Intro and first runs...
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 3:51 pm
Last summer on a road trip I happened to stop by a whiskey micro distillery in Kentucky. Doing my own has been on my mind ever since. This spring I moved to Minnesota and my neighbor happens to work at a home brew supply store, and has friends that have distilled neutral spirits before - so onward we went.
After a LOT of reading, we attempted our first run. We managed to get his friend's reflux still (the friend was too busy to use it lately). We then used his beer making skills and made a 10 gallon mash consisting of ~80% corn, and the rest mixed with barley, rye, and a touch of wheat. While that was fermenting, we made up a small ~3 gallon sugar batch just so we could try using the still. We used champagne yeast for both batches. Once fermented out, we ran the sugar batch, which seemed to work. The product has a slightly sweet smell to it, and is surprisingly smooth (not top shelf stuff, but better than expcted for our first run). This product was divided in two, and half will end up as raspberry cordial, and half as blueberry - IF it tastes decent.
The corn mash has hopes of being whiskey. Once again, we distilled, and got nearly 7 quarts of ~100 proof (after cutting back in water). We filtered through some charcoal we made from sugar maple, and put into 2 glass carboys. One has charred oak sticks, the other has charred maple sticks. We charred them on an open fire pit (I can upload some pictures of these later, I didn't take any).
Some thoughts/questions/concerns....
1) using the reflux still, we are likely not doing it all correctly. We kept all distillate between ~170-180F. Was this too broad? Can someone direct me to a link where I can read about the opperation? We had also attempted to "de-tune" by only putting in about half the packing material. I think we were actually unsuccessful because the product came out at 180 proof. I think I need some work to learn how to use this still better, make proper cuts, and end up with a better product.
2) aging. our product has only been aging for 4 days, and is VERY dark. Too much char? maybe some will filter out at the end? I haven't read much on aging yet, I'm getting there...
The end goal is three-fold: 1) learn to make better whiskey and neutral spirits, 2) learn the differences between still designs to eventually make my own, and 3) my first son was born a week ago, and I think it would be really fun to make a whiskey in the next few months I can age for 21 years and drink when he turns 21. ALL help is appreciated.
Here is a picture of our still to show what we're working with:
After a LOT of reading, we attempted our first run. We managed to get his friend's reflux still (the friend was too busy to use it lately). We then used his beer making skills and made a 10 gallon mash consisting of ~80% corn, and the rest mixed with barley, rye, and a touch of wheat. While that was fermenting, we made up a small ~3 gallon sugar batch just so we could try using the still. We used champagne yeast for both batches. Once fermented out, we ran the sugar batch, which seemed to work. The product has a slightly sweet smell to it, and is surprisingly smooth (not top shelf stuff, but better than expcted for our first run). This product was divided in two, and half will end up as raspberry cordial, and half as blueberry - IF it tastes decent.
The corn mash has hopes of being whiskey. Once again, we distilled, and got nearly 7 quarts of ~100 proof (after cutting back in water). We filtered through some charcoal we made from sugar maple, and put into 2 glass carboys. One has charred oak sticks, the other has charred maple sticks. We charred them on an open fire pit (I can upload some pictures of these later, I didn't take any).
Some thoughts/questions/concerns....
1) using the reflux still, we are likely not doing it all correctly. We kept all distillate between ~170-180F. Was this too broad? Can someone direct me to a link where I can read about the opperation? We had also attempted to "de-tune" by only putting in about half the packing material. I think we were actually unsuccessful because the product came out at 180 proof. I think I need some work to learn how to use this still better, make proper cuts, and end up with a better product.
2) aging. our product has only been aging for 4 days, and is VERY dark. Too much char? maybe some will filter out at the end? I haven't read much on aging yet, I'm getting there...
The end goal is three-fold: 1) learn to make better whiskey and neutral spirits, 2) learn the differences between still designs to eventually make my own, and 3) my first son was born a week ago, and I think it would be really fun to make a whiskey in the next few months I can age for 21 years and drink when he turns 21. ALL help is appreciated.
Here is a picture of our still to show what we're working with:
oh well, its a learning process....