StillSmart

Unsure where to post this,it fits in either of the first four forums....
'Tis also long,-go grab a cup of tea or a glass of something.

We can't really copy what the big boys do,but we can certainly mimic their style,and copy their methods, I figure that there are reasons they distill as they do - production cost,experience, tradition,excise, whatever.
My hope was to make a drinkable whisky. Sort of Scotch whisky in taste,but it would be my own.
My method,to follow as closely as possible the methods used by the distillers of my favourite malts.
25Kg sack of heavily peated malt,sorted.
Long day spent mashing and sparging,using captured rainwater,happened.(The nearest burn is just a little too far away) .
Many buckets of brew fizzing away,using two different home cultured yeasts in each,happened-around 7% PA worts.
Strip runs,collecting everything,to 1-2%ABV,happened.

First spirit run.Collect all Heads/Fores to 75%,set aside.Collect Hearts to 58% keep.Collect Feints/Tails to 1-2%,(really),set aside.
Second spirit run.Charge boiler with first run heads and feints,top up with strip and run as before.
Third spirit run,charge boiler with second run heads and Feints,top up with strip and run.
You get the idea.
Nearly as many spirit runs as strip runs doing this,eventually hoping for an equilibrium,- a decent volume of feints,full of flavour and alcohol,to mix with the strips is the goal,but unless you own several stills and a large feints receiver you need to find a work-around,visit the Laphroaig website for their take on this.
These spirit runs were run as hard and fast as my air cooled condenser could manage,slow and gentle were thrown out of the window.
Mix all saved Hearts and call it "The Hearts cut".Here 62%ABV.(A little low,compared to the big boys,but my still seems to start the tails at a low ABV,so I adjusted)
This did take virtually all of my glassware to accomplish,as I don't have access to a large suitable tank to use as a feints receiver,just a few 10 litre carboys and a big bunch of 5 litre demi-johns.And the strips had to happen as quickly as possible.
All cuts made by spirit hydrometer,as happens in the trade,no clever tasting and guessing.
At the end of the process,I am left with 5 litres of Feints,which could be mixed with the next two strips (21%ish) to boost it to 28%ish for the next spirit run,ad infinitum,should I do this again.There is not only alcohol in those feints,there are phenolic products and flavour.There are also all the nasty higher alcohols,no fores were discarded,just as happens in the famous malt distilleries.My maths tells me that I have quite a while before they make it to the hearts,if they don't find their own way to the fairies as they do in the aforesaid distilleries.It will not be difficult to remove these myself,if I choose to at a later date. This may not be considered safe by some here.I continue to throw the first 50ml from other wash distillations, they taste awful,reason enough! My research into methanol has surprised me.Do your own research and be safe.
The end product,about 9 litres at 40%{I hoped for 10+} (poor conversion on the first mashes,I added Amylase for the last few).
The cost,all in,almost £5 a litre.And time,lots of my time.
The peat smoke came through mightily,and the smell of the whole process beat any wash/distillation I have ever done.
The taste?
I am trying to be patient and have put the most away to age slowly.
I couldn't resist nuking some with Scotch barrel dominoes.
It's almost as heavily peated as Laphroaig.
Have so far side by side tasted with Talisker,not better,not worse,just different.
Will do the same with Bunnahabhain tomorrow.And work my way through other malts.....
I'm happy;I have made a decent "Malt whisky",and I quite like it.If I can reproduce it,I can even tweak it.
Having now found my feet and simplified things I may well do this again,possibly mixing with some plain Optic malt to cut the peatiness and cost.
I have a couple of LME washes on at the moment,less effort more cost,to try and compare.I don't have high expectations for them.
I sit here finishing tapping this with a glass of the raw product let down to 45%,sorry you are not here to try it,it looks like water,but tastes like something rather good.
Robert.

I have been reading this with immense interest. Could I clarify some points for myself?

1. As you don't mention any other grain, I am estimating that the 25kg of heavily peated malt was used to make about 4 x 5 gallons?
2. When, for your 1st spirit run, you say you “set aside” all Fores & Heads, down to a reading of 75% abv., together with your later comment, “ ...no fores were discarded,just as happens in the famous malt distilleries.”, you mean you didn't discard the Fores at all?
3. You added all “set asides” to each subsequent Spirit Run, not saving the accumulated “set asides “for a spirit run on their own account? Was this process adopted for distillation reasons, or convenience/capacity reasons?
4. When using Amylase to facilitate conversion,, at what stage do you add it and, in what quantities?

