Distilling / Processing Grain Alcohol

[sasha18]

This is probably a naive question. I visited one of Portland's micro-distilleries over the weekend. I had a bad time, but that's another story. To my surprise, the place was full of barrels (actually cubes) of grain alcohol. I didn't get a long look at these to figure out where they were sourced from. I had heard that some operations merely filter the liquid a bit further, maybe water it down to 40%. How common is this for small distilleries to re-process grain alcohol, add flavor, and bottle it?

I searched for other posts on this topic, but couldn't find any.

[kiwistiller]

I think it's one of the dirty little secrets really. I know of a couple of micro's doing it. And, to be fair, it's a sensible business decision to start that way, get some revenue flow from liqueurs and gin etc before adding more capital investment for mashing etc that is required for doing your own grain neutrals.

why'd you have a bad time?

[LWTCS]

I more or less agree with Kiwi, Our local wineries employ the same stratigy for various reasons.

Not as glamorous but prolly a sound business decision.

Why'd ya have a bad time?

[kiwistiller]

why'd you have a bad time?

Why'd ya have a bad time?

Jinx!

[LWTCS]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinx_%28ch ... 7s_game%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow ?

Your so imature

10 spot says it was the missus (no offense intended).

[blanikdog]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinx_%28ch ... 7s_game%29 ?

Your so imature

10 spot says it was the missus (no offense intended).

One learns something new every day in this forum.

blanik

[blind drunk]

Strange coincidence. I visited a small distillery as well this past weekend and I got that same feeling. While I saw some stainless tanks, nothing quite big enough to make as much neutral as they would need. I inquired about their biggest tank and was told that it was for storing the finished product prior to bottling. bd.

[rubber duck]

It's pretty common place. Most of the popular, (high end) commercial vodka you see on the shelf was actually made in the mid west and then shipped to various distilleries for reprocessing. A lot of vodka, most gin, and every American absinthe I can think of is made this way.

The last time I checked a 50 gallon drum of 95% grain alcohol was 350 dollars US. That's not a typo.

There is a lot of debate in the craft distilling circles on this subject. A lot of folks think that those using GNS shouldn't be allowed to call themselves distillers. On the other hand a those that do have a different take on the matter as one would imagine.

[blind drunk]

The last time I checked a 50 gallon drum of 95% grain alcohol was 350 dollars US. That's not a typo.

[rednose]

Most, if not all whisky fabricated in EC is made like that, the labels say: ingredients:rectificated alcohol,malt and caramel color.

Those are headache kings, what I don't get is how they meet the ecuatorian Inen 365 standart which says that whisky have to be aged in oak at least 3 years, I'm sure they never saw an oak barrel from far.

[hstuurman]

In Holland almost every distiller buys his alcohol by one big factory (which makes different styles), only a few make it thereself. (This is probably the biggest secret overhere).
The thing behind it is, de distillers already pay taxes buying this alcohol, so there is no tax-control needed by the goverment. I know a small distiller http://www.lubberhuizen-raaff.nl/index.php?id=11(a friend from a college) who started a fruitdistillery, and encounterd big problems starting up with the goverment concerning licenses because they wanted to make alcohol out of wine, made from fruit.

Henk

[sasha18]

The tell tale sign - there were no fermentors. Just many industrial cubes filled with grain alcohol. But some really, really nice distilling equipment. I don't really think it's a "dirty" secret, but it seems definitely like a secret. I understood that many distillers are in this practice. Just cleaning it up for redistribution. It's a value added thing. And, as someone said, it's probably the only economical way. If the process is good and the product is good, I have no problem with it, I guess.

I had a bad time because the guys running the tasting room were crazy and/or drunk. I was really looking forward to talking face to face with someone knowledgeable. I will try again somewhere else. I'm not going to drone on. It's not polite.

[LWTCS]

I had a bad time because the guys running the tasting room were crazy and/or drunk.

Did not mean to imply. Please forgive me for my smart arse comment.

[sasha18]

None taken. The missus was not annoyed. My other friends were.

[heynonny]

Down in my end of the state, a friend worked at a certain "institute of oceanography" where they required pure (not de-natured) ethanol for preservation of aquatic specimens. The stuff came in 55 gal drums, and whenever said drums were down to 2 - 3 gals left, they were 'empty'. and folks rotated who took these empties home. They were not re-used for fear of contamination and were always discarded at whatever level of emptiness. Anyway, they were, (still are) extremely anal about purity. These drums were just (rustable) steel with some kind of plastic coating on the inside. Do these high end folks get their midwest spirit in the same drums?? Do they use SS drums for the "potable" stuff?
(BTW, I ran across some SS 55 gal drums a while back at a scrap metal re-seller, hundred bucks a pop but noone had any idea of what was ever inside them so I passed, , ,) -hey-

[rubber duck]

I've hauled a couple loads of GNS for use in the beverage industry. The barrels looked like ordinary blue food grade plastic barrels to me. The totes looked like every other tote I've seen.

Just speculating but maybe they're lined or coated with something like the plastic vodka bottles you see on store shelves. Or maybe not.