13 Distilling Tips I learnt From The Pro's In The USA

[@RealJoshBinder]

Each 'Still It' video I watch makes me more knowledgable. Thanks for making these videos!

[@yarkobroda]

Here's an idea for an experiment. Through a three grain whiskey distill together, then Brew three single grain whiskeys distill and blend back together before and after distilling. Compare the results. I firmly believd there is some black magic when fermenting different grains or yeasts together rather than blending before and after distilling.

[@nothinghere1996]

i too have thought of this. i think it will result in a cleaner cut, as you are doing each grain separately.

[@domg.1011]

Through or throw? (You also have a d in place of an e but that doesn't impede reading.) I think I get what you mean. I also want to see this experiment done with wine, co-fermentation vs blending. Hybrids are definitely different. Coferment one, then blend one before barrel aging, then blend one before bottling, then mix some right at the table.

[@desertriderukverun1002]

11 is so true for just about everything. The only way to truly master your craft spirits is to make multiple batches and then you'll start to learn how to make your mashes, how to run your still, how to make cuts and what you like to drink. And don't be afraid to make mistakes or experiments. A column still can "fix" most mistakes and let you use them for something useful.

[@justmejohn44]

Specially pop corn can be gotten on Amazon blue, red and white. You can get other corns too but pop corn is the most affordable. But yeah I know we are lucky here in the US with our options.

[@MrJhchrist]

24:50 At the risk of being pedantic whiskey is still whiskey at 80+%. At least in the US, just plain old whisky or "light whisky" can be made as high as 95%. The 80% limit only applies to the subcategories like bourbon, straight, or even any of the named grain whiskies.

[@BeardedBored]

Excellent tips, and also I'm really envious of your trip...even more than I was!

[@TheElmhirst]

Hi Jessie. Why not grow your own corn? I grew a 5m2 patch of Blue Hopi corn in Nelson a few years ago. Malted it too and made a sorta bourbon at 50/50 mix with barley malt and green corn malt. It turned out pretty good. Now's nearly the time to get planting, big yields from a small patch fairly easy. Keep up the good work mate!

[@ScottButler-q1h]

I too planted my own corn! I found that my raccoon population likes blue corn a LOT more than the hybrid yellow I've been growing!!! The little bastids ate almost an acre before I could deploy my electric webbing fence that I use for the sheep.....

[@Jake_B74]

Thanks for the great tip video. I will definitely try running my stripping runs lower, and had already been running spirit runs to literally flavored water to proof with. I love what you said at the end that you are all making something different then anyone has ever made. It's so true, all of us are making something somewhat unique. I joked with my brother when I let him try some whiskey that it is "ultra rare" because only 10 litres have ever been made.

[@prestonopp]

Loved the distillery takeover at Andalusia! Moose and Tye were so generous with sharing all of their knowledge and expertise. 🥃

[@psylerious]

What I read in Matt Strickland's book on cask management is that proofing shock is a saponification reaction which can cause those off flavors you mentioned. This can happen from the heat of the reaction between water, ethanol, and the other volatiles. The way to counter this (which I thought you were going to say) is also to proof over a very slow and long period of time. Many French brandy distillers do this where the diluting from cask to bottle strength can be a months-long process which also adds the interesting dimension of allowing maturation at different proofs which will change the extraction/oxidation ratio of flavor/aroma development

[@christopherconrad1129]

I'm really interested to see your pure-grain whiskey video. This is the next obvious step in the process, but very long coming. Thanks for the tips and it was nice to meet you in Eugene Oregon.

[@ben4032]

i dont know much about distilling, but i love your channel for its problem solving. your aside about deduction and logic for a taste of a whiskey is emblematic of what i find so interesting about your channel. cheers hope you keep your craft interesting

[@Ansis99]

Hi, Jesse! I did experiment in past - I take toasted and not toasted oak and make tea. Ordinary water +100C and oak wood. There where no tannins in the tea. Just like tea without bitterness. But if we take alcohol more than 45% ABV, than tannins like magnets dissolve in to liquid. This is why I use 40% ABV today in my whiskey "barrels" (plastic containers). Cheers!

