KRS

How many craft distilleries do we now have in the US? How many have been certified by the ADI?

I'm a little confused about crushing juniper. I was under the impression that it became bitter when it is crushed. A question: is maceration for 24 hours necessary/reasonable before using vapor infusion?

Although it's months since you published your questions, and I hope you moved right along with your application, I have to commiserate. I found the requirement to describe the physical distances within the distillery itself to be the most stupid, irrational requirement of the entire application process--actually much of it was quite reasonable, but this was a pound your head against a wall one. 1. Regarding how to place your distillery in the business park, it's really just literally locating your site as you would for a singularly direction-challenged individual who wanted to visit. West of the 210 Freeway, South of Washington Blvd, East of Lincoln Avenue, North of Hammond. In the center of the Business Park of Pasadena, which consists of 5 distinct buildings, on the interior south side of the most central building, shaped like a U, east of the central private access road. The legal details of the Tract are found usually in the landlord's office, but also at the County assessors, which will give you the name of the tract and the lot number. 2. The lie down and die laughing requirement was the requirement to describe the physical boundaries of the distillery plant by compass directions in a continuous, contiguous perimeter. It turned out to hilarious. Every time a wall ended and a corner needed to be turned, the change in direction needed to be stated, together with the distance traveled until another corner was reached. For instance, the office and the restroom share a common wall, facing east from within the office, facing west within the restroom. The distance from the open office door, which created a corner to the change in direction of the outside corner of the abutting restroom wall was 39 inches south, turning east and traveling 3 inches to the open restroom door and proceeding 36 inches east to the opening of the restroom door. Exiting the restroom, continuing the uninterrupted perimeter, travel was 12 inches east, then 12 inches north, then 3.5 inches east... When the reviewer told me that, yes, indeed, it was an actual requirement, I was stunned, incredulous, pissed off and now amused for a lifetime. Good luck to you Alex!

Why don't you look at brewing suppliers for a plate chiller? Or eBay. Plate chillers to require attentive cleaning, but they work very well for small batches.

I believe that whenever whiskies of different ages are blended--in the barrel or out, the age statement needs to reflect the newest made whiskey.

Thank you for sharing your advice. Frankly, I'm still dealing with the shock of finding out that we need to test every batch that's going to be bottled for solids. I thought proofing was complicated enough with reading the hydrometer and the thermometer and using ABS 3.3 to do the hard work. How could we possibly send a sample from every batch to a lab and get it back soon enough to get on with it in a reasonable time frame? That's not rhetorical, by the way--it's a real question. I'd appreciate it very much if people would explain the mysteries and how to manage effectively with gauging obscuration.

Has anyone used Pellet Lab Master Distillers 1000ml Distillation Kit? Were you happy with it? How did you get your lab equipment for determining obscuration, piecemeal? Is the process of obscuration proofing demonstrated in the TTB video on proofing as challenging as it seemed to me? I'd appreciate knowing more from those of you who do obscuration proofing with ease! Also, I mistakenly posted this in Equipment, so you might see another version.

Has anyone used this kit? Were you happy with it? How did you get your lab equipment for determining obscuration, piecemeal? Is the process of obscuration proofing demonstrated in the TTB video on proofing as challenging as it seemed to me? I'd appreciate knowing more from those of you who do obscuration proofing with ease!

Hedgebird, thank you for the explanation. Turns out I could have asked my husband--he and I really need to see more of each other! Thank you also for the clarification about the rye malt. I had been thinking you meant the malted grain. When Distilled Resources said there's a lot of misinformation out there, I couldn't help wondering if some of it could really be differences in methods that led to successfully distilled spirits. By the time I read the posts on this thread and all of the links to threads that Hedgebird sent me, I think I'm more mystified than ever. Obviously, though, there's quite a range of producing rye whiskey that people like well enough to drink it. I'm looking forward to getting the book Distilled Resources is publishing--could you hurry with that?

