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To lauter or not to lauter ...


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I am producing fruit brandy now but plan to reconfigure my distillery for whiskey.

(Malt, bourbon, and rye). I was reading the comments about the hammer mill vs the roller mill, and noticed Eric's comments in the last thread that "phenol issues or the chance of bacterial influence" can come from distilling without lautering. I had not planned to lauter, thinking that it would be a real convenience to skip added step of removing the grain. My still can handle beer or the whole un-lautered mess. Is there a concensus on what produces a better whiskey, or what is more efficient, lautered or not-lautered?

Tom

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Hey Tom,

If you have a proper mashtank and the right enzymes you can save the lautering.

Give me a call and I'll explain what I mean in more detail.

All the best,

Robert

Kothe Distilling Technologies.

Award winning handcrafted German engineered potstills for the production of high quality fruit and grain spirits, as well as bioethanol. “Kothe Destillationstechnik” uses patented technology to specially engineer each still with solid quality and energy saving compounds to meet the particular needs of each distiller. Kothe Distilling Technologies is the sole representative of “Kothe Destillationstechnik” in North America, Canada, and Mexico.

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Kothe Distilling Technologies Inc.

5121 N. Ravenswood Ave

Chicago, IL 60640

http://www.kothe-distilling.com

info@kothe-distilling.com

(773) 295 4454

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I am producing fruit brandy now but plan to reconfigure my distillery for whiskey.

(Malt, bourbon, and rye). I was reading the comments about the hammer mill vs the roller mill, and noticed Eric's comments in the last thread that "phenol issues or the chance of bacterial influence" can come from distilling without lautering. I had not planned to lauter, thinking that it would be a real convenience to skip added step of removing the grain. My still can handle beer or the whole un-lautered mess. Is there a concensus on what produces a better whiskey, or what is more efficient, lautered or not-lautered?

Tom

Tom,

I have had great whisky produced both ways, it is a matter of differences in technique. I believe one of the biggest detractors of distilling off the grain is the loss of stll capacity... upwards of 30%. But, to lauter comes at a significant cost, so you also have to look at that dimension (assuming you are buying purpose built, professionally built equipment). Yes there is a much greater chance of phenol pickup by distilling off the grain, but depending on your maturation strategy, even that can be mittigated. The bacterial potential is also higher as I mentioned, but proper pitching rates and pH adjustments can reduce that potential. Temperature contolled fermentation also can go a long way to avoiding creating downstream problems. It is a choice based upon your technical and facilities ability.

Eric

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  • 1 month later...

Some believe that a higher content of malt solids (husks, etc.) increase the vanillin content of the whisky produced. But leaving the husks in will also increase your chances of burning solids during the wash distillation. Tom is right, of course, about the loss of capacity. In general, you'll be able to produce more new make whisky in any given setup with a mash tun than without even if you consider the extra time it takes to lauter.

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