[@chefprov]

The Andalusia “take-over” was absolutely amazing! I’ve done a bunch of tastings,, but the combo of trying the aging rate & the “Faults” was off the hook incredible! It was all it took for my wife (who wasn’t a whisky fan) to finally have her whisky Epiphany 💡! Now she knows what she likes,,, and looking for 👍😎

[@russtycogg324]

At about 16:43. This reminds me of HACCP management in food production. There are, along the way, certain points where you can ID where a problem occurred, and then fix that problem so it doesn't occur again. It's HACCP: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.

[@beast2120]

The air stone thing sounds like it's encouraging oxidation of the volatiles in the spirit, which would happen over time with air exchanged, but would happen fast while bubbling air through a spirit

[@southstarsolutions]

Agreed. I suspect that the funky stuff is coming from the water, not the spirit. Fluoride, ammonia, etc in tap water (for a home brewer). The production guys should be filtering out the stuff in the water, possibly even distilling it to add back to the spirit for proofing.

[@andyh7537]

A helpful gauge of that thickness @9:22 is somewhere between the thickness of a business card at the low end, up to the thickness of a normal credit card at the larger gap.

[@andyarmstrong81]

Great video, I like the inspiration from others and the resulting curiosity this brings. Building on the shoulders of giants and greater than the sum of its parts come to mind. - #6 milled grain size - why not blend into flour, maximum surface area and access to starch. - #8.5 wide cuts. If it is worth doing it’s worth overdoing! Why not take some heavy tails and age them to see if the aging process breaks down the tails into something more palatable. If the ABV is too low you can boost with a neutral spirit. I am trying aging a neutral spirit (wheat bran based vodka), the results 5 months in are very caramel like with a medium toast American white oak. Keep em coming.

[@beancreekdist8969]

I wish I could have met you and picked your brain while you were in the states.. you're easy to listen to and very knowledgeable about the craft.. Keep it up, love your channel.

[@edwardbrown7571]

We've been missing your shows... Good to have you back...

[@wldmcmullen]

Jesse just a suggestion but if you do the several different levels of char on the same spirit over a period of time it would be very cool if those jars of spirits were displayed behind on shelves so we could all see the progression over time with you I know I'm a few months behind and re-watching the video

[@Markds181]

Amen! Just do it and take notes.

[@charleswyatt180]

Excellent presentation. Lots of great info. Thanks for sharing that with us. Take care and be safe.

[@williamforsythe5850]

Oh wow I live less than 2 hours from ironroot and had no idea. Going to go visit for sure! With the carb stone I would imagine that it keeps the liquid moving rapidly so when you add the water it isn't bringing the first few mm of the whiskey surface down to like 5 proof as the water hits it. That would bring everything out of solution for few seconds it takes to mix thoroughly and come back to your homeostatic proof. When you mix things like this in a lab environment you would use a magnetic stirrer to keep the solution moving rapidly.

[@MichaelS_MathanDearg]

Good content and sage wisdom, as always. It was great meeting you at the Bastard's Ball (aka Moochfest). You are a friendly and genuine bloke!

[@kimodland]

I love my INTO THE AM shirts. I was wearing my Tree of Life shirt (My Favourite) when I it was cut off at the emgency room at Aidrie Alberta. Transfered to Calgary PLC. Better cut shirt then having a jammer.

[@scottclay4253]

WoW! Well done, great tips. Thanks for sharing.

[@timgutter2708]

Interesting about the chili flavor. A nearby winery had a ladybug problem that left strong hints of peanut butter in the reds.

[@orbitalbreaky]

It really is amazing how far Andalusia goes down into the tails. In the words of Moose "that shit will age out".

