StillSmart

And if not already,you will be well started on the next one.
After my first all grain Malt I sought an easy option..
It was not as good.
I tried it twice,and this year hope to fit in at least two 25Kg sacks of the real/base ingredient.
Slainte.

Robert.

well that's the spirit run done as per the instructions.

I've ended up with just over 2 ltr of spirit at approx. 65%.

with another 1 ltr ish of faints.

ageing has begun.

now for the waiting

I hope you've enjoyed the process.

Just out of curiosity, if you have the time.

How much did you dispose of as Fores?

How are your Feints made up, Head and Tails?

What % strength are the Feints?

At what % strength of output did you stop distilling?

Toper wrote:I hope you've enjoyed the process.

Just out of curiosity, if you have the time.

How much did you dispose of as Fores?

How are your Feints made up, Head and Tails?

What % strength are the Feints?

At what % strength of output did you stop distilling?

Hi Toper,
Defo enjoyed the process.
I followed the destructions for glen m clone which said anything up to 77oC was to be disgarded - Maybe about 50 to 60ml

feints where anything down to 75%

Spirits where 75% to 65% but at this point I thought...sod it and left the spirit run until 55% ( to get more to drink )

then switched back to feints and let it run and collect until the temp reached 98oC on the head.

feints strength is at 55%

Hope this is of use matey.

Just out of curiosity would you know what the output for drinkable spirit would be from a 25KG bag of malt?

Others might not agree on this but I feel that it might be better to use your % reading at output to decide when to stop distillation, rather than temperature reading.

To ensure maximum extraction of usable alcohol, most would run to below 20% abv, whilst others run down to below 10%abv.

With regard to your question regarding 25kg of grain. I am definitely not the best person to ask and I will leave this to others.

Myself, I am still transiting from extract washes, through mixed extract and grain washes through to all grain.

My mashing techniques (and equipment) are yet to be perfected, and for all grain, this is. I feel, the key to both quality and quantity.

"Just out of curiosity would you know what the output for drinkable spirit would be from a 25KG bag of malt?"

There are a lot a variables to deal with, but..very rough guess

5kg in 20l = 5%
So 25kg in 100l = 5% = 5 litres

So 10 litres (ish) cut to 40-50%


Thoughts anyone ?

@ Mashy; Nothing wrong with your maths but I do think your assumptions on mash conversion and alcohol extraction are ever-so-slightly on the optimistic side.

The 5% is definitely achievable but some volume will be lost to the slops when racking which will reduce the final outcome. After that some alcohol will be lost in each of the stripping and spirit runs due to the inherent inefficiency of even the best built Pot Stills.

I tend to think the best we can expect from all grain is about 80% efficiency in final extraction and that's including the Heads and Tails. For any higher volume you'd have to be running the wash through a ruflux column

For me the trick is to get as much conversion as possible and aim for a higher strength beer. When I do grain ferments I use extra Amyloglucosidase in the mash to get maximum conversion and then I cheat by adding 2 tins of Tate & Lyle's Golden Syrup to a 40lt wash

I've done washes with and without the T&L Syrup and when it comes to the final aged product my tasters can't tell the difference. They say both taste as good as each other but two tins in a 40lt wash is the limit if you want to retain the fullest flavour of the malt - take my word for it

AM

thanks guy's.

so I spose the upshot of it all is ...

with a 25kg bag I would get more bang for my buck as opposed to following the G m clone recipe.

TBH mate,it is late,and I have lost track of the maths.
A 25Kg sack of barley furnished me with almost 5 litres of product at 63%,ready to be aged.Tasting as good as I could have hoped for.
Plus 5 litres of feints for the next runs.
I would expect a little more than 5 litres of hearts next time,until equilibrium was reached.
I hope that is of some help.


Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:TBH mate,it is late,and I have lost track of the maths.
A 25Kg sack of barley furnished me with almost 5 litres of product at 63%,ready to be aged.Tasting as good as I could have hoped for.
Plus 5 litres of feints for the next runs.
I would expect a little more than 5 litres of hearts next time,until equilibrium was reached.
I hope that is of some help.


Robert.

thanks Robert. That answers it perfectly.

25kg sack of malt here I come

"ever-so-slightly on the optimistic side"

Well spotted - I didn't allow for head and tails.

The malt extract (5%) was based on regular beer mash using a braumeister - and that also will vary with the variety of malt.

Cut to 40-50% - was optimistic too. Better would have been 35-40%

Hi al,

doesn't time fly when your waiting for the ageing to finish.

so I have just taken my spirit from the oak after a month.

the question now is do I thin to 40% immediately or wait awhile ?

cheers all

oh nearly forgot.

picking up my 25kg of marris otter on Friday it works out at £27 incl vat.

cheers all

Once mine is finished on the Oak I filter it, to remove any bits of debris from the wood, then dilute and bottle it so it's ready for action, or not.

AM

aidanmac wrote:Once mine is finished on the Oak I filter it, to remove any bits of debris from the wood, then dilute and bottle it so it's ready for action, or not.

AM

thanks AM.

already filtered. just need to thin and bottle then.

cheers
mate

eattheliving wrote:Hi al,

doesn't time fly when your waiting for the ageing to finish.

so I have just taken my spirit from the oak after a month.

the question now is do I thin to 40% immediately or wait awhile ?

cheers all

oh nearly forgot.

picking up my 25kg of marris otter on Friday it works out at £27 incl vat.

cheers all

If you have finished the aging,then only diluting,any filtering and bottling stand between you and the finshed product.
Slainte!

Oh,an after thought,these days I tend to poke a few shards of Oak into anything like this which is bottled.

It doesn't hurt,and may well help.

Robert.