, "Naturally our interest would depend on how much adaptation was needed. We've a lot of the old machinery to move away and various other bits to bring in." It would probably be a big job.

"I also would like to know more about this nature preserve. While our processes are generally not damaging to the environment it can't always be certain. So from a public relations stance we would not wish to risk wiping out a variety of wild plant, or an animal. We would need to take things like that into consideration for this project. So any advice you can give there is more than welcome." Sarah explained.

"Can we take a look inside then and perhaps talk about how we proceed?"

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2020, 01:34:41 AM »
Karl chuckled, replying, "I doubt you could do as bad as a job we've already done to it in the last century- but it is encouraged that you enclose an area nearby to harvest the herbs and berries, which are quite common and grow in a span of weeks. A kind of moss that deer eat also sit in patches on rocks by the river, so it would welcomed if those were left alone. Otherwise, as a distillery, I think conservation should be relatively simple enough.

He led them inside past the officers, motioning inside the lit building. "Of course. The building is two stories high, with the large tanks that were used to store the fuel reaching both floors. You'll find ample space to expand on all floors once the old machinery is removed. Would you like to meet back here, or would you rather I give you a tour?"
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Offline KrisNord

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2020, 02:27:56 PM »
"I think one big issue we would have is getting the site to a point where it is safe for the change of purpose. For example cleaning out tanks, removing machinery etc." Curtis explained, "Seeing as we would be creating potentially a few hundred jobs here is there any scope for government contributing towards returning the site to a safe status to allow us to modernise it. Perhaps if we set a minimum number of employees and guarantee to employ them for at least the next five years. Its worth nothing though that many of our employees are with us for decades, we've even a guy back home who joined us at the age of 17 when the company started, he's now 61 and still working for us. Having us based here would ensure that long term, high skilled employment would be avaliable giving stability. Surely that deserves some help?" Curtis tried dangling the prospect.

Meanwhile Sarah was keen to get down to the details. After all the site was big enough it was just the existing bits that needed to go. "Perhaps you could tell us what this is going to cost us in terms of getting the site and establishing a presence here in your nation? I mean if that is going to be expensive then we would probably begin looking elsewhere regardless of the site, which at the moment seems promising."

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Re: Culrain branching out
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2020, 08:11:47 PM »
The minister considered the offer, slowly starting, "Well... if you could set that minimum number to draw in the local workforce and guarantee employment for primarily younger individuals so that they have some experience to back them for their future careers, then I can see to that the Imperial Engineering Corps make a visit and restore the site to use."

Turning to listen to Sarah, he nodded attentively, listing, "Well, for the license, the government demands a 20,000 IM ($10,000), while the sale of the site itself will take around 220,000 IM ($110,000). The price is open for negotiation, if you so desire."
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