Category: bourbon

Deeply Nerdy Stuff About Jack Daniel’s Production – Charcoal, Souring, Fermentation
I just attended an amazing talk by Kevin Brent Smith (Micro-Biologist & Distillery Manager – Jack Daniel's Distillery). I wasn't planning on doing a blog post about it but I learned so much I wanted to write it down!

Kevin B. Smith authored the chapter on "Yeast practices in the production of American whiskies" in The Alcohol Textbook.

First up, you may want to review my notes on my visit to the distillery from 2012 to see the production process in general and in order.

Miscellany
- According to Smith, if your fermentation doesn't finish and you still have sugars in your mash, these can burn and stick in your still, lending off flavors to the final whiskey.
- Whiskey isn't made from grain, it's made from the seeds of grain. (not his point, but my observation)
- When grinding grains before fermentation, the grinding process can release heat and damage the quality of the grain, but a hammer mill works well and doesn't have an impact.
Souring In Two Places
- "Souring" is not like sourdough starter in that the process' job is to remain consistency between batches. "Souring" means lowering the pH, making it more sour/acidic. "Sour mash"ing is adding backset (stillage) from the previous distillation run to the next one. The stillage contains lots of dead yeast that is food for the new yeast, but also it is acidic and lowers the pH from about 5.6 to 5.3.
- They use about 30% backset in each distillation.
- There is another place where they used soured mash, in the production of "lactic soured yeast mash." This is used in yeast propagation.
- Yeast is started from a lab-preserved copy, then propagated in several steps. It grows on a medium for the first couple of rounds, then it's transferred to a grain mash – the lactic soured yeast mash – to propagate further.
- In essence, lactic soured yeast mash is propagating yeast with lactic material (lactobacillus; not from the stillage) to lower the pH to about 5.0.
- Not all distilleries do this, but Smith says it's a traditional process. All Brown-Forman distilleries use lactic soured yeast mash.
- This lactic soured yeast mash will have flavor impacts on the whisky.
Enzymes, Fermentation, and Rye Grain
- Rather than, or in addition to, using malted barley (whose job in American whiskey is to provide enzymes that break down long chain carbohydrates into fermentable simpler sugars), commercial enzymes (not from the barley) can be added to whiskey. This has become common.
- Jack Daniel's does not use commercial enzymes, and in fact most Brown-Forman whiskies do not. This is because commercial enzymes produce less maltose in the conversion process, which they feel leads to less flavor in the whiskey.
- (However they keep some enzymes around in case of emergencies, for if a batch of mash didn't convert all the way they could add some enzymes rather than trying to throw away a huge vat of basically sticky grain pudding.)
- Rye as a grain is notoriously viscous/sticky and tends to gum up the process. At Jack Daniel's they do use a type of enzyme (different from the standard one for conversion) to help make it less sticky; but not to convert its starches into sugars.
- Another thing that helps rye not be so sticky is that it is added to the mash later in the process than the corn is. Corn is mashed at a hot temperature which is necessary for gelatinization, but if you leave rye with the hot water for very long it gets stickier. So it's added just before the malt is added at the end of the mashing process just before fermentation. You can see this on the graph below.
- After fermentation, their beer is at a pH of 4.6, while companies that don't use the soured yeast mash have a more acidic 4.0 beer.
Note that the next three charts are the same, with added information each time.

Charcoal
- Charcoal mellowing (aka the Lincoln Country Process) was needed in the olden days because distillers didn't have a good handle on consistent fermentation; charcoal filtration was needed to remove some off flavors in whiskey.
- Running the newly-distilled spirit through charcoal is not a purely subtractive process, which is what I thought until today.
- Sugar Maple trees are used to make the charcoal because it's an abundant but not terribly useful wood generally, and it doesn't impart much flavor. The wood is burned and then the fire put out. The larger pieces of charcoal are broken up and filled into vats.
- The charcoal production does not make activated charcoal. However the charcoal does do some adsorptive filtration of the whiskey to remove certain components.
- The additive quality of the charcoal is that minerals in the charcoal are extracted by the whiskey. The whiskey comes off the still at around 5.5 pH, and after charcoal filtration it goes up to a pH of 7.5 - 8.0! So this has lowered the acidity of the whiskey substantially and probably adds to the perceived "mellowness" of the whiskey. FASCINATING.
- Why is this exciting? Because it makes me think about either running spirits/cocktails through a Brita to raise the pH for certain purposes, and or taking the direct route of "mellowing" spirits (or just de-acidifying them) by adding minerals to them.
- (I've done lots of work on how the minerals in water affects how whiskey tastes, would be curious to try things with just minerals and whiskey.)
- For example, most spirits are a bit acidic so if we filtered them or added minerals that will raise the pH. Butterfly pea flower tea usually starts out blue in water (neutral pH) but purpleish in spirits. If we want it to start out blue in spirits, maybe we just alter the pH first?
Charcoal Practicalities
- In olden days, the charcoal vats were used until the charcoal was no longer effective, as measured by taste. Then (I think in the 1980s-ish) they standardized it so that vats were used for 6 months then the charcoal was replaced. However in recent years they did chemical analysis and found that this was excessive, so now they use the charcoal for one year before replacing it. [When I last visited the distillery in 2012 it was 4-5 months.]
- When the whiskey is poured over new charcoal it comes out watery (as the charcoal starts out wet) and they cannot use it until it comes out the bottom of the vat at the same 140 proof that it went in. Also, at the end of the year before they replace the charcoal they run water through it and the resulting water has lots of whiskey in it. So these watery "heads and tails" of the charcoal mellowing process are redistilled. [I'm not sure if the redistilled parts are used for whiskey or, more likely I'd guess, refined into neutral spirit for other products.]
- To make sure all the whiskey comes through the process tasting the same, their many different vats are spaced out in the freshness of their charcoal so that there is an average age of 6 months age on the charcoal being used, rather than having all whiskey from one vat change over time and be barrelled tasting different.
Thanks to Jack Daniel's for a wonderfully nerdy session.
April 10, 2019
A Visit to MGP’s Lawrenceburg Distillery
As most of you nerds already know, most of the rye whiskey produced in the US is made at MGP Ingredients, aka Midwest Grain Products. They also make a ton of bourbon and neutral spirit used for vodka and gin. These products are fermented and distilled on site, aged on site or elsewhere, and bottled up as a zillion different brands on the marketplace.

