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stillwagon

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Everything posted by stillwagon

  1. I could be wrong, but I believe dunder is rum specific. Backset I have heard mostly referred to in whiskey settings, and stillage is pretty generic.
  2. I would start by visiting a few of your local distilleries and visit with them. I have found most to be very welcoming.
  3. I do a combination of cane sugar and molasses. You will need to monitor pH, it will crash. I buffer with calcium to prevent the pH from crashing. You need the nutrients because the sugar wash is nutrient poor. I do an initial dosing at the beginning of fermentation, then a second dose at 1/3 sugar depletion with an addition of sugar, molasses, and calcium. I achieve a very strong fermentation "boil."
  4. We are experimenting with it as an herbicide. The EPA here granted a permit for experimenting with it for this purpose. I am also building a system to recycle the water from the spent wash. It has a series of components that it runs through similar to a "Living Machine."
  5. I use black strap molasses in my fermentation with no issues. I also add molasses to my black spiced rum with no settling issues. It does require filtering for solids that precipitate out though.
  6. I do a black spiced rum and have problem with the molasses settling, but I also filter it several times.
  7. Arroyo's patent isn't too difficult to follow with some extrapolation and adjustments in method, ingredients, scale, equipment. I am going to be using a variation on his patent very soon, as the results are exciting and worth the effort.
  8. stillwagon

    spices

    I use solid spices, making my own extracts. It is challenging to remain consistent, but the results are far superior.
  9. Formula approval is required. Carbon filtration is optional.
  10. Sorry about the multiple posts, I was getting an error message.
  11. I am interested in what compounds people are using to buffer the water when fermenting on the grain and when using a large percentage of corn is anyone using rice hulls to avoid a stuck mash? I have been experimenting with Calcium chloride, Calcium hydroxide, chalk, and gypsum.
  12. I have a 2500 gallon reservoir and 500 feet of PEX buried 4' deep that the water passes through before returning to the tank. I use the earth as a heatsink. It knocks the water temp down to about 70 degrees before returning to the tank.
  13. I was under the impression that whiskey is to be aged at least two years. There are two whiskeys on the shelf near me that are not. One is a single malt whiskey that has the aging statement bearing "Aged one month" The other had the statement "Aged 3 months" Both are Oregon products. So is it that if you have this statement you can go around the 2 year minimum aging requirement?
  14. I was recently recommended a two yeast protocol by a fermentation specialist. He advised using a high ester producing yeast that dies at a low abv, then a second yeast is pitched to finish the fermentation and raise the abv. I haven't tried it yet as I am still working on the Arroyo protocol. But it is on my list. I don't have yeast strains available at the moment otherwise I would mention them. The higher temps are recommended to encourage the production of esters.
  15. The run went well. I did the cuts as Arroyo prescribed. Although the flavors presented themselves at a different proof than he noted. I imagine some variation is to be expected. I am doing a second run with some slight variations in levels of sugars, ABV, and temp when introducing the bacteria.
  16. I have experimented with using the botanical basket (during distillation), maceration of a blend of spices together then aging, maceration of individual spices and blending then aging, and aging then blending. So I think there are a few ways you can go. That is the great thing about rum, there is a lot of freedom in your process.
  17. Cultures are in! As soon as my incubator arrives I can begin.
  18. We will have to talk about our results...
  19. I spoke with a fermentation specialist at Lallemand, and have the inoculum preparation procedure. I should be able to try it out in the next couple of weeks... It turned out to be much simpler than I thought it would be. I ordered half a dozen cultures and should be able to try it out in the next couple of weeks. They are still using the infected dunder from their dunder pits. Arroyo just isolated the bacteria that produced the acids that formed into the desired esters. Should be a fun experiment.
  20. I found a few more labs that sell the bacteria. One in England, a couple in Asia, and another private firm in the US. I have an inquiry with the US firm. An interesting side note is that this bacteria is also sold as a probiotic in capsule form, for the regulation of normal gut activities and to help control diarrhea. It is non-pathogenic and is a normal inhabitant of the human gut in the mid intestinal region. I was also given a two step yeast protocol that uses a low alcohol tolerant/high ester producing yeast In the first part of fermentation, This yeast dies out at about 2% ABV. Then the second yeast is pitched to finish out the ferment. I will let you know how this goes as well.
  21. We had no issues about a public thoroughfare access. Our private driveway is the only access to the distillery which comes from the main street.
  22. I just received my DSP and our distillery is on the same property as our residence. Their requirements for us were that it had to be at least 100 feet from any residence (300 feet from our own and 150 feet from our neighbor), asked if the neighbor had any reservations (none), and there be some physical barrier between the distillery and our residence (forested green belt.) They sent a satellite image to us to identify all structures on the property and neighboring properties.
  23. I found more information referring to Arroyo's work. I think I am going to purchase some of the bacteria to experiment with...
  24. Have any of you tried this? A pure culture of bacteria such as Clostridium saccharobutyricum may be added after 6-12 hrs of the yeast fermentation. Usually the bacterial inoculum amounts to about 2% of the fermenter capacity; and the pH of the fermenting mash is adjusted upwards to about pH 5.5 before addition to give more suitable conditions for the bacterial propagation. The bacteria produce a mixture of acids, predominantly butyric, together with others such as acetic, propionic, and caproic acids. These acids in turn react with the alcohol to produce desirable esters.
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