MDH

Typically there is no distillation in conventional alcoholic distillation strong enough to bring over color from the botanicals into the condenser. It's more likely that blue color is due to soluble copper salts forming at some point during the condensation stage. If you dilute a a small amount of this colored distillate and add baking soda it will react to produce copper carbonate which is distinctly bright blue. If you do not see this precipitate it is something else.

Ryan, Take a small amount of this distillate and add baking soda to it. If a bright baby-blue precipitate forms you have copper contamination.

Thank you for saying this. I completely agree that the factors involved in spirits aging are simpler than is made out by some here: Temperature, and oxygen contact (as barrels are permeable) are the main drivers. I also think that Bryan's lack of "angel's share" is not something to brag about; the share is likely a crucial factor in softening the spirit over time.

Use wild yeast. Grappa ferments to minimal alcohol levels. If you don't want to use wild yeast, use Cote de Blanc or a high attenuating white wine strain. Avoid Lalvin E1118 and other champagne yeasts as they add something of a musty character. Ferment at a good temp, think 16-18c (60-64f), You will want to push the cap down several times during fermentation or stir it.

I have to say one thing, you can get a very interesting rootbeer like profile if you make a gin with chicory roots, evergreen, pine etc then barrel age it and finish with a bit of Vanilla. Makes an excellent digestif. The chocolate malt would probably also help.

Not sure why'd you want to use chocolate malt in a gin. Off the top of my head there are many other things you could use - roast dandelion root, roast chicory root, carob... Chocolate malt has a sort of taste to it, even in distillate, that I'd hesitate to think of putting in gin.

The issue is that attempted distillation of unwanted compounds would also drastically change flavors in both the beer and the wine.

1. Not certain how to answer the first question... 2. The base material itself is not responsible, except for fruit with high levels of pectin, where it decomposes gradually and forms methanol, which causes nerve damage and blindness. Most of the time the microbes producing the alcohol also produce the things distillers do not want. 3. No, all distilled substances will contain some of these which is why they must be separated. 4.The temperature isn't responsible. 5. Big companies won't throw it away. They redistill it to extract more ethanol. When no more can be extracted, they either sell these byproducts to third parties that will use them to produce pure substances by further distillation, or simply use them as a source of cleaning / fuel material. It depends on how their time and space is allocated since it will not always be efficient to store and sell them. 6. Many companies keep large portions of these unpleasant compounds in because they are cheap.

Are you using Universal? I have heard from a few people that they are on the slow side. You may want to try asking O-I.

I don't recommend more than 5% roasted rye. A bit goes an extremely long way.

Generally, I would recommend that no addition to any solera cask is less than two years old at the time a product is released. While I haven't tried the Solera system with Whiskey, it works exceptionally well with pear and apricot brandies, though again, the youngest contents are never less than two years old.

I believe White Labs has an enzyme that will yield close to 100% of the available sugars within barley; excluding fiber and cellulose (obviously). The standard process in large ethanol distilleries involves a backwards mashing process, beginning with conversion using alpha-amylase, which makes unfermentable sugars, then moving down to glucoamlyase which is pitched with yeast and works actively as fermentation continues. The ideal yields are measured in absolute alcohol per ton of grain.

If the barrel has been aired out for some time afterwards, it will be fine. The most important detail is the way in which the barrel was treated; if they used metabisulfites, or outrightly burned sulfur within the open barrel (This is old world and super unlikely), you may have more reason to be concerned. If they filled it with gas, you should be fine.

Where do you live?

BRB, Winning a lottery

I personally think the "Authentic old world" one has its merit, too...

I think the issue of sulfur from barrels is overblown; the sulfur produced by improper fermentation is a bigger issue if your distillate doesn't have thorough copper contact. It will produce some fairly strange tastes, think roast-chesnut, matchstick and meatiness like turkey. You can remove much of the SO2 from barrels just by blowing warm air into the empty barrel as soon as you get it. Just ask your winemakers these questions... -Do you use sorbates? -Were sulfites used? If so, how much? -How many uses has the barrel had? If you're doing small barrels, knowing the sugar content of the final wine is important too, since too much sweetness can throw off any balance (In my opinion though, sweet fortified wine barrels produce really excellent Whisky. I have tried one from a barrel that contained blackberry fortified which blew me away). What is important is that you arrange to be contacted as soon as a barrel is being emptied; you will have no risk of acetic acid issues if you pick up the barrel immediately.

Is this average hypochlorite? That is one thing that yes, will, lead to issues, but not as serious. The one of concern is actually your good old household variety Cl2, and chloramines to an extent. They are extremely reactive and will lead to off tastes in your spirit that may not be noticeable in less concentrated forms (Such as mash). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfection_by-product This is why I rarely, if ever use unfiltered municipal water in any stage of producing an alcoholic beverage.

Keeping the barrel 75% full is advantageous over 100% full. I suspect the reasons for this are what you mentioned, an increased loss of spirit - which actually would help the spirit mellow - but I'm not certain myself. I know many french brandymakers insist on it.

There is always TAPP labels, though they may be leaning in the lamborghini direction you speak of, the work is quite decent. Their custom die costs are not too high, and they also have a number of special stocks, niche foils etc

Exactly, if there's a market for this, there's a market for everything. No wonder Yuri Schefler is riding around in a yacht worth a third of a billion dollars. Anyway, on the topic, I think this is definitely a time saver. Think of it this way - When you are doing fruit mashes, that are notoriously less high yield than grain, you can either run something through your small still many times and spend much more time filling the still, emptying it, waiting for heat up, cooldown etc, or you can run it all through at once, making your transition from low wines to spirits much faster. It will end up saving you money in the longrun especially if you end up hiring labor to help you with distillation just because of all the time. If I could, I'd have a setup where the stripping still is a whopping ten times larger, just because I'd like to do more esoteric, low yield distillations like Rowan Berry or Pumpkin without having to waste several days away.

Sometimes, it's a good idea to segment a play budget and time allocation, because many of said presented opportunities can provide you with products that are novel and likely to gain attention. Weird stuff sells. Go to a party and tell everyone you've got booze made from brownies. Watch what happens.

You may want to look into commercial enzymes such as beta glucanase, alpha amylase, etc, you'll get much higher yields from all of the flour in them. Secondly, the point has been made, but discarding this won't be a piece of cake brownie. You will need to compost it, in all likelihood... Last, but not least, you will want to acidify the mash, after starch conversion, because they are likely slightly basic. And pitch a decent amount of yeast. Many commercial brownies have potassium benzoate or sorbate, which are responsible for inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. A low pitch may end up in a stifled fermentation.

It's money far better spent on sending bottles of select spirit to people who you know are influencial in the longrun. Nobody cares about awards. Their impact on demand lasts about as long as the local newspaper of the distillery hometown writes about it. However, several exhausted people I know in retail have told me about how much demand is suddenly coming in for Jim Murray's recommended Whisky of the year. Basically there is a network of journalists (like Murray and many more), bloggers, forum posters, whisky clubs, bar owners etc that are all in the know, they influence what retailers carry and eventually what the general public with a passing interest in Whisky will glob onto. It's ridiculous how small the Whisky world is considering how large the market is. Not that it's a bad thing of course, you can become a star overnight. Look at Sullivan's Cove.

I have to say, Rowan Berry is not for the faint of heart. Once you're up and running and have time to kill, that's your "I'm doing this because I really seriously love it" brandy. And your customer base will be very niche - usually German or Central Europeans.