[barley whiskey] Do you taste what you put into the still?

[mattrix]

What does it taste like?

This question comes up from time to time in the beer brewing forums. The general consensus is that it is terribly sweet and tastes foul. BUT I figure it would have to taste pretty damn good if you are going to distill it.

I am assuming that you have been brewing beer before you started distilling.

What is the difference in HOW you produce the liquor you put into the still compared to how you would produce an UNHOPPED liquor (ale) to put into bottles?

Sorry for the silly questions.

Edit: to add emphasis.

 

[forestbeekeeper]

If you attempt to distill a hopped beer, the hops essential oil will go through the still with the alcohol, and it will be concentrated. I have been told that it is nasty.

If you ingest too much Hops oil you may develop 'Brewers Droop'.

 

[doug293cz]

I don't believe you will get much in the distilled product that has a boiling point above about 125°C (257°F), and even if between 110°C (230°F) and 125°C, you will get significantly less in the distillate than there is in the starting wash. There are some lower boiling hop compounds that make it into the product, and they do have a noticeable taste, but I wouldn't call them nasty.

Unhopped beer will be sweet, after all we use hop bitterness to counteract the natural sweetness. You can make an unhopped wash less sweet by using enzymes like glucoamylase (amyloglucosidase) in the fermenter. This will make the dextrins fermentable, and increase your ethanol yield.

Brew on

 

[mattrix]

If you attempt to distill a hopped beer, the hops essential oil will go through the still with the alcohol, and it will be concentrated. I have been told that it is nasty.

I know that, I was asking about UNHOPPED Ale.
Isn't that what you make to distill?

 

[mattrix]

You can make an unhopped wash less sweet by using enzymes like glucoamylase (amyloglucosidase) in the fermenter. This will make the dextrins fermentable, and increase your ethanol yield.

Thanks for that.
I'm a bit confused about the difference between dextrins and starch, something to do with how the bonds are formed. Way beyond my chemistry abilities.

So dextrins are sweet tasting and not fermentable?

Do distillers attempt to reduce dextrins, whereas beer makers favour them?

 

[DBhomebrew]

I know that, I was asking about UNHOPPED Ale.
Isn't that what you make to distill?

In modern parlance, ale is hopped.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for that.
I'm a bit confused about the difference between dextrins and starch, something to do with how the bonds are formed. Way beyond my chemistry abilities.

So dextrins are sweet tasting and not fermentable?

Do distillers attempt to reduce dextrins, whereas beer makers favour them?

Starch is made up of very long chains of glucose molecules bonded together. There are two types of starch: amylose - which is linear chains, and amylopectin - which is branched chains. The branch points in amylopectin are a different type of bond than the linear chain bonds, and the branched bonds cannot be broken (technically hydrolyzed) by the alpha and beta amylase enzymes that are active in the mash. In order to make starch fermentable, it has to by hydrolyzed into one, two (maltose), and for some yeasts three (maltotriose) glucose unit molecules. But since the branched parts of the amylopectin cannot by hydrolyzed by alpha or beta amylase enzymes, the pieces that are left after everything that can be hydrolyzed has been hydrolyzed, are called limit dextrins. Dextrins are not fermentable, and they do taste sweet.

Distillers don't really care that much about the taste of the wash prior to distillation (as long as it doesn't have bad tasting components that are volatile, and can make it thru the process to the end product.) But, beer brewers do care about the taste since they don't plan to distill it. The dextrins in beer give it a sweet taste, so they add hops (or something else) to balance out the residual sweetness.

There are enzymes which can hydrolyze the branch bonds in dextrins, and thus convert the dextrins into fermentable sugars. The most well known of these enzymes is amyloglucosidase (aka glucoamylase, or just gluco.) If you use amyloglucosidase in beer, you will end up with a very dry, light bodied beer, which is usually considered undesirable. However, when distilling, the dextrins do not vaporize during distillation, so don't make it into the final product anyway. So, distillers might choose to add amyloglucosidase to their mash or fermenter in order to get more fermentable sugar (and no dextrin), and therefore more alcohol from a given amount of grain. This improves their overall efficiency.

Brew on

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I ran about 12 gallons of old beer from various kegs i hadn't emptied as my first real attempt after the sacrificial run.
i got about a cup and a half that didn't taste like stale beer and wet cardboard.

an actual corn / wheat / barley mash came out much much nicer.

 

[pdxal]

I might have distilled old beer/leftovers from bottles/failed beers that had hops in them and the resulting liquor tasted fine.
That said, I would typically distill unhopped 'beer' or the like if I was setting out to make a wash to distill.