Now in the past few years, MGP has begun to release a range of their own products. Interestingly they're not all under MGP as a brand name but under various names including George Remus bourbon, Till vodka, and Rossville Union rye whiskey. The press trip I took to the distillery was more about introducing these products to the world than the various client brands made here, but naturally that was of interest too.

History and Products

The distillery was officially founded in 1847 by George Ross as Rossville Distillery, though they've found evidence that there has been distilling on the site going back to at least 1808. In 1933 at the end of Prohibition, the distillery was purchased by Seagram and run by the company until 2001. The company was sold to Pernod-Ricard and owned by them until 2007, when it was purchased by MGP.

MGP itself is a company founded in 1941 to make high-test alcohol for torpedos to support the war effort. They actually own two distilleries though we only hear about this one.

At the Lawrenceburg distillery (outside Cincinnati but on the border of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana) they mostly produce the aged products – whiskies- though they also do some gin and neutral spirits. The other distillery, located in Atchison, Kansas (the site of the company headquarters where it was founded) distills neutral spirits and makes gin.

(The Lawrenceburg distillery, pics from MGP)

(The Atchison distillery that I did not visit. Pic from MGP.)

Of all the products (listed here), the most well-known and popular that they sell to various brands are the:
- 95% rye whiskey (a mashbill of 95% rye, 5% malted barley)
- 51% rye whiskey (51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malted barley)
- bourbon 36% rye (60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley)
- bourbon 21% rye (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley)
So when you see those mashbills listed on products with various names (particular the 95% rye), there is a super good chance they were distilled at MGP.

Since they're dealing with lots and lots of grain, they also make grain products (list here), including raw ingredients for everything from pastries to pizza crust to imitation cheese.

I asked them how many mashbills they make in total. "We make a lot," came the definitive reply.

MGP Spirits

I was a bit worried that the MGP brands were just going to be the regular MGP products as all the various other brands with a different label and not have anything to say about them. Luckily there is a clear point of differentiation. When it comes to the vodka, theirs is made from wheat, when most of their clients' vodka is made from corn. But more importantly, the whiskies:

While nearly all their clients bottle whiskey that's of a single mashbill, MGP brand whiskies are all combinations of multiple mashbills. So George Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a mix of the 21 and 36 percent high rye bourbons, and Rossville Union is a blend of the 95 and 51 percent rye mashbills.

This gives these products a point of differentiation from their many clients' products.

A Look Around the Distillery

The facility is a bunch of brick buildings located on one site, like a campus with no student lawns or a really big depressing orphanage. Different buildings house different parts of the operation – the grain store, fermentation room, distillery, grain dryer, barrel warehouses, etc.

The facility is not set up for tourists or photography, and basically we were able to see what we could see.

The water for the distillery comes from an aquifer, and it remains a constant 56 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. That's very convenient as in the hot summers the water is still cool to run through the condensers.

The fermentation room (there are 14, 27,000 gallon vats in this room; there is another room but I'm not sure if it's the same size). Fermentation takes about 3 days.

We were unable to take pictures in the distillery room, but as it passes through several floors of a building we could really only see one section of the column still and a part of the squareish gin stills anyway. In this facility there are three gin stills and two continuous column stills.

We visited one warehouse – there are seven on-site and I think 5 more elsewhere (though I'm not confident in those numbers).

This warehouse has six floors with six tiers per floor, with each floor separate from those above and below it acting as a "horizontal aging chamber." This is unlike the "vertical aging chamber" rickhouses in Kentucky where it's an open model (there's a frame on the outside but it acts as one big room) and the bottom level is cool while the top floor is super hot. The Kentucky rickhouses lose more water, as opposed to the humid ones here. They say that makes for a mellower whiskey.

Their standard barrel entry proof for whiskey is 120. We visited just the one warehouse that was racked. I inquired if their others might be palletized and the person I spoke to was evasive enough about answering that we can assume some are.

Product Specifics

So far, most of the line of MGP spirits is available in about 13 states. They're moving systematically rather than hitting the whole country at once.

Tanner's Creek whiskey, a blended bourbon, is only available in Indiana.

Eight & Sand blended whiskey is the newest product. It contains no GNS (grain neutral spirits), and no coloring. It's more than 51% bourbon bottled at 44% ABV. It's a blend of bourbon, rye, light whiskey, and corn whiskey.

"Eight and Sand" refers to a train going full-throttle (the eight) with added traction (sand on the tracks).

George Remus Bourbon is a blend of 21 and 36% rye bourbons, aged 5-6 years and bottled at 47%.

George Remus, the person, was a pharmacist turned attorney. He wrote prescriptions for medicinal whiskey during Prohibition and had his own brand of medicinal whiskey. Not only that, but he had his own medicinal whiskey trucks "hijacked" so that he could report the whiskey stolen and sell it illegally. He was known as "King of the Bootleggers" and may have been the inspiration for Jay Gatsby. He murdered his wife but was acquitted for 'temporary insanity.' More about his life here.

