Alt Whiskey's

[topNoEvil0420]

I just was delivered the book Alt Whiskey's by Darek Bell, this guy to distilling is what Sam Caligione is to beer , there are quite a few recipies in here with enough background to help on your way
, i would really suggest this book to anyone who is an intermidiate distiller , all sorts of ideas on malt smoking techniques , different things to smoke malt with , dry hopping and using craft beer recipies to make a hopped whiskey or a yeast free whiskey ( they use brettanomyces instead). If your looking at a walk on the wild side and enjoy making spirits, I would definatly reccomend this book , it was 30$ on amazon...http://www.altwhiskeys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[DuckofDeath]

Darek bell hangs out and answers questions sometimes

I love the photo's in the book.

[wv_hillbilly]

I will be buying this soon. Thanks for sharing.

[newengland]

I want to do the Russian Imperial Stout whiskey. This will require learning to lauter, which I would not have bothered with if I had not read ALT.

[whiskeyD]

Thanks for the good words!

I just was delivered the book Alt Whiskey's by Darek Bell, this guy to distilling is what Sam Caligione is to beer , there are quite a few recipies in here with enough background to help on your way
, i would really suggest this book to anyone who is an intermidiate distiller , all sorts of ideas on malt smoking techniques , different things to smoke malt with , dry hopping and using craft beer recipies to make a hopped whiskey or a yeast free whiskey ( they use brettanomyces instead). If your looking at a walk on the wild side and enjoy making spirits, I would definatly reccomend this book , it was 30$ on amazon...http://www.altwhiskeys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[S-Cackalacky]

Thanks for the good words!

I just was delivered the book Alt Whiskey's by Darek Bell, this guy to distilling is what Sam Caligione is to beer , there are quite a few recipies in here with enough background to help on your way
, i would really suggest this book to anyone who is an intermidiate distiller , all sorts of ideas on malt smoking techniques , different things to smoke malt with , dry hopping and using craft beer recipies to make a hopped whiskey or a yeast free whiskey ( they use brettanomyces instead). If your looking at a walk on the wild side and enjoy making spirits, I would definatly reccomend this book , it was 30$ on amazon...http://www.altwhiskeys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Good to see you and some of the other craft distillers contributing here.

Thanks man,
S-C

[topNoEvil0420]

You are most welcome, have to give credit where credit is due. Also I have nothing but respect for corsair even though I havent been able to try any of your products yet...I cant wait to make a trip out there!

[shinertexas]

Been really curious about a Brett whiskey. Just brewed a little farmhouse ale using Brett yeast, figured if it sucks, might just run it through a still and see what happens. Anyone tried it yet? Can't find a commercial Brett whiskey.

[Bushman]

Darek Bell and his crew gave several presentations and tasting at the ADI National conference always worth attending. He has been very open with sharing on several forums

[whiskeyD]

Shinertexas,

At Corsair we have done a lot of yeast and alternative to yeast experiments. We have done lagering experiments at cold temperatures, used every yeast we could find from sake to cider, and of course used yeast competitors like brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and pediococcus. Brettanomyces is difficult because of how long it takes to ferment. We knew it would not be a production whiskey as we let ours ferment for over a year before distillation. This is why I doubt a commercial Brett will happen anytime soon. Thus far here are some observations:

1) sadly much of the sourness is lost in distillation. It is a very odd distillate, with lots of very strange of flavors.
2) Even more flavor is lost in the barrel. It really was heartbreaking to put so much time into brewing, fermentation, distillation, then barrel age it and watch the barrel slowly soften the remaining character. This was about a 3 year experiment. Given how long the feedback loop, and the results, I am not sure we actually can do a Brett whiskey as a release.
3) As the proof of the alcohol goes higher, the lactic acid starts to taste sweet, as ethanol changes your perception of some flavors. So the very sourness we were going for changes at high proof to a sweetness flavor we did not want.
4) Lactic acid has a higher boiling point than water, so it does not come over during hearts. We actually experimented with 4 cuts phases: heads, hearts, tails, and post tails. By pushing the still higher than 212 degrees we were able to distill some other odd flavors but mostly the remaining stuff in the pot turned to nasty goo and then black like burnt coffee pot residue.

What I would do in the future to revisit these experiments:

1) Go to your local homebrew shop and buy "Acidulated Malt." This has lactic acid on the malt and can be used to alter the PH of your mash, it is a very useful malt few distillers seem to even know about. Which is strange as it is another way to create a sour-mash. You can buy straight lactic acid from a lab supply place, but you would probably have to register what you are doing with it depending on the state, I imagine most people here would not feel comfortable with that. Acid malt is cheap and easy to use. I would soak some whiskey in the acid malt to see how the lactic acid changes when in the whiskey. There are homebrew wiki's out there that can go into more detail on usage than this post. See if you like it. That will save you two years!
2) experiment with just adding alcohol, water, and lactic acid together and distilling to see how it reacts BEFORE actually distilling your precious distillers beer.
3) Add more wheat to the mash bill. Wheat can accentuate the sourness.
4) Use a good lambic mix, not just bretta. White labs and Wyeast both have great stuff. Also, only ferment it for 6 months. You get a lot of character and waiting an entire year or longer is not worth what you get out of the still.
5) If you try to experiment with "post tails" use something with finely tuned temperature controls.
6) Conventional wisdom is that the older the better when it comes to barrels. However, the barrel smooths out rough edges and can take away flavors you did want, or mask flavors you wanted to stand out.
7) Most importantly but often disregarded: take good notes and share with others in the community. They will share back.

I am glad we did all these experiments as we learned a lot. However, you probably will not see a production lambic whiskey anytime soon given the final results, time to ferment, and distillation challenges on a commercial scale.

My 2 cents.

Been really curious about a Brett whiskey. Just brewed a little farmhouse ale using Brett yeast, figured if it sucks, might just run it through a still and see what happens. Anyone tried it yet? Can't find a commercial Brett whiskey.

[shinertexas]

Thanks a bunch, Darek. This is answers a lot of questions I've had recently!

You brought up "post-tails" and I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this. Are these the 'bakkins' - the sweet water that's running off at a still head temp of around 205-210F? Since I've begun reading about distilling, I've always wondered if anyone has added those bakkins in with their hearts to make a sweeter whiskey, but it seems like there's potential for off flavors there.

I've begun doing a little research into the chemistry behind sweeter whiskeys recently without much conclusive results, but what I think is interesting is that all of the wheated bourbons I've tried seem to at least mimic sweetness. That's what surprised me about your comment about how wheat can accentuate the sour flavors, especially when you're concerned about them tasting sweet at higher proof.

Thanks again for sharing your experiments with us!

[cede]

I just received the book today.
For the little story I had it on the wishlist for some time and my son wanted to order something and to get free shipping I added the book
Well, Lots of yummy recipes and found one odd weight with 2 dots in the numbers figure...

I was not aware at all of hopped or fruit adjuncts recipes that way but I'm glad to have that book to inspire me.
I became shy at trying new things and fail. I was not like this before having kids.... Got to kick my ass and revert !

Thanks whiskeyD for the writing and inspiration. I read just a few while cooking and I can't wait to try !

[whiskeyD]

Thanks for buying a copy. If you need any help with any recipes, or what not, just ask.

[cede]

Thanks pal !

[DuckofDeath]

I gave my original copy away and bought another one