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Certified I.B.D. Distiller working to support the Craft Distilling movement sweeping North America.

The Perils of Using Grain from the Farm-gate

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In our 5 Day Distillery Workshops we talk about the possibilities of going to the farm and sourcing different types of grains for use at a craft distillery. We caution to physically go to the farm to inspect the grain for evidence of molds or staining on the grain. Evidence of such should be reason not to purchase that particular grain as staining can be a result of fusarium molds which will be toxic to yeast during the fermentation.

I just had the week-end from hell and I am writing to share that experience.

I am assisting a small craft distillery start-up in Saskatchewan to formulate their recipes for their Moonshine. They are farmers and as such have ample access to plenty of grain. They recently provided me with 2 pails of grain ( winter wheat) and asked if I would mash it up, ferment it off and distill it into alcohol that was at or near 80%/volume. I agreed to do so.

As I was grinding the grain I could not help but notice the amount of weeds, seeds and chaff in the pails of grain. I thought to myself – this might make for some grassy type flavors, but for the purposes of this basic exercise I reckoned all would be fine.

I completed the mash, got a final Brix reading of 20 and was quite happy with the sweet goodness as I tasted the mash. I pitched my yeast and the ferment got off to a roaring start.

But, 3 days later, my ever observant wife ( who is now keenly aware of what a ferment should look like) alerted me that the ferments had stopped bubbling. I thought this rather odd, but decided to leave the fermenters alone for a few more days.

I have to sieve my fermented grain mashes though mesh so as not to introduce too many solids into my electrically heated Hillbilly still. As I was sieving the mash, I thought I could detect some occasional solvent odors. Nah!! …must be my imagination I thought to myself.

I loaded the still, turned on the heat and waited for the pot to warm up.

Soon enough, the temperature of my column started to heat up and when I peered into the windows at each plate all I could see was a dense fog. How weird is that, I mumbled to myself…

Eventually the distillate started coming off the still and yikes !!! it was the color of a weak cup of tea. How is that possible, I thought?

Well, the brown liquid kept coming along with a solvent like aroma. When I tasted the distillate, I could detect a faint whisky flavor, but the solvent was predominant and my tongue tingled. I also noted the temperature at the dephlegmator to be about 68C, well below the boiling point of alcohol.

Here is what happened. Evidently, during the mashing process, the artificial enzymes broke down the weeds, seeds and chaff in the grain. The yeast in the fermenter pails started eating this foreign debris along with the sugars from the grains. Yes, alcohol (ethanol) was made, but the Embden Meyer Parnhas Glycolytic Pathway somehow also produced an alcoholic solvent type molecule too. This solvent was what halted the ferment after 3 days. The distillation process simply concentrated the solvent and the brown color emerging from the still was the result of this harsh solvent stripping buildup off the interior of the still column. In fact, the solvent molecules when combined with the alcohol molecules made a mutation that had a boiling point of 68C – well below the boiling point of ethanol.

When I removed the column from the pot, I rubbed a paper towel on the inside of the column and the paper towel turned black from the copper-sulfide type residue that had accumulated in the column.

The rest of the day was spent dismantling the entire still and all it parts. I heated up some water to 60 C and added citric acid. I scrubbed all the still parts in the citric, rinsed them and re-assembled the still.

So, lesson learned. While there are many farmers out there growing very exciting varietals of grain, DO NOT buy grain from the farm-gate unless it has first been passed through a state-of-the-art cleaning plant. There should be ZERO evidence of weeds, seeds or chaff in your grain.

My client has been advised of this bizarre situation and is now busy obtaining some more grain, this time from a seed provider whose seed is certified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to be free of foreign debris.

The following photos illustrate the color of the distillate, the dense fog in the column windows and the grime on the paper towels.

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What’s Steeping at Legend ?

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Spent some time this week at Legend Distilling on Naramata Road, just up the hill from Penticton, BC. The folks at Legend are gaining quite a reputation for their unique infusions and steeped concoctions. I sampled some of their newest creation – Manitou. There is quite a legendary story behind this product which in itself is intriguing. But, this spirit has been made by steeping orange peels and sumac berries in alcohol. The steeped batch is then slightly sweetened and proofed down and bottled.

Sumac shrubs grow in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia and once a year the shrubs yield a crop of red berries. Visit some health websites on-line and you will soon learn that sumac berry hosts many health benefits. In fact, the sumac berry has been known to mankind since 1000 AD.

My initial reaction upon tasting this creation was – wow! this stuff is dangerous. I could easily lose myself and sip my way through a bottle of Manitou in an afternoon.

Well done you guys. Keep up the great work. Look forward to more unique creations…

What’s New at Dub’h Glas Distilling?

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Spent the morning at Dub’h Glas Distilling in Oliver, BC today. In case you have not heard of this small craft distillery, it is gaining a lot of popularity for its Noteworthy Gin.