There is also a George Remus Reserve bottling and so far there have been two of these.

Rossville Union rye whiskey is a blend of their 51% and 95% rye whiskey mashbill whiskeys aged about 5-6 years. The standard bottling is 47% ABV.

They also sell a barrel-proof Rossville Union rye, and it's my favorite of their products. It's about the same age as their standard rye, but with a different ratio of rye mashbills. It has all that lovely pickle brine flavor but bottled at 56.3% ABV.
April 9, 2019
Comparing Continuous Fermentation in Baijiu with Sour Mash Whiskey and Jamaican Muck Pits
Another baijiu post yessss! Today I want to think about how the circular fermentation process in baijiu is like and unlike sour mash in whiskey and muck pits in Jamaican rum.

Recent posts have been:
No need to read them all now.

As described in this post, in strong aroma baijiu, grains are fermented in earthen pits, distilled as solids, and fermented again in the same pits they came out of. A little bit of new grain is added to each fermentation cycle along with the already-distilled grain.

This may sound slightly familiar: in "sour mash" whiskey, some of the post-distillation materials are added to the next fermentation batch.

And in Jamaican rum, some distilleries use "muck pits" that are blends of previous stillage fermenting together. Some amount of this is thrown into new fermentation batches.

So let's talk about how these are alike and how they may be different.

Sour Mash

I had always heard that sour mashing was done for "consistency between batches" and thought that "sour mash" is like sourdough, where live fermenting material goes into following batches so they're consistent with each other. This turns out not to be the case.

Instead, some of the stillage (the leftover liquid in the still after distillation) is added to the next fermentation batch. Because the stillage has just been in a still that is literally boiling hot, there is no live yeast to transfer from one batch to the next. The sour mash is just acidifying the fermentation vessel to adjust the pH for a better fermentation and to prevent bacterial infection. The quantity of stillage used could be considered part of a distillery's recipe.

Muck Pits

In some Jamaican rums, the stillage (leftovers after distillation) is called dunder, and it is mixed up with other leftovers of the rum production process into something called muck.

From an excellent post on CocktailWonk.com called, "Days of Dunder: Setting the Record Straight on Jamaican Rum’s Mystery Ingredient"

[Muck is] a giant bolus of bacteria that creates a soup of carboxylic acids… muck is essentially a biological reactor for generating acids that eventually turn into yummy esters. It’s fed refuse from various parts of the rum production process, and its pH level is carefully nurtured via the addition of marl to keep it in humming along or dormant, as necessary.

At the end of fermentation, a portion of muck is tossed in with the fermented molasses and it's distilled together to produce hugely-flavorful rum. Note that unlike in sour mashing, they want to promote bacteria- at least the right bacteria.

So, here again we have leftover products from the distillation being added to the next batch, but the purpose is to get those bacteria-generated acids into the still.

Not only is the muck not just the leftovers of one distillation, some of the core bacteria of it is stored in nerd-famous "muck graves" at some distilleries. CocktailWonk writes in the same blog post:

So what of these stories about outdoor muck pits in the bare ground? … they do store a semi-solid version of the muck in the ground, as a form of long-term storage for the dormant bacteria. Distilleries commonly start and stop production [and the semi-solid bacteria can be used to restart the muck]. By carefully adjusting the pH of the muck, it can be put into a semi-stable state, where it can be stored in an earthen pit. … the pit is slightly bigger than the size of a human grave.

1,000-Year Pit, 10,000-Year Mash

The name for the process of repeat fermentation in baijiu is "1,000-year pit, 10,000-year mash." I was confused by the phrasing: how could the mash (the fermenting material) be older than the pit that the mash is fermented in? But it was explained to me that 10,000 years basically means "forever" or "endless" So we could rephrase "1,000-year pit, 10,000-year mash" as something like "ancient pit, endless mash." It speaks to the endless cycle of always using some of the previous distillation run in the next fermentation.

So as with sour mash and muck, some of the stuff comes out of the still and goes into the next fermentation (in strong aroma baijiu, it's all of the stuff that comes out of the still).

Like muck, qu (the fermentation agent for baijiu made up of mold, yeast, and bacteria) contains flavor-creating bacteria that distillers want to impact their beverage. But it's not the only place that bacteria come into contact with the fermenting mash. Because the fermentation takes place in earthen pits and covered with mud, the dirt and mud is a home to bacteria from all the previous batches as well- thus the continuity. Sort of like a muck pit. But in this case, that bacteria is present throughout the fermentation, and no doubt that's the reason the pits are covered and sealed rather than left open to ferment as with other spirits.

Different Places

Now, there are other cracks and crannies in distillation where bacteria can live and have multi-batch impacts on the resulting distillates.

Many distilleries are very proud of their wooden fermentation vats, rather than using stainless steel. Like the mud pits and muck pits, bacteria could technically live on between batches of whatever is being fermented.

In a recent story for The Daily Beast, Wayne Curtis wondered if the volcanic tahona stones that are sometimes used to crush agave before fermentation might harbor bacteria as well. He writes:

Another factor possibly in play: microbes. Volcanic stones are semi-porous, hard to clean, and can serve as a home to microorganisms, which in theory could make their way into the fermentation process and influence flavors. Camarena doesn’t rule out microbial influence. “I don’t know,” he says. “We’re dealing with microorganisms floating around here, and nothing gets sterilized.”

