Whisky

[Anavrin]

Worth noting I was messing with the power and deflag cooling during the run to try and force the output to around 83% during the run, but nothing I did seemed to have an effect, you can see the product percentage is unaffected by the adjustments, maybe I just don’t know how to drive the bloody thing, I guess I could have got there with full power and almost no reflux but the product was coming fast and I didn’t want it any faster.

I’d like to know how the bourbon makers can hit 80% for their hearts collections! Frustratingly my adjustements didn’t seem to work in this way, also I have no temp probe on the deflag water out, I’ll have to get one I think for next time.

[Anavrin]

I was thinking of redistilling this lot on a Pot Still but I’m the end, following some advice on Modern Distiller, I’ve used what I’ve got and just proofed my hearts collection down to 64% before adding some oak staves.

So off my entire 25kg sack of grain, I’ve got about 6.5 litres on oak at 64%, I’m new to making cuts on whisky, tried not to add too much tails as they take longer to age out and added a little more heads into the mix than I felt comfortable with but I’m happy/hopeful that it’ll age out ok.

Plus I’ve now got about 4 litres of feints for next time.

I’ll find out in six months I guess.

Be interested to know from anyone if the 6.5 litres I ended up with sound about right from a full sack of grain plus 4kg of sugar.

[Mash]

School boy maths for me says you did good to get 6.5 from a 25kg sack

[H12rpo]

I used to cut all my tails and put the lot into the feints, but,, if you do the taste test after airing, there are some jars which smell a little ‘doggy’ but actually have a decent taste profile ....I add these in to the hearts. I do the same for the heads jars. The result is your product has a much more complex taste from the start. And once they’re in the hearts the nasty smell disappears.

[gaza the instructor]

I read some where on a Whisky spirit run an early
cut to hearts including late heads is good but NO
tails ?? Is this a good guild. Normally only want
hearts.
This is new , the all grain stuff and my first
effort. I will have 3x22ltr washes sorry mashes to
play with on the Pot Still.

[Myles]

I used to cut all my tails and put the lot into the feints, but,, if you do the taste test after airing, there are some jars which smell a little ‘doggy’ but actually have a decent taste profile ....I add these in to the hearts. I do the same for the heads jars. The result is your product has a much more complex taste from the start. And once they’re in the hearts the nasty smell disappears.

That is one way to do it.
Because we age for much shorter than the commercial folks, I would tend to keep the hearts cut clean. Those flavours in the feints can be re-cycled by adding them back into the next strip run.
It may take a few cycles, but eventually they will carry over into the hearts.

[H12rpo]

Another reason for me adding some heads (less so tails) is that I found when I only had a heart cut whisky, there was no ‘bite’ on the throat as one drinks it.......now I know that lots don’t actually want that and shoot for the smoothest drink, but I kinda missed it after many years of drinking commercial single malt.

[Moonraker]

I think a go at making whisky will be my next project although on a smaller scale, 23 litre wash maybe 5 or 6kg Marris otter and possibly boost it with some dme. Most of the recipe's I've seen are adding smoked malt but I'm not keen on the smokey flavours so good to see yours just using pale malt.
Can I ask if you fermented on the grain or separated first? A lot of online recipes seem to ferment on grain but I would be worried about not bringing the wort to a boil, any idea what is done traditionally in a Scottish distillery?
I stripped and did s spirit run on some hopped beer a couple of weeks ago and that seems to be quite promising.

[H12rpo]

I’m not keen on the smoke/peat either mate.....ive not fermented on the grain so not sure if it results in more flavour....I get enough flavour with not doing so

[Myles]

I’d like to know how the bourbon makers can hit 80% for their hearts collections! Frustratingly my adjustements didn’t seem to work in this way, also I have no temp probe on the deflag water out, I’ll have to get one I think for next time.

It depends on your still. Most column stills have a "window" - a range of output %age that they can produce whilst maintaining stability. Within this range power and reflux ratio give you a small amount of control.

Outside that range you need to think like a pot stiller.

Take Cognac for example. Produced on a Charentais pot still, by law the max proof of the collected hearts is 72.4%. This then goes into a barrel for 50 years and comes out at 40%. Or for a shorter period and it is then diluted.

They adjust the % output of individual stills by dilution of the boiler charge. Trial and error to find the right setting, then maintain that boiler charge by blending of the boiler charge.

Same principle with Gin. Boiler charge of 18% to 20% gives you product at bottle strength without dilution.

[Anavrin]

Just an update...

I’ve had my Whisky on oak now for just over two months, at first I used some SD American oak No1, some was fresh but most of it had been used before in UJSM.

Anyway long story short, it was a pale pissy yellow colour, so I took 3 blocks of SD American oak No3 and lightly toasted them on the two big sides, and it’s gone a lovely deep red colour.

Tonight I had a taste, my aging jar is at 65%, I just roughly watered some down in a glass so I could have a taste, it is indeed whisky, but to my surprise it tastes sweet, not in a bad way, I actually quite like it, just seems odd.

Any ideas anyone?

[Anavrin]

Here’s a pic showing the colour, it lives on top of my fridge and I’ve pulled it forward so one of the lights shines though it, it’s normally clear too but I gave it a stir just after I sampled some.

[Easydrinker]

To me, home wooded whisky often has sweet tones.
I put it down to Vanillins in the wood, and how the wood has been treated.
But I often speak rubbish late at night.

Robert.