Particulate in Tails

[Zacher]

I ran my single malt the other day and let it sit for 48 hours before blending. My jars were crystal clear except for the last two tails jars that had some white fuzzy particulate in it and a little oily haze floating on top. I found a couple of threads on this but could not find one that clearly identified the culprit. The last two tails jars had all of the flavor of the peat smoked malt in them so I poured through a coffee filter and they cleared up. I'm using a SS reflux column with no cooling on the reflux side to have it run like a pot still for whiskey. This is the first time I've had particulate come through though after a handful of runs. Just looking for some guidance on this. Thanks.

[Bee]

I believe it's fusel oils. Or "barda grease" to moonshiners.

[still_stirrin]

+1 Bee.

Zacher, if you put your new make into a cask (after cuts), the “white clouds” will settle into the wood. So, don’t worry about it so much. If anything, it’ll add just a bit more “grain flavor” to your product.

If you choose to serve your whiskey white, then don’t add the last jars to your hearts cut if you don’t like the looks of the last 2 jars.

Next time, don’t dig quite so deep into the tails if you don’t like the clouds.
ss

[Bee]

SS, do you include product with fusel oils in it (whether filtered out or not) in the product you put away for aging?

[Zacher]

+1 Bee.

Zacher, if you put your new make into a cask (after cuts), the “white clouds” will settle into the wood. So, don’t worry about it so much. If anything, it’ll add just a bit more “grain flavor” to your product.

If you choose to serve your whiskey white, then don’t add the last jars to your hearts cut if you don’t like the looks of the last 2 jars.

Next time, don’t dig quite so deep into the tails if you don’t like the clouds.
ss

Thanks Still. The jars with the white clouds had all of the flavor which is why I wanted them in the blend. But it sounds like this is pretty normal? I was a little taken back as a newbie when I saw them in the product......

[Stags]

Pretty normal sounding to me.

I also don’t think there’s any reason to be alarmed.

@Bee I can’t speak for SS but I will go deep into my tails and if I like it, I add it. This also depends on if I am aging. Most of my product I I age on spirals. When that’s the plan include some late heads and early tails because I think they have more interesting interactions with oak. If I am going for a white product, I am much narrower in my cuts. For my friends that like white I actually usually just pull my 2 favorite hearts jars from the middle of the run and blend the others.

Sometimes when I’ve collected very deep I get %5-10 abv jars that just taste like corn water and I’m happy to use that for dilution before tap water

[shadylane]

I ran my single malt the other day and let it sit for 48 hours before blending. My jars were crystal clear except for the last two tails jars that had some white fuzzy particulate in it and a little oily haze floating on top.

Here's a suggestion.
Use a paper towel to soak up the oil in the tails jar to get rid of it.
Wait a couple months and see if there's anything valuable in the jar for future blending.

[Dancing4dan]

Zacher, if you put your new make into a cask (after cuts), the “white clouds” will settle into the wood. So, don’t worry about it so much. If anything, it’ll add just a bit more “grain flavor” to your product.

Had corn whisky that louched when diluted to my chosen "barrel strength". Wasn't to happy about it so pushed it into a corner and forgot about it. Was stored in a car boy with oak staves in it. Not sure how long it sat because I stopped documenting when it louched. Was going to re distill it but found it had cleared. There was sediment on the bottom of the carboy. Carefully racked off the clear whisky. Now it can be diluted to 45% without any louch. It has really turned into a nice smooth sip.

[Zacher]

I ran my single malt the other day and let it sit for 48 hours before blending. My jars were crystal clear except for the last two tails jars that had some white fuzzy particulate in it and a little oily haze floating on top.

Here's a suggestion.
Use a paper towel to soak up the oil in the tails jar to get rid of it.
Wait a couple months and see if there's anything valuable in the jar for future blending.

I ended up filtering the last two jars through a coffee filter and added them to the blend. They were almost totally clear but added pretty much all of the flavor from the peat malt. I am trying my hardest to wait to try it as it's only been a month on oak. I'll report back but I like the paper towel idea should it happen again. Thanks Shady.