ADI Distilling Book

7/31/2019 ADI Distilling Book

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AmErICAn DIstIllInG InstItutE | 1

Distillation Principls

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2 | CrAFt WHIskEy DIstIllInG




HOw DISTILLATION wORkS

Distillation is a physical procss whr compounds ar sparatd by virtu o thir dir-nt boiling points and vapor prssurs.

Th sparation in distillation occurs whn a mixtur o compounds in th still is broughtto boil. As a simplifcation, assum that th still contains only thanol and watr. Ignoring

th azotrop discussd blow, or vry mix ratio o thanol to watr thr is on andonly on nw boiling point that lis btwn th boiling point o ithr. Convrsly, orach boiling point, thr is on and only on ratio o thanol in th kttl, and an nrichdratio in th vapor and th distillat. I you know th tmpratur in th kttl, you can lookup th xact thanol ratio both in th kttl and in th vapor/distillat, in a simpl tabl[fgur 1/pag 5].

Assum a mixtur o 90% watr and 10% thanol (by volum) is to b sparatd by dis-tillation. Watr has a boiling point o 212ºF and thanol has a boiling point o 173ºF, butthis 10% thanol mixtur will boil at 197ºF; it will not boil at 173ºF. Th vapor abov thliquid will b 61% thanol, as will th distillat. In a simpl kttl, th thanol prcntagwill drop during th boil bcaus mor thanol than watr is bing rmovd, and nithr

ar bing rplnishd. This alon accounts or th incras in boiling point rom start tofnish— th ratio changs, so th BP changs.

Not that w startd with 10% thanol in th kttl, and now hav a distillat at 61%thanol, a 6-old incras in strngth. Rrring to th tabl and graph blow, i w nowdistill this condnsat again, th nw distillat will b 86%, and i w distill that, w willhav a 91%, and again 92%, and again 93% and atr six distillations, w may gt 94%. As thconcntration o th impurity (watr) dcrass, it bcoms mor difcult to rmov. This

Most artisan stills are o the refux or pot columndesign because o the inherent fexibility that they oer.




notion is vry important or othr products o rmntation in our wash. No mattr whatth concntration and boiling point o a givn impurity, som o it will scap th kttland fnd its way to th distillat throughout th distilling run. This mans that had cutscan nvr b prcis bcaus ths lightr impuritis do not all vaporiz bor th hartsbgin. Likwis, som tail impuritis manag to vaporiz wll bor thy ar xpctd.Compounds with boiling points btwn watr and thanol, such as diactyl at 190ºF mayb impossibl to rmov by distillation. Thror, distilling a bad wash nvr maks agood whisky— and a good whisky always starts with a good wash.

High-sparation vodka stills mploy a rux column with many plats whr vapors cancondns, thn lik small kttls, r-vaporiz th nw nrichd liquid, urthr nriching thvapor. Multipl cycls o condnsation and r-boiling, on cycl pr plat, occur in a singl

pass as vapors ris through th column bor distillat is drawn rom th still nar thtop. evn ths stills can not nrich byond 96.5% ABV bcaus thanol and watr orm anazotrop whr som mix ratios hav a boiling point not btwn th boiling points o thconstitunts. This prvnts complt distillation. Nonthlss, rux columns attachd topot still can sharpn sparation, making had and tail cuts asir, but most bliv thatthis lads to a lssr whisky bcaus th clanr sparation strips away charactr. Artisandistillrs want to prsrv th charactr o thir whisky, so i a column is mployd, thplats ar opnd to rduc rux and mor closly match th rsults rom th nck andarm o a traditional whisky still.

I your kttl tmpratur is 198.5ºF thn your kttl contains 9% thanol and th vaporcontains 59% thanol. As th run gos on, thanol is rmovd rom th kttl, th kttl

tmpratur riss toward 212ºF and th vapor concntration dcrass.

THE DIFFERENT TypES OF STILLS

Thr ar a numbr o dirnt dsigns o stills. Th most basic dsign is a “pot still,”with a pip lading rom th lid into a condnsr coil. Th condnsr coil can ithr b longnough to air cool th vapors or it can b shortr and immrsd in a watr jackt. Such astill aords minimum sparation sinc thr is almost no sparation o th vapors oncthy lav th boilr. Although this dsign o still is not suitabl or producing bvragalcohol by modrn standards, it will still concntrat an 8 or 10% abv wash to 60% in aairly ast run.

Th nxt typ o still is th “whisky still,” somtims calld a “goosnck still.” Thisdsign is tchnically a orm o pot still and has bn in us or cnturis or commrcialwhisky production, and is just as popular today in modrn whisky distillris as it hasvr bn. A whisky still has a larg boilr with a long broad nck rising rom it. Thnck bnds at th top and lads to a condnsr coil immrsd in watr. This dsign is vrysimilar to th crud pot still, xcpt th tall broad nck aords nough sparation to holdback most o th usl alcohols rom th distillat whil rtaining th dsird avors in thfnishd spirit. Thy ar suitd to th production o whisky, brandy, rum, schnapps, and




othr non-nutral spirits, or which thy ar vry widly usd commrcially. Howvr, thwhisky still is not suitabl or th production o vodka, gin, or othr spirits drivd romnutral alcohol, which rquirs a high-sparation still capabl o producing pur thanol.

This brings us to th high-sparation still dsign calld a “column still” or a “ractionat-ing still.” A ractionating still is usd to produc pur thanol by ractional distillation orvodka and gin, or or pharmacutical and laboratory us.

[Fige 1] thi i a abe ad gaph of boiig poi fo ehao/wae ixeb voe. (Hi— cop hi ad pae i oo o i).




In smallr ractionating stills th vapors mrging rom th boiling mixtur pass up acolumn packd with small pics o glass, cramic, stainlss stl, coppr or othr matrial,inrt to th procss. This matrial is calld th “column packing.” In largr ractionatingstills, th columns hav ba plats with hols or bubbl caps instad o packing matrial.each pic o packing, or bubbl cap, can hold a small amount o liquid, ithr intrnally(i thy hav intrnal crvics) or in th intrstics btwn adjacnt particls. At th topo th column, th mrging vapor is condnsd into a liquid by mans o a hat xchangrwith cold watr running through it. Th condnsd liquid runs back down th columnuntil it rachs th boilr whr it is rhatd, convrtd into vapor onc mor, and oncagain movs up th column.

At quilibrium, which taks about an hour to achiv in th cas o pur-thanol produc-

tion, th systm consists o vapor rising up th column mting a ow o liquid runningdown th column rom th hat xchangr. At ach vapor-liquid intrac on th packingmatrial within th column, a partial sparation occurs whrin th mor volatil compo-nnts o th mixtur go into th vapor phas and ris whil th lss volatil componnts gointo th liquid phas and ar carrid down toward th boilr. At quilibrium, th variouscomponnts in th mixtur bcom stackd up in th column in th ordr o thir boilingpoints, th most volatil at th top and th last volatil at th bottom.

Thr’s a variation o ractionating still calld th “continuous-run still.” With th con-tinuous-run dsign o ractionating still, th rmntd wash is d into a small boilingchambr rom a rsrvoir and is vaporizd immdiatly upon ntry to th chambr. Thdirnt componnts o th mixtur ar drawn o at various hights along th column,

and th spnt rsidu is draind o at th bottom. This procss can continu indfnitlyas long as rmntd wash is d into th boiling chambr. Acton, or xampl, would bcontinuously drawn o rom th top o th column whil thanol would b continuouslydrawn o rom a point a littl urthr down.

Th last still dsign to b discussd in this txt is th “rux still.” A rux still is vrysimilar in dsign to th ractionating still xcpt it dosn’t hav a hat xchangr at th topo th column orcing a complt condnsation o all th vapor that rachs th top. It hasa packd column lik a ractionating still, but th vapor that rachs th top xits to thcondnsr and is rcivd as output. Whil a rux still bnfts by th puriying procsso th rdistilling at th packing suracs lik a ractionating still dos, without th orcdrux o a top hat xchangr it dosn’t produc as pur a nutral thanol as a ractionat-ing still. Howvr, rux stills ar vry commonly usd in th artisan distillation o whisky,and othr non-nutral spirits, and it’s this typ o still that will b discussd in th rst o this txt.

Most artisan stills ar o th rux or pot column dsign bcaus o th inhrnt x-ibility that thy or. Th bst known manuacturrs o pot and rux stills ar: Vndom,Holstin, Christian Carl, and Forsyth. Th Indx contains a complt list o manuactur-







rs. Ths brands o still com with multipl bubbl-cap trays, and ach tray can b by-passd by oprating a lvr. Ths stills can also b purchasd with a dphlgmator, whichis a chilling apparatus at th top o th column comprisd o a bank o tubs with coldwatr running through thm to incras th rux, and thror th purity o th distil-lat. Th still can b opratd with th dphlgmator disabld, or with cold watr runningthrough it at whatvr rat th oprator chooss. Btwn th variability o th dphlgma-tor and th ability to bypass, or not, th multipl bubbl-cap trays, just about any lvl o sparation can b achivd with ths artisan stills. That’s why thy mak such xcllntwhisky stills.

THE FLAvOR OF SHApE

Th whisky still has our parts: pot, swan nck, lyn arm, and condnsr. Th shap o ach sction acts rctifcation and th tast o th spirits. Thr atd (to 172º). It can bhatd by dirct fr, stam, gas, or wood. All systms hav advantags and disadvantags.Thr is no right way to hat wash. Most manuacturrs, howvr, prr a doubl-jacktdstam-watr systm that provids a gntl hat to th wash. Mainly, you don’t want toburn th wash. Most pots hav a sight glass so th distillr can chck or oaming duringth distillation procss.

n Th swan nck sits on top o th pot. It can b tall, short, straight, or taprd. Otn thswan nck is connctd to th pot via an og, a bubbl-shapd chambr. Th og allowsth distillat to xpand, condns, and all back into th pot during distillation. Most potstills hav a taprd swan nck, allowing or bttr sparation and bttr nriching o th

spirits during distilling.

n Th lyn arm sits on top o th swan nck. It can b tiltd up or down, and it can btaprd or straight. Most arms ar taprd down. Otn pot stills ar fttd with a dphlg-mator, or what th Scots call a purifr. Th dphlgmator is fttd with bas that uswatr plats or tubs to cool th distillat, snding 90 prcnt o it back to th pot. Its mainpurpos is th nrichmnt o th spirits bor thy’r snt on to th condnsr.

n Th condnsr, or worm is usd or cooling th spirits and providing a small stram to acollction tank or pail.