[@stoniewan]

Great content Jessie. I was so stoked to get to spend the day at Adalusia. I learned so much and had a fantastic time. The folks there are top notch. You're pretty cool too! I am eager to hear more over the next few months. Thank you for visiting here and sharing the experience with all of us.

[@MaestroPdx]

Next time in Oregon stop by Westward Whisky. They are heading the way to make American Single Malt a real category and the stuff they are doing with whisky is incredible.

[@KnutSandaker]

Hi, great tips! When you say "cut dirty" does it imply more heads, more tails or both?

[@nigelwhite1483]

Great to have you back been missing your videos

[@Ronnunya]

You may already know this but Amazon has Bloody Butcher corn and Jimmy red corn. If you would like I bought 40 acres in Michigan and next year I will be on site and growing these corns for personal use and some for the deer as well. We can talk then and I will send you some from my farm. I want to get back to some of the old roots in making whisky

[@kentaltobelli1840]

When you say put it into the barrel dirtier, what direction are you leaning, heads or tails? I tend to think tails add the deeper whisky flavors, but in your interview with the wood expert they said heads are needed for developing cherry flavors. I like to avoid heads to reduce the chance of a hangover, so what are you thinking of trying? Thanks for getting this info out to the masses!

[@davidrogers6262]

Great video! I learned so much about not getting hung up on temperatures. #9 was a real eye opener too. Keep up the great content! Cheers!

[@uffa00001]

I think the flavour is not only in the alcohol but also in the "water" that is in the fermenting vessel. That is, if you have a 10% fermentation, 10% is alcohols and 90% is "aromatic water". That 90% is influenced by, e.g., the fact that you used specialty grains rather than only base grains. That 90% has not just fermentation aromas, but also the base aroma of the grains, the fruit etc. If you cut your stripping runs short, you are leaving more of this "aromatic water" into your kettle, and you are going to throw away it and add some water to the first run before doing the second run. This water that you add to the first run is not "aromatic water", but just plain water. If you run your stripping run longer, you will certainly get more tails in your intermediate beer (you will cut those tails later) but you will also get more "aromatic water" in your final product, which means, more "base perfume" or plums, pears, apples, grapes, or grains, or whatever, and more "complexity" due to the fermentation aromatics which is preserve in higher quantity.

[@walterinskeep1477]

would love to see your take on a 3 time distilled whiskey

[@wowwhataworld.9590]

Really great tips! Thank you. That shirt is absolutely phenomenal

[@gregcoram6974]

I can relate to baby spew (butyric acid, why doesnt it esterfy?) and fresh cardboard in the heads but on small runs less then 20L low wines I find it happens very fast so hard to pick. On larger runs I get more time to pick it. I recently had trouble dialling in the amount peated grain to put in my bill and I could not correlate it to the final product. Turned out I was being loose with where I cut my stripping runs eg come 5pm if I was under 20% I would often go screw it and call it a day. Once I started going down to 5% consistently everything started to make sense. I was able to reduce the peated grain and thus had more space for other specialty grains. Glad to hear that efficiency may not be a deal here. There's flavour in them dere tails ! Thanks heaps for tips !

[@Stewbphoto]

I was at Andalusia and wow that day was so amazing, changed the way I make cuts and what I keep for final product. Being able to taste a whole run and all the off flavors was eye opening. Talking to Moose about his dunder pits was mind blowing. He is such a wealth of information and inspiration. The whole day was a whirlwind meeting great people and being able to peak behind the curtain. So glad I made it down there and it was really great meeting you Jessie.

[@wldtrky38]

Lots of good info ! Sounds like you had a great trip 👍 Thanks for sharing.

[@jacobflores8666]

Talking about how dramatic the changes are for Andalusia, you may be able to chalk that up to the climate that their barrels are aging in. In a general sense, 5 years is OLD for spirits in Texas time because of the climate differential. 2-3 years seems like it's pretty average because of the barrel impact for spirits aged in Texas.

[@Grandpa_RLP]

I did not understand the pic of the thoughts behind triple distillation. Do you know where I can get some explanation on the graphic or process? Thanks Loved this video and the tips.

