I am currently in a country where alcohol tax coupled with an oligopoly of two massive companies means that drinkers of normal incomes can not possibly afford anything but the lowest priced but still comparitively expensive swill. This has resulted in those with taste and skill to make their own stills and distill their own rums. I'm not talking about commercial ventures or careless moonshiners here I'm talking about people who build high quality stills and never ever ever sell their product.
I am lucky enough to have met a few in a circle of enthusiasts and been gifted with a few varying products from them.
It is of a very high standard with great care taken in aging and even blending in a couple of cases. The oldest I had the privledge to try was a 11 year old and the youngest about 8 months. ALL the rums made by these guys (and one girl) are exceptional.
If governments and companies want to treat the people like cash cows then like the prohibition days the people will provide for themselves. This time however the access to information and learning tools are much more available and as long as it stays people who care what they are doing then the superior product will be made.
Continued: craft distilling
Continued: craft distilling
in goes your eye out
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Capn Jimbo
- Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
- Posts: 3550
- Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
- Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
- Contact:
From whence do you come...
From whence do you come...
To what country do your refer? Home distilling is more common than most people know, not least here in America. In Australia it's legal - why it isn't here is confounding, what with our rich history of moonshining and the like. The US regulations, coupled with myriad state and local regulations make even craft distilling an issue.
I'm with you 100% on this. Making spirit for personal consumption should be allowed, just as it is already with making your own beer and wine. In closing, please do tell us more...
What kind of spirits were made? I'd be very curious as to what your remembered tasting notes were on each of them?
To what country do your refer? Home distilling is more common than most people know, not least here in America. In Australia it's legal - why it isn't here is confounding, what with our rich history of moonshining and the like. The US regulations, coupled with myriad state and local regulations make even craft distilling an issue.
I'm with you 100% on this. Making spirit for personal consumption should be allowed, just as it is already with making your own beer and wine. In closing, please do tell us more...
What kind of spirits were made? I'd be very curious as to what your remembered tasting notes were on each of them?
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John Willy
- Bo'sun's Mate
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:01 am
- Location: SoCal
I would also be curious as to where of you speak da'rum. I did grow up surfing and do understand that some 'secret spots' are meant to be kept secret. Too many people spoil the whole scene. I do know Kiwis were into doing their own hootch, but most were just making high octane pure alcohol then watering it down and flavoring it to resemble their favorite spirit. I didn't meet any doing it the way you mentioned. Even if you can't/won't spill your guts, I second the Capn's thought of some 'anonymous' reviews.
Regards,
John
Regards,
John
If you're happy and don't know you're happy, then nobody is home.....
Hi guys I'll write up a full response later but for now I'm a little pushed for time.
So first quickly to you Jimbo,
I am in Orrstrayliea, it is not really legal to distill here what you are probably thinking of is Australias neighbour and rugby nemesis New Zealand. In New Zealand you can distill to your hearts content. In Australia you are only allowed a still with a 5 litre capacity and as anyone who has any knowledge on stilling knows a 5 litre still is next to useless for anything but distilling water or extracting essences from botanical matter.
The stills used in oz (Australia) are significantly larger than 5 litre. They make all kinds of spirits from Absinthe to whisk(e)y to bourbon to rum to calvados and many more vodka, schnapps etc etc.
The stills are varying in design from plated columns (both perferated plate columns and bubble capped) to varying designs of pot still heads and lyne arm angle.
In the case of the latter let me just say ester eggs! (see what I did there? I highlighted in case you didn"t).
Flavourful and rich Smith and cross reminiscent rum although to be fair I think Smith and Cross have their blend pretty much perfected and these guys are still tweeking and changing as they go. Aged in varying forms each with interesting results, the traditional barrels some new some preused. Some rums were aged with Oak 'pieces' inserted into the rum and then stored in either glass or earthenware containers.
One truly remarkable rum was from two 'older hands' one who used a modified traditional pot still and over several runs fermented his wash with different yeasts and then put his product in a barrel to age, the other old hand fermented with one yeast type and distilled several batches with his bubble plate column and then aged his in a old wine barrel.
