Vodka from dairy

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Nanacooks
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Vodka from dairy

Post by Nanacooks »

I was looking for an idea for doing a sort of milk chocolaty type distillation. I currently have some coco, oats, and corn cooking to pitch. While reading I came across this article,
https://www.lovefood.com/news/69295/bla ... milk-vodka
Anyone had this or seen it? I’ll continue in my reading, especially to seek out the/ a particular yeast that will work on this. Anyone with ideas or input, please chime in!
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Steve Broady
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Steve Broady »

It sounds a little full of hype for me, but I can’t see anything technically impossible about it.

It reminded me of this video, which might help you get some ideas how to do it.
[utube][/utube]
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Bradster68
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Bradster68 »

I recently did a fermentation from chocolate covered oats. So a little cocoa,a little dairy.
And yes sugar which made it easy to ferment. BUT.....it has a very creamy smooth chocolate taste. Not much chocolate but people noticed it without mentioning. It's on various oaks aging and very interesting flavors.
I say go for it. You never know what the end product will be.
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NZChris
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by NZChris »

There is a lot of info available on the net that you haven't found yet. Because producing ethanol from whey isn't easy or economical at hobby scale and requires specialized yeasts, I doubt that you will get much help by asking for fermenting advice on forums like this one.
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Renhoekk
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Renhoekk »

Couple of important things:

1. You can’t ferment whey using our old friend Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. You need a yeast strain called Kluyveromyces marxianus.

2. The yield from whey is VERY low - 40mls of ethanol per litre of whey is considered a great result. Commercial producers who ferment whey don’t buy the stuff because it’s not economical - they usually have ties to a dairy business and so have a bountiful supply of milk or whey
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Ben
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Ben »

It would be much easier to dose your final spirit with a bit of lactose (this is how milk stouts are made). It will give you more body in the mouthfeel and add some sweetness to help complete the chocolate sensation.
:)
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by tommysb »

I have done some experiments with fermenting Lactose-Free milk.

In this, instead of the lactose (which isn't ferementable with standard yeast), there are other sugars which are. In essence, I think they have already used some enzyme to process the lactose.

Worth a shot?
Nanacooks
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Nanacooks »

Awesome and thanks for the tips!
NZChris, I was still reading and digging at the time of this post and holy hell is there a lot! The base coco and grain base is bubbling along nicely as we speak.
I did find some information on adding lactose like the beer guys do in the very late reading, Ben! I was definitely thinking this may be an idea! Tommysb, did you use a milk designed for lactose intolerant folks or more of a nut milk? Can you describe your experience ? I’m open to all thoughts and ideas at this point!
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NZChris
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by NZChris »

Making alcohol by fermenting whey, and flavoring alcohol using milk and it's components, are very different subjects.
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by tommysb »

Hey Nanacooks - A dairy milk, made for lactose intolerant folks. I went for the low fat option (i think both skimmed and semiskimmed/half fat are available).

Some weird stuff coagulated and rose to the top, and I was too busy to actually run the ferment. It was not a successful experiment, but not a failure either.

Nutritional information was 5.4g sugars per 100ml which will give a potential yield of about 2.5-3 abv%
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Teddysad
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Teddysad »

In New Zealand, Anchor Ethanol - now Lactanol, was developed as a solution to a massive waste disposal problem ie getting some value out of whey which was until then a totally expensive to get rid of by-product.
If it costs to source that whey economies go out the window. The yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus. is also I believe proprietary and sourcing it is extremely difficult
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Ben
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Ben »

The people the steppes have been fermenting horses and goats milk for thousands of years, it's called Kumis, the distilled version is Araka... Marco Polo even wrote about it. Milk will spontaneously ferment from the lacto and yeast in the air. Modern day it's made commercially by adding whey to cows milk.

None of this is new or particularly difficult, mother nature want's to turn everything to alcohol... she's a partier.
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by Bradster68 »

Ben wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:36 am The people the steppes have been fermenting horses and goats milk for thousands of years, it's called Kumis, the distilled version is Araka... Marco Polo even wrote about it. Milk will spontaneously ferment from the lacto and yeast in the air. Modern day it's made commercially by adding whey to cows milk.

None of this is new or particularly difficult, mother nature want's to turn everything to alcohol... she's a partier.
Her husband had a still. :D
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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NZChris
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by NZChris »

I make cheese and ricotta at home, so I quite often pour hot whey onto my garden to kill the weeds.

Inspired by the YT posted, next time I make cheese, I might have a go at adding enzymes and sugar to the whey to get 8% ABV and see how well it ferments without added nutrients and to find out what happens when it's distilled. Cheese whey usually caramelizes onto the bottom of the pan when making Ricotta and needs to be scraped off while heating, but making the Ricotta removes some of the protein left over from making cheese. What happens when boiling that whey to get the alcohol out of it is another experiment.

Having worked in the dairy industry for over a decade, I've spent more than my fair share of time scraping caramel off stainless steel. :D
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NZChris
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by NZChris »

I have friends who like to drink my whey and cook with it, but I'm not a fan of the stuff. I'd rather feed it to pigs and chickens as they thrive on it. Livestock would probably still thrive on it after it has been fermented and distilled.
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Re: Vodka from dairy

Post by redz242 »

Ben wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:36 am The people the steppes have been fermenting horses and goats milk for thousands of years, it's called Kumis, the distilled version is Araka... Marco Polo even wrote about it. Milk will spontaneously ferment from the lacto and yeast in the air. Modern day it's made commercially by adding whey to cows milk.

None of this is new or particularly difficult, mother nature want's to turn everything to alcohol... she's a partier.

True facts I love whey wine once the milk quality is good I always wondered about distilling it I’ve even experimented with something I’ve seen someone say ferment the whey with rice and oats it has a beautiful creamy oat milk taste to the wine.

I usually use mold and bacteria to convert and ferment my milk. All from Mother Nature that’s why I agree with Ben and it’s how the ancestors did it.
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