Jump to content

Honey based spirits


Recommended Posts

You would call it a distilled spirits specialty item [27 CFR 5.35].  The label could not make any mention of whiskey because, as you describe it,  it contains no whiskey [5.22(b)].  You cannot make an age claim on specialty items [5.40(d)]; nor may you make "general inconspicuous age, maturity or similar representations. [5.40(e)(2)]."  TTB requires that the labels on bottles of specialty  items  must contain, among other things, a brand name, fanciful name and a truthful and adequate statement of composition.  An an example, "Salt Spring Shine, Bee Dew, Honey Spirits Finished in Used Sherry Barrels." 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, dhdunbar said:

 

You would call it a distilled spirits specialty item [27 CFR 5.35].  The label could not make any mention of whiskey because, as you describe it,  it contains no whiskey [5.22(b)].  You cannot make an age claim on specialty items [5.40(d)]; nor may you make "general inconspicuous age, maturity or similar representations. [5.40(e)(2)]."  TTB requires that the labels on bottles of specialty  items  must contain, among other things, a brand name, fanciful name and a truthful and adequate statement of composition.  An an example, "Salt Spring Shine, Bee Dew, Honey Spirits Finished in Used Sherry Barrels." 

 

 

 

Thanks for that.  I make a Vodka and Gin both made from honey and am now going to try to barrel age some to see how it turns out.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would call it dam good if it's made from honey.  Some of the best spirits I ever tasted were made from honey.  I had a guy that I sold equipment to who would send me some of the awfullest tasting booze.  His whiskey and moonshine really sucked.  It always had too much backins (tails) in it.  Then one day I received some honey spirits from him and it was really really good.   My dad and grandfather had bees so I've had some pure honey spirits before and it was always really good.  

My grandfather would always add a quart of honey to his malted corn mash.  He ran a 400 gallon all copper still with the traditional Turnip Head.  It was fired by propane when I was a kid but he used wood for years.  The turnup head had 1/4 of the volume of the still. His only instruments were smell, taste and a tamping jar.  He always ran grain in mashes.  That's right, the men of his day could set their single wall stills up with indirect heat and distill without an agitator with no scorching.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/8/2017 at 10:22 AM, SaltSpringShine said:

Yes honey does make a dam fine spirit.  Seems like a lot of the old tricks of the trade are being lost.  Hopefully we

can relearn them.

We still sell Prairie Sunshine™ wildflower honey spirit unaged, but we also offer a "Barrel Reserve", which is made like a light rum: blend barrel-aged spirit with spirit briefly rested in barrels. Aging has ranged from 8 to 18 months, and rests from 1 to 4 weeks. We have been using small bourbon barrels (5 to 15 gallon). The Barrel Reserve just went into distribution recently, prior to that only offered retail at the distillery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...
On 6/8/2017 at 10:07 AM, Southernhighlander said:

I would call it dam good if it's made from honey.  Some of the best spirits I ever tasted were made from honey.  I had a guy that I sold equipment to who would send me some of the awfullest tasting booze.  His whiskey and moonshine really sucked.  It always had too much backins (tails) in it.  Then one day I received some honey spirits from him and it was really really good.   My dad and grandfather had bees so I've had some pure honey spirits before and it was always really good.  

My grandfather would always add a quart of honey to his malted corn mash.  He ran a 400 gallon all copper still with the traditional Turnip Head.  It was fired by propane when I was a kid but he used wood for years.  The turnup head had 1/4 of the volume of the still. His only instruments were smell, taste and a tamping jar.  He always ran grain in mashes.  That's right, the men of his day could set their single wall stills up with indirect heat and distill without an agitator with no scorching.

Your description of your customer that had the taily whiskey but the honey spirit came out nice, its got me wondering if you can go deeper in the tails with a honey ferment with good results?  If they like tails in their whiskey I doubt they adjusted their distilling protocol for cleaner cuts on the honey compared to their whiskey.   I'm getting ready to run some mead from a neighboring winery that got a little dry for their taste. Not having run it before, I was just planning on following my usual whiskey cuts but any advice is much appreciated! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/10/2011 at 5:18 PM, bluestar said:

Who else out there is making a honey-based spirit? Not honey flavored, but distilled from fermented honey? I am aware of Rumble from Balcones as an aged rum-like product, and Bee Vodka from Marsh and Comb Vodka from Still-the-One in the neutral spirits category. Others? We hope to launch our own products in this category at the end of the year.

In Ukraine (I live here) there is an ancient city - Lutsk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutsk

They prepare alcoholic beverages with honey, it's very tasty :) In general, you need to decide what you want to do. The fact is that there are many ancient recipes for "mead". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead

But if you want to use honey for fermentation and then isolate alcohol, then you only need to use vacuum distillation, so as not to increase the heating temperature above 40 Celsius, otherwise all the smells of honey will be lost. I can help with vacuum distillation, I develop processes and equipment. I have several recipes for honey drinks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...