Hops or not?

Sam

So I did some playing with the Wai-iti hops and neutral, I tried 1, 2, 3 & 4 g/l at 1g the flavour was very subtle at 2g it was still quite subtle but above that things became a bit overly resinous for my liking.

I know the wai-iti is quite a light hop though so would expect different results from other hops.

I worked out in the Rasputin recipe that Bell uses about 0.8g/l but with a mixture of heavier and lighter hops. Based on what I tried this afternoon I'm going to stick with his proportions and see how it goes.

crozdog

great work @Sam

Sam

So, I finally got round to it... I ran the Rasputin (well my version of it) so thought I would post about the process in its entirety.

I used the following mash bill:

• Crisp Chevallier - 83%
• Gladfield Dark Crystal - 8%
• Gladfield Light Chocolate - 4%
• Gladfield Dark Chocolate - 4%
• Crisp Black Patent - 2%

I fermented on the grain (2/3's of the grain bill) with Lallemand London ESB & Nottingham Ale yeasts at 22 degrees.

I stripped the beer as I would any other stripping run then cut the low wines down to 25% ABV with RO/DI water for the spirit run.

With the spirit run I assembled the still as I usually do for a whisky run but with the gin basked attached, I removed the fores and heads as I would on any other run and only once I made the hearts cut did I put the basked with the hops in. I found that the hop flavours were very very subtle and not at all what I was expecting. I ran my hearts from 72% - 60% and put everything else in my feints jar.

With the hops I used a dose of 2.1g/LAL with the following hops:

• Wai-iti - 40%
• Eask Kent Golding - 20%
• Astra - 20%
• Pacifica - 20%

I selected these hops not just based on the flavours they are known to provide but also because they are all aroma hops with a low Alpha Acid content so as to minimise any bitterness which seems to have worked.

At the end of the run my feints jar was full so I decided to increase the hop dose top 4.2g/LAL and dry hopped the feints jar. As I was running the feints during the late heads the hops were barely perceptible (possibly they came across right at the start) so I added the same amount (4.2g/LAL) directly to the boiler just after I made the cut to hearts using a cunning device with a butterfly valve from my fermenter.

So my conclusion... I'm by no means an expert but using the gin basket at a dose of 2.1g/LAL means the flavours from the hops very really subtle, as in you wouldn't know they were there unless you were looking for them. I am hoping that the fruitiness will develop more over time as the whisky matures. The mash bill produced a great whisky, there is a depth of flavour and lovely mellow Chocolatey/ Coffee bitterness to it and I honestly think with time it will mature into something quite special.

With the feints run there is a lovely fresh tropical/ stone fruit flavour which is what I was going for.

Neither of these taste "hoppy" there is a tiny perception of bitterness in the feints whisky but there is no resinous flavour in either of them, you honestly would have to know you onions to know that hops had been used.

From left to right the bottles are:

• Rasputin - French Oak Medium
• Rasputin - American Oak Heavy
• Rasputin - American Oak Medium
• Feints - American Oak Medium
• Feints - American Oak Heavy

I will update as things mature and let you know how the flavours develop over time...

Sam

Also I would appreciate any input with the maturation side of things. Given that I used hops should I keep these in the dark?

I usually keep them out of direct sunlight anyway but should I maybe put them in a box or something? I hadn't really worried about it because I have seen hopped whisky being sold in clear glass bottles and the hops have been distilled... I just don't want my efforts to turn bad and go to waste over something so simple.