No Sugar Added "Tequila"

[Brewstilla]

I've seen a bit of tequila attempts using agave syrup, but almost always with extra sugar added. I get it, the stuff is expensive!

A couple weeks back I got an email at the brewery I run from a supplier
"Purchase 25kg 100% Blue agave syrup receive a free 500g brick of tequila yeast and 1kg superfood"

Promptly ordered two 25kg totes

8/4/17 Mixed each 25kg with approx 20 gallons of water, 35 g superfood, and 100 g Safteq Blue at about 92 F. Put both in closet with a couple heat lamps to keep in the low 90s as per the yeast specs. OG 17.5 P

Started fermenting within a couple hours. A week later down to about 8 P. Slower ferment than expected, especially at those temps, but no worries, still moving right along.

My original plan once its down was to strip it all and then spirit run. However I just finished a double thumper build to play with traditional Caribbean style rum, charging the thumpers with low and high wines.

My question is how would you run this to retain as much flavor as possible?

[Shine0n]

I would think it would lack the smokiness of the traditional ways.
Since I have a thumper I would fill both boiler and thumper with the wash and strip.
keep some wash back for the spirit run.
Wash in the boiler and low wines in the thumper.

Sound interesting, keep us informed of the progress.
Shine0n

[Shine0n]

Have you checked the ph?
Did you buffer?

[Brewstilla]

I'm aware it will be different from a traditionally made tequila. My goal however is to retain as much flavor from a 100% agave wash. Leaning toward using thumper(s) over a strip then spirit run.

Haven't checked pH - nothing added to buffer

http://bsgcraftbrewing.com/Resources/Cr ... 0.2017.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here is what I am using for those interested

[NZChris]

Seeing as it is the first for both, stick with your original plan and save commisioning the double thumper for when you have some rum.

[Brewstilla]

I've run thumpers in the past. The double is new.

Have enough to try both ways. Might have to and compare

[Shine0n]

I'm new to the strip and spirit run thing, because I had enough wash to partially fill my thumper I stripped that way then did my spirit run with boiler only.

I found I lost no flavors, had a large large hearts cut and it was clean.

can't say I won't do a 1 and done again, but now I know you can have a great product by stripping then spirit runs.

Shine0n

[Mikey-moo]

Very interested in how this turns out having just sourced a few kg's of Agave syrup for my own attempt. Not the same brand sadly; and while the BSG syrup has been cooked as per normal tequila methods because they know it's going to be fermented, I've no idea how mine was made. Still it's worth a try

Good luck!

[Brewstilla]

The wash is finally finished fermenting out - after 4 weeks! Really surprised it took this long, as I maintained temps around 90. Ferment really slowed around 50% attenuation so tossed some more yeast and superfood to kick it off again.

Hoping I can start stripping tomorrow and spirit run sometime this weekend. Should be interesting

[bluefish_dist]

I just started my third batch using bsg agave. Made a few changes, so will see how it ferments. First batches did not finish dry, but made a nice drop. Sampling it in our tasting room.

[brat]

I am about to give this a try. I was told by someone to start with a specific gravity of 1.030 which seems a little low to me. I think am going to shoot for .060 or so. Also am thinking of grinding up some roasted maguey leaves see if I can get some extra flavor.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I am about to give this a try. I was told by someone to start with a specific gravity of 1.030 which seems a little low to me. .

If you got the time and patience, you can try step feeding it. Calculate how much you need for .06, and put in half that. Let her get ripping, and then add a little bit more sugar at a time, once a day, twice a day, whatever. It's a rum technique, but that's basically what you're doing with agave. A different type of rum.

Never done it myself, just a friendly suggestion in passing by

[brat]

I've heard of step feeding. Mostly for making big beers. But I don't really think step feeding would be necessary for a gravity of .060. But again I never used agave nectar before so I don't know how finicky it is. Maybe I'll just add a good amount of nutrients and see what happens.

[Shine0n]

Maybe but if you step feed it would insure you get complete fermentation instead of getting stuck at a higher fg.
It would also let your yeasts multiply before adding more agave syrup, having more yeasts will up your chances for full completion.
Keep an eye on the pH and use a buffer to stop a sudden drop.