The rums by themselves were unique and of great quality I should mention here that the pot stilled rum was barreled at 60% ish and the bubble plate rum at closer to 70-80%. These two guys were having a taste test together years later I think the pot stilled rum was about 9 years old and the bubble plate rum about 4 years but I'll have to confirm that if I get the chance.
For an experiment they decided to mix the two rums together in a glass and were both in agreement that the two together blended beautifully with about a 60/40 mix of Bubble to Pot at barrel strength and diluted then to 40% drinking strength. So 40% of the bubble rum was emptied from the barrel and the space was filled with the pot stilled rum. aged further for a couple of years (I think, it could of only been 1 year again I must verify).
Result a rum with a significant ester flavour profile with a roundness and sweet heart profile provided by the Bubble plate. A very smooth rum that had the hallmarks of Smith & Cross, Barboncourt, Doorlys and El Dorados (what a spread eh?)
So for now I have to run but I'll be back with a better taste description of a few of them, I baulk a little at that because I am very bad at taste descriptors, always feeling that I have either said too much or too little.
Cheers.
So first quickly to you Jimbo,
I am in Orrstrayliea, it is not really legal to distill here what you are probably thinking of is Australias neighbour and rugby nemesis New Zealand. In New Zealand you can distill to your hearts content. In Australia you are only allowed a still with a 5 litre capacity and as anyone who has any knowledge on stilling knows a 5 litre still is next to useless for anything but distilling water or extracting essences from botanical matter.
The stills used in oz (Australia) are significantly larger than 5 litre. They make all kinds of spirits from Absinthe to whisk(e)y to bourbon to rum to calvados and many more vodka, schnapps etc etc.
The stills are varying in design from plated columns (both perferated plate columns and bubble capped) to varying designs of pot still heads and lyne arm angle.
In the case of the latter let me just say ester eggs! (see what I did there? I highlighted in case you didn"t).
Flavourful and rich Smith and cross reminiscent rum although to be fair I think Smith and Cross have their blend pretty much perfected and these guys are still tweeking and changing as they go. Aged in varying forms each with interesting results, the traditional barrels some new some preused. Some rums were aged with Oak 'pieces' inserted into the rum and then stored in either glass or earthenware containers.
One truly remarkable rum was from two 'older hands' one who used a modified traditional pot still and over several runs fermented his wash with different yeasts and then put his product in a barrel to age, the other old hand fermented with one yeast type and distilled several batches with his bubble plate column and then aged his in a old wine barrel.
The rums by themselves were unique and of great quality I should mention here that the pot stilled rum was barreled at 60% ish and the bubble plate rum at closer to 70-80%. These two guys were having a taste test together years later I think the pot stilled rum was about 9 years old and the bubble plate rum about 4 years but I'll have to confirm that if I get the chance.
For an experiment they decided to mix the two rums together in a glass and were both in agreement that the two together blended beautifully with about a 60/40 mix of Bubble to Pot at barrel strength and diluted then to 40% drinking strength. So 40% of the bubble rum was emptied from the barrel and the space was filled with the pot stilled rum. aged further for a couple of years (I think, it could of only been 1 year again I must verify).
Result a rum with a significant ester flavour profile with a roundness and sweet heart profile provided by the Bubble plate. A very smooth rum that had the hallmarks of Smith & Cross, Barboncourt, Doorlys and El Dorados (what a spread eh?)
So for now I have to run but I'll be back with a better taste description of a few of them, I baulk a little at that because I am very bad at taste descriptors, always feeling that I have either said too much or too little.
Cheers.
in goes your eye out
-
John Willy
- Bo'sun's Mate
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:01 am
- Location: SoCal
Great stuff, da'rum! Admittedly most of the still talk is total 'magic' for me. I have a handful of close Aussie mates around the Melbourne area I have known since my 20's. No surprise to this 'Sep' (short for 'septic tank yank', they like their Cockney-esque word rhymes) that they go a 'little' over the rules. Hell, the Brits started the country as a penal colony. They take a great deal of pride, sort of reverse snobbishness, in their humble beginnings. Have a VB for me.
Regards,
John
Regards,
John
If you're happy and don't know you're happy, then nobody is home.....