I was very pleased today to learn that Dub’h Glas is now out with a new product. But – please note well – this is a product that is best appreciated if and only if you have a somewhat educated taste palate. There are plenty of craft distillers out there who have launched various versions of White Dawg, White Lightnin’, White Mongrel and what have you. These various products are simply their standard whisky type distillate that has never seen the inside of an oak cask.

Dub’h Glas has upped the game significantly with the creation of its Virgin Whisky. Virgin, so named because it is newly created, virgin whisky that has not seen an oak cask. I was able to piece together the subtle hints given to me by Owner/Distiller Stevely. What he seems to be doing is carefully regulating the fermentation temperature during the early stages of the ferment. He is also using a yeast that is not the standard type yeast many craft distillers are using.

The net result – would you believe fruity notes? At 50% alc, this product with its wonderful fruity notes was a real pleasure to sip. Many white whiskies are screaming out for something to be mixed into them. Virgin Whisky from Dub’h Glas is screaming – leave me alone…don’t mix me….sip me straight up and appreciate all that I have to offer.

If you are in or near Oliver, BC – take a swing by Dub’h Glas Distilling and indulge yourself with a bottle of Virgin Whisky. While you are there, ask very politely and Stevely might also let you taste his Navy Strength version of his Noteworthy Gin. This is another blog post for another time….if he chooses to release this Gin to the world…..

Stand Together or Fall Together

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The craft distilling movement is still very much in its infancy. The consumer still has not whole-heartedly adopted craft distilled spirits.

If the craft distilling movement is to succeed, the quality of craft products will have to be top shelf. I hear many people comparing the craft distilling movement to the craft beer movement that got underway in earnest in the late 1980s. I hear the argument that the craft distilling movement has nowhere to go but up.

I do not agree entirely.

In the late 1980s, beer consisted of offerings from Molsons, LaBatts, Bud, Coors and the like. The craft beers that burst onto the scene were unique, unusual and tasted way different than anything the consumer was used to. Before long, the consumer adopted these unique offerings and became quite savvy. Soon enough consumers were asking how many IBU bittering units were in their IPAs. Soon enough consumers were evaluating the taste profiles of their stouts and porters much like a wine afficionado would dissect a fine wine.

Today, when one looks across the distilled spirits spectrum, there is nothing necessarily wrong with Alberta Premium Rye Whisky, nothing terribly horrible about Grey Goose Vodka and nothing amiss with all those Bourbons and Single Malt Scotches. If the craft movement is to succeed, craft distillers will have to create products that are as good as the commercial products on offer today and certainly more unique.

This leaves zero margin for poor tasting products from the craft scene.

I recently tasted a product called French Laundry Vodka from Sperling Distillery in Regina, Saskatchewan. To be perfectly blunt, I would be comfortable using this product to clean the carburetor on my lawn mower engine. I also sampled their Ole Jed’s Moonshine. I am not sure who Ole Jed was, but if this was his recipe, he is probably blind and impotent by now. This Moonshine was horrid! At one of my recent Workshops held at Urban Distilleries in Kelowna, BC I offered the class samples of Old Order Vodka from Old Order Distilling in Penticton, BC. Never have I seen an entire class of people all recoil in horror at the same instant. This Vodka was paint stripper to be quite blunt. This product should not even be on the store shelves it is that bad. Strangely enough, both Old Order Distilling and Sperling Distillery are running stills made by German firm Mueller. I am not sure if there is something wrong with Mueller stills or if the Mueller technical rep failed to properly train the distillers. I have extended an offer to both distilleries to work with them through a couple distillation runs to try to identify the problems. To date, neither have responded.

I have come under fire for posting these blunt posts in which I single out products based on their poor quality. But – I stand by what I do. If the craft movement is to grow strong legs and survive, there can be zero margin for poor quality. All it will take to damage the craft movement is a few distillers who insist on making bad product. Rumors will abound. The fragile consumer will revert back to his ‘go-to’ commercial brands that he is comfortable with.

We either stand together….or we fail together….

Taking Afternoon Tea to a New Level…

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At the recent Distilled Spirits expo in London, we learned that at one time in Europe ( early 1900s ???), tea infused Gin was all the rage.

Are the big commercial distillers going to make a tea infused Gin? I say not likely.

Therein lies an opportunity for the innovative craft distiller. I have been requested by someone near and dear to me who likes my homemade Gin to start making her lots of this tea Gin. And I can see why – it is a truly unique product.

You can use Earl Grey tea, Lapsang Suchong or for that matter any tea you wish.Infuse the Gin with loose leaf tea, add a bit of simple syrup to slightly sweeten it and voila – teatime will never be the same again.

