Upcoming Yeast & Fermentation Workshop For Distillers

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Image from White Labs

On October 4th and 5th I'm going to be in San Diego, attending White Labs' 4th annual Yeast and Fermentation Workshop and Webinar for Distillers.  The two day workshop will cover a broad range of topics related to yeast, such as, basic biology, how to select strains for specific distillates, and the sensory impact of yeast on distilled spirits. The first day of seminars will be at White Labs, and the second day's practicum will be held at  Ballast Point Spirits.

Lee Medoff of Bull Run Distillery in Portland took the class last year and I talked with him to get his impression of the class.  Lee has worked as a brewer, vintner and distiller for quite some time and told me he was interested in picking up some tips about low nutrient cane sugar fermentations for rum.  Lee said that he particularly liked the hands on yeast hydration and culturing lab.  And, in his opinion, one of the best parts of the workshop were the unstructured times he could talk one on one with the White Labs staff and the other distillers, trading tips and best practices.  Like with any two day workshop there were a couple of topics he wanted more of.  But, when he returned to Bull Run, Lee brought back some new yeast protocols that required some trial and error to get just right for his distillery.  However, he seems to feel that the workshop helped him improve his fermentations for rum.  Lee told me that since he has taken the class, he has recommended it to all of the members of the Oregon Distillers Guild. That sounds like a resounding recommended to me and I'm excited that I can attend.

For anyone interested in improving their yeast management and or learning about good fermentation practices particular to the needs of distillers, this sounds like the workshop for you.  To find out more details about the class call White Labs at 1-888-5-Yeast-5 or check out their website.

My First Book & the ADI Spirits Conference

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Life is good...so good in fact I haven't had a chance to post anything new for awhile. The first piece of exciting news is that the book I helped write A World Guide to Whisk(e)y Distilleries has been published by White Mule Press, the publishing arm of the American Distilling Institute (ADI). I came onto the project about a third of the way through and saw it to completion. The book attempts to list all the commercial whisk(e)y distilleries in the world, from Alaska to Zimbabwe and the products they make. So if you are an avid whisk(e)y enthusiast that likes to visit distilleries or you want to know where your favorite product is made you'll probably find this useful.

I'm excited that I have a couple more book projects lined up with White Mule Press but at present I have been busy editing two books for them, one on gin and a second on rum production. These projects have been particularly demanding of my time which is partially why I haven't posted anything recently.

The other piece of exciting news is that I attended the 10th Annual ADI Spirits Conference & Vender Expo, that this year was held in Denver. The conference brought together about 900 distillers, soon to be distillers, and the still, label, glass, barrel and branding vendors that service the craft distilling industry. It was a blast to meet both new and seasoned distillers who were passionate about their craft and committed to growing successful businesses. One of my highlights from the conference was sitting in on David Smith's gin tasting. David writes for a number of publications as well as his site Summer Fruit Cup. We tasted some stand out gins from the US, UK, and France. If you're a big fan of gin a couple to look out for are FEW Barrel Aged Gin and Warner Edwards Harrington Dry Gin.

During the gala dinner ADI announced the results from their 7th Annual Judging of Artisan American Spirits. The Best of Class winners were: Ballast Point Spirits, Devil's Share Malt Whiskey; Valentine Distilling Company, Liberator Gin; Balcones Distilling, Texas Rum; Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine, Apple Pie Moonshine; and Jepson Vineyards, Old Stock Mendocino Brandy. For the full list of winners check out ADI's website.​

Now that I'm back from Denver I hope to get back into my routine of posting once or twice a week.

DIY Spirit Aroma Kit: The First Batch

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Supplies for the aroma kit.​

A little while ago I went to Rainbow Grocery which is a local CoOp to pick up some herbs and spices for my Spirit Aroma Kit. I took the 2oz amber glass bottles and filled each one about two-thirds full. I have been editing a book about gin so some of the herbs I picked were inspired by common gin botanicals. I bought Angelica Root, Anise Seed, Ceylon Cinnamon, Cilantro, Green Cardamom, Juniper Berry, Lavender Flower, Lemon Grass, Licorice Root, Orris Root, Star Anise, Vietnamese Cinnamon, and Whole Black Peppercorns. The total cost for the thirteen herbs and spices was less than $10 which is a positive sign that my kit will be significantly less than the commercial kit.

Next I got my herbs together, pulled out my bottle of vodka, a small funnel and some small white labels. For each bottle I measured out 2oz of vodka and using the funnel, poured it into the bottles up to the neck. On the label I wrote the name of the herb or spice, the date, weight of the contents and volume of vodka. After I applied each label I gave the bottles a shake to make sure the vodka saturated all of the contents. Once each bottle was labeled and shaken I placed them in one of my kitchen cabinets to steep.

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First batch of aroma bottles

Based on what I've read about tinctures this steeping process can take up to six to eight weeks to reach its full potency. In the mean time I am going to get more herbs as well as some grains from the my local homebrew store, San Francisco Brew Craft and fill some more bottles.