DISTILLATION pROCESS

In distilling parlanc, th compounds in th wash that ar not thanol or watr ar calldcongnrs. Som congnrs such as actaldhyd, mthanol, and crtain strs and ald-hyds, hav boiling points lowr than thanol, whil crtain othr strs, th highr al-cohols (usl alcohols), and watr, hav highr boiling points than thanol. This mansth lowr-boiling-point congnrs com out in high concntration at th bginning o thdistillation run, and th highr-boiling-point ons com out in high concntration towardsth nd o th run, laving th thanol as th most abundant compound during th middlo th run.











tnsiv and a lot o attntion must b paid by th distillr to numrous smallr runs rathrthan on largr run.

Som popl fnd th whisky rom a singl distillation run to b richr and to hav amor natural avor, whil othrs fnd it to b harsh and unrfnd. In this txt, th mor-common doubl-distillation mthod is usd.

MAkINg THE CuTS

Probably th most lusiv part o th distilling procss or making whisky, is makingth cuts rom hads to harts and thn to tails. Making a cut rom on phas to th nxt isth point whr th distillr switchs th output so that itís collctd in a dirnt rcivrthan th prvious phas. At th nd o th spirit run, th hads will b in on containr,

th harts in anothr, and th tails in a third on. Th qustion is, whn to switch rom onphas to th nxt?

exprincd distillrs do this by tast. evn though thr ar masurabl paramtrslik still-had tmpratur and prcnt alcohol o th volving spirit that can b usd to

judg whn to mak th cuts, tast and smll still rmain th most rliabl mthod o d-trmining thm.

Th mpirical paramtrs or judging th cuts ar: th prcnt alcohol o th spirit that’sowing out o th still (i.. th volving spirit); and, th still-had tmpratur. Howvr,ths vary rom on still to th nxt, and vary basd on th proprtis o th low-win (.g.,prcnt alcohol, and quantity). It is possibl to dvlop a consistnt procss using th sam

still and th sam quantity and a ormulation o low-win, such that th paramtrs rmainth sam or ach run. For xampl, i a spirit run is bing don in an artisan rux stillwith low-win that is 35% abv, th bgin-cut (i.. th cut rom hads to harts) is usuallydon whn th volving distillat is at about 80% and whn th still-had tmpratur isabout 180 dgrs. And, th nd-cut (i.., th cut rom harts to tails) is otn don at about65% and whn th still-had tmpratur is about 200 dgrs. Howvr, a spirit distilldrom a straight malt wash, can otn b nd-cut as low as 60%. It’s bcaus o ths nuancsthat smll and tast bcom th only truly rliabl indicators o whn to mak th cuts.

Whn making th bgin-cut, th tast charactristics that th distillr is looking or aras ollows. Whn a spirit run coms to boil and th frst d istillat starts owing rom thstill, this is th bginning o th hads phas. Th distillr can collct a small sampl o th

distillat on a spoon or in a win glass and smll it. At this stag, th distillat will hav thsickning smll o solvnts lik nail polish rmovr or paintbrush clanr. Howvr, borlong this solvnt smll will diminish, and vn whn a sampl is tastd ths compoundswill b vry aint. As th solvnt charactr disappars compltly, th distillat will start totak on a hint o whisky avor. This avor will incras until it bcoms vry pronouncdand highly concntratd. It’s whn this avor is clarly vidnt (i.., mor than just a hint)but is still incrasing in intnsity that th distillr cuts to th harts phas.




To mak th nd-cut th distillr nds to monitor th avor o th harts through thollowing changs in tast. At th bginning o th harts phas, th intnsity o th whis-ky avor will still b incrasing, and will continu to do so until it bcoms vry strong.Howvr, as th harts continu, th intns whisky avor will ad into a smooth, swt,plasant avor that will prsist or most o th harts. Th avor will chang slightly as thharts progrss but it will rmain swt and plasant. Towards th nd o th harts, thavor will start losing its swtnss and a trac o harsh bittrnss will bing to appar inth avour. This harsh, bittr avor is th onst o th tails. Whil a small amount o thisbittrnss is considrd to contribut to th “bit” charactr o th whisky, th distillrshould cut to th tails rcivr bor mush o it is allowd to ntr th harts.

Th tails can b collctd until th volving distillat is down to about 10% and th still-

had tmpratur is about 210 dgrs. Th rason or doing this is to rndr all th r-sidual alcohol that’s lt in th still at th nd o th harts phas. This alcohol can thn brcovrd in a utur spirit run.

Th tails phas starts out bittr, and th bittrnss bcoms mor intns as th tailscontinu, but as th tails progrss, th bittrnss subsids and givs way to a swt-tast-ing watr. This swt watr is calld “backins.”



15 | AmErICAn DIstIllInG InstItutE

Malt Mash or Whisky Prodction250 Gallons or Stipping

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16 | CrAFt oF WHIskEy DIstIllInG




With th “nw” artisan distilling movmnt in th uS, th availability o hand cratdspr prmim spirits has rsltd in an imprssiv array o locally and rgionally pro-dcd spirits or consmrs. Althogh thr ar artisan spirit prodcrs that hav bnarond or clos to 30 yars now, th rapidly growing intrst in ntring this xciting in-dstry sgmnt startd to occr abot 5 yars ago.

In th last copl o yars th intrst has swng towards prodcing darkr spirits,

particlarly whisky, which convnintly is mirroring consmr trnds. So ar, nortnat-ly, most o thos ntring this indstry do not hav a brwing backgrond. D to th lacko xprinc and/or training in th art and scinc o brwing, thr is a void that mstb flld to b sccssl in making a whisky that mts and hoplly xcds consmrxpctations.

This chaptr is intndd to introdc th concpts o mashing maltd barly or thprodction o singl malt whisky withot bcoming too tchnical, bt rathr to introdcth ndamntals rqird to sccsslly prodc a wash that onc distilld can bcoma grat dram.

Bor gtting into th dtails, it is ncssary to dfn som basic trms. All o ths

trms ar dfnd as thy rlat to th prodction o singl malt whisky sing prossion-ally dsignd and bilt qipmnt:

Cbi-t A singl vssls that combins both th nctions o a mash tn and alatr tn. Althogh a chapr option and a spac savr, th s o a singl vssl or bothnctions can limit yor prodction capacity sinc yo cannot latr and mash at th samtim.

… there are two schools of thought in the artisan segment regarding how a whisky wash should be distilled.




Dghig I Trm or mixing watr and malt togthr whn prparing a mash.

Fdai Wae This is th watr that is initially introdcd into th mash tnto both warm it p and to fll th combi-tn with watr to a lvl 1 to 2 inchs abov thlatr scrn. This fll lvl prvnts th malt rom clogging th mash scrn whil yo ardoghing in.

Gi Th ingrdints sd to mak a mash.

Gi Hda A dvic sd to spray hot watr into th crshd malt as it ntrsth mash tn which aids in propr hydration which is rqird or ctiv and fcintstarch convrsion.

H liq ta A ancy nam or a giant watr hatr. This tank is sd to hat thdogh in watr that yo will introdc slowly into yor grist and latr to rais th tmpra-tr o th watr to sparg with.

lae To sparat th liqid “wort” rom th malts atr mashing has bn compltd.

lae t Trm or a vssl whr a compltd mash is transrrd to to allow orth sparation o th malt grains (“dra ”) rom th liqid portion which is known as “wort”(prononcd “wrt”) or in distilling trms, “wash.” Th nam o this vssl coms rom thGrman word latrn which mans “to fltr.”

lae scee Also known as a als bottom, this wdg wir scrn rsts abov thbottom o th latr tn to allow th wort to rn o whil laving th grains bhind.

maed Bae Th sd o th barly plant, which is a typ o grass, that has bnsoakd in watr and allowd to grminat jst ntil th sprot is visibl at th top o thsd and small rootlts dvlop. Th grminatd barly is thn kilnd to stop th grmi-nation procss. This kilning kps th mbryonic plant rom consming too mch o thstarch as it’s nrgy sorc or growth. It is this starch that w wish to harnss or convr-sion into rmntabl sgar which is mad possibl throgh th dvlopmnt o nzymsdring th malting procss. In addition to making starch accssibl, th kilning procssalso dvlops th malt avor w associat with whisky.

mah Th mixtr o maltd barly and watr prior to rmntation.

mahig Th procss whrby hot watr is mixd with maltd barly and hld at atmpratr which will allow th nzyms cratd dring th malting procss to convrtth starchs in th malt to sgars that ar rmntabl, which in this cas is mostly maltos,hnc th origin o th word “malt.-”

mah t Trm or a vssl whr th maltd barly and hot watr ar mixd and hldat a crtain tmpratr to allow or th convrsion o th starchs to rmntabl sgars.




mah t thea ma This is a ancy trm or hat that is lost throgh a mash tn.I yo pr-hat th mash tn with hot watr to abov th tmpratr o that which yointnd to mash prior to doghing in, th thrmal mass is 0. In th intrst o simplicity, Iam sing th assmption that yo ar ollowing this common practic. I yo ar not, thnsom mor laborat calclations ar rqird to dtrmin this loss bcas vry mashtn varis in it’s ability to hold hat. To dtrmin thrmal mass o a cold vssl rqirsmpirical data spcifc to th sbjct vssl rom which yo can thn driv th actor tos in calclations. This topic is byond th scop o this chaptr.

spage To introdc hot watr byond that o th watr sd to complt th mash-ing procss with th prpos o rinsing as mch sgar as possibl rom th mash. Th so this tchniq rdcs th siz o th vssl rqird to complt th mashing procsswhich is a cost and spac savr.

tice f Idie usd to tst or th prsnc o starch in a mash rno. Placfltrd rno on a whit plat in a thin layr, pt a small drop o iodin in th layr. I thcolor changs littl, thr is no starch lt in soltion. I th color changs to bl or black,yo nd to rst th mash rthr.

Wah This trm dnots a rmntd soltion which may or may not incld solidsthat is placd in th still or distillation.

Bor contining into th tchnical dtails o mashing it mst b notd that thrar two schools o thoght in th artisan sgmnt rgarding how a whisky wash shold

b distilld. Thr ar som that bliv a gratr charactr can b drivd by chargingth still with th whol wash withot sparating th grains rom it. On positiv attribto this is that i rmntation is ndrtakn on th whol mash, th rsltant wash willyild slightly mor alcohol d to contining convrsion dring rmntation. Th nga-tiv impact o this practic is that by not sparating th wort rom th grains, yor stillcharg will b signifcantly rdcd vrss jst flling it with th wort. It is intrsting toalso not that all Scotch distillris latr thir wort. This is not mandatd by law likmany o thir practics so it is ithr a historical practic or thy l that thr ar bnftsto sparating th grain rom th wort. So, this is a sbjctiv choic rathr than a objctivtchnical mandat.