Tea Gin

Lemoncello – Think Outside the Box

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In a recent post to the Linked In Group (Urban Distilleries Workshop Participant Discussion Group), I outlined my experiences making liquor from my crab-apple wine using my Hillbilly Still. Instead of just drinking this apple liquor, I decided to use it for something interesting. I was lucky to get my hands on an old family Lemoncello recipe from some friends who live on the Mediterranean island of Malta. What you see in this image are some of the bottles that I filled this morning ( 35% alc/vol). It tastes sooooooo good! I am sure that with a bit of dark chocolate, it will be simply divine.

I would like to hammer home the point that craft distillers need to stop behaving like lemmings falling off a cliff. Just because someone makes white, unaged spirit does not mean that everyone needs to rush out with their white dog, white bear, white “animal” version. Think outside the box…..Hit the consumer with some naturally flavored liquor/liqueur made using your white spirits as a base alcohol. Seven days of maceration was all it took to make this lemon spirit. LemoncelloIf you are worried the consumer will not know what Lemoncello is, then don’t call it Lemoncello. Call it Lemon Drop Liquor, Lemon Squeezin’s, etc… Make it interesting, wrap it in a story, engage the consumer…… dare to be different.

Gin – Mind the Definitions

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As I write this post, I have just returned from a short road trip from Kelowna to Vancouver where I was in search of new and unique Gins from craft distillers.

I was particularly disturbed during a pit stop at a new craft distillery in Oliver, BC called Dubh Glas. This recent start-up is making a Gin called Noteworthy Gin which they class as a New Western Dry style of Gin. When I flat out asked the distiller what this category of Gin really was, the stuttering, stammering and foot shifting began in earnest.

The reason I nailed him with this question is because – there is no such legal definition in Canada of a New Western Dry Gin. These legal definitions are but one of the things we explore in depth at our Distillery Workshopsin Kelowna BC.

In Canada, spirits definitions are tightly controlled by the Canadian Food and drug Regulations. In particular, section crc 870 of these Regs will tell you all you need to know. I encourage you to check these Regs out sometime to learn more about what you are really drinking.

In the case of Gin, crc 870 section B.02.041 is where you want to be. It says:

Gin,

(a) shall be a potable alcoholic beverage obtained

(i) by the re-distillation of alcohol from food sources with or over juniper berries, or by a mixture of the products of more than one such re-distillation, or

(ii) by the blending of alcohol from food sources, redistilled with or over juniper berries, with alcohol from food sources or by a mixture of the products of more than one such blending;

(b) may contain

(i) other aromatic botanical substances, added during the re-distillation process,

(ii) a sweetening agent, and

(iii) a flavouring preparation for the purpose of maintaining a uniform flavour profile; and

(c) may be labelled or advertised as Dry Gin or London Dry Gin if sweetening agents have not been added.

In plain English, what this definition really says is:

A distiller takes alcohol that has been made by fermenting and distilling cereal grain or surplus wine. This alcohol is placed into a still to be re-distilled. The distiller can either place juniper berries in the still with the alcohol or he can configure matters so that the alcoholic vapors rising up through the still come into contact with the juniper berries. The distiller can if he wishes add other botanicals to the alcohol in the still or to the still apparatus so the vapors contact them. These other botanicals can include the likes of coriander, cinnamon, lemon peel, orange peel, apple, lavender etc…. Some of the Gins that consumers are accustomed to drinking have up to 12 or 14 different botanicals added. At the end of the whole process, the distiller can even add a tiny touch of sweetener. If no sweetener is added, the distiller can call his Gin a Dry Gin or a London Dry Gin.

The expression London Dry Gin is not a new one. Consumers have seen it before. Take a wander through the aisles of your liquor store and look at Beefeater, Gordon’s, Tanqueray and Bombay – they are all labelled as London Dry Gins.

In the U.K., a London Dry Gin is properly defined as:

a Gin in which the botanicals are added during the distilling process rather than being added later as flavourings. Likewise, adding sugar or colourings is not permitted.

That’s it – pretty simple isn’t it?

So, to bring this post full circle – I think you can now see where the problem is. Manufacturer’s of Gin cannot just take it upon themselves to create a new name like New Western Dry Gin. The consumer has no idea what this product even is.

Yes, I will be the first to admit that craft distillers are all about putting some craftsmanship into the making of spirits. But, let’s face reality – this craft distilling movement is in its early stages yet. If craft distillers start going off half-cocked and creating new category names they will for sure raise the hackles of Government. The last thing this craft movement needs right now is the bad publicity that will come when the Government starts enforcing the legal definitions. And believe you me, the Government can be very strict if it wants to be.

