DistilaMax Characteristics for Whisky

SamSam
edited September 2019 in General

I was wondering if anyone might be able to help, I'm about to attempt my first Whisky and am trying to work out the best fermentation temperature for DistilaMax MW.

I have the attached characteristics sheet and was thinking maybe the 28-34 Degrees range to get the Esters but am just concerned that this temperature range also produces a high level of Higher Alcohols which may cause unpleasant characteristics.

Does anyone have any experience with DistilaMax MW and what temperatures work well.

image

Comments

  • In my honest opinion, I feel like you are asking what gear a kid with a learners permit to drive should be going through a specific turn on Nurbugring on...

    No disrespect, but what you are going to want is repeatability, as it will be nearly impossible to hold an exact temp, there will be lag, temp rise and temp drop along with that period in the middle you are able to control... let alone the fact that the temp will not be the same throughout the ferment with a top-fermenting yeast... Also good to remember, a thermometer measures one thing, and that is the temp of the thermometer itself... not 2 inches away or 3 foot away in the ferment... if you move the thermometer placement or change the batch size, the thermo readings from one batch to the next will not necessarily be the same... try to hold all other variables constant.

    Best thing to do is take LOTS of good notes on every batch, and save a sample of the hearts in a small bottle.. then after a few batches, sit down and read the notes and sniff the bottles and pick one and see if you can get the same product with the same procedure...

  • Thank you for your response, IMO though you took my final sentence very literally, I think the rest of the post did explain my concern was over the production of higher alcohols. In the second paragraph I was quite clear I was looking at a temperature range as I understand a specific temperature is not realistic to achieve.

    I understand what you are saying about consistency and repeatability but looking at the sheet the the temperature range effects the characteristics. This question was not about that, it was about Higher Alcohols and Esters and the effects of temperature ranges on this as per the spreadsheet.

    Probably a better way to ask the question is if I aim for a temp range that produces high esters should I be concerned that it also produces a high level of higher alcohols? In people’s experience am I better off trying to get a high ester profile and living with the high alcohols as these expected to some degree with Whisky or should I aim for a slightly lower ester profile and therefore less higher alcohols?

  • Horses for courses. It's your product, therefore it's up to you to decide what you want it to be like.

    If you want more esters, you'll need to accept more higher alcohols. just adjust your cuts &/or age longer

  • Just go for it mate. Then do it slighly differently if you dont like it.

  • I don’t have experience with MW but i do with SR and HT. I would tend to agree with their chart on those two yeasts at the 25-34 ranges.

    HTH

  • SamSam
    edited September 2019

    Thanks Guys, I stuck with my original plans of 28-34 temp range.

    I had it all planned out in my head and knew exactly what I wanted to do and then just as I was about to mash in I got in a huge panic about the Higher Alcohols as it wasn't something I had really thought about.

    Anyway all good, its fermenting away on the grain and smelling amazing so fingers crossed!

    image

    image.jpg
    600 x 800 - 79K
Sign In or Register to comment.