wood used in mash pot?

Any hardware used for mashing, fermenting or aging.

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countr3y boy
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wood used in mash pot?

Post by countr3y boy »

Is it safe to use wood in your mash pot? I was thinking of taking a pice of oak cutting it to fit down in the ss pot with holes drilled in the wood, and have the wood suspended a inch or two above the bottom. So then I can put my corn in a pant strainer and boil the shit out of it and not have to worry about scorching. To yall more experianced distillers wat do u think of this? Is it safe and effective any issues u c that would cause a problem? Do u think it would bleed oak flavor to the mash if it stays in the pot for 2 hours?
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by aquavita »

I cannot imagine what that would taste like - yuk. I think there may be some health related issues as well.

If you need a false bottom, use some SS Screen or drill holes in copper sheet. Use some cut up 1/2' copper pipe to keep the false bottom raised. Should serve you fine.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by bellybuster »

historically, beer was often mashed in wooden tuns. I can't even imagine the cleaning regime required to keep it "bug" free

A quick google search can find some of todays mash tuns with wooden slotted false bottoms. Once again, the cleaning required wouldn't be worth it in my mind.

false bottoms can be bought premade or DIY like aquavit says
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by DAD300 »

I have seen wooden fermentors...and I think the idea is to not clean them. Keep them in continuous use and let good flavors grow like a dunder pit. I've even read of the wood protecting the yeast strain during non use.

Remember you're going to distill after mash and fermentation.
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countr3y boy
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by countr3y boy »

Yeah iv seen wood mash boxes they used back in the day but I was concurned about heating it to boiling temp, I'm sure they didn't heat the mash boxes that mutch.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by DAD300 »

I know I saw a video of a wood mash tun. Th heat came in the form of steam run through a copper coil in the tun and a "rake" used to stir it.

"The sweet wort is then extracted from the grist and pumped into one of the 5 wooden washbacks for the fermentation process. While almost every other distillery has moved to using stainless steel washbacks as they are easier to clean, Arran has gone the other way. They have decided to use traditional Oregon pine washbacks as they believe the liquid contact with wood makes for a much better fermentation. After the yeast is added they let the wash ferment from anywhere between 52 and 80 hours, the longer fermentation producing a better wash for the stills."
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by Jimbo »

DAD300 wrote:After the yeast is added they let the wash ferment from anywhere between 52 and 80 hours, the longer fermentation producing a better wash for the stills."
Thats a pretty common sentiment from several small Scottish distillery interviews on SingleMaltTV on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Zzrk ... YwJFNyS1Ng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

with a Rrrrollled Scottish tongue.... "More frrrooooty esters from longerrrr farrrrements"
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Brutal
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by Brutal »

If the wood is exposed to boiling water each time I doubt any bugs will survive. Wood does float though. Might be a problem.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by Drunken Unicorn »

Sorry this is a little late. I've actually done something similar with a rum fermentation. I had about a third of a french oak wine stave and split it into 3 parts. I tethered each piece to the handle of my fermentation keg. I dropped the 3 pieces into the tank at the start if the fermentation. After the fermentation ended a week later, I let it sit another 2 weeks (ish) on the wood. The mash got VERY moldy (think I have pictures somewhere). After distilling it (using some thumpers), it came out very medicinal, but not unpleasant. The french oak was very present in the spirit and was never aged. Over all it was a success, but if I do it again, I'll probably use half if not less of the oak I used.

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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by bearriver »

There are many award winning spirits that use wooden vessels throughout the process, here in the states.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by jedneck »

I'm planning on building a wood fermenter after I get my sourmash bill dialed in. I'm gonna cook the grain in another barrel and try to keep the same yeast strain in the fermenter. But it is low on the list of wanna haves for this obsession.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by SaltyStaves »

Wooden washbacks/Mash tuns are not used for flavouring, they were more of a convenient material to make very large vessels. In Scotland, it was primarily Larch until they chopped it all down and then switched to Oregon Pine. In the US, it was Cypress. None of these woods give flavour and some of those washbacks/Tuns have been in use for over a century, so any flavour they once had is now long gone.
However, they do seem to promote certain bacteria which influence the fermentation, so I think there is merit in experimenting with wood in the fermenter. I've been thinking about how I can use wood in a plastic or stainless container and make sure that the wood does not absorb precious mash (something that doesn't happen if the entire vessel is wood and only has a single surface area to contact. Loosely placed pieces are surrounded by wash on all sides. Something like Oak would be out of the question, because it would soak up completely after several days. If you've got big staves in there, then you are going to be losing gallons to the wood.

Very well seasoned, tight grained tasteless wood is the way to go. The other problem is that those commercially used vessels are used daily in a controlled environment. Keeping it clean and dry at home (without being too clean) will make for an interesting challenge.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by Appalachia-Shiner »

I will be surprised if someone on here isn't using a Cypress Barrel to ferment in.
I bet Frodo has some Cypress lumber lying around...
Makers Mark has at least One old Cypress mash vat they still use. I saw one, I think they are using a couple more. It was very old and it looked the part.
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Re: wood used in mash pot?

Post by Skipper1953 »

countr3y boy wrote:So then I can put my corn in a pant strainer and boil the shit out of it and not have to worry about scorching.
After you have boiled the shit out of your corn for a little while, you're going to have a goodly amount of starchy liquid in your pot. If that starchy liquid gets under the board at the bottom of the pot it is going to get scorched if it isn't kept moving. I think you would be better of with a wooden mash paddle than a wooden false bottom.
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