This provides for a good amount of leeway in the manufacturing process. Enough leeway, in fact, that some distilleries are experimenting with making vodka out of salmon and old newspapers. Yes, you read that correctly. Two of the most popular ingredients used in the distillation process for vodka are grains and potatoes.
By Betsy Andrews. Betsy Andrews. Betsy Andrews is a freelance journalist specializing in wine, spirits, food, travel, and the environment. Learn about Liquor. Pin Share Email.
Buy on Drizly Buy on Wine. Buy on Drizly Buy on Totalwine. Continue to 5 of 9 below. Continue to 9 of 9 below. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. Try using your fresh batch of vodka to make some tasty Bloody Marys. Thank you for visiting Mile Hi Distilling, your one stop shop for all of your distilling needs.
Well done on learning how to make vodka with a potato mash! If you enjoyed this guide on how to make vodka, check out our other guides on how to make tequila and how to make moonshine. Let us know what you thought of this guide by leaving a comment or a star rating below.
We asked experts in the industry what they do to maximize the quality of their vodka runs. Check out their time-tested wisdom below. For us the following are important:. If you start with rye as the base, you will have a spicier vodka. Some distilleries will go up to proof by redistilling 10 or more times. To me that is just further removing the unique character for a vodka. We hand-built a 40 foot stainless steel filter which gravity feeds the vodka through 4 columns of fresh activated carbon.
We reverse osmosis filter our cut water resulting in a pure, floral, clean and lightly sweet vodka. Temperature controlled fermentations generally produce cleaner ethanol so if you have a way to control the temperature I recommend it.
Once distillation begins I believe there are three key components to producing good vodka, copper contact, reflux lots of it , and cold water to create all that reflux. To bring of a spirit over proof the legal definition of Vodka and thats temperature adjusted, you have to distill a few times. We do an initial distillation to separate our alcohol from water via a stripping run with 3 fractional columns.
It comes of the the still around proof on this initial stripping run. The we do a second distillation with 10 fractional columns. And for a volume of around 15g it then takes 8 hours or more to run the still slow and high to maintain a proof of around proof. It matters. At Spring44, we use only water directly from our artesian mineral spring located at 9, ft in the Northern Colorado Rockies. Simple as that. The flavors in vodka are just hopefully very subtle.
To me, for example, good wheat vodka is slightly sweet, potato is a little spicy, and corn is a bit hot. Good craft vodka is a balance of very small things. Grain, enzymes, water, and yeast produce the palette of flavors that you have to work with at distilling time, and different combinations produce a different set of flavors. Finally, be very vigilant about tasting during distilling to hit the heads and tails cuts such that you can harvest nice, clean hearts to become your vodka.
And then on to the post-process! Finally, the dilution water does matter — definitely filter to remove chlorine and anything else you might not enjoy from your local supply. From what I have seen in the industry is people try to overcomplicate recipes to try to differentiate from other products. At this point, use your hydrometer and take a starting gravity reading. Our goal for potato vodka is exactly 1. Cool the mash down to degrees. If possible, let this occur overnight and do it slowly, rather than trying to rush the process.
This gives the barley enzymes greater opportunity to transform the starch in the potato into sugars. Get these supplies:. Sanitize your mason jar. There are many ways to do this, but try to avoid using any harsh chemical residue. Pour four ounces of this water into your sanitized jar. Remember that transferring water into new containers can reduce its temperature, so consider warming those containers before using them.
We want to keep the water as close to degrees as possible before it goes into the jar. Add two teaspoons of sugar to the hot water. Many people use simple white sugar for this, but you can modify the flavor of your drink by using other types of sugar instead. Add your yeast to the mix, strictly following the instructions on its packaging.
These can vary somewhat, so always read the packaging for what type of yeast you bought. Stir the mixture, then let it sit for about 20 minutes.
You should see the volume double over this period. Transfer only the liquid from your mash mixture into your fermentation bucket.
If possible, try to splash the liquid without losing any. This aerates the liquid and helps create a better product. The easiest way to transfer only the liquid is by straining it through something, which is what the cheesecloth is for. You can also use other types of strainers as long as they catch all the residual solids. Once you have your yeast starter and the liquid from the mash ready, transfer your yeast starter into the fermentation bucket and give it a quick stir to mix it.
Secure your fermenter bucket with a proper airlock and ferment the whole mixture inside the bucket for about two weeks. Practice helps a lot, so the more you follow the steps above, the easier it will become to distill a high-quality product.
Put the sample on a white plate or in a white bowl, then add a drop of iodine. This is a little chemistry trick to check for starches. Let it sit for a few more days. This will help catch any solids that are left in your liquid alcohol, including those that are small and hard to see. Once again, cheesecloth is a great choice for this. At this point, your vodka exists. You just need to extract it from the existing mixture.
This is the heart of brewing, and like the previous steps, it takes experience to do this correctly. Always clean your still before you start using it, even if you cleaned it after the last time you used it.
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