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porter

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  1. porter

    Aging Rum

    Spirals are expensive, depending on the quantity you're aging. Are you planning on suspending or bagging or just dropping them in?
  2. Nothing taken. I was just making the point copper is good in one sense (sulphides) and bad in another (ethyl carbamate). I sort of find the entire copper topic falls under "eggs are now good for you". .....but last year they were still bad. My original point in asking was whether copper in the storage vessel actually did anything for sulphides. And I still haven't seen anything on that. From what I have found the copper must be in the vapor path. But that again hasn't been anything solid. However, nothing I've found says storing finished product in copper removes sulphides.
  3. "You will want to research "ethyl carbamate" for concerns related to using copper on condensed spirits. Theres info on the board." Thanks, I went and found a study early '90s on that subject. However, the ethyl carbamate problem flies in the face of the reason to use copper for the sulphide reductions. And the study makes it a point the copper must be in contact with the hot distillate or in the vapor path, not a storage vessel of copper in order to form the ethyl carbamate. Appears to be several things on both sides of this fence.
  4. "Because once the finished distillate is collected it's easy to add copper to the finishing vessel where the copper will smooth it out more I believe then the actual column its self." Not thread hijacking, just wanting to know if there's a thread related to this line of reasoning? I couldn't find one.
  5. Just saw the CBS Evening News. Their story once again brings up the very real need for truth in the labeling and licensing process. They sort of targeted Templeton Rye, but their story can be seen throughout the industry; licensed distilleries that aren't. Some time back I brought the issue up that there needed to be seperate licensing for those who don't actually distill their product, 'mixers' in other words. And the need for labels to clearly display 'distilled by' and 'bottled by' as seperate licensed classes of product. Boy did I get shot down by those who don't distill. Well, folks, thanks to the CBS News maybe we'll stand a chance to get those distinctions at last. Do we have a lobbyist out there who would take this issue to the TTB to change things? Hello? In the mean time, maybe we can start a thread or site with listings of those labels who don't distill their own product, thereby educating the public with a one-stop site to get ahold of information the mixers and bottlers should be putting on each bottle. Let's get and keep the purity of the bottle..............
  6. porter

    Aging Rum

    Will work fine. Just be sure to rinse all the whiskey out. Rum is rum, don't taint it with harsh, chared tasting whiskey. Sherry or brandy barrel is my first choice, followed by dark toast wine that's had a deep red in it.
  7. porter