Latring th Wort

Th blow dtails ar basd pon latring th wort. I yo intnd to not latr, ignorth latring instrctions, bt all o th othr concpts still apply.

gRIST COMpOSITION

Singl malt whisky can b mad rom a blnd o many typs o maltd barly bt mostar mad rom a singl typ. That bing statd, I am o th bli that blnding malt typssch as 2 row pal, Mnich, aromatic and biscit or xampl, is an ndr xplord topicthat cold or a sbstantial lvl o dirntiation. Prsntly thr ar a w artisan dis-tillris that ar sorcing thir wort rom a brwr’s rglar wort stram (not cstom mador th distillry) that is part o thir sal br prodction and can srv as an illstrationo this concpt.

For th gratst dpth o avor, as o starch convrsion and th highst yild, it isbst to s a 2 row pal al malt that is lly modifd. This is th malt most commonly sdby cratbrwrs and is radily availabl. I a phnolic not is dsird in th fnishd whisky,that ct can b ralizd by blnding in ithr pat smokd malt (Hgh Baird rom thuK is a lading spplir to distillris) or or a mor sbtl ct, rachmalt rom Grmanymay b sd. Yo cold also smok yor own malt with wood blnds that cold bcoma signatr not to yor whisky! This is don to prodc th mch ladd Smokd Portr,a br prodcd by Alaskan Brwing Co. Thy smok thir own aldr wood at a salmon

smokry nar th brwry.Bor mashing th malts mst b crshd. To proprly crsh malt rqirs a mill that

is spcifcally dsignd or crshing malt. Th s o othr typs o mills will grind th grainand plvriz th hsks. Maintaining hsk intgrity is crcial bcas it hlps to clariy thlatr rno and kps th latr scrn rom plgging p. A propr grist has littl orand cold b dscribd as somwhat “grit lik” with mostly intact hsks.

wATER

Thr ar many topics that can b discssd whn addrssing watr sd in mashing.Rathr than go into dtail rgarding watr chmistry, I am going to assm that th watryo plan to s is low in iron, contains no slr and mts potability standards or drink-ing watr. I yo ar going to b sing mnicipal watr, yo will nd to pr-fltr th watrto rmov any chlorin, chloramins or othr chmicals that ar ithr volatil or coldcompromis rmntation. It is bst to hav an indpndnt lab tst yor watr rathr thansing an avrag watr analysis rom th local watr dpartmnt. Thy can tst or dimn-sions that ar important or brwing that watr dpartmnts hav no nd to tst or.




It is crcial or propr starch convrsion to mak sr th pH o yor watr is blow 7.Th optimal pH o a mash is 5.2. Yo can adjst th mash dirctly, bt it is sar to adjstth dogh in watr in cas yo ndrshoot th pH which cold compromis th mash.

To start, adjst th pH o th dogh in watr to 6 and thn s what th pH o th mashis onc doghd in. Th two bst agnts to adjst pH ar ood grad phosphoric or lacticacid and ar inxpnsiv. For thos who do not want to s ths natrally drivd acids,yo can s sarmalz which is an acidifd malt mad in Grmany which brwrs thrs bcas thy ar not allowd to s acids to lowr pH.

Anothr mthod to adjst pH wold b to mak a small “sord mash” by sing lacticacid prodcing bactria to rmnt it. This tchniq is in ssnc how th aormntiond

sarmalz is mad. Attmpting to s this tchniq wold rqir a lot o xprimnta-tion and may tak a whil to rach th dsird rslt consistntly. Anothr concrn i thismthod is mployd is that yo rn th risk o contaminating th pr yast cltrs sdin rglar rmntation or/and cross contamination o yor plant.

Yo cold also s th “st back” which is th wash that is lt in yor still atr a rn.Th concntration procss o distillation also concntrats th acidic natr o wash. Bt,this concntration can vary rom tim to tim so dvloping a consistnt dosing into amash might prov difclt.

To tst pH o mashs, papr tst strips shold not b sd bcas o lack o rang andth darknss o th mash maks radability difclt. It is bst to gt a lab grad pH mtr

rom a scintifc spply vndor. Mak sr to gt on that is atomatically tmpratrcompnsatd (ATC) and has a rplacabl prob that is high tmpratr ratd and willwork proprly in protin containing soltions. Do not s a pH mtr dsignd or gardn-ing. A pH mtr rqirs calibration bor ach s. Prchas a mtr that calibrats singtwo br soltions, on that is pH 4 and th othr, pH 7.

MASHINg

Th ollowing xampl involvs sing a combi-tn which is th most common mash/latring systm. In som plants, a mash mixr and a latr tn ar sd. This typ o sys-tm incrass plant fcincy bcas whil th frst mash is bing latrd, yo can bginmaking anothr mash. In this styl o systm, th mash mixr is sally dirctly hatd via

low prssr stam. Th downsid is th additional xpns o having two sparat vsslsand th additional spac that is rqird.

Th blow xampl also tilizs a hot liqor tank or th prparation and introdctiono watr or both th dogh in and sparging stps. This is prrrd so that yo can mix thwatr with th malt dirctly into th combi-tn. A grist hydrator is also sd so that yocan slowly mix th watr with th malt to prodc a niormly hydratd and smooth mash.It is possibl to dogh in withot on, bt starch balling is invitabl i yo simply dmp




Mash-Lauder Tun: A double jacked tank equipped with a raking arm that mixes barley and

water together producing a sweet barley water that distillers call wash. The tun has a slot-

ted metal false bottom allowing the wash to be separated (drain away) from the grains. It

is then sent on to fermentation. The mash-tun rakes now push the grain out of the ton and

sent for disposal (pig or cattle farm). Finally, spray balls are used to clean the tun.







th crshd malt into th hot watr. Visally it can appar that yo hav brokn p all o th starch balls with a mash paddl, bt in trth thr will still b small clmps that ncap-slat th starch which rdcs xtraction fcincy. A grist hydrator is asy to prchas orbild and is worth th ort and xpns.

Th ormlation o th grist is basd pon targting an ABV o 8%. Th xampl ssa 8 barrl brwing systm which will yild 250 gallons o latrd wash. Th xtract yildwas calclatd at a 75% mash fcincy which is th avrag or prossionally bilt andopratd combi-tns. It is possibl that bor maximizing yor mashing practics that thfcincy may b lowr and thror yo may not collct 8 bbl. o wash at 1.074 SG (17.87Plato, 18.7 Brix). I that is th cas, yo can s mor malt to mak p or th dirnc.ALWAYS ReMeMBeR: It is th starting gravity o th wash that dtrmins whn to stopflling a rmntr, not th total volm. Th xprinc and mpirical data gaind throghsbsqnt batchs will allow yo to maximiz th yild at th propr gravity.

So, lt’s gt mashing!

pREpARE THE HOT LIquOR

• The grist to water ratio for this example is 1.3 quarts of water to 1 pound of grist.(1.23 l watr to .45 kg.grist). I hav chosn this ratio to nsr that both th malt and thhot liqor can ft in th combi-tn. Sinc br brwing qipmnt is mad with th knowl-dg that th mash will b spargd, this ratio is clos to th maximm o what a combi-tn can accommodat. A thickr mash wold srv as a br or nzymatic activity andthror limit starch to sgar convrsion which in th cas o prodcing a distillr’s mash

wold b contrprodctiv.In making washs or distilling w ar mor concrnd with a maximm amont o

yild pr pond o grist sinc w ar not targting th contribtion o n-rmntabl com-ponnts that ar important or avor and body in th wort as is th cas in brwing br. I yo ar ortnat nogh to b abl to s a thinnr ratio yo will still hav to kp in mindthat yo will nd to mak sr that yo still will s nogh watr to sparg th mashproprly othrwis yo will lav xtract bhind.

• If your water chemistry requires it, lter through carbon media and/or treatmentqipmnt rcommndd, installd and maintaind by a prossional watr tratmntcompany.

• Adjust the pH of the water to 6.

• Set the temperature controller to heat the water to dough in temperature. This tem -pratr nds to b st so that onc yor mash is doghd in yo will b at th proprtmpratr or convrsion as combi-tns ar rarly dirctly hatd. To dtrmin thpropr tmpratr yo nd to tak into accont hat losss throgh piping and pmpsas wll as dtrmin how mch tmpratr is lost d to th starting tmpratr o thmalt comprising th grist. Ths losss will vary rom plant to plant. In this xampl I havsd 12 dg. F which is th loss I xprinc at my acility.




Blow ar th inpts sd to calclat th rqirmnts o th mash:Grist Temperature — 75 dgrs F. (24 C)

Ingredients 690# — 2 Row Grat Wstrn Malt (Canada)

Targeted Mash Temperature — 155 dg. F (62.8 C)

Dough In Water Volume — 227.7 gallons(861.9 l, 7.34 uS bbl.)

Mash Tun Thermal Mass — 0 (assms no hat loss to th mash tn)

Heat Loss Due to Piping/Pumping — 12 dg. F (-11.11 C)

Heat Loss to Grist — .017 dg. F pr pond o grist at 75 dg. F. (-17.76 Cpr .45 kg grist)

Water Volume Lost to Grist — 690 # Grist X .12 Watr Loss pr #= 82.8 gallons (313.4 l)

Thror…

Grist Heat Loss — .017 X 690 ponds grist @ 75 dg. F = 11.7 dg. F(-11.27 C)

Piping Plumbing Heat Loss — = 12.0 dg. F (-11.10 C)

Total Heat Loss — = 23.7 dg. F ( -4.61 C)

Targeted Mash Temperature — = 145.0 dg. F ( 62.80 C)

+ Total Hat Loss = 23.7 dg. F (-5.4 C)

Dough In Hot Liquor Temperature — = 168.7 dg. F (75.94 C)

So, or this xampl, yo wold st th hot liqor tmpratr to dogh in at 169 dg.F (76.1 C)

Sparge Water — Byond th 228 gallons that nds to go into th mash, yo will alsond to know how mch sparg watr yo will nd to mak p or th watr that wasabsorbd by th grain (82.8 gallons) and that to rach a rmntabl volm o 250 gallons.

Thror…

Dough In Water Volume — 227.7 gallons (861.9 l, 7.34 uS bbl.)

