StillSmart

I will be able to compare for myself in a few days - a kale wash is now up and running.

Mash wrote:I like both washes. Kale for smooth. WWW makes a nice whiskey base.But no more lentils for me...

Well that's a start anyway Mashy . Jaysus ! Lentils !! Same problem with kale though. Yes yes I'm sure it makes a high ABV neutral. However I'd like to suggest there is a good reason why no society has ever developed a culturally significant spinach based spirit. And it isn't that the universe has been waiting for the arrival of turbo yeast.

Wheat man ! Wheeat !!

Thanks M4S that is exactly what my reasoning was along with my taste buds when I developed this one

Mr Four Square wrote:Well that's a start anyway Mashy . Jaysus ! Lentils !! Same problem with kale though. Yes yes I'm sure it makes a high ABV neutral. However I'd like to suggest there is a good reason why no society has ever developed a culturally significant spinach based spirit. And it isn't that the universe has been waiting for the arrival of turbo yeast.

Wheat man ! Wheeat !!

To be fair, a large percentage of the world's alcohol comes from potatoes but I'm not in a rush to make a potato wash myself. Kale? Why not - who knows if you don't try these things. If they don't work, no harm done But we wouldn't be walking round with music on our phones if Sony hadn't tried the Walkman on the world.

I completely get the wheat thing though the jury's out on the FFV recipe for me at the moment, I think I still prefer the WWW.

Each to their own!

(And my kale wash completes soon, so yes I'm not afraid to experiment!)

Cheers

Hampk

I seem to recall reading that the majority of the planet's clear spirit is NGS i.e. neutral GRAIN spirit.

It's to do with the ease (and cost) of convertion from starch to fermentable sugars, plus lower cost/mess, financial implication inasfaras grain (various) being the largest consumed starch so can be easily haggled over in the futures markets by the big boys.

Spuds are more a western and the Americas thing. Grains do have a few different individual issues but available on all continents easily and in (serious) bulk.

That's not all a "given" thing, but as I understand it......

Wasn't it something in spud vodka that was blamed for madness?

Something in Absinthe (wormwood, but not true) was blamed for madness. And there was the ergot of rye problems too.

Having tried spuds, I'd guess they are only used if malted grain is less plentiful.

Phantom wrote:I seem to recall reading that the majority of the planet's clear spirit is NGS i.e. neutral GRAIN spirit.

It's to do with the ease (and cost) of convertion from starch to fermentable sugars, plus lower cost/mess, financial implication inasfaras grain (various) being the largest consumed starch so can be easily haggled over in the futures markets by the big boys.

Spuds are more a western and the Americas thing. Grains do have a few different individual issues but available on all continents easily and in (serious) bulk.

That's not all a "given" thing, but as I understand it......

You are on the right thought line there.
From someone that worked in one of these 24/7 palaces of ethanol,I am told of tankers of higher alcohols going off for White Spirit production.
And others for anti-freeze.

Robert.

Its ALWAYS down to the money Robert. Look up the current duty rate and that explains why Diageo reduced the strength of their range to 37.5% ABV. Hard to notice with taste alone, saves them over £100 per 100 litres in duty, no change to retail price but more room for supermarket "deals", futures control/manage/reduce price of base ingredient, etc etc etc.

Not big, but massive savings in the UK market alone.........

There are a lot of substances that can be used to make alcohol. Give the yeast sufficient nutrient, optimal ph and temperature and alcohol will ensue.

Lentils, kale, breakfast cereal and stale bread can all provide sufficient nutrient and biomass to enable yeast to create alcohol. I suspect that milk whey is now one of the main sources of alcohol world wide.

Wheat is the traditional basis for whiskey, gin, vodka and beers.

This recipe uses wheat bran. It is cheap. The process is simple. The results are clean and tasty.

[quote="Mr Four Square" I suspect that milk whey is now one of the main sources of alcohol world wide.

[/quote]


I would find it interesting for you to expand upon this,I don't think that you are the first to state this here.
Sorry if it puts you on the spot,but it is obviously something that you have considered/have some knowledge of.

Robert.

It's those bloody New Zealanders at it again...
Splitting the atom, plastic surgery, jet boats, electric fences and now this ...

Cheap ethanol from milk.
http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/3988/a-cheaper-%91whey'-to-make-ethanol/

While lots of it goes into straight ethanol and the dreaded alco pops there are quite a few premium brands of Vodka that are made from whey. No way. Yes whey !

Currently 17 Million litres per year are produced here in NZ, here is some more info

http://nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/dairy/3H.pdf

I hadn't realised that my Antipodean cousins were so hard!
Soon the one's that can will be grinding up Dingo's kidneys, Wallaby's tails and Tazmanian Devils allsorts for a brew.

I am just glad that I know the provenence of my ingredients.

Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:I hadn't realised that my Antipodean cousins were so hard!
Soon the one's that can will be grinding up Dingo's kidneys, Wallaby's tails and Tazmanian Devils allsorts for a brew. I am just glad that I know the provenence of my ingredients.Robert.

Like a Scotsman enjoys being described as English...dingos, wallabies, devils ... youve got the wrong mob Bob. Easy mistake to make ...one's a continent the size of the USA and the other is not