we mill alaska grown grain to a cornmeal like consistency to give us access to all the starchy goodness
water, enzymes and heat work together to convert the starchy goodness into sugary goodness
fermented mash is heated. ethanol boils at 173°f, water at 212°f
this allows us to separate ethanol vapors (c ₂h ₅oh) from water and congeners.
hearts from the stripping run are collected & stored in charred oak barrels. the white spirit will mellow and become darker in color as time passes. the barrel will filter and impart flavors such as vanillins into the whiskey
vapors are cooled and condensed into liquid ethanol. during a still run the
distiller makes “cuts” or separations to the still’s output. the first & most volatile “heads” contain methanol & other congeners the second cut, “hearts”, contains mostly ethanol. this is collected and will either be barreled or further refined in the rectifier to become vodka or gin. lastly are “tails”, which contain fusel alcohols such as amyl alcohol.
using a secondary distillation process, we extract flavors from fruit & botanicals creating an essence. this essence is blended with spirits & water lowering the proof to create vodka or gin.
1500 KG alaskan grain
4000 liters x 2
8000 liters mash
2700 liters x 3
3 barrels
1,080 750 ml bottles (90 cases) 80 proof
mash is cooled and transfered into a fermenter along with yeast.
the yeast works hard for about 72 hours converting sugars into ethanol (c ₂h ₅oh) and carbon dioxide (co₂). this produces a distillers beer that is roughly 8% abv