• Water Loss to Grain 82.8 gallons (313.4 l) = Mash Tun Wort

Volm: 144.9 gallons (548.49 l, 4.67 uS bbl.)

Frmntabl Volm Targtd: 250.0 gallons

• Mash Tun Wort Volume: 144.9 gallons = Makeup Sparge

Watr Rqird: 105.1 gallons (397.83 l, 3.39 uS bbl.)

Now, I wish this calclation was that asy, bt it is not. This dos not tak into acconthow mch ondation watr yo pt in th mash tn prior to doghing in. It also dos nottak into accont how mch loss to dadspac that is prsnt in yor vssl nor th pip-ing lading to th hydrator and sparg mchanism. Ths variabls ar dirnt or vry




systm and mst b accontd or to achiv consistnt rslts. Th biggst thing that thiscalclation dos not accont or is th watr that rmains atr yo hav stoppd sparging.To sparg proprly yo mst maintain th 1.5 to 2” o sparg watr abov th top o thgrain bd to nsr that all o th mash is rinsd qally. Sinc th gomtry o mash tnscan vary, th amont o additional sparg watr yo will nd to prpar will also varyrom systm to systm. Th frst tim yo prodc a mash, mak sr to hav mor watrprpard than yo will nd. Tak dtaild watr sag nots rom that sssion and thnyo will know th right volms o watr or sbsqnt batchs.

Th abov calclations can b don or yo sing inxpnsiv sotwar that also hlpswith ormlation and rmntation tracking. Th bst on is ProMash which has a vryrobst st o tools that is wll sitd to mashing and rmntation or a distillry. ($24.95,

www.promash.com).

pREpARE THE COMbI-TuN

• Introduce the foundation water through the grist hydrator. This pre-heats the mashtn. Stop th fll whn th watr lvl is 1 to 2” abov th mash scrn.

• Begin introducing the hot liquor and grain simultaneously through the grist hydrator.Control th introdction o both watr and malt so that whil constantly stirring th twowith a mash paddl, yo can prodc a smooth mash with no lmps. For a svn barrlmash, this shold tak at last 30 mints.

• Once dough in is complete, put the mash tun cover back on to help retain heat. Takea tmpratr and pH rading to s how clos yo cam to th targt o 145 dg. F (62.8

C) and pH 5.2. I yo did not nail ths targts, mak a not o how ar yo wr o so yocan dtrmin what adjstmnts ar rqird or sbsqnt batchs.

• Re-set the hot liquor tank’s temperature controller to 190 deg. F (195 deg. F — my12 dg. F tmpratr loss wold rslt in a 183 dg. F sparg watr tmpratr. This isto prpar th watr or sparging. I yo hav a rcirclation loop (hoplly!) srving thhot liqor tank, mak sr it is oprating to prvnt tmpratr stratifcation. Th rasonor th high tmpratr is to rdc th viscosity (thicknss) o th mash liqid so it rnso rly. Althogh viscosity rdction is dsird in rnos or br prodction, this higho a tmpratr is not sd bcas it wold carry ovr tannins into th fnishd prodctrndring it harsh. Sinc w ar distilling o th liqid, this is not a concrn.

• After the mash has set for 45 minutes, take a small sample of the runoff, lter it

throgh a co fltr to rmov any grain spcks and tst it or convrsion sing tinctro iodin. (s procdr in dfnitions sction). I th tst is ngativ, yo can bgin sparg-ing, othrwis, yo mst contin mashing ntil yo rach a ngativ rslt.

• After the mash has passed the iodine test, introduce the sparge water slowly and in-dirctly so that it dos not channl th mash. Allow th watr lvl to ris 1.5 to 2 inchsabov th mash bd bor starting th rno. Slowly allow th wort to rno at th samrat as yo ar introdcing th sparg watr. Doing so any astr will rn th risk o plg-




ging p th mash scrn or channlizing th mash which will lav xtract bhind. A latrtim o 60 to 90 mints is normal.

How do yo know whn to stop rnning o?

Contrary to what yo might think, it is not “whn th rmntr is ll.” It is whnth contnts o th rmntr ar at th targt gravity. W ar targting an 8% ABV in orrmntd wash.

Th ormlation abov shold yild a starting gravity o 1.074 SG (17.87 Plato/18.7Brix) and i rmntd proprly will fnish at 1.012 SG (3 Plato, 8.95 Brix). Raching thstargts will yild a wash with 8.16% ABV.

Note: Brix readings are typically taken using a refractometer due to accuracy and ease of use.

Onc a soltion bgins rmnting th alcohol in soltion changs how light is r-ractd. Th Brix fgrs or fnishing gravity abov ar corrctd or this rractiv dir-nc. Th aormntiond sotwar, ProMash, has a bilt in calclator to accomplish thisconvrsion.

As th wort is rnning o, tak rqnt masrmnts at th rmntr to mak srthat yo rach th targt SG.

It is important to mak sr that th wort is aratd with ithr stril air or proxygn as it is bing snt to th rmntr. Yast rqir oxygn to prpar or thir rpro-dctiv phas. Atr that point, th nvironmnt mst b kpt anarobic. NeVeR intro-dc oxygn atr rmntation has startd! Aration is typically accomplishd throgh anin-lin air “ston” that is attachd to th otlt o th hat xchangr. A ston can also b

installd in th rmntr to achiv th sam rslt. Simply bbling oxygn or stril airinto th rmntr withot a ston will not b vry ctiv bcas th bbbls mst bqit small to go into soltion. I yo s pr oxygn to arat, it is vry important to nots too mch oxygn as it is toxic to th yast and will lad to poor rmntation rslts.I yo s an oil lss comprssor qippd with an air drir and a stril air fltr, it is notpossibl to ovr arat th wort.

Mak sr to only pitch yast atr th wort is 70 - 72 dg. F (21 - 22 C). Dring rmn-tation yast prodc a good bit o hat which can rais th tmpratr o th wort p to 12dgrs F or mor. I th wort is cast into th rmntr at a highr tmpratr than thatand th yast is addd, it can sriosly act th rmntation otcom and possibly killnogh yast that it barly rmnts. For whisky, mak sr to st th tmpratr controls

no highr than 80 dg. F to maintain a propr rmntation.




3DistillationPrinciples




1 mah-lae , 2,000 b of bae a, podcig33 bae of 9% wah. (J de 1,000 gao).

2 Feeaio a hod ied 950 gao of wah.the F-2 ecoda a, hod bigh bee wah pio o diiig.

3 the 450 gao wah i ow ae wo ippig. (no pae).

4 Coecio a ow hod 290 gao of 35% ow wie o 70 poof pii.

5 I he 90 gao (340 ie) po-co i. (Paeope). mae 3 pii doig head ad ai c.Fia ied, 100 gao of hea a 60% avb. (120

poof). Fo baeig.6 Bae ix oh o wo ea, die whie o

40% abv. o 80 poof fo boig.




The aim o this chapter is to provide detailed instructions on how to distill the 945gallons o malt wash produced in C hapter 3 to produce 53 gallons (1 barrel) o 120 proo (barrel strength) malt whiskey. The instructions are based using the 240-gallon copper potstill to do the primary distillation, and the 90-gallon German pot still to do the second(fnal) distillation.

bACkgROuND

Whiskey in North America is distilled in two dierent ways. One is by continuous distil-lation in a column still, and the other is by an intermittent process in batch stills. Batchstills are stills that have a pot that is flled with a fxed quantity o the substrate to be dis-tilled (i.e. a batch). There are basically two methods o pot distillation.

Method OneTwo distillation runs are done using the same still or both runs. Thespirit still is run with the plates open, and a primary distillation is done on all the wash.

This run produces a low wine o 25 to 55% abv depending on the alcohol o the wash andspeed o the run.

Then a spirit run is done on the low wine produced by the primary distillation using thesame still with one plate down to produce a yield 70 to 75% abv. This is watered back to60% abv and barreled.

Whiskey in North America is distilled in two different ways.One is by continuous distillation in a column still, and theother is by an intermittent process in batch stills.




Method Two The two distillations are done in separate special-purpose stills, namelya “wash still” and “spirit still”. The wash is distilled in the wash still to produce a low wineo 25 to 55% abv. The low wine is then distilled in the spirit still to 70 or 75% abv. This iswatered back to 60% abv or barreling.

bEER-STRIppINg

The frst step in distilling whiskey is to do a crude primary distillation o the wash calleda beer-stripping run. The output o a beer-stripping run is called low-wine, and the low-wine is the input to the fnal distillation (i.e., the spirit run), which produces the fnishedwhiskey. The beer-stripping runs will be done in a larger still o 240-gallons capacity. Sincethere are 945 gallons o wash to be stripped and the capacity o this still is only 240 gallons,

the wash will be stripped in our 235-gallon runs.

The purpose o the beer-stripping is to concentrate the alcohol and the congeners in thewash into a substrate o about 35% abv.

To do a beer-stripping run, the 240-gallon still is loaded with 235 gallons o wash, andthe steam heat is applied to the boiler. When the wash comes to boil, the heat should beadjusted to deliver a ast ow rate into the receiver. For a stripping run, there ‘s no need toseparate out heads, hearts, and tails. The idea is to simply do a ast, crude primary distilla-tion on the wash.

Initially, the percent alcohol o the aggregate distillate in the receiver will be well over80% abv, but as the run progresses, the percent alcohol will drop. The beer-stripping is to

be continued until the percent alcohol o the aggregate distillate is down to 25% abv. At thispoint, the still-head temperature will be close to 212 degrees.

Note: The percent alcohol to be monitored here is the entire aggregate of distillate in the receiver,and not the percent alcohol of the evolving spirit as measured at the parrot.

When the distillate is down to 25% abv, the still can be shut down and the residuedrained. Repeat this process on the remaining three quarters o the wash.

When the entire 945 gallons o wash has been stripped, you will have a total o about 300gallons or more o 35% abv. low-wine, and you will be ready to proceed to the spirit-runstep.

SpIRIT RuN

The spirit run is the fnal distillation that produces the fnished whiskey. It’s done in aspirit still, and must be perormed careully at the proper heat level and ow rate, with thecorrect bubble-cap trays selected, and with special attention being paid to the begin- andend-cuts to ensure a proper separation o heads, hearts, and tails. Since there are 300 ormore gallons o low-wine and the capacity o the spirit still is only 90 gallons, the low-winewill be distilled in our 75-gallon runs.







1 mah- ae 2,000 b of bae gai. Feeaio podcig 33 bae of 9% wa. (J de 1,000 gao).