I do hope to use the information you have given here as a basis for a future endeavour.

Hi EasyDrinker

I've just been reading on the Laphroaig website and its a very interesting read, I've been thinking over the last few days about how I'm going to do my first attempt at whisky, if I recall correctly you've posted something very similar to this before and I was going to try and search for it in here.

I'm going to get a 25kg bag of un-peated grain, and about 5kg of heavily peated malt, I like the way the Laphroaig guys say they use standard bread yeast, I've got lots of that :-)

Sounds like a lot of hard work collecting down to 1-2% but they do say the result after the strip is a 22% low wine, so I might go for that, by keeping all the strip in a single container at 20°c and stopping the strip when the batch reaches 22% (I'll also do it this way as I don't have a working parrot)

Then I'll have to get my parrot setup, it's built but never cleaned properly and has no stand yet, hopefully I can get through the grain in 4 mashes, I'll follow your method for the spirit runs and see how I get on :-)

Welcome to the complex world of Whisky,like Scotch.
I know a little,and am happy to share that;others here I am sure know more than I,but we don't all share the methodology.
I won't argue about who is correct,but I attempt to copy the methods of the single malt distillers,particularly the Islay ones.
For this,an ongoing,seemingly ever increasing in flavour feints receiver seems a pre-requisite.
Most Islay distilleries use two yeasts per mash,I favour Allinson's and the latest find,Mauri bread yeast,bought online.
My opinion,don't sweat the Parrot,find yourself a Tulip vase,or bit of chemistry kit that floats your alchometer,and measure,tip,pour.
When life gets slow I will build myself a parrot.
Because I can,not because I need it.
The mashing/sparging of the grain is much harder work than distilling to lower ABV's.
IMHO.
The longer distilling just takes a little more time.
I found that the volume/ABV of the feints receiver remained pretty static,but I may have buggered the taste profile of mine by running LME through the same system.

Leaving that aside,have you gotten the family home from hospital yet?

Robert.


Going to check Toper's post now,he was here earlier........................

Hi Easydrinker

Mum's home but babies still on special care, he's doing fine, better everyday and we hope to have him home by the weekend, thanks for asking

Happy for you dude,and wishing you and yours well,
I think that I now need to re-read and reply to Toper.
ATB
Robert.

Hi Toper,
I am not saying this is all right,but it works for me.

1.25Kg grain,makes for me 6x 24/25 litres of weak beer.3 or 4 %
2.Yes,For this brew,I discard no fores,following the commercial practice,but reserve the opportunity to do so in the future.My maths tells me a problem may occcur in the future,maybe.
Don't try this at home without serious thought and reading.
3.Saving what you are calling "set asides" and I feints,is in common practice with commercial Malt distillers,and running them with the Spirit run over and over is normal practice,I suspect for flavour and minimal loss of alcohol.The volume of my feints settled down to 5 litres,which is handy,just a demi-John to store.This is different practice to anything that you you may read on here regarding use of Heads and Tails,and Heads runs etc
4.Which Amylase have you got? Using grain you should not need to add anything,although I tend to add something,even if just using up something.And hands up,I make this bit up as I go along.A little like the way that I cook food.

That is possibly as clear as mud,but I hope it helps!

Robert.
.

Thank you for this further elaboration.

I feel that the passing on of such a detailed recipe and methodology of a project actually carried out to be of significant value, saving many of us from a fruitless passage down the primrose path of dalliance (apologies to the Bard).

I do not, in fact hold any Amylase in stock, but raised the question simply because you mentioned using it. Though I had been considering it as a potential useful tool.

I must admit to some surprise that your entire grain was 'heavy peated'. Whilst, for myself I have a fondness for Laphroaig, others of my acquaintance find it more to be remarked on than remarkably good.

Once I have used up my present stocks of LME, this is definitely something I shall be using as a framework for future projects.

After reading this several times I think I have it, there's 10kg of peated malt in the cupboard (chateau whiskey, crushed) so I know what I'm getting up to this weekend
If the feints don't get over 30% I guess I'll be ok keeping them in plastic? I'm running out of demijohns!

I would agree that combined feints, sub 30% are ok in HDPE, at least short term.
Move them as quick as you can.
Have a fun weekend

Robert.