I don't know about what nutes it has so some more reading is in order for me but some extra won't hurt a thing I'd assume.

Maybe age on some oak that's been toasted to the level of "toasty" instead of the "vanilla" range to age with.

Sky's the limit fellas

Shine0n

[Brewstilla]

Used last weekend to get this all stripped out. Ended up with about 15 gallons of low wines around 70 proof
Low wines had some tequila like aromas floating around, so seems promising.
Maybe a bit overzealous, but I figured this might be my only shot at affordable agave.
Just started the spirit run, and starting the long haul of collecting many jars. Will report back once finished

[raketemensch]

Looking forward to hearing the outcome.

[Shine0n]

Seems like I should be seeing some results here, lol

How'd she turn out?

[Brewstilla]

She's got some tequila like character, however seems a bit lighter in taste - think mixing tequila and vodka 50/50 is the best way I can think to describe it. When I get a chance I plan on sitting down side by side with a glass of this and a glass of Espolon blanco.

Early heads were extra stinky, and tails cut was tricky. I've read others saying a month does wonders, so I'm interested to see where she goes with time. Also, I have a boat load of it so I will be playing around with aging on toasted oak and previously used charred oak.

All in all a good, fun experiment. I have about 4 gallons of feints and 6 gallons of backset that I will run again to see if I can squeeze more hearts out of them.

[NZChris]

How did you go about deciding on your final blend? Might the 'extra stinky' bits and some of the tails be the missing flavors, or were they just so obviously wrong that they were not an option?

[Brewstilla]

The heads were so harsh and chemically, I couldn't imagine them ever adding anything positive to the final. Some of the early tails had some pleasant fruity aromas, so I blended in a portion of those with the same thought in mind that they may help flavor development down the line. Especially with the portions that will be seeing extended time on oak.

I should also add that I drink almost nothing in the white. Aside from some gin I would say 90 percent of my drinks see oak, generally for a long time. So it could be my tongue and brain looking for more dominant flavors.

[MichiganCornhusker]

How did you go about deciding on your final blend? Might the 'extra stinky' bits and some of the tails be the missing flavors, or were they just so obviously wrong that they were not an option?

I met up with RandyMarshCT a couple weeks ago and he had some tequila he had made along with a couple jars of the tails that he had not used.
The tequila was good but sort of like you describe, a little too "clean" for what I think of as tequila flavor.

When I experimented with adding the tails to the tequila I found it to be much more like what I think of as tequila, with that funky bitter undertone. And I was mixing as much as 50/50 tequila to tails.

Many tequilas that I have had also have a bit of "harsh and chemically". Maybe not what we want to blend in since we have the opportunity not to, but a little bit might add something. A little could go a long way.

I've read on here that tequila is a tricky spirit to try to make, the agave syrup alone just doesn't get you the same results as harvesting and roasting a bunch of pinas. But try the tails trick in some small samples and see what you think.

[Brewstilla]

Thanks for the insight! I will play around with that. Unfortunately after deciding my keep, I mixed all the heads and tails back together in a feints container to rerun. But I will definitely keep the tails thoughts in mind when I rerun.

[raketemensch]

A lot of people will tell you that after you hit your tails cut there’s often another jar post-beginning-of-tails that is pretty good, and that they look for to add some flavor. Maybe 3 or 4 jars later? Anyway, I wonder if agave syrup tequila would be similar.

[Brewstilla]

Well, it's a couple months later, but I am finally rerunning my feints from the original spirit run.

The original hearts cut has been sitting in a keg, about half full. It is MUCH closer to what I was hoping for now. I imagine some time exposed to oxygen has helped. Also based on how much hearts this second run is producing, I am really starting to think that I have been much to strict on my cuts.

Moving forward I think I will start keeping those questionable jars, as I think I may be cutting out flavor.

[bluefish_dist]

I am on my 5th run now and I finally have made progress on getting my wash to finish. A lower SG seems to have helped. Still requires a lot of calcium to keep from crashing the ph. I agree that the syrup gives a cleaner than most silver tequilas.