2 sip he wah aig e, 90 gao “fa” wih he pae ope. no head o ai c. toacoecio fo , 120 gao of 35% abv. (140 poof).

3 two pii , aig head ad ai c. yied 100 gao of 70% abv. (140 poof).

4 Bae age. to boe, die whie o 40% abv.

5 noe, becaae he i i a i ae 12 (a ea wo da) o podce 100 gao of

whie. soio o he pobe i ig a age i fo ippig ad a i fo the

pii .




1 mah- ae 2,000 b of bae gai. Feeaio podcig 33 bae of 9% wa. (J de 1,000 gao).

2 Wih o op pae coe ae 11 aig head ad ai c. yiedig 100 gao of 65% abv.(140 poof).

5 Bae age. to Boe. die whie o 40% abv.

Note: It would be very interesting to taste a whiskey that has been double distilled and a whiskey that was

produced using single pass.




To do a spirit run, the 90-gallon spirit still is loaded with one quarter (approx, 75 gallons)o 25% abv low-wine, the required bubble-cap trays are enabled, steam heat is applied tothe boiler, and the ow should be set to the heads receiver. When the wash comes to boil,the steam pressure should be adjusted to the correct level or running whiskey.

Initially, the percent alcohol o the distillate at the parot will be close to 90% abv andthe spirit run will be in its heads phase. The distillate will be set to ow into the headsreceiver at this point. As the run progresses, the percent alcohol at the parot will decrease.It’s important that the distiller takes a small sample o the distillate every ew minutes andsmells and tastes it. At frst, the distillate will smell o acetaldehyde and other pungentchemical-like smells. When such smells are evident, it’s not necessary to taste the spirit. Asthe distillation continues, this chemical-like smell will diminish and the percent alcohol atthe parot will decrease.

Ater a short while, the chemical-like smell will no longer be evident, and there will onlybe a aint taste o it. A little while longer, the distillate will smell and taste almost neutral.Shortly ater this, the distillate will begin to taste o whiskey, and this avor will becomequite intense. This is the point where the distiller must begin-cut to the hearts phase, andset the ow into the hearts receiver. The percent alcohol at the parot at the begin-cut willbe about 80% abv, and or a distiller not yet amiliar with judging the begin-cut by taste,80% abv at the parot is a good empirical measurement with which to judge the begin-cut.

As the distillation progresses, the intense whiskey avor will subside and the distillatewill take on a smooth, pleasant sweetness. This pleasant sweetness will continue but as the

percent alcohol decreases, it will become more diluted tasting. And, as the tails phase ap-proaches, a bitterness will begin to creep into the avor, and past a certain point, althoughthe distillate will still have a sweetness to it, it will no longer taste pleasant. It’s around thispoint that the distiller should end-cut to the tails phase, and set the ow into the tails re-ceiver. At the end-cut, the percent alcohol at the parot will be between 60 and 65% abv. Anall-malt whiskey will usually end-cut a little lower than a corn or rye whiskey. It’s quite com-mon or a corn whiskey to end-cut at 64 or 65% abv, and or an all-malt whiskey to end-cutat 60 or 61% abv. Again, this empirical measurement is a good indicator by which a distillercan judge the end-cut i they are not yet amiliar with judging by taste. At the end-cut, thedistiller must set the ow into the tails receiver

The tails phase should be continued until the percent alcohol at the parrot is about 10%.

The still-head temperature will be about 212 degrees, and the still can be shut down andthe residue drained. At this point, the heads and the tails can be combined and stored as“eints” or uture processing. Repeat this process on the remaining three quarters o thelow-wine.

Ater the completion o the spirit runs, you will have close to 60 gallons o hearts at be-tween 68 and 72% abv, and about 105 gallons o about 40% abv eints. O course, these pro-portions can vary rom one spirit still to another. Keep in mind, a subsequent batch made




by this same ormulation, would have the 105 gallons o eints added to the low-wine goinginto the spirit run, and would yield considerably more hearts than the 60 gallons rom thisvery frst run where there was no eints.

The 60 or so gallons o hearts are the fnished malt whiskey and you will be ready toproceed to the barrel-aging step.




Barrl Aging

4













Whn nw whisky is rshly distilld, it’s colorlss and posssss only th avor andaroma o th grain and th alcohol. It’s rom aging in charrd oak barrls that th whiskyacqirs its color, complxity, and richnss o avor. Th aim o this chaptr is to giv anndrstanding o th barrl-aging procss and its importanc to th prodction o fnwhisky, and to provid dtaild instrctions on how to ag th 53 gallons (on distillrybarrl) o malt whisky distilld in Chaptr 4, and prodc th fnal spirit.

bACkgROuND

It’s still a mystry as to how th barrl conrs its lbricios ct on th aging spirit.W do know that aging is rlatd to th chmical changs that tak plac as a rslt o ractions with th alcohol and congnrs in th spirit throgh oxidation and xtraction o chmicals rom th oak. Factors acting this aging procss ar: prcnt alcohol o th spir-it; th lvl o charring o th oak; th tmpratr and hmidity in th aging warhos;th siz o th barrl; and o cors, th lngth o tim th aging taks plac.

Prcnt Alcohol o th Spirit: Th lvl o lignin ractions, lignin drivativs, vanillins,and tannin xtractd rom th oak, as wll as th amont o congnrs ormd, ar dpn-dnt on th alcohol concntration.

Whil a high-alcohol concntration, sch as 80%, xtracts mor o th bnfcial com-ponds and color, it can also xtract mor tannin, which imparts too mch astringncyand harshnss to th avor. Additionally, th highr th alcohol contnt, th mor watrthat has to b addd to dilt it to bottling strngth whn th aging is fnishd. This alsodilts th barrl contribtion. So, it has bn dtrmind that or whisky aging in nwbarrls, 55 to 65% abv is th optimm strngth to achiv a balanc o barrl xtraction andcolor, with lowr tannins. It also rdcs th diltion o th barrl componds at bottling

We do know that aging is related to the chemical changes that take place as a result of reactions with the alcohol and congeners in thespirit through oxidation and extraction of chemicals from the oak.




tim. Howvr, this lowr alcohol concntration also rslts in slowr aging as th rat o chmical chang and barrl xtraction is rdcd. Barrls that ar sd mor than onc canag strongr spirits sinc th harsh tannins hav bn diminishd by th prvios contnts.

At 55 to 65% abv, barrls wr ond to hav a gratr porosity or watr, with th slalcohols, acids, strs, aldhyds, and rral bing rtaind. Frthr stdis confrmdthat ths lowr strngths rslt in an incras in alcohol contnt atr aging, whras adcras in strngth is ond whn spirits ar agd at highr alcohol concntrations.

Tmpratr and Hmidity: Th hmidity in th warhos also plays a signifcantrol. High hmidity sally rslts in a dcras in alcohol strngth, and dry warhosssally hav th opposit ct. Hmidity also acts th charactr o th fnal spirit. It hasbn ond that th xtraction o vanillin is bttr at low hmidity. Low-hmidity agingdos gnrally rslt in spirits that hav a bttr snsory qality.

Th tmpratrs in th warhos act th oxidation ractions that tak plac in thspirit, and highr tmpratrs acclrat ths ractions. Sinc ths ar grat contrib-tors to th aging o th spirit, it’s obviosly advantagos to ag at highr tmpratrs. Ac-ids and strs incras d partly to th oxidation o th thanol to actic acid via actald-hyd which is thn partially convrtd to thyl actat (an str). Thror, a consqnco aging is an incras in th concntration o acids, strs, rral, tannins, and aromaticcomponds as a rslt o oxidation, condnsations, and othr intractions with th wood.

Tropical tmpratrs, spcially whn thr ar variations btwn night and day, aridal or astr aging, and it has bn ond that aging may not tak plac dring th wintr

in tmprat climats i th warhos is not hatd. Movmnt o barrls dring th agingpriod will also hlp, bt this is obviosly not a practical approach.

TypE OF OAk

Th typ o oak also plays a rol. eropan oak is not as dns as Amrican whit oak,so yo gt a highr color bt som harshnss. It is also intrsting to not that onc-sdborbon stavs shippd to Scotland ar rbilt with nw, largr hads so that th 53-gallonbarrls ar rbilt into 63-gallon hogshads. Th prior-contnts o th barrl also inncth tast o th prodct to b agd. A shrry cask will giv th spirit a mor rity charactrthan a borbon barrl, and i it was an Oloroso shrry, color dvlopmnt will b astr.

Nw barrls will impart a darkr color and richr avor, bt th mor dlicat spirits tak

on mor harshnss atr aging.

THE LEvEL OF CHARRINg AND

THE uSE OF OAk CHIpS (STAvES)

Spirits agd in charrd barrls matr astr than thos agd in toastd or non-charrdbarrls. Th charring procss or nw barrls dfnitly contribts to th aging o a spirit.It acts lik an activatd-carbon fltr to adsorb slr componds and it provids a passag




or th spirit into th pors o th oak. In th unitd Stats a ll-dpth charring o barrls(i.., 1/8 inch) sd to ag Amrican straight whisky is prdicatd by law. This is in spito th act that ovr-charring can actally dstroy som o th avors that ar ndd todvlop th fnish o th spirit. This is why toasting, or vn a light char, may b a bttrrot, bt it is illgal in th unitd Stats to ag straight whiskis, sch as borbon, in any-thing bt lly-charrd barrls. A mdim-dpth char is rqird jst to crack th wood,and a havir char brns p wood componds that wold only b caramlizd by a low- ormdim-lvl char.

Charrd barrls prodc a dpr colord spirit (tmpratr is also a contribtor)and thr is a gratr prodction o strs.

It has bn ond that th mor dlicat-avord spirits lik malt whisky, Canadianwhisky, and rm ar ovrpowrd by th oak contribtion o nw charrd barrls, so thsspirits ar agd in onc-sd borbon barrls, among othr typs o sd barrls, to giv amch mor balancd avor profl.

Toastd oak chips (or stavs) can b addd to a barrl to provid additional lignin andvanillin, this can agmnt th aging ct o a barrl. Thy do provid a signifcantly dir-nt congnr profl than that prodcd by a onc-sd charrd barrl. And, sinc pttingtoastd stavs in whisky barrls is lgal in th unitd Stats, thy ar otn sd by bor-bon distillris to contribt an additional mllow swtnss to whisky that wold notnormally bnft by this as mch sinc th borbon barrls ar lly charrd as pr uS law.

In smmary, a charrd barrl contribts color, vanillin, hony, spic, viscosity, and a

myriad o othr avors to a whisky that can b dtctd by th xprincd tastr.

