Search found 81 matches

by Fraser
Thu Nov 07, 2019 7:02 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: I've ruined my gin.
Replies: 38
Views: 7770

Re: I've ruined my gin.

I'm curious to how this panned out, whether you were able to sort out your gin. I have doubts about whether it's worth the effort, or even possible, to try to strip out all the oils from a botanical run and begin again fresh. If it were me I'd try running it again making a tighter tails cut. OR, if ...
by Fraser
Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:10 am
Forum: Novice Distillers
Topic: White cloudy gin
Replies: 6
Views: 1885

Re: White cloudy gin

If it tastes nice, don't worry about it. Louching, as others already mentioned, is because there is a high concentration of botanical oils present in your gin. When you add water (tonic) to it, those oils come out of suspension and cloud up. It just means there's a lot of flavor in there, and if it ...
by Fraser
Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:58 am
Forum: Flavoring and Aging
Topic: Conversion chart for barrel size?
Replies: 8
Views: 2674

Re: Conversion chart for barrel size?

The temperature swings where you're storing your barrel is going to make a big difference in how your spirit matures. If you have wide changes in temperature/humidity, your spirit will mature more quickly. A 53 gallon barrel of bourbon in Kentucky may comparatively mature faster than a 30 gallon bar...
by Fraser
Wed Feb 13, 2019 1:40 pm
Forum: Novice Distillers
Topic: How to remove off-flavours when distilling from wine
Replies: 46
Views: 5795

Re: How to remove off-flavours when distilling from wine

I make my own gin base from wine. It makes a great base if you figure out a process that works for you. Your best bet would be to strip it hot and fast through some copper mesh in the vapor path, cuts unnecessary IMO. Id' leave the lid off the low wines overnight to air out, covered to keep any bugs...
by Fraser
Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:03 am
Forum: Rum
Topic: Creating a micro-distillery in Martinique (RUM)
Replies: 15
Views: 2643

Re: Creating a micro-distillery in Martinique (RUM)

Do yourself a favor and splurge for the larger boiler. That's almost always the first thing people regret (myself included) not going larger on.
by Fraser
Mon Feb 11, 2019 9:04 am
Forum: Rum
Topic: Infusion or Tincture
Replies: 14
Views: 4385

Re: Infusion or Tincture

I'm curious as to whether anyone has tried a vapor infusion of rum spices during distillation. That would keep the various bits of spice from having to be filtered out later.
by Fraser
Fri Feb 08, 2019 8:49 am
Forum: Grappa
Topic: Grappa recipe and Process
Replies: 45
Views: 70452

Re: Grappa recipe and Process

Single run with cuts might give a grappa or brandy spirit after soaking some French oak dominos? I've made quite a bit of brandy with a pot still and I don't think I could steal a decent cut for aging out of a stripping run no matter how slow I ran it. For my part, I also agree. Maybe someone else ...
by Fraser
Wed Oct 03, 2018 5:48 am
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita
Replies: 24
Views: 22671

Re: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita

Hi Geoff- I want to first say that Rakia is really just a general term used there for their national spirit. There are limitless recipes there, often family recipes or village recipes. And they will be different from place to place there. Some of the herbs they use in some recipes there are things I...
by Fraser
Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:37 am
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita
Replies: 24
Views: 22671

Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita

There's a lot of variables including the types of grapes/pomace used, method of fermentation and distillation, etc. Generally, I'd say that brandy itself (grape or other fruit) will have a deeper character than using the pomace. On distillation the pomace wine can take on more of a harsh edge that n...
by Fraser
Tue Oct 02, 2018 6:44 am
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita
Replies: 24
Views: 22671

Re: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita

I thought I'd throw an update on using grape pomace. We're almost wrapped up at the vineyard harvesting our grapes this year. Like most of the NE USA we had far too much rain and cloud cover this summer, so we're picking our grapes early. Too many birds going crazy looking for something to eat, even...
by Fraser
Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:49 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: 2018 SFWSC
Replies: 12
Views: 2846

Re: 2018 SFWSC

Coincidentally, my American Dry Gin was just awarded a Double Gold Medal at the New York World Spirit Competition. Woot!
by Fraser
Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:35 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: 2018 SFWSC
Replies: 12
Views: 2846

Re: 2018 SFWSC

I think awards do a couple important things. First they're a good tool you can use in your advertising. There's a lot of choice for consumers. So if they're looking to try something new, they'll often gravitate towards a bottle which they PERCEIVE has objective quality and value for their money. Of ...
by Fraser
Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:51 pm
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: 2018 SFWSC
Replies: 12
Views: 2846

Re: 2018 SFWSC

Evil Wizard wrote:I got a silver from SF for my absinthe and a gold for packaging. Lot of medals this year, all silvers and one double gold from Sip awards.
Great job! Glad to hear of other people doing well this year.
by Fraser
Thu Jun 21, 2018 12:47 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: 1.108 SG from 2.5lbs/gallon?
Replies: 19
Views: 2574

Re: 1.108 SG from 2.5lbs/gallon?

Just my 2 cents. Agreed those numbers don't add up. It's not easy to consistently get better than 85% efficiency. Yes, it can be done of course. Some may do it, but in a business it usually isn't worth the extra time and effort to push it. Time is very precious when you're paying for the electric or...
by Fraser
Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:13 am
Forum: Novice Distillers
Topic: Methanol Vs. Ethanol.
Replies: 14
Views: 2930

Re: Methanol Vs. Ethanol.