-
Capn Jimbo
- Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
- Posts: 3550
- Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
- Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
- Contact:
Families ties...
Families ties...
Both my grandfathers immigrated to this country from areas where home and farm distillation was commonplace. One had what I'd guess was around a seven or eight gallon simple pot still which his family used to distill what would be called grappa in Italy, oinopnevma in Greece, raki in Turkey and arak in Lebanon. Today spirits that are made more from the leftovers would be called pomace spirits (rather than cognac or brandy, made from the wine itself) As he told it, the grapes were pressed to make wine, but the remaining juices, skins and sometimes even stems had value in terms of fermentation. He said the fermentation took a few weeks, sometimes with the help of sugar or leavening (if needed) then distilled once or twice in their family pot still.
Home Distiller.Org...
If it were not for the fact that home distilling is against the law in the United States, I would probably have already taken the leap. Instead, I decided to experiment with beermaking. Nonetheless, home distilling is quite common here, but simply not talked about much.
Perhaps one of the great worldwide resources is Homedistiller.Org (link in blue, above), populated by many thousands of people from all over the world. Homedistiller is a one-stop resource covering everything from understanding the law, to still making and operation. Not only is the site s a tremendous resource for home distillers around the globe, but also for and by the many craft distillers who rum legal micro and craft distilleries in the United States.
Phil Prichards was one of them. He made his first hobby still, and created a rum that was so popular with his friends that he decided to go legit, and opened Prichard's Distillery in the heart of American Whiskey country. He still uses his original homemade hobby still to create new recipes.
Most of the home distillers seem to end up with stills in the 20 to 30 liter size, enough for what they consider a good run, while remaining economical to operate and to experiment. Their website is also a tremendous resource for those who will never distill, but simply want to understand how mashing, fermenting and distilling can result in different and desired taste profiles and outcomes.
A good, fun read.
Both my grandfathers immigrated to this country from areas where home and farm distillation was commonplace. One had what I'd guess was around a seven or eight gallon simple pot still which his family used to distill what would be called grappa in Italy, oinopnevma in Greece, raki in Turkey and arak in Lebanon. Today spirits that are made more from the leftovers would be called pomace spirits (rather than cognac or brandy, made from the wine itself) As he told it, the grapes were pressed to make wine, but the remaining juices, skins and sometimes even stems had value in terms of fermentation. He said the fermentation took a few weeks, sometimes with the help of sugar or leavening (if needed) then distilled once or twice in their family pot still.
Home Distiller.Org...
If it were not for the fact that home distilling is against the law in the United States, I would probably have already taken the leap. Instead, I decided to experiment with beermaking. Nonetheless, home distilling is quite common here, but simply not talked about much.
Perhaps one of the great worldwide resources is Homedistiller.Org (link in blue, above), populated by many thousands of people from all over the world. Homedistiller is a one-stop resource covering everything from understanding the law, to still making and operation. Not only is the site s a tremendous resource for home distillers around the globe, but also for and by the many craft distillers who rum legal micro and craft distilleries in the United States.
Phil Prichards was one of them. He made his first hobby still, and created a rum that was so popular with his friends that he decided to go legit, and opened Prichard's Distillery in the heart of American Whiskey country. He still uses his original homemade hobby still to create new recipes.
Most of the home distillers seem to end up with stills in the 20 to 30 liter size, enough for what they consider a good run, while remaining economical to operate and to experiment. Their website is also a tremendous resource for those who will never distill, but simply want to understand how mashing, fermenting and distilling can result in different and desired taste profiles and outcomes.
A good, fun read.
Homedistiller.org is a grat site. It's a bit hostile at times but the resource base is enormous.
50 litre pots with interchangeable heads/columns are the average around here.
It's a time consuming process that requires patience and attention to detail at every step of the way from the mash to the distilling to the ageing.
The ageing part seems to be the hardest for most as there arent too many that last more than 1 year.
50 litre pots with interchangeable heads/columns are the average around here.
It's a time consuming process that requires patience and attention to detail at every step of the way from the mash to the distilling to the ageing.
The ageing part seems to be the hardest for most as there arent too many that last more than 1 year.
in goes your eye out