My agave spirit

[pope]

Notes on my mash/wash/whatever:

10# cooked/broken up 'fresh mezcal' agave pena cuttings
~9 quarts dark agave syrup
60 mL agave terpenes
60g Superfood
24g Distilamax TQ yeast in properly hydrated starter

15 gallons final volume, 17 brix / 1.0698 SG

I had missed a few chunks of the mezcal 'fruit' with the blender last night and they pulled apart very easily this morning by hand (much like slow-cooked pork butt). I reckon this would be fastest if I had just not used the blender at all and instead strained the juice out and separated the fiber, throwing it into the fermenter as I went. I'm not using a straining bag, I'll line a bucket with a nylon bag at the end and pour through that on my way to the still (I doubt it will make a difference but I like the idea of the fibers floating loose in the fermenter). They drain readily so I don't expect it to be a big deal at all compared with the struggle of separating wine/beer from fruit pulp or grains.

I measured 7 brix for the 10 lbs in 5 gallons of water, and my goal was 16 brix with the agave but I overshot it. I wanted to weigh the syrup but my scale capped out before I noticed so it's by volume and brix for now. If I compare sugar contributions by multiplying brix by gallons, I have 35 units of fresh mezcal sugar, and 220 of agave syrup. So with rounding it's 15% mezcal and 85% agave syrup for the sugar profile or ~ 6:1 ratio. But I am thinking the sugar content probably varies by weight more than the 'smokiness' so I think of the mezcal as a flavor contributor more than anything. My goal was 15 brix (1.061) but I overshot it, and with 15 gallons less the fiber I know I can strip this in one pass, so I have opted not to dilute down to 15 brix.
If I make it to .999 my expected abv will be 9.29% which is a bit high but the yeast is alcohol tolerant to 18% so I'm still in a very safe zone.

[brat]

All that smokey-ness comes over late in the run. I found that the tails had the best flavor. My hearts taste a bit like tequila but very neutral. I can't wait to hear how your run goes.

[pope]

I can't wait! Hoping to see a bubbling vat tonight when I get home.

[pope]

That thing is raging! Shops got agave bubbles and rum bubbles at the moment, I am a proud papa. I also got a fancy thermometer with an app and logging function recently, it’s for the still but while it’s not in use I can now check on my fermenter from anywhere with service. Currently humming along at 86F.

[pope]

Gravity dropped to 1.012 in 3 days, still going strong. I’m logging temps and it backed off a smidge but I don’t know if that’s a drop in vigor and the heat associated with fermentation or that it’s a few degrees colder in the shop and the heater can’t keep up. Temp is still in the mid 80’s though.

Read a book over the weekend called ‘Finding Mezcal’ by Del Maguey importer Ron Cooper and learned a bit about mezcal. The fruit we’ve got our hands on is likely (but not assuredly) espadín (A. angustifolia Haw.), ancestor to the blue Weber we all know for tequila. While tequila is generally oven fired or steamed (autoclaved), this would have been buried over hot coals in a wood fired pit for 4-8 days. As I said it’s from Puebla, and I think that’s about all I can piece together. When the peña is cut the last inch or so of the leaves can be left on (more than that is bitter), so I doubt they’re wasting any and instead I think this product is exactly what’s used for mezcal. Palenques in Mexico often use a horse drawn mill stone to crush the roasted fruit after its had time to rest, or its mashed by hand with paddles in a scooped out log (like a mortar and pestle). I think my boiling method made it easier to pull apart but since boiling costs money, time, and energy I’m sure that’s not usually part of the process. Artisanal mezcal is traditionally fermented and distilled with the bagazo (maguey/agave fibers), I will probably always ferment on the fibers but not sure if I will distill on or off.

Lots of storytelling between the facts in this book but I really enjoyed it.

[brat]

I distilled with all the fibers in the pot. I used a flour sack which I made a bag out of and I tied above the heating element. I got the idea from when I make gin. It worked out really well.

[SaltyStaves]

I'd love to get my hands on some suitable Agave. Love Mezcal but its very rare to find any decent stuff down here.

Here is a short playlist I put together from Craft Distiller's channel -


The last video is very interesting how they talk about the (outlawed) old way of double distillation and cutting vs the legal way.

[brat]

Great video Saltystaves. Good info.

[NZChris]

I'd love to get my hands on some suitable Agave. Love Mezcal but its very rare to find any decent stuff down here.

You are still young enough to import some seeds and grow them to maturity SS.

[SaltyStaves]

I'd love to get my hands on some suitable Agave. Love Mezcal but its very rare to find any decent stuff down here.

You are still young enough to import some seeds and grow them to maturity SS.

With the help of global warming, I may even be able to grow Piñas to that size.

[NZChris]

It's being grown in Takaka already.

[pope]

You can buy babies on Etsy. Not sure about getting them over international borders. I’m fortunate to have similar climate, maguey grows all over this city - I just need somewhere to plant.

[pope]

While I'm ruminating (impatiently waiting) for my agave ferment to finish up, my mind keeps drifting back to the possibilities. Brat, have you considered making Pechuga with your mezccal?