“Fantasy,” argues Rodriguez. “Here at Patrón, we do an intensive cleaning process from batch to batch. Our yeast and production process are what is responsible for the flavors of Patrón tequila.”

I suppose there could be other pieces of equipment, containers, and tools harboring helpful bacteria in various spirit production around the world.

To what extent each may impact the final flavor of the individual distillate I don't know, but it's fun to compare common practices across categories.
January 31, 2019
All the Cocktail and Spirits Books Released in 2018, In Consideration for Gifting or Reading

It's the annual Alcademics drink book round-up! These are all the cocktails and spirits books that I know about published in 2018, with a couple of wine and beer books thrown in for good measure. It's over 60 books in total. Read them yourself or give 'em as gifts.

This year there appear to be less overall history books, and more women-centric books, whether history or not. Cocktail recipe books are all quite specific, with several that focus on theory and technique; and these overlap with books designed with the professional bartender in mind.

Get to reading.

Cocktail/Recipe Books

Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned by Alba Huerta and Marah Stets

The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit by Maggie Hoffman

Tequila Beyond Sunrise: Over 40 tequila and mezcal-based cocktails from around the world by Jesse Estes

Finding Mezcal: A Journey into the Liquid Soul of Mexico, with 40 Cocktails by Ron Cooper and Chantal Martineau

Wild Mocktails and Healthy Cocktails: Home-grown and foraged low-sugar recipes from the Midnight Apothecary by Lottie Muir

Infused Booze: Over 60 Batched Spririts and Liqueurs to Make at Home by Kathy Kordalis

Session Cocktails: Low-Alcohol Drinks for Any Occasion by Drew Lazor and Editors of PUNCH

The Cocktail Garden: Botanical Cocktails for Every Season by Ed Loveday and Adriana Picker

Booze & Vinyl: A Spirited Guide to Great Music and Mixed Drinks by André Darlington and Tenaya Darlington

Doctor's Orders: Over 50 inventive cocktails to cure, revive & enliven by Chris Edwards and Dave Tregenza

Cocktail Italiano: The Definitive Guide to Aperitivo: Drinks, Nibbles, and Tales of the Italian Riviera by Annette Joseph

Clean + Dirty Drinking: 100+ Recipes for Making Delicious Elixirs, With or Without Booze by Gabriella Mlynarczyk

Are You There God? It's Me, Margarita: More Cocktails with a Literary Twist (A Tequila Mockingbird Book) by Tim Federle

The Art & Craft of Coffee Cocktails: Over 80 recipes for mixing coffee and liquor by Jason Clark

Aperitif: A Spirited Guide to the Drinks, History and Culture of the Aperitif by Kate Hawkings

The Joy of Mixology, Revised and Updated Edition: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft by Gary Regan

The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem: The Story of John Morrissey and the World’s Best Cocktail Menu by Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry

Nightcap: More than 40 Cocktails to Close Out Any Evening by Kara Newman

Be Your Own Bartender: A Surefire Guide to Finding (and Making) Your Perfect Cocktail by Carey Jones and John McCarthy

Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions by Alex Day and Nick Fauchald

Winter Drinks: 70 Essential Cold-Weather Cocktails by Editors of PUNCH

Tequila: Shake, Muddle, Stir: Over 40 of the Best Cocktails for Tequila and Mezcal Lovers by Dan Jones

Pickle Juice: A Revolutionary Approach to Making Better Tasting Cocktails and Drinks by Florence Cherruault

The Mini Bar: 100 Essential Cocktail Recipes; 8 Notebook Set by Editors of PUNCH

The Curious Bartender Volume II: The New Testament of Cocktails by Tristan Stephenson

Glamorous Cocktails: Fashionable mixes from iconic London bars by William Yeoward

Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails by Amy Zavatto

Rock Cocktails: 50 rock 'n' roll drinks recipes―from Gin Lizzy to Guns 'n' Rosés

Northern Hospitality with The Portland Hunt + Alpine Club: A Celebration of Cocktails, Cooking, and Coming Together by Andrew Volk and Briana Volk

The Aviary Cocktail Book by Grant Achatz, Micah Melton, Nick Kokonas, Allen and Sarah Hemberger.

The Cocktail Companion: A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks by Cheryl Charming

Drink London (London Guides) by Euan Ferguson

Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari: Tenth Anniversary Expanded Edition by Jeff Beachbum Berry

Wine Books

Wild Winemaking: Easy & Adventurous Recipes Going Beyond Grapes, Including Apple Champagne, Ginger–Green Tea Sake, Key Lime–Cayenne Wine, and 142 More by Richard W. Bender

Ten Grapes to Know: The Ten and Done Wine Guide by Catherine Fallis

Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking and Cooking by Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker

The Sommelier's Atlas of Taste: A Field Guide to the Great Wines of Europe by Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay

Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails by Amy Zavatto

Spirit Books, Misc.