ANgELS’ SHARE

As spirits ag in barrls, th porosity o th wood rslts in a crtain amont o vapo-ration. In a standard distillry barrl (i.. 53 gallons) abot 10% o th rmaining spirit inth barrls vaporats ach yar. And, it’s not nsal or a barrl o fn 15-yar-old singlmalt Scotch whisky to b lss than hal ll whn it’s rady to b bottld.

This loss o spirit d to vaporation is actionatly known as ìth angls’ sharî.Dpnding on th tmpratr and hmidity conditions, discssd abov, th vaporationwill rslt in an incras in prcnt alcohol or a dcras. Th actal incras or dcrasis rally a nction o mor watr vaporating than alcohol, or vic vrsa. For xampl,

high-hmidity warhoss rslt in a dcras in prcnt alcohol, and lowr-hmidity onsrslt in an incras.

SIzE OF bARREL

All o th prior discssion on barrl aging and its associatd proprtis has bn basdon aging spirits in a standard 53-gallon distillry barrl. For xampl, a top-qality bor-bon is agd ntil it’s ìradyî. Bcas borbon, lik all Amrican straight whiskis, is agd




in nw charrd oak barrls, thr’s a point in th aging procss whn th oak contrib-tion can go too ar, and th whisky taks on a cloying, ovrpowring astringncy. This iswhy borbon distillris monitor th tast o thir aging whiskis rqntly past a crtainpoint to dtrmin whn it’s “rady.” And, this point tnds to all btwn six and ightyars in th barrl. With borbon, th saying “th oldr, th bttr” simply dosn’t apply.

Howvr, this six-to-ight-yars applis to 53-gallon barrls. I a dirnt sizd barrlis sd thn th dynamics chang, and vals lik lngth o tim in th barrl, th rat atwhich lignin and vanillins ar xtractd, tc ar compltly dirnt. Th rason or thisis volm incrass by a powr o 3 rlativ to th dimnsions, whil srac ara only in-crass by a powr o 2 rlativ to th dimnsions. That is to say, th amont o srac arao wood pr gallon o spirit is gratr in a smallr barrl and lss in a biggr barrl.

So, i a distillr agd his/hr whisky in 5-gallon barrls rathr than 53-gallon ons,thr wold b a considrably gratr srac ara o wood xposd to a gallon o spiritthan in a 53-gallon barrl. And, th whisky ags mch astr.

Smallr barrls ag th whisky astr and impart lignin and vanillin, and also tannin,astr as wll. And, a good-qality borbon can b agd ot in only thr to six months ina 5-gallon barrl. In act, any longr and th whisky wold go ovr th top and bcomastringnt and bittr.

It’s important to not that th avor profl is a littl dirnt or a whisky agd in asmallr barrl, bt not a dirnc that is ncssarily inrior or sprior. Also, th angls’shar is gratr or a smallr barrl, bt this is amply mitigatd by th dramatically shortr

aging tim.Smallr barrls ar mch mor xpnsiv and tak p mor spac in th warhos

than largr ons pr nit capacity. For xampl, tn 5-gallon barrls wold tak p a lotmor warhos spac than on 53-gallon barrl, and thy wold cost a lot mor.

Howvr, thr’s an incrasing trnd among small, start-p whisky distillris to ssmallr barrls whil thy ar gtting stablishd in th markt plac d to th ast trn-arond on aging. Th on aspct o starting p a nw whisky distillry that impds mostntrprnrs is th long aging priod o six to ight yars bor bing abl to start sllingthir prodct. evn th minimm o two yars prdicatd by law is too long or most start-ps, and atr only two yars o aging, th prodct wold b sbstandard and not likly tomarkt wll anyway.

Howvr, with small barrls trning ot an xcllnt prodct in only thr to sixmonths, starting p a whisky distillry is asibl. And, atr a distillry is wll stablishd,it maks sns to go to th standard 53-gallon barrl to raliz th conomis o scal.




AgINg THE 53-gALLONS OF MALT wHISkEy pRODuCED IN CHApTER 4

As mntiond abov, Amrican straight whiskis ar agd in nw charrd oak bar-rls, whil mor dlicat avord spirits lik th malt whisky prodcd in th prvioschaptrs ar agd in sd-onc barrls, sch as sd borbon barrls. So, to ag or maltwhisky, an mpty borbon barrl is rqird.

pREpARINg THE bARREL

I th barrl was rcntly mptid and thr ar no visibl signs o major lakag any-whr on th barrl, thn it’s rady or flling. Howvr, i th barrl has bn mpty orawhil, and th wood has drid ot, th barrl will lak btwn its stavs. So, it will hav tob rhydratd to swll ot th wood to clos all th laks. This is don by placing th barrlnar a drain and flling it ll o watr with a hos. Th barrl will lak so adjst th watrow so that th barrl stays ll. It typically taks 24 to 48 hors or th barrl to sal itsl,and th rat o flling can b trnd down vry w hors. I atr rhydrating th barrlor 48 hors, thr’s still a lak btwn two stavs, fnd whr along th stavs th watr islaking, and tak abot a 1/2 inch wood chisl and hammr it into th oak abot a º inchdp, and abot a 1/2 inch rom th sam btwn th stavs. Do this on both stavs onach sid o th lak. Thn tak two small wdgs o cdar and hammr on into ach slitmad with th chisl. This will tightn th sam btwn th two stavs and sal th lak.Do this or all laks btwn th stavs. Onc th barrl is sald, it shold b kpt ll o watr ntil th whisky is rady to go in.

DILuTINg THE wHISkEy

As xplaind abov, 55 to 65% abv is th optimm rang o prcnt alcohol or barrl-aging whisky, so or or malt whisky w’r going to dilt it to 60% abv.

In a vat capabl o containing at last 53 gallons, prpar a 53-gallon qantity o 60%malt whisky by dilting th harts rom th spirit rn in Chaptr 4 to 60% abv with prwatr (i.. distilld or RO watr).

Th diltion calclation shold b don sing th ollowing ormla:

Qantity o harts = 53 X 0.6 / prcnt alcohol o harts

Qantity o pr watr = 53 - Qantity o harts

exampl: Say, th harts wr 70% abv

Qantity o harts = 53 X 0.6 / 0.7 = 45.43 gallons o hart

Qantity o pr watr = 53 - 45.43 gallons = 7.57 gallons o pr watr

O cors, yo may chos to dilt th ntir qantity o harts to 60% abv, and to doso, yo wold s th ollowing ormla to calclat th amont o pr watr to add:




Qantity o pr watr = Qantity o harts X prcnt alcohol o harts / 0.6 - Qantityo harts

exampl: Say, thr was 60 gallons o harts at 70% abv

Qantity o pr watr = 60 gallons X 0.7 / 0.6 - 60 gallons = 10 gallons o pr watr

On th othr hand, yo may not want to bothr with calclations, so yo cold simplydilt th harts to 60% abv by jdiciosly adding small amonts o pr watr and mixingthoroghly ntil th alcoholmtr rads 60% abv.

Nxt, mak sr all th watr has bn mptid ot o th barrl and thn fll th bar-rl with th 60% abv whisky. Hammr a bch wood or poplar bng into th bng hol.

Thn, plac th barrl whr it can b asily obsrvd ovr th nxt copl o wks.

This is a priod whr th barrl is prood to mak crtain it dosn’t hav any rsidallaks. Atr th barrl is prood and it’s clar that th barrl is not going to lak, it sholdb placd in th location whr it’s going to b agd or a nmbr o yars.

As was pointd ot abov, hot placs that xprinc tmpratr swings ar th bstlocations to sitat barrls with aging spirits, so th barrl shold b sitatd baring thisin mind.

Also, i th barrl can b shakn or jostld back and orth priodically, this will spdp th aging procss.

I th barrl is placd in a hot, rasonably dry location, and can b shakn occasionally,th whisky will ag ot nicly in abot thr yars. So, it’s important that th whisky b

sampld vry w wks or vry month atr th frst 18 months o aging.To sampl th whisky, rmov th bng and draw p abot an onc o it with a glass

win thi or a larg piptt, and mpty it into a winglass. Tak a nos and tast o th cask-strngth whisky, and thn dilt it hal-and-hal with watr and nos and tast it again.Whil th whisky is still immatr, it will hav an nbalancd avor o straight wood anda brnt tast. Whn th whisky is ìradyî, it’ll hav a smooth, rich, balancd avor withcharactristics o th wood and char, bt th raw woody, brnt tast will hav sbsidd.

Atr dtrmining that th whisky is matr, monitor th dvlopmnt o th whis-ky ach wk or svral mor wks to mak sr th whisky has rachd a matr, richavor, bt whr yo sns that any mor oak contact may tak it ovr th top. It’s bst tohav svral popl mak ths fnal valations.

At this point, th barrl shold b mptid into glass or stainlss-stl containrs tohalt th aging procss. Th containr, or containrs, shold not hav a lot o air spac,and shold b sald p tight to prvnt vaporation. Th whisky is now agd and radyor dilting, fltring, and bottling. Th xact volm and prcnt alcohol o th whiskyshold b masrd and notd. Yo ar now rady to procd to th dilting, fltring, andbottling stp. Both ths mthods involv dobl distilling, which givs smoothr rslts,and is thror what’s rcommndd in this txt.




5Bottling







Atr th whisky in th barrl has fnishd aging and is rady to b packagd, it mustb prpard or bottling, and bottld.

Th aim o this chaptr is to xplain th procsss involvd in th prparation o whis-ky or bottling, and to giv instructions on how to bottl th whisky in th barrl romChaptr 5.

bACkgROuND

Throughout th barrl-aging procss, th whisky will hav bn tastd priodicallyso as to dtrmin whn it’s rady or drinking. Whn th whisky has a nic balanc o caramls, lignins, vanillins, tannin bittrnss, and th smll and tast o burnt wood hasmllowd out into th rich and lgant avor o good whisky, it’s tim to tak th whiskyo th oak, prpar it or bottling, and thn bottl it.

Whn whisky in a barrl has rachd its pak, it’s important that th whisky b tak-n o th wood vn i th acility is not rady to bottl it. I a whisky is agd too long inth barrl, it will bcom astringnt and bittr, and th avor will los its balanc. So, whn

th whisky is rady it must b movd out o th barrl and into containrs mad o inrtmatrials such as glass or stainlss stl. As long as th containrs ar tightly sald so novaporation can tak plac, th whisky will kp indfnitly.

