Home Distiller

Greetings,

Working on my first all grain using Golden Promise and Peated Malt (2:1). Just finished my first batch. Got good conversion; 1.055 sg.

What I notice was a lot of sediment in the finished wort and was wondering do any of you fellow distillers use a fining agent like Irish moss in the mashing process. I know beer brewers do and, on a tour of Stranahan's, was told that they use it as well.

What's the consensus? Is the use of fining agents in brewing simply done so that the brew is clear or do proteins left in the wash have an affect on the taste profile of the beer and, if so, would they have the same affect on a distilled product?

Hopefully that made sense.

Jimbo? Anyone?

Reed

No need for a boil when you're mashing for distilling. - This results in a very clean wort if you are using a false bottom and vorlaufing/sparging.

No need for a mash-out either - in fact, you're better off without it as the enzymes will remain active, leading to a lower FG.

likkerluvver wrote:No need for a boil when you're mashing for distilling. - This results in a very clean wort if you are using a false bottom and vorlaufing/sparging.

No need for a mash-out either - in fact, you're better off without it as the enzymes will remain active, leading to a lower FG.

Does a false bottom in your kettle prevent the transfer of sediments? My mash tun is a igloo cooler that drains from the bottom into my fermenting buckets. I collected some wort into a quart jar for a yeast starter and noticed a lot of sediment in the jar which I assume is also in my bucket

Maybe I'm over thinking the process but concerned that it might affect the final product

You didn't mention how you are processing your AG mashes. Are you doing BIAB?

I started AG brewing with a 10 usg Rubbermaid beverage cooler with a SS false bottom like this one:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/all- ... llons.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

The grain bed itself acts as a filter. The cloudy first few litres are added back into the cooler gently, and the wort collected is sediment-free.

Mash-out and boil when it's for beer. No mash-out or boil when it's for distilling.

I can run a 12 gal charge of AG barley in my 15.5 gal keg if it was boiled until the hot break. If it isn't boiled, I find that anything around 10 gal or more will puke. A 12 gal charge will puke into the condensor. Not like it's right or wrong, but I always boil barley washes because of that.

Yep! You might have to take it nice n' slow if you don't boil.

10 to 12 usg mash in a 20usg keg boiler gives no puke problems. Thorough degassing, a gradual ramp-up of heat and a small amount of simethicone defoaming-agent helps.

No mash-out (from the first runnings) and boilers with a high ratio of surface area:mash volume is the way they do it in Scotland.

likkerluvver wrote:You didn't mention how you are processing your AG mashes. Are you doing BIAB?

The grain bed itself acts as a filter. The cloudy first few litres are added back into the cooler gently, and the wort collected is sediment-free.

Mash-out and boil when it's for beer. No mash-out or boil when it's for distilling.

I'm doing BIAB so your method makes sense to minimize sediments. Next time I'll try your method

Thanks