The Connoisseur’s Guide to Worldwide Spirits: Selecting and Savoring Whiskey, Vodka, Scotch, Rum, Tequila . . . and Everything Else (An Expert’s Guide … and Savoring Every Spirit in the World) by Richard Carleton Hacker

Tabletop Distilling: How to Make Spirits, Essences, and Essential Oils with Small Stills by Kai Möller

The Gin Dictionary by David T. Smith

The Book of Vermouth: A Bartender and a Winemaker Celebrate the World's Greatest Aperitif by Shaun Byrne and Gilles Lapalus

The Curious Bartender's Guide to Gin: How to appreciate gin from still to serve by Tristan Stephenson

Women-Centric Drink Books

Craft Cocktails by Val: Drinks Inspired by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Drinking Like Ladies: 75 modern cocktails from the world's leading female bartenders; Includes toasts to extraordinary women in history by Misty Kalkofen and Kirsten Amann

Liberated Spirits: Two Women Who Battled Over Prohibition by Hugh Ambrose and John Schuttler

A Woman's Drink: Bold Recipes for Bold Women by Natalka Burian

Movers and Shakers: Women Making Waves in Spirits, Beer & Wine by Hope Ewing

Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women
by Jennifer Croll (Author), Kelly Shami (Illustrator)

History Books

A Short History of Drunkenness: How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present by Mark Forsyth

A Thousand Thirsty Beaches: Smuggling Alcohol from Cuba to the South during Prohibition by Lisa Lindquist Dorr

Moonshine: A Celebration of America's Original Rebel Spirit by John Schlimm

A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris by Philip Greene

Beer, Mead, Cider

Mead: The Libations, Legends, and Lore of History's Oldest Drink by Fred Minnick

Will Travel for Beer: 101 Remarkable Journeys Every Beer Lover Should Experience by Stephen Beaumont

Beer: 150 Awesome Facts About Your Favorite Brew by Caroline West

Ciderology: From History and Heritage to the Craft Cider Revolution by Gabe Cook

The Craft Beer Dictionary: An A-Z of craft beer, from hop to glass by Richard Croasdale

Kitchen Brewing: A New, Easier and Quicker Way to Home Brew by Jakob Nielsen and Mikael Zetterberg

Bar, Drinking Culture, and Professional Books

Bars, Taverns, and Dives New Yorkers Love: Where to Go, What to Drink by John Tebeau

Drinking Distilled: A User's Manual by Jeffrey Morgenthaler

I'm Just Here for the Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails by Sother Teague

Hungover: The Morning After and One Man's Quest for the Cure by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall

Allergen Awareness: A Chef's Perspective by Myron Keith Norman

Batched & Bottled by Max Venning

The Cocktail Bar: Notes for an Owner & Operator by Chall Gray

Whiskey Books

From Dram to Manhattan: Around the world in 40 whisky cocktails from Scotch to Bourbon by Jesse Estes

Hacking Whiskey: Smoking, Blending, Fat Washing, and Other Whiskey Experiments by Aaron Goldfarb

The Bourbon Bible by Eric Zandona

Whiskey America by Dominic Roskrow

Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland: Includes Profiles, Ratings, and Tasting Notes for More Than 330 Expressions by Clay Risen

World's Best Whiskies:750 Unmissable Drams from Tain to Tokyo by Dominic Roskrow

Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian F. Haara

Not enough books for you? Check out:

All the drink books that came out in 2017

All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

November 23, 2018
What is a Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey?
I was about to casually add a product to the New Booze page when I realized I didn't know what it was: Old Elk Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

I thought that "blended" and "straight" whiskey were at odds with each other, as blended whiskeys must contain at least 20% straight whiskeys in their blend.

The press release doesn't address what is a blended straight bourbon is in the description:

With four times more malted barley than conventional recipes and a slow cut proofing process which allows more time for flavors to marry between proofing stages, the Old Elk Bourbon recipe transcends tradition to craft a rich, smooth bourbon.

“We use traditional ingredients – malted barley, corn and rye – in an innovative, yet steadfast recipe to create a bourbon with smooth, rich flavors that act in harmony with caramel cues brought out by the charred barrels and spicy rye notes,” said Greg Metze, Master Distiller at Old Elk Distillery. “After testing a variety of proofing periods, we found that these flavors come together in a smoother bourbon when the proofing stages are longer. Instead of taking the usual 24 to 48 hours for proofing, we use a slow cut proofing process during which full-barrel proof bourbon is cut and left to rest – and we repeat this patient technique until the ideal character is achieved. It takes significantly longer than most common recipes, but taking the time to proof slowly makes all the difference.”

(SRP $49.99), now available in Colorado and California

So I looked it up.

According to the US Government:

(5)(i) ‘‘A blend of straight whiskies’’
(blended straight whiskies) is a mixture
of straight whiskies which does
not conform to the standard of identify
for ‘‘straight whisky.’’ Products so designated
may contain harmless coloring,
flavoring, or blending materials as
set forth in 27 CFR 5.23(a).
(ii) ‘‘A blend of straight whiskies’’
(blended straight whiskies) consisting
entirely of one of the types of straight
whisky, and not conforming to the
standard for straight whisky, shall be
further designated by that specific type
of straight whisky; for example, ‘‘a
blend of straight rye whiskies’’ (blended
straight rye whiskies). ‘‘A blend of
straight whiskies’’ consisting entirely
of one of the types of straight whisky
shall include straight whisky of the
same type which was produced in the
same State or by the same proprietor
within the same State, provided that
such whisky contains harmless coloring,
flavoring, or blending materials as
stated in 27 CFR 5.23(a).

So a blended straight bourbon whiskey like this is a blend of straight bourbons that may contain coloring, flavoring, or blending materials.

Update: A PR representative for the brand clarified that although Old Elk could legally use additives in its formulation according to the whiskey category it is in, they do not. They wrote:
Long story short:
- Old Elk Bourbon conforms to Section 2 Grain Spirits (1)(i) Bourbon Whisky
- Old Elk Bourbon also conforms to Section 2 Grain Spirits (1)(iii) as a “Straight Bourbon Whisky” except that it is a blend of straight bourbon whiskies from other states, not the same state.
- Therefore, Old Elk Bourbon is relegated to Section 5 (ii) “A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies” which allows the use of coloring, flavoring or blending materials but does not mandate it.
Old Elk Bourbon does not use additives, but still falls under the “Straight Bourbon Whiskey” designation since the bourbon whiskies used in the blend were produced in three different states (Colorado, New York and Indiana). They do plan to change that, as they’re expanding their distillery in Colorado.
October 24, 2017
Sensors in the Whiskey Warehouse Sending Data in Real-Time

In my latest story for SevenFifty Daily, I wrote about new temperature and humidity sensors installed in warehouses at Buffalo Trace, and what those could mean for studying aging of spirits and adjusting future blends.

