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Distill Bad Beer and you get ???

edited June 2014 in General

So my beer brewing buddy has more time than I do and did the last handful of brew sessions without me. Of the last 8 batches, 3 of them went "bad" on him during fermentation, all in the same fermenter.

If anything, we over clean our stuff, so we're pretty sure it was due an inadequate airlock and then letting it sit too long after fermentation was over. It has a slightly "paint thinner" aroma to it.

3 types of beer:

  • Black IPA
  • Rye Ale
  • Pale Ale

He gave 10 gallons of each to me to distill, I'm planning on my usual fast strip run through my 4" pot still on 5500watts and then re-running through a 3 bubble plate dash. Is it worth going for any flavor with these, or should I just try to salvage the alcohol out and scrub them to neutral through a 6 plate + 20" Copper Stuff Section?

I figure worst case, if I get them high enough I'll through the results in the truck's gas tank (Flex-Fuel engine).

I'd love to just try the 3 plate and re-distill later, but per the original issue, my free time is very minimal with the little one around and I've got another on the way. Plus, I already have other batches to distill that I haven't gotten to in months.

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Comments

  • I'd be careful with the IPA. All reports are that hops distilled is an 'aquired' taste.

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  • During our MoB training we tasted some very fine beer spirits, but in your case I would just go for neutral. A bad starting material can only lead to a bad result. Failures during fermentation can easily be identified in the end product.

    Oh, and don't forget the anti-foam!

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    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • home brewers and home distillers should note, that if fermentation went sideways, distilling will not do wonders. You get what you distill: bad stuff. I would dump it.

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • Depends on what went bad, but IMO distill it. You might get something with a wonderful flavor. If not, redistill to neutral.

  • An UJSSM would make a really nasty drink until it is distilled.

  • I was listening to a podcast on the brewing network, they were talking to an industry guy. He firmly believed that if home distillation became legal that America would start producing the best spirits in the world for no other reason than he thought that distillers knowledge and care for production of the beer was substandard so the homebrewers knowledge about such things would carry over on top of the ingenuity and exploratory nature of home brewers as has been seen with the explosion of beer and wine in the US since home production was legalized. Sorry for being long winded, I always thought that was an interesting thought, without a good product to start you can't expect to get something good in the end.

  • Though I do have to say that I did some some "off" mango wine that turned out a spectacular brandy.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • I ran the black IPA last night. Holy Foam, Batman!

    Honestly, the beer didn't smell too bad to me, but it's the tail end of allergy season, so my nose is no bloodhound. The distilled product smells a bit funky, but that's only a strip run, run flat out without airing.. we'll see.

    I'm used to very cleared TPW that doesn't foam at all. This thing would foam clear into the parrot with out some rest periods after getting to temp. I searched back for foam control options, FermCap or whatever. It's available at my LHBS and I will definitely be running to grab some before the next batch gets stripped.

  • Any kind of silicone based antifoam should do.

  • bad beer makes the best whiskey.... to back it up, I will provide a few thoughts...

    1. you have to let it warm up and de-carbonate or it will foam...
    2. you think a major distillers sour mash would be a good beer to drink? really?
    3. how many of you drink your wash and say it is 'good to drink that way'?
  • I'm with Cotherman, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence around about rough wines and fruit failures turning into the best unrecreatable brandies. There is also plenty of aghast hop stories though, seems as though it's a love it or hate it deal with distilled hopped beers.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • I have made whiskey people thought was tequila at first smell from saison, saison that was fermented at ambient temps in FL and got a little 'hot' in the nose... (you know, acetone, that thing we take out).. the extremely floral yeast is amazing... and the black saison tha twas just a little off enough that the brewery did not want to put their name on it, it has this wonderful dark malt, almost chocolate aroma, when combined with the oak of aging, is 'wow'...

    And there is always this, I have a bottle, it is amazing...:

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  • Hops in distillate is a love hate, very polarizing, completely agree with @punkin. Almost like cilantro, folks love it, or hate it.

  • edited June 2014

    @CothermanDistilling said: I have made whiskey people thought was tequila at first smell from saison, saison that was fermented at ambient temps in FL and got a little 'hot' in the nose... (you know, acetone, that thing we take out).. the extremely floral yeast is amazing... and the black saison tha twas just a little off enough that the brewery did not want to put their name on it, it has this wonderful dark malt, almost chocolate aroma, when combined with the oak of aging, is 'wow'...

    And there is always this, I have a bottle, it is amazing...

    I didn't read the bottle label but immediately thought of Derek Bell upon reading this CothermanDistilling!

    This is the kind of forward thinking creativity that can really help a small operator establish an identity IMO.

    I hope when some of our pros can get some demand established we can have more round table discussions about this very type of recipe development.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited June 2014

    @grim said: Hops in distillate is a love hate, very polarizing, completely agree with punkin. Almost like cilantro, folks love it, or hate it.

    Dead ant,

    Dead ant.

    DeadantDeadantDeadantDeadant.

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    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited June 2014

    Hats off to Corsair for going through with some of these experiments. They've got to get formulas approved by the TTB, labels approved, make product, age it, and then sell these limited runs. Suspect from idea to bottle, the timeline was 1.5 years.

    If you haven't read Alt Whiskeys by Bell, highly recommend it.

  • @CothermanDistilling said: bad beer makes the best whiskey.... to back it up, I will provide a few thoughts...

    1. you have to let it warm up and de-carbonate or it will foam...
    2. you think a major distillers sour mash would be a good beer to drink? really?
    3. how many of you drink your wash and say it is 'good to drink that way'?

    I think that is just it. Sour mash is letting lactobacillus do its thing I imagine and some folks rather enjoy that character in a beer, ie Berliner Weiss. So it gets into what production issues one has with the beer that goes into the wash. I imagine certain things that would be unpleasant for beer such as hot alcohols or excessive ester or phenols wouldn't be so bad in certain spirits. However acetobacter or enterobacter probably wouldn't produce much that one would want to taste even a hint of.

  • Another day older and deeper in debt

  • @Grudaire said: Sour mash is letting lactobacillus do its thing I imagine and some folks rather enjoy that character in a beer, ie Berliner Weiss.

    A "Berliner Weisse" is definitely something to try when in Berlin! :-bd

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  • @CothermanDistilling I am still working on the Ryze-N-Shine......Maybe for x-mas :D

  • Ryze-N-Shine... love it!

    Picked up some FermCap yesterday. May try to strip another batch tonight using that. Hoping for better results.

  • The Ryze-N-Shine is the trade mark name from a beer from a local brewer. Thanks Mike Cotherman for the hookup!

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