covering mash

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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squigglefunk
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covering mash

Post by squigglefunk »

I have been watching a bunch of the "how's it made" videos on making booze. I noticed that some of the "big" distillers (makers mark, patron, etc) do not have their fermenters covered. Just a big wooden bubbling vat open to the air. Do they have super sterile air scrubbing facilities or is it just not that big of a deal? I mean the patron they were grinding up the agave outside on a big cement or stone circular slab with a giant tire going in circles so obviously not too worried about "contamination?
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NormandieStill
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Re: covering mash

Post by NormandieStill »

I think these ferments generate such vast amounts of CO2 and are distilled so quickly that infection is not a concern. It's not like they sit around for weeks before the distiller gets a chance to run them.
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still_stirrin
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Re: covering mash

Post by still_stirrin »

Makers Mark pays more attention to the air going into their fermentation building than they do about their (individual) fermenters. “Economy of scale” comes to mind. I’m sure they don’t have wild critters living in their fermentation buildings either. So, their “boundary of cleanliness” is just larger than a home hobbiest would concern himself with.

Besides, Makers Mark no longer is much of a paradigm for me … too much heads in their products for my preference.
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Demy
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Re: covering mash

Post by Demy »

My observation is that wooden containers can "accumulate" large quantities of yeasts and I would also say concrete tanks so there is probably less competition with other microorganisms
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6 Row Joe
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Re: covering mash

Post by 6 Row Joe »

still_stirrin wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:49 pm
too much heads in their products for my preference.
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Isn't it interesting how we can pick that out after making some of our own.
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6 Row Joe
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Re: covering mash

Post by 6 Row Joe »

I cover my buckets but no snap lid or airlock. Way easier to lift the lid to check the progress. It's the KISS principle.
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Truckinbutch
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Re: covering mash

Post by Truckinbutch »

I encapsulate my ferments in 2 clear industrial garbage bags . They stay good until I'm ready to run them .
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Re: covering mash

Post by Sporacle »

:D Summer they get a paint strainer bag over the opening, Winter a lid fitted loosely that's about as scientific as I get
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Re: covering mash

Post by NormandieStill »

still_stirrin wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:49 pm Besides, Makers Mark no longer is much of a paradigm for me … too much heads in their products for my preference.
Having read comments like this for a while on the forum I wondered if I would notice. My collection of commercial spirits being limited to a few high end single cask scotch bottles and a few liquors. I recently bought a bottle of Maker's Mark as I had no reference for what a bourbon should (?) taste like and it seemed to be a fairly universally recommended standard introduction to the style.

My first thought on pouring a glass was "That's spiky". I do find that let the glass warm up and air for a while takes some of the edge off but it's certainly not something I'll be aiming to replicate.
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squigglefunk
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Re: covering mash

Post by squigglefunk »

some people like whiskey, some don't ... makers mark certainly isn't the best but it's not bad IMO.
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Re: covering mash

Post by DAD300 »

My large fermentors are loosely covered during fermentation.
If I store a fermentation for a week or weeks after it is done, I now hang an aquarium UV sterilization light over the liquid and it prevents any infections on top.

One 1,200watt uv light or 5' x 4'' tank, 170 gallons.
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