VODKA

Putting older posts here. Going to try to keep the novice forum pruned about 90 days work. The 'good' old stuff is going to be put into appropriate forums.

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Selby
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VODKA

Post by Selby »

When I made my last batch of Vodka I took great care to make it very clean, bordering on neutral spirits. My family & friends told me they didn.t like it as much as my previous efforts . They said it had no assertiveness in the mixer which they missed compared with the original .
Ergo, sometimes, the rougher the better. Selby.
minime
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Re: VODKA

Post by minime »

Selby wrote:When I made my last batch of Vodka I took great care to make it very clean, bordering on neutral spirits. My family & friends told me they didn.t like it as much as my previous efforts . They said it had no assertiveness in the mixer which they missed compared with the original .
Ergo, sometimes, the rougher the better. Selby.
I always add a bit of late heads back to my vodka 'cause I like the flavor and feel. Lots of people my wife included don't like ANY heads. Best to make good cuts and mix back for flavor after the fact as with any spirit......IMO :wink:
Selby
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Re: VODKA

Post by Selby »

Good idea ! thanks. minime.
violentblue
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Re: VODKA

Post by violentblue »

The source of water you use makes a big difference too.
mineral rich spring water vs distilled water. you'd be surprised how much flavor water has.
Selby
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Re: VODKA

Post by Selby »

The most common question I'm asked about my Spirits is - "is it really 40% alc. ? - doesn't seem like it" & I've been moved to demonstrate with my spirit hydrometer on a couple of occasions.
Does this indicate our craft skills are not appreciated because people are so used to methanol laced commercial drink ? Or should this be regarded as a compliment.
seravitae
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Re: VODKA

Post by seravitae »

it's not really the methanol that leads to the taste, its usually residual esters and stuff... but the different alcohols formed will change taste/smell slightly. on the note of "is it really 40%" - i get that, too. another interesting thing i've noticed is that the actual effects of the alcohol are much shorter lived on homebrew. i think due to the immense amount of thickeners present in commercial alcohols the alcohol is actually metabolised slower than the relatively pure alcohol we produce. i'd be interested to see if your friends claim the drink 'doesnt last as long'..?
violentblue
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Re: VODKA

Post by violentblue »

I've had a very different reaction to mine, made some blueberry panty remover at 40%, people said they couldn't even taste the alcohol so they'd pour thenselves a big dose. then the'd exclaim, "Wow that stuff really hits hard"
I tend to leave most of mine stronger than storebought, but everyone who tries it says its smoother.
so just shows you the harsh sensation of most commercial spirits is from the junk we toss out.
Selby
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Re: VODKA

Post by Selby »

My daughter says she & her friends love my vodka because it is gentle in it's onset & aftermath (ie. no nasty hangovers), leaving them a bit incredulus at the "40%' claim.
I do believe though that commercial whiskies are allowed to include a percentage of Methanol, perhaps not much more than is found in beer or wine which accounts for the bad hangovers induced by some brands.
Selby
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Re: VODKA

Post by Selby »

Coud be an argument here in favour of legalisation.- People need to be free to pursue & procure uncontaminated Spirits!
Rod
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Re: VODKA

Post by Rod »

I assume there would be more methanol in home brew due lots of ingredients that make methanol

ie pectins etc

the methanol , other alcohols etc are not removed at any stage

but you drink your home brew at the same rate as home vodka ,

assuming the one serve measurement and the same number of drinks per session you should get the same hangover
The Friendly Spirit
Hawke
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Re: VODKA

Post by Hawke »

Rod wrote:I assume there would be more methanol in home brew due lots of ingredients that make methanol
Rod,
Don't know where ya been, but most of our homebrew likker has less methanol because we take foreshot and heads cuts. The big boys don't take the time or quantity needed to clean up thier products.
It is the very things that we think we know, that keep us from learning what we should know.
Valved Reflux, 3"x54" Bok 'mini', 2 liebig based pots and the 'Blockhead' 60K btu propane heat
OldManP
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Re: VODKA

Post by OldManP »

I think Rod is referring to homemade beer as homebrew and homemade alcohol as homemade vodka, whereas many others on this forum use homebrew to mean homemade distilled products.

If not, I apologize for intervening. And Rod, I too wonder the difference and I understand your point, but I'm not chemist or biologist so I just take things as they come--wisdom and experience. I'll let others tell my why it's so....
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
punkin
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Re: VODKA

Post by punkin »

I've been making my potstilled lime vodka for a while now, and the neighbour girls love it with tight (but not rigid) cuts. It still has the cut from very late heads to hearts and some of the heart to tails cut, though nowhere near as much as a whiskey.

My neutral i've been doing as a learner though and keeping only the hearts. The late head cut and the early tail cut (1/2l each at 95%) i've been combining and cutting back to 50% and drinking myself. :wink:

I loooovve my H+T Vodka. Never was a vodka man before but i could drink it all night. The H+T is still very neutral and has very little flavours at 50%, cuts have been made on the fly dipping my finger in the output, just haven't wanted to risk all my hearts. 8)








GottaStretchTheOutputSomehowPunkin
seravitae
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Re: VODKA

Post by seravitae »

Hawke wrote:
Rod wrote:I assume there would be more methanol in home brew due lots of ingredients that make methanol
Rod,
Don't know where ya been, but most of our homebrew likker has less methanol because we take foreshot and heads cuts. The big boys don't take the time or quantity needed to clean up thier products.
hawke, it's been shown recently in another thread that methanol distills proprotionally throughout the run. dropping the heads and tails is for flavour only, it does not remove methanol ;) (this issue may or may not apply to other consitutents of heads/tails).
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