[@tomhill4003]

Hey Jessie! Thanks for another AMAZING video.

[@rayhowell400]

Have you checked North Georgia Still Co. for the corns you are looking for ?

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

Have you ever considered trying to grow your own corn? It's one way to get some of the more unique ingredients for cooking. I understand you should be in spring now so it should be about time to plant nowish.

[@KillCoMentalMusings]

KillCo Spotted at 10:28! It was lovely to finally meet you in person, I'm looking forward to when we meet again so we can drink some more kick ass whiskey!

[@mutantryeff]

I hope you can make it to Stranahan's in Colorado next time. Their whiskey was amazing in the early years. I haven't bought any whiskey since then, but figure it is even better today (then again, they could be cutting corners - but I doubt it).

[@thedadchronicles]

Are they pushing CO2 or O2 through the carb stone? We use both in brewing beer at different stages.

[@mccellenlol4163]

I’m wondering if cavitation caused by the holes in the air-stone could create small bubbles to expand and collapse is doing some extra rapid chemical reactions? It’s possible nucleation could be occurring and some of the spirit is degassing or there could be a synthetic “resting/maturing” process happening during that mixing.

[@Billywhunter]

Thank you for the content, it was very informative. Looking forward to your next video.

[@emmetleahy]

Jessie it was great hanging out. Great tips. I would have figured the energy/labor costs would have made it impractical to run down to 1 or 2% in a commercial setting. It is crazy to hear it makes more financial sense to run deeper.

[@paulswan1965]

That was bloody awesome, thanks Jessie. I cut off at 30% but from what you said I might try it at 10% & see how tally it might be with my next run. Cheers

[@lornefenna9824]

One of your best videos imo, rule number one, there are no rules, let's try everything. Thanks Jesse

[@deamonsoul1]

Willing to grow a crop of corn or are you looking for it already dried?

[@jeffbrandon7201]

Just wondering if you have any update on that Oakes honeyshine?

[@whiskeycrusaderwill8699]

Great video good sir. Those tips are fantastic.

[@censusgary]

I know where you can get seeds for those kinds of corn, if you want to grow them yourself. But I don’t know who sells the grain in bulk.

[@tjsotos2885]

I assume this only applies if you are in the states but azure standard has a nice organic blue corn you can buy in 25lb bags for less than a dollar a pound. Check to see if you have a drop off location near you. I got 4 bags not too long ago. Azure shipping should be ~8% of the total cost of your order (very good in comparison to standard shipping rates). From what I have seen from other online grain suppliers, standard shipping rates are over double the cost of your order. I was just looking for bloody butcher the other day and stumbled upon a supplier in TX. Cost of a 50lb bag was $32 while shipping for that bag alone was $45 and shipping two bags would set you back $90 (not including the $64 for the 100#s of grain). I would be a happy camper if I could find a local farmer that grows some of these specialty corns or if more of these online suppliers structure their business the way azure standard does.

[@OldFashionedWays]

so much fun and great content. thanks for sharing.

[@lbdhoyte]

Yoda moment: Coming from a beer, mead, wine background; I find Yoda moments come from lots of data, experience and recorded procedure. I spent two years doing most a/b batch brewing to learn how different changes would affect my brews. Be sure to document. Now the Yoda moments come regularly and there is a bag of tricks that can be pulled from to push brews toward various results.

[@superdupermax]

I assume it is more for pot style stills and not cold and slow reflux stills for the cut? Funny enough, my very first first first batch of double distilled gin i made i ended up essentially mixing my "low wines" with everything else to make it just about 43%. I figured i cut out heads and tails in the previous reflux run in my neutral for maceration run and it should be good nuff. I sure wasnt expert... or now... but it just felt right.

[@yanjuras]

The day at Andalusia was wonderful, as were all the people. When and where for the next get together?

[@donaldbogersr8232]

This is the second time I heard of running the still down to 1% ABV. I’ve never gotten that low before. I might give it a try. Thanks for the tips.