Check it out here.

September 14, 2017
All the Cocktails and Spirits Books Published in 2016 for Reading or Gifting

I love books! Here are all the books on cocktails and spirits I know of (please do comment if I've missed something) published this year. Give some gifts or just stock up on your winter reading for the cold months. I've got stacks to get through myself.

Whiskey Books

Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey by Fred Minnick

More Kentucky Bourbon Cocktails by Joy Perrine and Susan Reigler

The Big Man of Jim Beam: Booker Noe And the Number-One Bourbon In the World by Jim Kokoris

Whisky Japan: The Essential Guide to the World's Most Exotic Whisky by Dominic Roskrow

Iconic Whisky: Tasting Notes & Flavour Charts for 1,500 of the World's Best Whiskies by Cyrille Mald and Alexandre Vingtier

Whiskey: A Spirited Story with 75 Classic and Original Cocktails by Michael Dietsch

The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail with Recipes by Philip Greene

Miscellany

Made of Iceland: A Drink & Draw Book by Reyka Vodka, Snorri Sturluson

Inside The Bottle: People, Brands, and Stories by Arthur Shapiro

The Craft Cocktail Coloring Book by Prof Johnny Plastini

Drinking with Republicans and Drinking with Democrats by Mark Will-Weber

The Moonshine Wars by Daniel Micko

Drinks: A User's Guide by Adam McDowell

Shrubs: An Old-Fashioned Drink for Modern Times (Second Edition) by Michael Dietsch

A Proper Drink: The Untold Story of How a Band of Bartenders Saved the Civilized Drinking World by Robert Simonson

Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History by Steven Grasse

DIY Bitters: Reviving the Forgotten Flavor – A Guide to Making Your Own Bitters for Bartenders, Cocktail Enthusiasts, Herbalists, and More by Jovial King and Guido Mase

Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons

Drink Like A Grown-Up by The League of Extraordinary Drinkers

The Coming of Southern Prohibition: The Dispensary System and the Battle over Liquor in South Carolina, 1907-1915 by Michael Lewis

American Wino: A Tale of Reds, Whites, and One Man's Blues by Dan Dunn

Distilled Stories: California Artisans Behind the Spirits by Capra Press

Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art & Identity by Allan T. Shulman

Craft Spirits by Eric Grossman

Cocktail Books, General

Cocktails for Ding Dongs by Dustin Drankiewicz (Author), Alexandra Ensign (Illustrator)

Zen and Tonic: Savory and Fresh Cocktails for the Enlightened Drinker by Jules Aron

Pretty Fly For a Mai Tai: Cocktails with rock 'n' roll spirit

Cocktails for Drinkers: Not-Even-Remotely-Artisanal, Three-Ingredient-or-Less Cocktails that Get to the Point by Jennifer McCartney

Aperitivo: The Cocktail Culture of Italy by Marisa Huff

The Complete Cocktail Manual: 285 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes by Lou Bustamante and the United States Bartenders' Guild

Shake. Stir. Sip.: More than 50 Effortless Cocktails Made in Equal Parts by Kara Newman

101 Cocktails to Try Before you Die  by Francois Monti

Drink Like a Man: The Only Cocktail Guide Anyone Really Needs by Ross McCammon and David Wondrich

The New Cocktail Hour: The Essential Guide to Hand-Crafted Cocktails by Andre Darlington and Tenaya Darlington

Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, with Recipes by Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau

Eat Your Drink: Culinary Cocktails by Matthew Biancaniello

Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations by Warren Bobrow

Tiki with a Twist: 75 Cool, Fresh, and Wild Tropical Cocktails by Lynn Calvo and James O. Fraioli

Cocktail Books from Bars or Places

The Canon Cocktail Book: Recipes from the Award-Winning Bar by Jamie Boudreau and James O. Fraioli

Regarding Cocktails by Sasha Petraske and Georgette Moger-Petraske

Brooklyn Spirits: Craft Distilling and Cocktails from the World's Hippest Borough By Peter Thomas Fornatale and Chris Wertz

Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki by Martin Cate and Rebecca Cate

Cuban Cocktails: Over 50 mojitos, daiquiris and other refreshers from Havana

Brooklyn Bar Bites: Great Dishes and Cocktails from New York's Food Mecca by Barbara Scott-Goodman

The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book by Frank Caiafa

Lift Your Spirits: A Celebratory History of Cocktail Culture in New Orleans by Elizabeth M. Williams and Chris McMillian

Science!

Shots of Knowledge: The Science of Whiskey by Rob Arnold and Eric Simanek

Distilled Knowledge: The Science Behind Drinking’s Greatest Myths, Legends, and Unanswered Questions by Brian D Hoefling

Classic Cocktail Book Reprints

THE HOME BARTENDER'S GUIDE AND SONG BOOK {By Charlie Roe and Jim Schwenck}

AMERICAN BAR {By Frank P. Newman}

LOUIS' MIXED DRINKS {By Louis Muckenstrum}

Beer (A few beer books slip through the cracks and come to me)

The United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink by Dane Huckelbridge

The Beer Geek Handbook: Living a Life Ruled by Beer by Patrick Dawson

MY BOOK!

