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
Reply:
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
(773) 295 4454
Reply:
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
Reply:
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.
Reply:
Where do you think you'll lose capacity if you are distilling mash?