You'll never get 100% of the methanol out of a batch outside of a lab or industrial setup. It's just not possible. Some mashes produce more than others (ie washes made from fruits with a lot of pectin), but it's really not of any real concern. Cutting your foreshots is good enough, even though as ot...
by Fraser
Fri Apr 27, 2018 7:05 am
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Dandelion weekend in UK
Replies: 39
Views: 5563

Re: Dandelion weekend in UK

That's interesting, I've never been bothered to pick all the green off, although I know "Granny's recipe" called for it - however much do you have to pay the poor people to sit and do that ? I suppose if I were feeling particularly like I needed self inflicted pain, I could do a gallon th...
by Fraser
Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:58 am
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Mayhaw berries
Replies: 5
Views: 1068

Re: Mayhaw berries

+1 to using champagne yeast on fruit ferments. EC-1118 is very very forgiving to temperate and takes off great. I'm in the NE USA and I've never heard of Mayhaw berries. I looked them up and they say they're hawthorn berries common in the south. I've never used berries like this for a fruit ferment,...
by Fraser
Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:47 am
Forum: Novice Distillers
Topic: Rectifying questions.... gin from vodka
Replies: 12
Views: 1235

Re: Rectifying questions.... gin from vodka

Hello! I'm sure you're going to get a lot of advice. There are many ways to make gin, most methods no better or worse than the other. It all depends on what process you find that gives you the end product you enjoy. So feel free to experiment until you find some process that works best for you, and ...
by Fraser
Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:35 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: 2018 SFWSC
Replies: 12
Views: 2846

Re: 2018 SFWSC

Thanks everyone. I'm very pleased to get a medal there. The individual results were emailed to the entrants early. They said that the full results would be posted on their website on 5/1. So that's when to check and see how everyone did.
by Fraser
Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:21 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: 2018 SFWSC
Replies: 12
Views: 2846

2018 SFWSC

Anyone else here enter and medal at San Francisco this year?

I got a bronze for my gin, which I'm super excited about since I've been open less than a year.
by Fraser
Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:18 am
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Dandelion weekend in UK
Replies: 39
Views: 5563

Re: Dandelion weekend in UK

We do a dandelion wine at our winery here in PA. We pick dandelions all day long for a couple days and make about 300 liters of it. Our recipe is similar to those here, and it's easy to make once you break your back picking those flowers all day. We make sure to pull all the fluff out and not includ...
by Fraser
Fri Apr 13, 2018 4:44 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: Moving on up!
Replies: 37
Views: 9002

Re: Moving on up!

Good luck. Keep the updates coming. Wish you all the best in getting started soon, it's very exciting.
by Fraser
Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:53 pm
Forum: Fruits & Vegetables
Topic: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita
Replies: 24
Views: 22671

Re: Re: Tuica, Rachiu, Palinca, Slibovita

I thought I'd post an update here. I harvested more grape pomace than I can really quantify last fall from our vineyard. I rehydrated it with water, adjusted the pH and fermented it. I could post all the numbers that I have written down, but the final abv was generally around 8%. I did use some pect...
by Fraser
Tue Feb 06, 2018 1:39 pm
Forum: Recipe Development
Topic: Arto's Easy Turkish Raki
Replies: 22
Views: 8886

Re: Arto's Easy Turkish Raki

Looks great. Following your progress here.
by Fraser
Tue Jan 23, 2018 1:57 pm
Forum: Grappa
Topic: Grappa recipe and Process
Replies: 45
Views: 70452

Re: Grappa recipe and Process

Just as a follow up here, I thought I'd share what all of that grape pomace turned into. I stripped it, then distilled it on a short bubble plate column. I then diluted it down to 62.5% abv and tossed in coriander and dried cherries along with oak dominoes. Let everything soak for about 10 days. The...
by Fraser
Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:27 pm
Forum: Mashing, fermenting, flavoring and aging related hardware
Topic: Brewers Edge Mash and Boil
Replies: 3
Views: 1702

Brewers Edge Mash and Boil

I spotted a pretty good little unit on Amazon for beer brewing that you can use for all grain mashing. The reviews online seem to be great for this price point. If you don't have a lot of cash to drop on a mash tun, this might be a good one for you. It uses a 110v and it's all electric, so you can u...
by Fraser
Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:31 pm
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: Quantum Spirits is open!
Replies: 2
Views: 1023

Re: Quantum Spirits is open!

That's fantastic. I graduated from Pitt and lived in Oakland for about 5 years. They'll do great out in that area with a distillery.
by Fraser
Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:24 pm
Forum: Materials Safety
Topic: Are there sealants that are safe to use in a wash?
Replies: 21
Views: 3002

Re: Are there sealants that are safe to use in a wash?

If you're going to need to ferment in cold temps, you could always go for one of these inkbird temp controllers along with a heating element. Whole setup together would cost about $100, but FWIW you wouldn't have to worry about it stalling out in the cold. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ANCB24W/_encod...
by Fraser
Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:08 am
Forum: Craft Distillers
Topic: iStill NextGen
Replies: 490
Views: 93017

Re: iStill NextGen

Hi Odin!

Your work is amazing. When I can afford your equipment in my shop I'll definitely be contacting you. Keep up the great work.

Justin
by Fraser
Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:40 am
Forum: Mashing, fermenting, flavoring and aging related hardware
Topic: Used wine barrels as fermenters?
Replies: 8
Views: 1681

Re: Used wine barrels as fermenters?

You're going to have a really hard time sterilizing wooden barrels. Wine makers sometimes burn sulfite candles inside them, but there's a steep learning curve to that method. Steaming them out may work, but you'd need to figure out the temperature and duration. Wood just isn't generally ideal for fe...