Acrolein Says Hello

[Acrolein]

Howdy, distiller people!
I've done quick batches of absinthe distilling on and off for a while now but an interest in single malt scotch sparked my curiosity about doing my own single malts. My setup is tiny and primitive (pressure cooker with worm tub, electric heat source) but I'm afraid the distilling bug has bit me hard and I'm looking into making my own. My interest is in making high quality single malts, something that's had limited success so far but I'm addicted to this hobby now.

[Odin]

Welcome Acrolein!

And if you are bitten by the bug, this is the place to read and read. About single malts, many threads can be found, eventhough the Bourbon / Kentucky / Tennessee / Corn style whiskies are more in the minds & hearts of most distillers out here! I think "peat" is the main thing if you want to get anything like Scottish single malt. Never tried it myself, so I would be happy if you could keep me up to date on your efforts!

Odin.

[LWTCS]

Welcome and good luck.

How big is your boiler?

[WalkingWolf]

down at the bottom of this thread you will find Harry's explanation on how he makes his peat reek.

[Bull Rider]

Greetings Acrolein:

Interesting handle.

Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is produced widely but is most often immediately reacted with other products due to its instability and toxicity. It has a piercing, disagreeable, acrid smell similar to that of burning fat.

Burning Fat! Yikes...



Bull.

[Odin]

down at the bottom of this thread you will find Harry's explanation on how he makes his peat reek.

WW,

Thanx for the tread! That's what's defenitely needed to make sometingh Scottish! I will try to use it myself after summer holidays.

Odin.

[Acrolein]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Greetings Acrolein:

Interesting handle.

Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is produced widely but is most often immediately reacted with other products due to its instability and toxicity. It has a piercing, disagreeable, acrid smell similar to that of burning fat.
Burning Fat! Yikes...
Bull.

I couldn't think of anything so I picked a random whisky flavor ingredient . Although when you describe it that way it sounds even less desirable!

down at the bottom of this thread you will find Harry's explanation on how he makes his peat reek.

Thanks, that's very helpful. I can't smoke the grain as I've no suitable smoker and I'm not handy enough to build one so getting the right peat flavor has been tricky. I may give this a shot. I've been smoking my oak chips over a peat fire but that doesn't give as much flavor as I need.

Welcome and good luck.

How big is your boiler?

Microscopic, 6 liters. I'm on my fourth run now, I do a 3 gallon/7 pound two-row infusion mash, so about a 1.7 ratio for OG 1.070~/FG 1.016~, using a Champagne yeast (I intend to use a more authentic to style yeast later). Supposedly I want a thin mash for whisky making but that's as thin as I can bring myself to go at the moment as it takes me three stripping runs to get through one batch. The real distilleries do a 3 step infusion at varying temps but I've eschewed that approach in favor of fermenting on the grain to maximize yield and flavor then making a thin mash out of the spent grain for the next batch. I've read this was the pre-modern approach but I could be wrong.

My current problems are yield and flavor. For the first three batches I was flying blind with no hydrometer so I might have screwed up fermentation but the spirit runs yielded a pathetic 10-12 oz., absurdly low by all my calculations. The current batch's gravity is correct so I'll see if that was my past problem.

As for flavor, my first batch was fantastic; lots of warm grain taste straight out of the still, deliciously oily and rich. The next two batches have the same issue, an extremely hot and light taste before it gets into the regular whisky taste of ethanol/esters/oak. I'd assumed it was methanol/acetone and that I needed to be more ruthless with foreshots so I threw the whisky on the stove and heated it to 65C for five minutes. No luck. They've been aging for a month now on toasted/charred oak and the problem hasn't resolved.

[Dnderhead]

its hard to tell with out hydrometer reading,but yes it should have been more like a total of 25 0z of alcohol.
sounds like your mashing? the only way to tell is with a hydrometer

[Acrolein]

its hard to tell with out hydrometer reading,but yes it should have been more like a total of 25 0z of alcohol.
sounds like your mashing? the only way to tell is with a hydrometer

I'll do the spirit run on my fourth batch tonight and see if it wasn't a mashing problem in the others. If it's still low I guess I can chalk it up to my ghetto still.
First dumb noob question!: I can't find anything listing expected whisky yield per pound, even a ballpark figure would be very helpful. Any hints? The homedistiller guide mentions an expected 1l of 40% per kg of sugar. With the problems of mash efficiency/less fermentables should I expect maybe 50-60% of that from barley?
2nd noob question: Smiley gives the middle cut number as ~57%. For scotch I'm supposed to pick up more of the tails than other styles, so should I shoot for collecting about 2/3 thirds of the estimated alcohol in my original wash?