[@chuckdock4436]

So running a still down to 1 or 2 percent..does that mean that the mash that was say 11% is now only 1 or 2? How would you measure that as you are distilling? Or do you let it cool down, then measure it? Or is it more of a fancy setup that allows to to take mash out while running the still?

[@donaldbogersr8232]

@@chuckdock4436 nothing fancy about it. It means continue to run the distillation, checking the still output with a hydrometer and run all and I mean all of the alcohol out of the mash. I usually shut down the still at 35-40 %abv, or when I start to get off flavors of the tails. Best analogy is it smells and tastes like an old school gym locker room. That’s why I never run it down that low. I would never use it in anything. Afraid I would contaminate good distillate.

[@chuckdock4436]

@@donaldbogersr8232 Thank you for the explanation! Makes sense now. I do the same as you and probably quit even higher like around 70%. By then I've collected about gallon of hearts from a 6 gallon mash and thats good enough for me.

[@jle2500]

Theory: Carb stone tip sounds like forcing an emulsion which is what you are breaking when you Proof down. using the micro bubbles to re emulsify. Could probably accomplish the same thing with a blender or a whisk (for some whisky whiskey). I'll bet the carb stone introduces the least amount of air with the maximum amount of mixing. This is all theory I don't know for sure.

[@BigRichfrank]

Jajajaja I made some green chili brandy . Had a dry bite on the back of the tong . Was fun to do. Probably will not do it again

[@GregChrist1]

How much would it be to float one of these 25 pound bags from California? Bag is 42 bux for Blue Corn... Here is the stores description: The Midnight Blue variety is hulless and small with a sweet, memorable flavor. This variety has its own delicious flavor, but also pairs well with our seasonings. For best results, this corn should be popped at a higher temperature. While our uniquely-colored varieties(Midnight Blue, Red, Blue, Purple, Rainbow) have a colored kernel, they will be white or yellow once popped. For popped popcorn to be colored, the kernels need to be dyed beforehand, and we do not use dyes or preservatives.

[@jeremylastname873]

Airstones give a very large surface area for oxidation.

[@censusgary]

The fish tank aerator is called an air stone (or airstone). That’s what it’s called at the pet shop. Some people call it a bubbler.

[@nataliedeyton6829]

How did you like the mountains of NC ? Im about 45 mins south of Asheville

[@AvrahamYehuda]

great video. Thank you very much Jesse❤

[@alexcharles321]

Those iron root stills look strangely similar to the Penderyn stills here in Wales with all those plates... would love to give that a try if it's anything like alternative two-still methods 🤤

[@JakeSmith-ps4vr]

I know it's a bit out of your usual, but a diy fermentation set up would be dope:) love your show dude!!

[@Chris.BingoRingo]

#1 is that butyric acid ?

[@colintrail]

Jesse I ran my still today and as I thought I would try going down to 2%. Only went to 5% but what i did notice that in those small % there was some good flavours in those. So what I would like to know is did they mix all that they run off the still even down to 1 or 2 %. Just curious as I will be mixing tommorow or the next day. Thanks These tips where great . C Keep up the great work Jesse.

[@williamtaylor9349]

Hi Jesse, always enjoy your content. The ref to green chilli barrels, what would you recommend to store in a barrel while it's waiting for spirit? I use water only because something like sodium metabisulphate would affect the next batch, but that could leave it prone to infection. Keep up the great work thanks.

[@stefanleijon9637]

Nice one mate :) Love your content, you were litterally the one who re-awakened my interest in this hobby and I´m loving it! At the moment I am currently sipping on my very first completely homemade apple pie moonshine :) With a lot of inspiration mainly from you, bearded and George. Oh btw, is it saturday morning now at your part of the world? That feels so weird because it´s still friday night here :)

[@thedon2512]

Hey, hey, never seen that corn before, I am also thinking about acquire someof that and grow it so please dude do share

[@HolotapeDeepCuts]

This has very little to do with the video itself, but I'm a professional beer brewer who just got back to home for the weekend. Anyway... I completely forgot to shut off the gas to the carb stone on a tank of beer I just transfered before leaving work today. Thankfully the part of this video where you mention the tip for using carb stones to mix a proofed down spirit made me remember this. I'm going to head back to the brewery in a bit to shut it off. It was pure chance that I watched this video, but thank you for saving me from severely overcarbonating a rather expensive batch of beer nonetheless.