Hi, how fast can you get it published? Seriously, go to Amazon and search for other how -to make spirits publications, decide what seems fair to you in comparison to their content and set your price. You'd be self-publishing, I'll assume, and I can give you very good marketing strategies. But I'm using my phone, and it's a pain to go on and on. I'll email you when I get back to my computer. I'd be happy to help you become famous!

Thank you for adding information, Hedgebird. I don't know what you mean by "grain bill." Especially since my current basis is flour. I take it that you put in 10% malted rye to 90% flour in your flour wash. Regarding sticky, it's been long enough since the attempt, I don't remember if it was actually sticky or gummy as much as thick and viscous. It was tedious washing the residue from the still, but that was because it was like overcooked gravy on the coils. I thought the paint mixer added to the thickening since the mash was pretty much like a thick gravy, and gravy only gets thicker as you heat it and stir it, although it does get smoother.

Hi, James. I was and will be working with flour for the next 150 lbs--can't afford to throw it away, and I haven't got time to make bread. I have rye malt and 2-row waiting i line. I am thinking about taking the flour home and doing 10-gallon bathes in the home-brew system. Life being what it is, no doubt when I've got the flour recipe perfected, the flour will be gone and I'll be facing rye malt. Moving right along... We have a 9.5HP steam boiler--way too big for what we need but the smallest we could buy that meets SoCal AQMD (air quality mgmt district) regulations--the strictest in the USA, I believe. For the StillDragon, our kettle is a 55-gal stainless steel barrel with a copper-coil inside for the steam heat. We didn't have good steam valve control, but now it's much improved. Regarding ph, we have a very good Hanna ph meter, and an excellent refractometer. However, we didn't have any temperature probes really designed for the kettle, but now we do. Also, it was cooked way too long, although 156 degrees apparently is reasonable. Actually, I'm quite confused about the mash cooking time. There seems to be a great deal of difference of opinion on that. As far as enzymes and other adjuncts, I'm much clearer on proportions and timing. Someone talked about the mystery of the stuck mash--it's not a complete mystery. I don't work alone, and despite my concerns, the yeast was pitched when the mash was still much too warm. I'm assuming the tiny creatures died untimely deaths. The next time we'll wait for it to cool to a more appropriate temperature. One of the biggest problems for getting a grip on making a rye whiskey is that I'm using flour--until it's all gone. A lot of suggestions have been based on using the grain. I'm determined to get it right, and I'll extrapolate from what I've learned here. Just the same, opinions about working successfully with rye flour will be appreciated. Thanks again to everybody who's taken an interest. KRS

Thank you for all the links, HedgeBird. I've read them and I think some of them will be very helpful. I was intrigued by a post that said an historical source suggested vegetable oil on the kettle. Also, thanks to Skaalvenn for the search info. What's missing, though, is actually hearing from people about the distilling process. I can see that our mash didn't go well, but assuming it is less gummy and foamy 2nd time around, just how thick is it when it's ready to go into the still? I've read "thinned out" or variations a few times, but what consistency is that? I've made rum and brandy, and what went into the still was ordinary liquid. Should I expect to have something along the lines of a cream soup? I've been collecting opinions and experiences posted here and elsewhere regarding making rye whiskey, so I guess it's time to synthesize all the info and get back in the game.

I don't find anything in any ADI forum when I search for "rye whiskey." What am I doing wrong? Never mind, moving right along...I would like to know how to ferment rye effectively and then distill it. My one and only attempt went down the drain. The fermentation was a gloppy mess, yes, I used a variety of enzymes under the physically-present supervision of Jason from Speciality Enzymes, it stopped fermenting in about 3 days, it never got to vapor temperature in the still (DragonStill-4 plates), after two hours of waiting, we flushed it down the drain. I've gotten some helpful advice from Lake Distilling that I appreciate. Nonetheless, is rye so hard to distill that ADI members just aren't bothering? I really like rye whiskey and I want to make it at my distillery. I'd like to find out what is working for fellow members. Cautionary tales will also be appreciated.