    Aging Rum

    Like anything else. Around the 120-130. And 6 months seems to work well. A year seems to cover up the rum notes.
  8. That sounds most reasonable. In the absense of leaf hops, the larger grain husks form the filter bed in the lauter process to hold back the actual grain chunks. Remember when scotch was made in the old days it took a lot of manpower to make flour instead of just cracking the grains. They aren't about to change from what the old timers did over there. One large/old distillery even took laser measurements of the dents from years of use on an old still they were removing and made exact duplicate dents in the new one, thinking the dents make a profile difference.
  9. Personally, I wouldn't do 'flour' fine, won't be able to get it out for cooking unless you like cooking glop. And peated is for smoky 'scotch' not the highland malt variety.
  10. That's a bit confusing. How do you cycle in cold climates and keep above 65? Unless you heat it up, which isn't good. While many do keep temps very close, much like wine in the caves, it does add a different character to it to get fast aging going by natural heat/cool for at least couple of years. Or months if you can cool the entire batch, which can be done in stainless with glycol and oak/cherry/pecan or whatever you want to use. -BRADOCASTER----As for -temps, did you ever look at the freezing point of barrel strength 120proof? Somewhere around -40f, at that point it really doesn't matter. For some reason the page doesn't like the <enter> key on Win8, so my lines are run together, sorry............
  11. "So once I cool down the mash in the mashing vessel and pump it over to the fermenter it is beneficial to agitate the mash in the fermenter as long as I do not do it so vigorously that I disturb the surface and drawl O2 into the mash?" Pumping and splashing should inject enough oxygen back in. There's way's to measure O2 but I've never seen anyone bother other than to satisify curiosity. Don't splash while hot though. Get it below 85f to be safe. "Or are you saying that once fermentation begins it is best to not agitate it at all anymore for risk of drawling in O2," Agitate from the bottom all you want, nice and smoothly. If it's a closed vessel it's going to have a Co2 blanket formed on top so don't worry. If it's open, then just don't break the surface or cause it to 'roll' the surface under.Rolling will take surface oxygen down with it. For time, I've seen yeast start in 2 hours if all things are right. Do some small 5-10 gallon batches if you're worried. Temp and variety of yeast are the 2 largest variables. Get the specs from the yeast supplier. For common yeasts 68-72 is perfect. Higher will give off flavors, colder just goes dormant or slows way down. You'll get the best info from a wine/beer supply shop if you have one locally who knows what they are doing. They do the exact same thing, just smaller quantities.
  12. Agitating to keep sugars/fermentables suspended is great, but only in primary fermentation. You just don't want to break the surface and introduce oxygen to the mash once active fermentation starts. True beer specialists don't want to introduce oxygen into fresh wort until it cools. Realize if you boil water you are removing the oxygen, so introducing it back in when cooled down is do-able, until fermentation starts. Then just stir it up smoothly. Same holds true for wine/brandy makers during primary fermentation.
  13. Constant temp actually retards the aging time. Large swings promotes rapid aging. Heat opens up the wood like a sponge. Then the cold of 40 or so squeezes the wood pores together and , like a sponge, the product goes out of the wood. Heat it up and start the process over. If you don't believe it, try this. Put same amount of wood strips in 2 jugs, not wood chips. Put one in the fridge or freezer for 24hours, take it out for 24 hours. Do this process every day for 30 days while leaving the other jug set. To be equal you can shake the still jug when you move the changing jug. The difference is absolute. The 30 day cycle jug will have at least 6 months color/flavor aging. If you haven't tried it don't dispute it. Commercially it's just too expensive to run large chillers/heaters to do this. But there's no reason to heat your barrel room if you live in cold climate, let it breathe in the winter.
  14. And if it's really bad an old trick with kegs was to use a sanding disk on end of a long all-thread rod. Double lock it with nuts and washers, attach to a drill and buff away. 100grit works great, do it dry. A 3" disk will fit a 2" hole, a 6 will go in a 4 also. Centrifigul force spins them out flat once you poke them through the hole. Just don't use steel wool. Will leave a steel pollished finish that will effect taste.
  15. Have used an acid from local dairy processor. Non-pitting copper/stainless safe. Don't know name as it was small quantity from an employee there. Curious, if all sugers were fermented out how did you scorch it that bad?
  16. Fairly simple math problem. 100gal @ 10% = 10gal @ 100% (pure ethenhol, which can't happen) or 20gal @ 50% average, overall final yield 40gal @ 25% 80gal @ 12.5% Although you can't get 100% extraction you should be in the ballpark with those figures. To be more precise you'll lose another 3% from not being able to extract it all in the first place. And that's why you run the tails in the next batch. And it doesn't matter if it's bourbon, vodka, rum, etc. alchohol is all the same.
  17. So is someone going to swim down to the bottom and get them? Isn't that what Jameson did in the commercial
  18. Good point on the heads. Wine is 24proof, so the methenol heads are still there just not as concentrated. I run a beer/wiine making supply shop and get folks in who are allergic to sulphites, or so they say. One patron says 2oz of wine will make swelling around the joints. But his own is not a problem. He uses standard recipe just no addition of sulphites like the wineries do. I also have 2 people who can't drink any 'colored' distillate. White rums, vodka, etc is fine. Problem is with the aging on wood. Similar problem with very small amounts causing reactions.
  19. First thing I would do is calibrate the thermometer, start simple. Then I would question the placement of the thermometer/probe. Needs to be directly in the vapor path as you arm takes off. I saw one install where the probe was setting in the middle of the reflux coils. Temp had to be way higher at takeoff to achieve 172 at the probe. Similar problem as yours.
  20. NatRat is correct, however, I recently visited with a distillery in Gatlinburg TN who 'distills 6 times' through their pots. But when production through the pots isn't keeping up they run it once though their vodka still, behind the curtains, on a single run. That brings up a question I've asked for years......Does a plate = a run? Will a 6 plate column allow you to claim it's distilled 6 times? The quality is of no concern in this question, just whether that's a standard practice to make those claims. On a side note, if the purpose is to distill out the flavors of the corn with so many runs, then why bother using corn in the first place? Things that make you go hummmmmmmmm.
  21. Don't know why all the flap. Barrel age just the non-alch part of the cocktail just like a margarita machine does. Then add the alch when serving. Simple fix...........but still a barrel aged cocktail. Sounds like the bar keepers set themselves for this problem.
  22. I would be asking if those requesting the sulphited barrels were wine makers or distillers. I can't find a thing on using sulphites in whiskey barrels other than to preserve the barrel after using it with wine, then rinse out and use for whiskey. Which is what the Scots have been doing for their fine drink for many years. Not sure who told you it can't be removed though. It leaches out with the water when rinsed. Not that I would buy a new one that way, but I would any used wine barrels to come that way so it would have a mold in them before I got to use them.
  23. Interesting........I've heard of it as standard practice in the wine market. You sulphite the wine anyway and barrel treatment just means you can put the wine direct to barrel without sulphiting first. Just keeps things from growing it in if not used right away. Guess it would be the same for spirits. If you don't use a barrel for 3 months after it's made it could grow things in it. I would think the sulphites could be rinsed out easily though.
  24. I would have to ask why you asking the question? Did someone sell you sulphited barrels?
  25. If you mean hand written proof by batch on the label, yes, I've seen several coming out of Oregon area for small batch brandies. Not sure of the legal aspects but it's most assuredly being done.
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