Volum and Prcnt Alcohol: Th frst thing that nds to b don whn prparingth whisky or bottling is to masur its xact volum and prcnt alcohol. Th barrl willhav startd out with 53 gallons, but ovr th aging priod, a crtain amount o th whiskywill b lost du to vaporation, th angls’ shar.

When whiskey in a barrel has reached its peak, it’s impor-tant that the whiskey be taken o the wood… I a whiskey isaged too long in the barrel, it will become astringent and bitter, and the favor will lose its balance.




Th rat o vaporation is typically about 10% o th rmaindr pr yar. So, it wouldb quit normal or a barrl that’s bn aging or svn yars to b down to 48% ull

Th ormula or calculating angls’ shar is as ollows

Final volum = Original volum X (1 ñ prcnt lost pr yar)numbr o yars ag

For 53 gallons agd or 7 yars at 10% loss pr yar it would b

Final volum = 53 gallons X (1 - 0.1)^ = 53 gallons X 0.9^7 = 53 gallons X 0.47= 25.3 gallons

Howvr, i th whisky is agd in a hot climat, th lost will b mor lik 15% pryar, but it will ag out in only 3 yars. Th angls’ shar undr thos conditions would bcalculatd as ollows

Final volum = 53 gallons X (1 ñ 0.15)^3

= 53 gallons X 0.85^3

= 53 gallons X 0.614

= 32.5 gallons

Clarly, aging astr in a hottr climat rducs th loss du to angls’ shar.

O cours, th fnal volum must b masurd mpirically. Th calculation is only usdto dtrmin i th mpirical masurmnt is roughly whr it should b. For xampl, i abarrl had a slow lak, mor whisky would b lost than would b by angls’ shar alon.Th calculation would hlp to spot this inconsistncy.

Also during this mtamorphosis, th prcnt alcohol will chang. It’ll incras or d-cras dpnding on th ambint tmpratur and humidity o th barrl warhous, soth prcnt alcohol must b masurd as wll.

vATTINg:

“Vatting” is whn a distillr blnds various proportions o th sam whisky rom di-rnt barrls to achiv consistncy o quality and avor. Dirnt barrls will ag thwhisky a littl dirntly, and blnding th whisky rom numrous barrls is a good wayto maintain a uniorm brand. Also, th whisky will vary slightly rom batch to batch, andvatting will vn out thos variations as wll.

Vatting is not to b conusd with th trm “blnding”, whr th distillr mixs vari-ous dirnt typs o whisky, invariably rom dirnt distillris, to achiv a uniquavor and brand o its own, dirnt rom any o th whiskis usd in th blnd. Also,such blnds ar otn mad using Grain Nutral Spirits (GNS) and othr typs o raw (i..un-agd) whiskis in th mix. Som whisky blndrs don’t distill whisky at all, and justbuy whisky rom many dozns o distillris that thy blnd togthr to mak thir ownspcifc brands. Vatting is only th mixing o th sam brand o whisky rom dirntbatchs and barrls within th sam distillry.




I th distillr is going to vat his/hr whisky, th proportions rom ach barrl in thmix nd to b workd out in small quantitis by a panl o tastrs. Onc th proportionso ach barrl o whisky hav bn dcidd, th larg quantitis must b pourd into a vatand mixd thoroughly. I th whisky is not going to b vattd, thn it can just b placd inth vat, rady or diluting.

Diluting: Th whisky straight out o th barrl will b btwn 55 and 65% abv, andit will rquir diluting to bottling strngth. Whisky is dilutd to somwhr btwn 40and 50% abv or bottling.

Bor th distillr diluts th whisky right down to bottling strngth, it must b d-cidd whthr th whisky is going to b tratd with activatd carbon or not. Most whis-kis ar not tratd with carbon, but i on is, it must only b dilutd to 4% abov th fnalbottling strngth. It is urthr dilutd atr th tratmnt to th xact fnal prcnt alcohol.This is bcaus th carbon tratmnt lowrs th prcnt alcohol slightly, so thr nds tob som lway to tak this into account.

I th whisky is not going to b tratd with activatd carbon, but is going to b fl-trd, it should only b dilutd to 2% abov th fnal bottling strngth. This is bcaus thwhisky could pick up a small amount o watr in th fltring procss. Again, th fnaldilution to th xact bottling strngth is don atr. Diluting should b don with distilldor Rvrs Osmosis (RO) watr to avoid th watr imparting any tast, and to prvnt anyminral prcipitation in th bottls.

Activatd-Carbon Tratmnt: Most whiskis ar not tratd with activatd carbon, but

som ar charactrizd as vry mild, and a crtain amount o this mildnss is achivdby xposing th whisky to activatd wood charcoal. Incidntally, othr typs o activatdcarbon would strip too much avor and aroma out. That’s why wood charcoal is th typo carbon usd. In som cass, th whisky is pourd through a dp bd o carbon, and inothrs th carbon is addd to th vat, and it’s gntly agitatd vry w hours.

Th optimum prcnt alcohol or carbon to work most fcintly is 38% abv. Howvr,that’s too low or any whisky so th whisky is dilutd rom its barrl strngth to bring itclosr to optimum, without going too low, bor any activatd-carbon tratmnt is don.

As mntiond abov, th action o th carbon on th whisky lowrs th prcnt alco-hol slightly so it’s important that th whisky not b dilutd to its xact bottling strngthbor carbon tratmnt. Kping it at 4% abov th fnal bottling strngth nsurs itdosn’t drop too low as a rsult o th carbon. Atr th carbon tratmnt and th fltring,th prcnt alcohol can thn b adjustd to th xact fnal valu

Filtring: Whisky dosn’t nd much in th way o fltring. It’s simply a mattr o rmoving th wood and char particls pickd up rom th barrl during th yars o aging.It’s purly or asthtic rasons, as having a bottl o whisky that was slightly cloudy romsuspndd burnt oak particls would not b vry appaling.




Most distillris us a plat fltr with coars fltr mdia to tak out th particls. It’simportant to fltr atr diluting, and not bor, to mak sur any turbidity in th dilutingwatr is rmovd as wll. Also, th rciving tank or th fltrd whisky and all its tubingmust b compltly lint r, or particls could b r-introducd to th whisky.

Bottling: Th bottling o whisky dosn’t rquir th sam lvl o strilization as orbottling win or br. At 40 or mor prcnt alcohol, whisky is itsl a disinctant. How-vr, it’s vry important that all th quipmnt and th bottls usd ar vry clan.

A good typ o bottling machin or spirits is an inlin ovrow fllr. This typ o fllr is suitd to flling containrs whr a spcifc visibl fll lvl is rquird. Th ovrowmchanism nabls th dvic to fll th bottls much astr sinc thr’s a provision torturn ovrowing liquid to th rsrvoir, thrby liminating th nd or a slow fll toachiv a spcifc lvl. Small inlin ovrow fllrs ar availabl at a vry rasonabl pricthat can fll svral thousand bottls pr day. Most crat distillrs us a our had gravityflling machin or an nolmastr vacuum flling machin. Ths flling machins ar rad-ily availabl rom winr quipmnt companis such as G.W. Knt (gwknts.com) or St.Pats (stpats.com).

Onc th whisky is dilutd and fltrd, it can b placd in th product tank o th bot-tling quipmnt, and bottld. It’s intrsting to not that onc a spirit is dilutd to bottlingstrngth, it will actually improv with ag or a w wks. Th rason or this is not ullyundrstood, but rcnt rsarch indicats that it taks a w wks or all th dirnt typso molculs to compltly mix and dius thmslvs vnly throughout th substrat.

And, this has a bnfcial ct on mllowing and bringing out th complxity o th avor.

bOTTLINg pROCEDuRE FOR THE

bARREL OF wHISkEy FROM CHApTER 4

This sction dscribs how to bottl th ully-agd malt whisky rom Chaptr 4. Thrshould b about 30 gallons o cask-strngth whisky at about 60% abv.

Equipment

n 53-gallon barrl o malt whisky rom Chaptr 4

n Distilld or RO watr

n

50-gallon totn Masuring quipmnt (thrmomtr, alcoholmtr

graduatd cylindrs)

n Plat fltr with coars-grad mdia

n Bottling machin and ancillary quipmnt




Method First, th barrl is mptid into th vat and th xact quantity and prcnt alcohol o

th whisky is masurd. Sinc thr’s only th on barrl, thr won’t b any vatting don.

Malt whisky agd in a onc-usd barrl is not normally tratd with activatd carbon,so w won’t b doing an activatd-carbon tratmnt on th whisky.

Th targt bottling strngth is 43% abv, and sinc th whisky is not going to b acti-vatd-carbon tratd, but it is going to b fltrd through a coars plat fltr, th initialdilution should b 2% abov th fnal bottling strngth (i.. 45% abv). Knowing th xactvolum and prcnt alcohol o th whisky, dilut it to 45% abv using th ollowing ormula

Quantity o pur watr = volum o whisky X %abv o whisky / 0.45 - vol-

um o whisky

exampl: Say, thr wr 30 gallons o whisky at 60% ab

Quantity o pur watr = 30 gallons X 0.6 / 0.45 - 30 gallon = 10.0 gallons o pur watr

Atr diluting th 30 gallons o 60% whisky with 10.0 gallons o pur watr, thrwould b 40 gallons o 45% whisky. Nxt, th whisky is fltrd through a coars platfltr to rmov th tiny particls o wood and char. Th plat fltr should b st up withcoars fltr pads that hav bn thoroughly wt with watr. Bor fltring th whisky,run about 10 gallons o tap watr through th fltr to liminat any cardboard-lik avorrom th pads. Try and mpty as much watr as possibl out o th fltr unit atr rinsing

with th 10 gallons o watr bor running th whisky through. It’s important to maksur th rciving containr is clan and lint r.Atr th whisky is fltrd, it can bdilutd to its fnal bottling strngth (i.. 43% abv). To do this, it’s bst to run th dilutingwatr through th fltr atr th whisky to mak sur it’s compltly particl r. Thiswill also srv to rins th last tracs o whisky lt in th fltr into th diluting watr.

At this point, thr should b mor than 41 gallons o 43% whisky rady to b bottld,Prpar th bottling machin and bottl th whisky. This should produc wll ovr 200750ml bottls o malt whisky. That’s about 17 cass.









OTHER WHISKEY MASH RECIPES

This chapter is to provide detailed instructions on how to make other types of whiskeymash. Like the malt mash detailed in Chapter 3, the proportions for these recipes areformulated to produce the quantity of wash required to make 53 gallons (1 barrel) of 120

proof (barrel strength) whiskey.