As I sit here in Kelowna crafting this article, I have just returned from a run to the local liquor store to get some cold refreshments to help combat the 38 C heat. While at the store, I did some quick double-checking. It appears to me the whole notion of a London Dry Gin is falling out of fashion. Here is what I found:

Old Order Distilling is calling their Legacy Gin simply a Gin. Urban Distilleries has its Spirit Bear Gin. Fermentorium Distilling has a product called Coastal Forest Gin. Legend Distilling has their Doctors Orders Gin, Yaletown Spirits has their Yaletown Gin. Odd Society has their Wallflower Gin. Dillons has its Method 95 Gin (which by the way is perhaps the only in Canada made from surplus grape juice) On the larger commercial front, the very famous brand Martin Miller’s simply has a Gin. French distiller Citadelle also has a Gin. And even the famous Hendricks calls its product nothing more than just a Gin.

The only London Dry Gins were Tanqueray, Gordon’s, Bombay and Beefeater.

So, you see there are a host of craft distilling companies (small are not so small) out there that are respecting the definition. And so they should.

The next time you happen to see a Gin in Canada that is flaunting itself as a New Western Dry Gin (I have seen two of late and they are Dubh Glas from Oliver BC and Lucky Bastard Distilling from Saskatoon) – get on social media and openly quiz them. Ask them why they would flaunt the legal definitions. If they are side-stepping the name definitions, ask yourself what else they are side-stepping.

Do you really want to drink a product made by someone who openly dis-respects the law? I surely do not….

Vodka – The Proper Way

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Vodka (or as it was known in 1850s Russia – Wodka) was first commercialized by Pyotr Smirnov. He and his son Vladimir enjoyed great success up until 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution ushered in the era of Communist dictators.

Vladimir fled Russia and sought refuge in France post 1917. However, the French were not ready to embrace his colorless spirit called Vodka.

The worldwide rights to Smirnov Vodka were eventually sold in 1934 to US businessman Rudolph Kunnets. Kunnets soon discovered that Americans too were unwilling to embrace the clear spirit.

But, WW 2 ushered in a sea-change of attitude across America. Bartenders began to embrace the concept of the mixed drink. They soon figured out that Vodka with its lack of color and lack of aroma did not corrupt mixed drinks such as Bloody Mary’s, Harvey Wallbangers and Moscow Mules.

I recently came across a book by Russian author William Pokhlebkin. In his book he argues that “cocktails are merely a means of getting drunk”. He says that “the correct role for Vodka is as a table drink to accompany Russian food dishes”. He goes on to say that in 1850s Russia, Vodka was sipped during a meal. Over the time spent eating a meal, a person might go through 1-2 ounces of Vodka. So, not enough to get drunk. Just enough to cleanse the palate between bites and to make the meal more enjoyable.

I think there is a screaming opportunity here for the craft distiller. The opportunity is one of educating the consumer to start sipping Vodka straight up with food. For the restaurant industry, people should be encouraged to pair a good craft distilled Vodka with their meals. About 7 years ago while on a trip to New York, I had this Vodka pairing experience at the Russian Tea Room, located next to Carnegie Hall. To this day, I have fond memories of that dinner in New York. The consumer should be further reminded that every serious liquor cabinet needs a few good craft distilled Vodkas in it. I now regularly sip Vodka with my meals and I can attest it adds a whole new dimension to dining.

At this point the expression “good” needs to be clarified. There are craft distillers out there (ie Lucky Bastard in Saskatoon, Canada, Long Table Distillers, Vancouver) who are taking Neutral Grain Spirits and running this material through a small still. This is NOT a good Vodka. In fact, I would never touch such a poor excuse for Vodka. On the other hand, any craft distiller who takes the time to mash his own grain and conduct a stripping run followed by a rectification run in a multi-plate column still is making a “good” Vodka.

If you are reading this blog, please…take the time to find a “good” Vodka. If you are unable to find a good craft vodka in your area, then may I suggest a bottle of Ketel One. Sip the Vodka with meals. I then invite you to contact me to share your thoughts on this old world Russian way of drinking Vodka.

Cheers

Feedback and Comments from the May 2015 Workshop

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Following the May 2015 Workshop, I asked participants to record their thoughts. Here are some of the comments:

” I enjoyed the hands-on floor time, distilling Gin, doing the stripping run as well as starting the mash and fermentation”. Mike B. – Nisku Alberta ( Big Rig Distillery)

” Great hands on and the ability to actually do stuff. Also the group atmosphere was amazing”. Doug B. – Toronto

” Very informative and knowledgeable. Also enjoyed the diversity of the people in the class.” Andrea Z. – Vancouver

“Both Mike & Malcolm were open and forthcoming with information. I increased my overall understanding of the distillation process…” Mike G. – Vancouver

“Awesome….thanks guys !” Matt – Penticton, BC

“Floor time combined with the power point classroom presentations was perfect. Excellent job guys…” John C. – Newfoundland

“I was a complete novice, so I learned a great deal about the entire process of distilling…” Susan C. – Newfoundland

“Coming in green, I now have the ability to go home and start experimenting with my own grains and recipes…” Rhonda F. – Alberta