"Mezcal de pechuga (pechuga translates to breast in Spanish), is made when a finished mezcal is redistilled with local fruits, grains, and nuts, and a raw chicken or turkey breast is hung over the still, cooking in the emanating vapors, supposedly adding to the spirit's final flavor." Read that the chicken breast is bone in and is rinsed under running water for three hours to remove the fat before distilling. This is a third distillation of finished mezcal, kind of like a crazy mezcal gin. I would buy a bottle to try but it's almost $200 haha.

[NZChris]

I've done one. Very nice. A search will come up with a couple of threads about it.

[brat]

I was thinking of it. Maybe with tunas fruit or guayabas. Am kind of weary of using turkey breast. Besides am not fond of the flavor of turkey.

[NZChris]

Use whatever is in season. Mine had guayabas. Pechuga is chicken, so use that. You can't really taste it anyway. If anything, it smooths it more than it flavors it.

[pope]

Not to become the number one Del Maguey spokesman but they use an imported Spanish Ibérico de Bellota ham for a less traditional version - I say make it how you like it. It’s the very end of the tunas season (it makes great brandy btw), but you can still find them around. A little citrus could be good, I’d be very curious to hear what you come up with.

I am thinking of making a 100% mezcal for one but am thinking it might cost $16/bottle at the price we’re buying fresh mezcal in dtla.

[serafina]

Pechuga is chicken, so use that.

Pechuga means breast. It can be any poultry -- chicken, turkey, duck, cornish hen, pigeon, whatever.

[NZChris]

In that case, if you don't like turkey, there are plenty of other options.

My advice is to find out as much as you can about it, then give it a try with what you've got that you know you like.

[pope]

Alright so my syrup/mezcal blend fermented down to .998 this time, smells nice and sweet still. I stripped half this morning (I had to run to ~0% on the parrot to get my total collected down to ~25% abv, my goal is to not add much water to the final spirit), and it smells like tequila! Not much smoke, which I think is a combo of the ratio of maguey:syrup, and also the fact that I did a long boil and simmer to break down the fruit (rather than the traditional grinding).

Anyway that's all to report so far, I'm stoked. My SO is so sick of hearing about agave, I think I'm driving her mad. I keep noticing all the agave americana growing all over LA and I keep thinking in the spring maybe I will go rogue and try to get at one that forms a stalk, or just tell someone I want to harvest it to make pulque (and of course give them some pulque when it's ready). The pieces I've bought seem like the outer edges, I'm very curious to see how much sugar is contained within the heart of a properly harvested agave.

[NZChris]

It was Americana that I was given that I made a Mezcal geist with. Roasted, sliced leaf bases, smoked with oak, then run in a gin still with neutral. I've never tasted Mezcal, so I have no idea how it compares to the real thing, but as a shot at 38% I do like this.

[pope]

I wouldn't know how to help with that, but I do know that at least some (if not most) palenque's in Oaxaca use whatever firewood they can find, and some do use oak. I know that some varieties they include the first couple inches of the leaf in the peña, while in others they shave it closer because there is bitterness in the leaf that is closer to the peña.

Ultimately I think answering the question 'does it taste good?' is THE question for home and craft distilling. The whole point is to find new things and new ways of achieving greatness in spirits.

[SaltyStaves]

I've never tasted Mezcal, so I have no idea how it compares to the real thing

I gave you a sample from my Los Danzantes Joven Espadin. The very same spirit produced in the videos I posted above.

I loved smelling your smoked Agave. I could carry that in my pocket and take it out to smell all day. Of course I'd get some funny looks....

[NZChris]

I found the sample. It's so smokey that I wasn't sure if it was the Mezcal. I'm going to have to up my game

[NZChris]

Four hours and a few beers later, at the pub watching the Melbourne Cup, I was still getting the smoke from the Los Danzantes Joven Espadin on my breath. I don't think I want to get that much smoke into my Mezcal.

[pope]

Mezcal can be crazy smoky. I know generally how it’s cooked but not the difference between palenque a,b,c etc. that makes some nuanced and some a smoke bomb. Some of it is cuts I’m sure. But there are some really fine ones where the smoke dances on the tongue for a minute before bowing out to make room for a variety of earthy, fruity, wonderful flavors to come through.

[NZChris]

I never thought to try smoking the pechuga. Is there an emoji for facepalm? A breast in the smoker should take up a lot of smoke.

[SaltyStaves]

Four hours and a few beers later, at the pub watching the Melbourne Cup, I was still getting the smoke from the Los Danzantes Joven Espadin on my breath. I don't think I want to get that much smoke into my Mezcal.

The Joven is very similar to a new make peated Scotch. Quite punchy in the smoke department, which is what I prefer. The barrel aged Mezcals (Añejo) tend to be a bit tamer.
The best option might be to make blend to taste with a non-smoked agave spirit.

[NZChris]

Just about everything I make now factors in future blending possibilities. What I need now is a smoky essence for blending. It should be easy enough to make. I've recently smoked cheese, butter and pancetta for the table, all at the same time.

[pope]

I’ve been meaning to build a Little smoker box with a Venturi to use an air pump to inject smoke into low wines (essentially a bong water maker). Or just make your own liquid smoke!