Inja Shōchū - Home distilling Imo/Sweet potato & other Shōchū by Facter

[Facter]

Inja Shōchū Home distilling Imo Sweet potato & other Shōchū by Facter (2).pdf

(558.36 KiB) Downloaded 456 times

Hi all, long long long time reader but never really a post-er.

For quite some time now, Ive been down the shochu rabbit hole. I exclusively make Shochu, Soju and baijiu spirits ... It's been a hell of a journey, and one that at times made me sit back and go "this is impossible", but I guess they're the spirits I love the most and never gave up.

I give huge kudos to all the people in this forum that have experimented with this style, or rice and aspergillosis based stuff, when I first started out I crawled through here and tried everything I saw. .mostly angel Yellow based stuff, and although they tasted pretty great and I enjoyed them a buttload they just weren't ... "Shochu". So I delved. And delved. And translated. And failed. And failed ...ohh, and failed (hello ninjin/carrot shochu ..ugh). I also had a lot of help along the way, and really want to thank a guy called FissionC in the last year for bouncing a heap of ideas and knowledge around.

I've now made in excess of about 50 batches or shochu, probably two a week, usually 5 fermenters on the go ... and I can safely say that I enjoy drinking my stuff now just as much as that out if the collection of bottles I own, sometimes even more. I've tried so many different styles, and keep honing the ones I love.

So, I wrote a document about it, and it turned into a bit of a monster, but hey, I really wish I had all this info when I first started, so here you go mates

I'm a bit shy? Wary? in posting this here, because so many here are so much better and have so much more distilling experience than me, but I did it for everyone that loves this drink, is curious and who really want.to get an authentic shochu flavour. This document is a beta, so if you spot stuff that's wrong or just feels not right, let me know. If you have questions, just ask. I want feedback, and grilling, and ideas and to add anything that's missing or confusing.

Mainly this was done for the Koji wiki and a version will always love there, but the source of truth document is here - I'm always updated it and correcting it, it's a living document.

Anyways, here's the link to the always most recent version, and ice also attached a PDF that I'll update sometimes -

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ggy ... p=drivesdk

I'm currently working on Soju, baijiu and Vietnamese corn whiskey documents too ... So if this is interesting to you, keep an eye out in the future for those

Excited and nervous to hear your thoughts, kanpai, yo!

[jonnys_spirit]

Would you mind uploading a PDF of that document or posting the info into the thread please?

Some folks may not want to click on an external google docs link that could potentially reveal their personal information.

Appreciate it!
-jonny

[lest1]

Inja Shōchū Home distilling Imo Sweet potato & other Shōchū by Facter.pdf

(558.36 KiB) Downloaded 134 times

[Facter]

Ahhh, apologies! I hadn't even thought of that, only to share the most up to date version of it. Tho rest assured it's a read only link, I have no idea who clicks on it, and if I can I have no idea how to find out haha.

Cheers Lest1 for adding the pdf - it seems that your PDF had cut off half of the Koji whiskey appendix tho? might wanna check and re convert, or I can add one ...okay I updated my original post and added it

[Facter]

Inja Shōchū Home distilling Imo Sweet potato & other Shōchū by Facter (2).pdfHi all, long long long time reader but never really a post-er.

For quite some time now, Ive been down the shochu rabbit hole. I exclusively make Shochu, Soju and baijiu spirits ... It's been a hell of a journey, and one that at times made me sit back and go "this is impossible", but I guess they're the spirits I love the most and never gave up.

I give huge kudos to all the people in this forum that have experimented with this style, or rice and aspergillosis based stuff, when I first started out I crawled through here and tried everything I saw. .mostly angel Yellow based stuff, and although they tasted pretty great and I enjoyed them a buttload they just weren't ... "Shochu". So I delved. And delved. And translated. And failed. And failed ...ohh, and failed (hello ninjin/carrot shochu ..ugh). I also had a lot of help along the way, and really want to thank a guy called FissionC in the last year for bouncing a heap of ideas and knowledge around.

I've now made in excess of about 50 batches or shochu, probably two a week, usually 5 fermenters on the go ... and I can safely say that I enjoy drinking my stuff now just as much as that out if the collection of bottles I own, sometimes even more. I've tried so many different styles, and keep honing the ones I love.

So, I wrote a document about it, and it turned into a bit of a monster, but hey, I really wish I had all this info when I first started, so here you go mates

I'm a bit shy? Wary? in posting this here, because so many here are so much better and have so much more distilling experience than me, but I did it for everyone that loves this drink, is curious and who really want.to get an authentic shochu flavour. This document is a beta, so if you spot stuff that's wrong or just feels not right, let me know. If you have questions, just ask. I want feedback, and grilling, and ideas and to add anything that's missing or confusing.

Mainly this was done for the Koji wiki and a version will always love there, but the source of truth document is here - I'm always updated it and correcting it, it's a living document.

Anyways, here's the link to the always most recent version, and ice also attached a PDF that I'll update sometimes -

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ggy ... p=drivesdk

I'm currently working on Soju, baijiu and Vietnamese corn whiskey documents too ... So if this is interesting to you, keep an eye out in the future for those

Excited and nervous to hear your thoughts, kanpai, yo!

[contrahead]

Excited and nervous to hear your thoughts, kanpai, yo!

Congratulations. It looks like you've put a lot of time and effort into this paper. I have only skimmed through it, but will sit down and examine it more carefully when time permits.

I have a couple suggestions for improvement that might help. But I am in no position to be a critic. I am a novice at the printing and publishing enterprise myself. I find word-processors to be complex and aggravating.

First off, there is a lot of empty space in your text. The intro for example (why is it named “Introduction 2” ?) has tiny fonts, and lots of wasted space. You could compress all that information into one page's worth, by judicious use of font choice and line spacing. Your document contains 32 pages but you could easily reduce that size to 60 or 70%. Less paper, less bulk, more concise.

I notice that the only font you use is a Sans-Serif font named Arial MT. If that is your preference – then fine. But you could mix things up a little, by choosing different fonts for the headings and footnotes and such.

The images in the three Appendices are too small; being locked in a PDF, they do not enlarge or expand as they might in a more dynamic format like HTML. So they need to be enlarged to fill the PDF page.
.

The image attached was yanked out of a chapter intended for a printed book, with the intended dimensions of 5.5” x 8”. (What you get when you print to both sides of a standard sheet (8.5 x 11) of typewriter paper and then fold in half - 4 pages per sheet of paper). The first paragraph uses “Calibri 11” – a Sans Serif font. The second paragraph uses (a regular “Sans” font) New Times Roman 11.

Not saying that this denser text is the best route to choose for your future publications; just presenting alternatives. For me, too much empty space on a page of text, gives the work an “airy” languorous feel.

Keep up the good work!

[MooseMan]

Hi Facter

Wow, you really have put a huge amount of work into this!
I've just downloaded the PDF and I'll be keeping a close eye on any developments, so a big thank you from me!

Or should I say - domo arigato gozaimasu!

I'm not intending to make these type of spirits at the moment, but once my distilling skill improves and my hobby time increases in a few years, I definitely will be and your document will help big time.

I got really into hot sake to accompany Asian food after a work trip to Japan in 2003, so that will be the first thing I want to try making a decent version of.

[nhannath]

Hi Facter.

Great read - Did you ever get anything together for soju ?

Thanks

Neal