[@LP23D6]

Triple distill? Leopold Bros 3 chamber still. I am intrigued with the design and procedure.

[@mitchellhorton9789]

Air Stone works i have been doing it for the last 3 years it helps smooth your spirit out please try it

[@kptstyle423]

Have you ever tried filtering it through a Brita filter or is this a myth? I worry about my finished product touching plastic

[@yoguimasterof69]

Really good one Jesse!...I practice some of them already... especially the reusing of feints and striping runs till 2% ABV.... I have bad memory, already forgot the rest :P Cheers mate!

[@djscottdog1]

Ive got some pretty old stuff in casks now and the only way is casks and second fill aswell first fill is too harsh . you should checkout mortlachs distillation process diagram its about as wild as it gets and results in a 2.8 times distilled product

[@OSCARE38]

Great video great tips. Did you get a chance to see George from barley and hops if so l hope you found him well

[@KonsuiKoyojutsu]

Every time you promote into the am merch... it makes me want to go listen to space banjo...

[@kevin_ninja_jones2363]

I have an idea I shared with bearded a few weeks ago not original but 1 I seen a the tv show moonshiners its called cherry bounce its honey tart cherry and enough corn to make a good cap then distilled when done you and bearded I think both would make it delicious but an idea as always love the videos keep doing a great job with the channel

[@censusgary]

Ha! I’ve been to Denison, Texas, but they way you said “Deenizn, Teeeshs,” I had to think about it to realize you were talking about the same place.

[@ThePhonoski]

Makers mark used to encourage you to taste white dog back in 2008. Not sure if they still do

[@andysharp4154]

Lots of good info here, good video. I have a question about using a bit of washing soda in the still when doing the spirit run after the stripping run. Do you have any experience with this and if so would you recommend it?

[@brandonhuff336]

I’ve been wanting to get into distilling and brewing spirits & ales. I wanted to make this into a company and sell my product, does anyone have any ideas on how I could get started in this process?

[@miciahconnors1922]

Hey Jesse, your videos are super helpful to beginner distillers like myself! Thanks for churning out the bossest home distillation videos on KZbin. But I did have a question, (there’s always a catch eh?) what should the specific gravity of my potato vodka mash be when it’s ready for distillation? I made it according to your video except that I didn’t have a hydrometer when I made the mash to take an original gravity reading with. I do have a hydrometer now so I’m wondering if I can just check for a reading that’s close to whatever yours was before you popped it in the still? Or do I just give it a week and go for it? Any response would be much appreciated, cheers!

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

And the take over was legit the coolest.

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

Cant wait for what’s next.

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

HELL YES BROTHER!!!

[@Themassaman1]

Have you ever thought doing a mail in review? I would love feedback on some stuff I have made.

[@domg.1011]

I get that "pro" is short for "professional" but you don't need an apostrophe. Professionals & Pros = more than one professional. Professional's & Pro's = belonging to a pro(fessional). Sometimes when you speak, you hurry past the "i" in "is" so it can also mean a "professional is" something. This makes the most sense in this context because ' is replacing i or it is replacing fessional. Professionals' = belonging to professionals.

[@Miata822]

Good stuff.

[@jsEMCsquared]

That's what I call a Heavy Beard! I've learned a ton from your channel and have good results with my sugar wash beginning experience. I am a beer drinker so I am doing it for fun! I can barely stand what I get!

[@TheCooknChemist]

About limoncello we do use the white parts and won good awards with it. Jesse want to taste?