Using oatmeal for neutral?

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kimbodious
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by kimbodious »

Two types of raw sugar SP. Millers raw sugar, straight from the mill, unrefined and absolutely marvellous but not certified as fit for human consumption! Commercial raw sugar, made and sold for human consumption, refined sugar with molasses added. I worked seven years in a sugar mill.
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thecroweater
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by thecroweater »

kimbodious wrote:Two types of raw sugar SP. Millers raw sugar, straight from the mill, unrefined and absolutely marvellous but not certified as fit for human consumption! Commercial raw sugar, made and sold for human consumption, refined sugar with molasses added. I worked seven years in a sugar mill.
That's interesting and not something I ever realized
What's the did betwenn this raw sugar and brown?
Better still can you replete and answer that here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... lit=sugars
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by kimbodious »

Oops I got it wrong. Commercial raw sugar is refined sugar that has not had all the molasses removed.

This link https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/ch0 ... s10-1a.pdf is to an old pretty dry but concise explanation of the production of raw cane sugar and then on to refined sugar.

I only have experience of the production process as far as production of raw cane sugar; looks and tastes like commercial raw sugar but it has not been suitability decontaminated to be fit for human consumption.
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by Mikey-moo »

Spriit Tisler wrote:Hmm, the benefit of all-bran is that it works and I already have built the routine for it. I don't have to measure anything because I have the pots and packages once measured for my batch size. Only complaint is the sharp burning taste of the distillate. It could come from somewhere else as well.

Just for the price of oatmeal, could I do a compromise and use all-bran as before but substitute part of the sugar content with oatmeal? Like for 8kg sugar load I could use instead 4kg of oatmeal for 56g carbs per kg and 6kg of sugar? Or 7kg and 2kg?
Can you describe your process a bit more? For example, what recipe have you been following up to now, how do you run it, what cuts you make etc?

Might help us get to the bottom of your sharp burning taste...
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thecroweater
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by thecroweater »

OK Kim that is my understanding and more in line with what this bag says, thought you must have been talking about brown sugar
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by kimbodious »

I unintentionally hijacked this thread for which I apologise. I have copied across my comments on sugar to the thread here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 6#p7460746
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by Spriit Tisler »

Sugar appears to cause some burn (due to unknown reasons?). I figured that replacing part of that with cooked oatmeal could smoothen the taste.

Let's put it this way: I might not want absolutely neutral tasteless stuff, but I want that it tastes as smooth as possible and is blendable in sweet fruit punch drinks, etc.

Yeast can live off same starch as humans do, don't they? So oatmeal requires no processing but just boiling like all-bran?
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by der wo »

Spriit Tisler wrote:Sugar appears to cause some burn (due to unknown reasons?).
Or perhaps it is a myth? Perhaps ask Uncle Jesse or rad, how they can stand the ugly sugar bite of their recipes :lol:.
Or perhaps AG adds something, what feels like less bite.

I would pour boiling water on the oats and fill it up with cold water then for a recipe like rads all bran.
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by Smeg »

I have made a lot of neutral spirit, I have tried cereal and grain sugar heads, TPW, as well as AG using 100% malted wheat.
All get stripped then a slow spirit run through 5 perf plates and a 600mm packed section.
The end result is always the same, clean, tasteless, odorless neutral spirit.
There is no discernible difference in taste or burn regardless of the ingredients used, it is so pure.
So now I simply use TPW as it is far cheaper to make for the same end result.
Vodka on the other hand is another story I guess as it still retains a slight flavor profile, neither my wife or myself care to much about trying to make "Vodka" as our "neutral" is only ever used with mixers or in cocktails.
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by aircarbonarc »

Thanks! I'll be experimenting soon with an whole oat vodka, I sourced out some whole oats from a local feed store. I was thinking of trying oat/corn or just oat and 2 row. I'll be doing my research tonight while I'm supposed to be working
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Re: Using oatmeal for neutral?

Post by Spriit Tisler »

I did my first test recently. There were other variables too, like changing SS wool to ceramic raschig ring packing so results may not be directly comparable.

I used 1kg of rolled oats (porridge meal) with 750g of all bran, boiled, 7kg of inverted sugar and 250g of yeast, balanced to approx 40-50 liters with water. Settled and completed when opened after 8 days, stripped and refluxed. No soda or other additives were used.

The product has more pungent smell than commercial mid-shelf 80% vodka but the taste profile appears to be smoother and burns mouth less at 40% solution. I remember having significant issues with burn, even when selecting the middle glasses (I collect stuff at 150ml intervals in 200ml glasses), the stuff was practically undrinkable at over 10-20% abv because of the intense burn which was left as a mystery which was not solved even with soda or carbon. This stuff is quite drinkable at 40ABV and the mouthfeel is smooth, quite smoother than commercial comparable.

It appears that while the taste and smell were not quite stripped and the product is not neutral, it is much smoother and the little taste remains does not really matter but smoothness seems to be a much bigger factor now. Anyhow, I will increase the packing length of my column from 90cm to 140cm and make a new batch. I had difficulty with temp control and it varied between 78.1-78.4C and the measured ABC was no higher than 93% so better separation should bring more consistent results.

Would you think a smaller amount than 1kg of oatmeal would be enough to bring out the properties? The cost is very non-prohibitive in here since it costs only 60c a kg but it makes a thick sludge on the bottom which results in some yield losses upon siphoning.
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