Please consider supporting Alcademics by purchasing a copy of my book Tonic Water AKA G&T WTF. It's a gift to yourself, and a gift to me.

Want to see some of the previous years' books? Well, here they are:

More Than 40 Drink Books Published in 2014 for Reading or Gifting

All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

December 12, 2016
LASER STAVES! How whisky makers are using barrels toasted with an infrared ‘sun on a stick’

In a post for PopularScience.com I wrote about a technology being employed to toast wine and now whiskey barrels with infrared light.

Buffalo Trace released their latest Experimental Collection bourbon with 6.5 year old whisky aged in barrels treated with infrared light.

The technology replaces the toasting phase of barrel-making, not the charring stage, and can be used to toast wood without getting it all smoky.

The process imparts different flavors to the bourbon, as they found out.

Check out the story on PopSci.com!

Related articles

Bourbon Doesn't Need to be Aged in American Oak Barrels, or in Barrels at All

May 13, 2016
(Almost) All the Cocktails & Spirits Books Published in 2015, For Reading or Gifting

Throughout the year I post new drink books to Alcademics, because I love drinking and books. Below is all of them put together so that you can make your holiday wish list for yourself or see them all together to pick presents for friends and family.

Know of a book I missed? Let me know and I'll add it.

Culture and Fun

You Suck At Drinking: Being a Complete Guide to Drinking for Any and All Situations in Your Life, Including But Not Limited to Office Holiday Parties, Weddings, Breakups and Other Sad Times, Outdoor Chores Like Deck-building, and While in Public, Legally and Illegally By Matthew Latkiewicz

Toasts: The Perfect Words to Celebrate Every Occasion By June Cotner and Nancy Tupper Ling

Party Like A President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery, and Mischief from the Oval Office By Brian Abrams

The Field Guide to Drinking in America By Niki Ganong

You Deserve a Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart

A Visual Guide to Drink by Pop Chart Lab: Ben Gibson, Patrick Mulligan

Vintage Reprints

Hoffman House Bartender's Guide By Charley Mahoney

The Ideal Bartender By Tom Bullock

W. C. Whitfield's Mixed Drinks and Cocktails: An Illustrated, Old-School Bartender's Guide by W. C. Whitfield (Author), Tad Shell (Illustrator), Joaquín Simó (Foreword)

Shaking Up Prohibition in New Orleans: Authentic Vintage Cocktails from A to Z
By Olive Leonhardt and Hilda Phelps Hammond

Historical Books

Cocktail Noir: From Gangsters and Gin Joints to Gumshoes and Gimlets by Scott Deitche

Lost Recipes of Prohibition: Notes from a Bootlegger’s Manual by Matthew Rowley

To Have and Have Another Revised Edition: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion by Philip Greene

Gone with the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist by Tim Federle

Cocktails of the Movies: An Illustrated Guide to Cinematic Mixology by Will Francis , Stacey Marsh

Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar (Updated and Revised Edition)
By David Wondrich

Contraband Cocktails: How America Drank When It Wasn't Supposed To by Paul Dickson

Narrative Cocktail Books

The Cocktail Chronicles: Navigating the Cocktail Renaissance with Jigger, Shaker & Glass by Paul Clarke

Drinking the Devil's Acre: A Love Letter from San Francisco and her Cocktails by Duggan McDonnell

Ten Cocktails: The Art of Convivial Drinking by Alice Lascelles

Cocktails from Specific Bars

The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual: Secret Recipes and Barroom Tales from Two Belfast Boys Who Conquered the Cocktail World by Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry, Ben Schaffer

Experimental Cocktail Club: Paris, London & New York by Romée de Goriainoff, Pierre-Charles Cros, Olivier Bon, Xavier Padavoni

Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks by Ravi DeRossi, Jane Danger, Alla Lapushchik

Tujague's Cookbook: Creole Recipes and Lore in the New Orleans Grand Tradition by Poppy Tooker

Cocktails for Dingdongs Vol. 1. by Dustin Drankiewicz and Alexandra Ensign

Themed Cocktail Books

Summer Cocktails: Margaritas, Mint Juleps, Punches, Party Snacks, and More! By MarТa del Mar Sacasa and Tara Striano

The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita, with Recipes & Lore By Gary Regan

Cocktails on Tap: The Art of Mixing Spirits and Beer By Jacob Grier

The Tippling Bros. A Lime and a Shaker: Discovering Mexican-Inspired Cocktails by by Tad Carducci & Paul Tanguay with Alia Akkam

Classic Cocktails by Salvatore Calabrese

Tea Cocktails: A Mixologist's Guide to Legendary Tea-Infused Cocktails by Abigail R. Gehring

The Mason Jar Cocktail Companion by Shane Carley

Tiki Drinks: Tropical Cocktails for the Modern Bar by Robert Sharp and Nicole Weston

The Manhattan Cocktail: A Modern Guide to the Whiskey Classic by Albert W. A. Schmid

Paris Cocktails: An Elegant Collection of Over 100 Recipes Inspired by the City of Light by Doni Belau

Wild Drinks & Cocktails: Handcrafted Squashes, Shrubs, Switchels, Tonics, and Infusions to Mix at Home by Emily Han

The Periodic Table of COCKTAILS by Emma Stokes

Forager's Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients by Amy Zavatto

Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails, and Elixirs by Warren Bobrow

The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails by Steve Reddicliffe