The preparation of mash water and pH, and the temperature regimen in the mashingcycle is the same as for the malt-mash procedures in Chapter 3. And, the distillationprocess is the same as detailed in Chapter 4.

Bourbon Mash

Bourbon is typically made with a majority of corn, a portion of rye, and between 4 and15% malt to provide the enzymes for starch conversion. The corn is the definingcomponent and, under US law, must make up at least 51% of the grain bill. Most

distilleries use rye as the minor grain, but at least one bourbon distillery, Maker’s Mark,uses wheat instead of rye.

In this recipe, the grain bill is comprised of 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malt. Theseproportions are average for a bourbon mash, and happen to be very close to the grainbill for Old Forrester. On the extreme ends, I.W. Harper is 86% corn, 4% rye, and 10%malt. And, Four Roses (Black Label) is 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malt. So, there’sample room for the distiller to vary the proportions based on preference.

This recipe is to make 945 gallons of bourbon wash at about 8.5% abv. It will containapproximately 80 gallons of ethanol @ 100% abv, which will yield about 60 gallons of

60% abv cask-strength bourbon plus about 105 gallons of 40% abv feints. As with themalt-mash recipe, these proportions can vary from one spirit still to another.

Equipment

• 1,800-gallon Mash tun

• pH meter

• tincture of iodine

Ingredients

• 1,380 Lbs Cornmeal• 400 Lbs Rye meal

• 200 Lbs 6-row pale barley malt – finely crushed (2-row will

work)• 1,180 gallons Source water

• 120 oz 5.2 pH Stabilizer

• 60 oz Gypsum (CaSO4)**• 1.5 oz Potassium metabisulfite *



* The potassium metabisulfite is only required if the source water containschloramines.** The gypsum is only required if the source water is low in calcium (i.e. less than 100ppm). The 60 oz of gypsum will raise the calcium level for this batch by 100 ppm. This

amount can be adjusted accordingly to yield a mash water with between 100 and 250ppm calcium.

The source water is assumed to be fairly soft municipal tap water. E.g.:• hardness level of 4

• almost no iron

• 100 ppm calcium

• pH 8.5

Method

Since this recipe involves mashing un-malted cereal grains, the grain will have to becooked at a higher temperature to gelatinize the starches before it’s cooled and the maltis added. Also, with cereal-grain mashes, the mash is not sparged. It’s fermented righton the grain bed, and the solids are separated out after fermentation.

First, begin by preparing the mash water. With the entire quantity of source water in asingle container, add the 120 oz of 5.2 pH Stabilizer and the 60 oz of gypsum to it, andmix thoroughly. This can be done in the mash tun with the agitator on. If the sourcewater contains chloramines then add the 1.5 oz of potassium metabisulfite, otherwiseleave this out.

The water chemistry should now have a suitable level of calcium and sulfate ions, andthe pH will be buffered to 5.2 for the duration of the mashing cycle.

After the water is prepared, place it in the mash tun, turn on the agitator, and beginheating it until the water temperature reaches near boiling (212oF). Next, turn off theheat but leave the agitator running. Add the 1,380 Lbs of cornmeal and the 400 Lbs of rye meal. The temperature should come to rest at about 180 or 190oF. Let the mashgelatinize for 20 minutes with the agitator running.

At this point, the mash should be a thick porridge (i.e. the starches have gelatinized). Next, force cool the mash to 152

o

F. This is normally done by running water throughcooling coils in the mash tun with the agitator running.

After the mash is down to 152oF, with the agitator still running, add the 200 Lbs of finely-crushed barley malt. The temperature should come to rest at about 149oF. The mashtemperature should then be adjusted to 145oF.



While maintaining a conversion temperature of 145oF, leave the mash covered andagitating for 90 minutes for the starches to convert to sugars.

After 90-minutes, the conversion should be complete. This can be tested by the iodinestarch test described in Chapter 3.

After it’s confirmed that the starch conversion is complete, the mash can be forcecooled to the fermentation temperature, 80oF, and then transferred to the fermentationtank.

Since the mash is not sparged the way malt mash is, and all the solids are left in themash, then at this point you will have about 1,600 gallons of bourbon mash with a SG of about 1.060 or more at 80oF ready for the fermentation stage.

Fermentation Procedure

Equipment

• 1,800-gallon fermentation vessel with aeration equipment

• SG and temperature measuring equipment

Ingredients

• 1,600 gallons Bourbon mash from the mashing step

• 15 oz Safwhiskey M-1 malt whiskey yeast (from Lesaffre) or

Red Star bourbon whiskey yeast (from Lesaffre)

Method

The mash will be in the fermenter. The Originating Gravity (OG) and the temperatureshould be measured. The OG is expected to be about 1.060 or more, and thetemperature should be 80oF. If the OG is more than 1.060, it should be adjusteddownward by the addition of mash water so that it’s 1.060.

The mash will now require aeration since the heat from the mashing process will havedriven off all the dissolved oxygen. The 15 oz of whiskey yeast can be added either before or after the aeration process. This will depend mostly on the type of aerationequipment used.

After the aeration is finished and the yeast has been added, the temperature should becontrolled so that it’s kept between 75 and 85oF.

After 30 minutes the yeast will have hydrated in the liquid and can be thoroughly mixedin. Within four or five hours of pitching the yeast, vigorous fermentation should beevident. Leave the mash to ferment for 72 hours. The mash should be roused for tenminutes every four hours or so.



After 72 hours the fermentation will either be complete and the activity will havediminished to a slow spurious bubbling, or the fermentation will still be active and onlyhave slowed down slightly.

If the latter is the case, monitor it every six hours or so until the bubbling is very slowand the fermentation is therefore, finished. Fermentation shouldn’t take more than 96hours.

When the fermentation is complete and the yeast has had 12 hours or so to settle, theTerminating Gravity (TG) can be measured.

With the OG and the TG, the alcohol percentage can be calculated using the formula:1000(OG - TG) / 7.4 = % abv

At this point, the mash is now called “wash”, and the next step is to distill it in the beer-

stripping still. If the beer-stripper is equipped with jacketed steam heat and an agitator,then the wash can be distilled with all the solids left in. Not all bourbon distilleries dothis, but some contend that it makes for a better flavor.

If the boiler is not equipped with jacketed steam heat and an agitator, or if the distiller simply decides to remove the mash solids from the wash before distilling it, then thewash will have to be processed through solids-separating equipment to render the clear liquid for distillation.

After the completion of this fermentation step, you will have about 945 gallons of liquidbourbon wash at about 8.5% abv. If the solids are left in the wash, then the volume of wash will be about 1,600 gallons.

You are now ready to proceed to the beer-stripping step, and then the spirit run. For this please follow the instructions in Chapter 4 to distill the wash.



APPENDIX A

HOW TO MAKE MOONSHINE

Whiskey can be made on a small scale at home with a hobby still. All you need to knowis how to make beer. Whether you join a homebrew club to learn how to make beer,take home brewing classes, buy the book How to Brew by John Palmer, or just buy ahomebrew kit and follow the instructions, the main thing is to make some beer.

Whiskey, by definition, is simply distilled beer. And beer is defined as fermented grain.

Before the distilling part, the process of making moonshine is the same as making beer.You have to make, what brewers call, “wort”. Distillers have a different word for wort,they call it “mash”. It’s the same substrate, however mash has no hops and there’s no

kettle boil. The mash is just fermented, and then distilled immediately following thehigh-krausen stage of the fermentation.

Moonshine Recipe

From your local homebrew shop, buy 90 pounds of flaked brewers’ corn and 15 poundsof crushed pale barley malt. Put 30 pounds of flaked corn and 5 pounds of crushedbarley malt in three bags for three mashes.

Mashing and Fermentation: Make three mashes. If you don’t have the equipment, youcan just make one mash at a time. In a 15-gallon fermenter, or camp cooler, pour in 12gallons of near boiling water. When the water temperature is down to about 165oF, addthe 30 pounds of flaked corn and the 5 pounds of barley malt, and stir thoroughly.Cover, and let stand until the temperature is down to about 90oF or less. Stir itthoroughly every 10 or 15 minutes for the first 90 minutes or so. After two hours fromwhen the grain is added, you can force cool the mash with a wort chiller to 90 oF if youwant.

When the mash is 90oF or less, it needs to be aerated before yeast is added. An easyway to do this is to place a fish aquarium aeration stone in the mash and turn the air pump on and let it bubble for about 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could take about 5gallons at a time and pour it from one pail to another five or six times. After aerating it,add 3 teaspoons of Red Star yeast. Bread yeast works, too, but Red Star is realwhiskey yeast and produces a better flavor. Let the mash ferment to completion, whichis about seven days.

Make up the other two batches the same way.



When the fermentation is complete, the liquid needs to be strained out of the spentgrain. This can be done by suspending a strainer or colander over a large plastic pailand using a large nylon straining bag to strain the mash.

Incidentally, you could take a shortcut and make up each batch by just dissolving 15

pounds of Dried Malt Extract (DME) in 10 gallons of hot tap water, and adding the yeastwhen the temperature is 90oF or less. This mash would not require straining, it would just need to be siphoned off the sediment. Of course, this would make a malt whiskeyinstead of corn whiskey.

After all three batches are made you will have about 30 gallons of 9% abv wash readyto be distilled.

Distilling (three 10-gallon batches): The strained wash should be left to settle for about12 hours or so and then siphoned off the sediment to eliminate the last of thesuspended solids.

Run 1 – Distill the three 10-gallon batches of wash. Each batch should yield 2 or moregallons of 40 abv. On each run, do a small heads and tails cut of about ½ cup each. Besure to store the spirits in glass or stainless steel. The total moonshine collected isabout 6 gallons.

If you decide to drink your moonshine, don’t. The key to really good moonshine isdouble distilling.

Double Distilling – Combine the three first runs and make one 6-gallon second run. Again, cut the heads and tails. The cuts can be done by taste this time. The hearts of the second run should yield 2½ gallons of 70% abv. Now, cut the moonshine with 1 7/8gallons of distilled water (Cosco). The final yield will be about 4 3/8 gallons of 40%moonshine.

To make the moonshine into whiskey, buy a small barrel or some wooden staves from alocal homebrew shop. Infuse the staves in the moonshine, or place the moonshine inthe small barrel, and in a few weeks you’ll have whiskey.

Drink it right away, or if you can wait, let it infuse with the oak for three weeks. For goodwhiskey, age for 1 to 3 years with oak.

Enjoy!

Documents

ADI Distilling Book