Good Things to Drink with Mr Lyan and Friends by Ryan Chetiyawardana

The Craft Cocktail Party: Delicious Drinks for Every Occasion by Julie Reiner

Whisky and Whiskey

Whiskey: What to Drink Next: Craft Whiskeys, Classic Flavors, New Distilleries, Future Trends By Dominic Roskrow

Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker by Fred Minnick

Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey by Reid Mitenbuler

Spirit of Place: Scotland's Great Whisky Distilleries by Charles MacLean

The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose by Richard Betts

The Birth of Bourbon: A Photographic Tour of Early Distilleries by Carol Peachee

American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye (New Edition): A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit by Clay Risen

Other Spirits

Bitterman's Field Guide to Bitters & Amari: 500 Bitters; 50 Amari; 123 Recipes for Cocktails, Food & Homemade Bitters by Mark Bitterman

How the Gringos Stole Tequila: The Modern Age of Mexico's Most Traditional Spirit By Chantal Martineau

Divided Spirits: Tequila, Mezcal, and the Politics of Production by Sarah Bowen

Gin: The Manual by Dave Broom

Vermouth: The Revival of the Spirit That Created America’s Cocktail Culture by Adam Ford

Branca: A Spirited Italian Icon by Niccolo Branca di Romanico

Science-Minded

Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson: Recipes for Innovation from IBM & the Institute of Culinary Education

Hidden Scents: The Language of Smell in the Age of Approximation by Allen Barkkume

Miscellany

Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and other Treats By Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall

The River Cottage Booze Handbook by John Wright

The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth

Cider Made Simple: All About Your New Favorite Drink by Jeff Alworth

Discovering the New York Craft Spirits Boom by Heather D. Dolland

Branding: Distilled by Cynthia Sterling

Related articles

Ridiculous Drinking Gifts You Know You Kinda Want

The Gin Renaissance in America: Who, When, Where, and Why

New Booze: Fernet, Gin, Vermouth, Rye, Scotch, Bourbon, and Rum

Your Summer Reading List: Seven New Drink Books on Tea, Tequila, Computer-Generated Recipes, and More

Seven New Drink Books On Cognac, Sake, Cocktails, and More

December 15, 2015

How Much Pappy Van Winkle is Left After 23 Years in a Barrel?

The most sought-after bourbon in the world, Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old, begins life as 53 gallons of new-make whiskey at 114 proof.

What's left in the barrel after 23 years is a mere 14 gallons of bourbon at around 135-140 proof. What makes it into the bottle is even less.

So I decided to run the numbers on how much Pappy Van Winkle is left in the barrel every year after evaporation (aka the "angel's share").

According to Harlen Wheately, Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace, the angel's share is 10 percent for the first year (because whiskey is absorbing into the wood of barrel as well as evaporating), then 4 percent for the next 8 years after that, then around 3 percent per year after that.

(They store the future Pappy in barrels in the parts of the warehouse with the least evaporation as they know they want it to age for a very long time.)

Pappy Van Winkle 23 Countdown
Year	Angel's Share (Percent)	Math	Total
1	0.1	53 -(.10)*53	47.7
2	0.04	=D3-(D3*B4)	45.792
3	0.04	=D4-(D4*B5)	43.96032
4	0.04	=D5-(D5*B6)	42.2019072
5	0.04	=D6-(D6*B7)	40.513830912
6	0.04	=D7-(D7*B8)	38.89327767552
7	0.04	=D8-(D8*B9)	37.3375465684992
8	0.04	=D9-(D9*B10)	35.8440447057592
9	0.04	=D10-(D10*B11)	34.4102829175289
10	0.03	=D11-(D11*B12)	33.377974430003
11	0.03	=D12-(D12*B13)	32.3766351971029
12	0.03	=D13-(D13*B14)	31.4053361411898
13	0.03	=D14-(D14*B15)	30.4631760569541
14	0.03	=D15-(D15*B16)	29.5492807752455
15	0.03	=D16-(D16*B17)	28.6628023519881
16	0.03	=D17-(D17*B18)	27.8029182814285
17	0.03	=D18-(D18*B19)	26.9688307329856
18	0.03	=D19-(D19*B20)	26.1597658109961
19	0.03	=D20-(D20*B21)	25.3749728366662
20	0.03	=D21-(D21*B22)	24.6137236515662
21	0.03	=D22-(D22*B23)	23.8753119420192
22	0.03	=D23-(D23*B24)	23.1590525837586
23	0.03	=D24-(D24*B25)	22.4642810062459

According to those calculations, there are 22.4 gallons left in the barrel, but this assumes that the alcohol percentage stays the same as it started.

The actual final proof is around 140 (70% ABV), so the 14 gallons that Wheately reports are equivalent to about 17.2 gallons at the original proof of 114 (57% ABV). That's a lot closer to the calculated number.

Wheately filled me in on some other practical factors for the math discrepancy.

“We have done a lot of proprietary work to determine the real proof drop while the barrels are aging so I wouldn’t want to reveal all our info…. (but)

While processing such small batches you get quite a bit of loss during the bottling process during the filtration process.

Also, during the course of 23 years there tends to be other factors such as leaks that increase the loss and are difficult to put numbers to.

A typical/perfect 23 year old barrel of wheated bourbon should yield about 14 wine gallons with about a 1-2 gallon loss during bottling which gets it down to 12-13 wine gallons recovered.”

So when you're paying for a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 23 even at non-surge pricing, you're not just paying for the raw materials used to make and the time spent to age what's in that bottle, you're also paying for the raw materials and aging of 39 gallons of bourbon that evaporated before it got to the bottling facility, and a total of nearly 80% of the original juice that didn't make it into the bottle.

January 15, 2014