Blending tails

[markus]

With a few UJSM and BWKO spirit runs under my belt
I'm wanting to go deeper into my tails when blending to get a different flavour.
The deeper I go into my collection jars a slight film has developed ontop of the spirit,
The deeper I go the more it is. From my understanding this is normal. Fusels?
Can the jars with the film ontop be used for blending?
Or should they be avoided at all costs?

Cheers markus

[Kimbo]

Hi Marcus, yes these are fusel oils and its normal.
You can blend some tails back in its entirely up to you and your tastes ;-)

[crow]

As Kimbo says its really subject to taste . I back blend tails in my keg aged stuff :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[markus]

Yeah some of em smell ok and some like cats piss.
Just not sure bout that shit on top.
I'll spoon it off and keep blending

Cheers markus

[Urrazeb]

If you blend the deep tails with a high enough alc (80% say) then it wont go cloudy and the oils will mix well leaving a nice clear spirit, alot of rums go cloudy after blending due to the higher amount of oils within the tails fractions, usually a dash or two of 80% cuts through the oil and allows it to be mixed.

Just thought you'd like to know

[bt1]

Why bother...

it will still taste like shite...

Geez you get enough hearts to be happy...

Be harder on blending and cuts .. it's a bloody craft not a F%^ing cost saving exercise

bt1

[MacStill]

Why bother...

it's a bloody craft not a F%^ing cost saving exercise

bt1

:text-imwithstupid:

[Urrazeb]

If you find some flavour you like in the tails then blend it. I have added some tails to rum and it smelt rough, but a few months later has smoothed out nicely, you can blend some tails with great results IMO.

I'm wanting to go deeper into my tails when blending to get a different flavour.

Its a fair question :?:

A man once said, striving to achieve purity, with also allowing enough of the cogeners/impurities to travel through to the end product, to provide the product with some interest.

Nuff said :angry-banghead: :roll:

[MacStill]

no point getting the shits UZ, seems a lot of what you post lately is about squeezing every drop/cent/dollar you can..... we (some of us) feel it's more about making it as best we possibly can, even if it costs a few bob more..... it's still 90% cheaper than the bottlo ;-)

:teasing-neener:

[Urrazeb]

Nar nar aint got the shits just saying tails can hold some good flavours that's all, it's up to the markus weather he likes it or not.

:text-offtopic: I started a thread on Yeast starters that is a method undertaken by many distillers to try clear a few things up, try to get some different views on the process for my (and maybe someone else) sake

If I was trying to save dosh I'd have a headache everytime I woke up after a drink, hasn't happened since my first blend and ain't gonna happen!

[MacStill]

you need a bubbler, bet ya wouldnt drink tails then :laughing-rolling:

:puke-huge:

[Urrazeb]

I keep telling her that but she wont listen.. :snooty:

[markus]

Why bother...

it will still taste like shite...

Geez you get enough hearts to be happy...

Be harder on blending and cuts .. it's a bloody craft not a F%^ing cost saving exercise

bt1

I'm not about saving cost. I'm after the best product I can get. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Just after a different flavour.
From my limited knowledge there are hidden flavours in the tails,
Only time and oak will tell

Cheers markus

[Dominator]

I see where you comming from Urra. Blending tails, from you point if view at least, is not about getting more product from the same wash. It is about exploring and experimenting to find a better drink. And while I didn't understand at first, your yeast thread is less about saving money and more so, looking at different methods to achieve the same, or better, result. If we all just followed the flock and no one asked the question or tried new things, we would all be using a pot still and drinking every drop that came out of it.

[bt1]

Markus,

yeh sry bout the strength of my wording in post... just a tad well belted when I think??? I wrote it.

Give it a go if you like it well good enough...just keep it separate from main spirit.

gotta stop getting on the hooch and posting
bt1

[Dominator]

Haha, I noticed that bt1. Most of your post are awesome but the odd one sneaks in and your a bit short. Haha. Drunk driving a keyboard can often end badly. :laughing-rolling:

[crow]

Generally speaking most if not all the blending you want is done by the still. That is components of the tails smeared through the last say 1/4 of your hearts with a pot less than that with a bubbler . I don't think I back blended tails with the pot still very much (not deliberately anyhows :icon-lol: but I have a bit with the bubbler particularly with the brandies :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

I dunno bout blending deep oily tails, from my experience they're the ones to discard... I'd rather drink heads :laughing-rolling:

[blond.chap]

I've got 2 rums maturing at the moment, the first was made with a little pure distilling pot still, the 2nd with my bubbler.

I didn't back blend any tails, just took cuts for both of them until I didn't like the flavour. Obviously the pot stilled has more smearing. Straight off the still, and for several months after the pot stilled rum was pretty manky tasting, while the bubbler one was drinkable after a few days of airing. However after about 7 months, the pot stilled one is starting to develop some nice complex flavours, while the bubbler one still has more of a pure flavour.

So my conclusion is that a bit of tails+time = a bit of complexity you don't get with better separation. However the bubbler one is still awesome, so I recon it's up to preference on how much tails you include.

[Brendan]

There's a similar discussion going on over on HD at the moment courtesy of Mash Rookie...

When I ran my first whiskey wash through my flute with 4 plates, I was initially disappointed that the hearts seemed too clean, and without character. But after airing for a day or two, I really noticed the earlier tails were a lot smoother smelling and tasting than the deeper tails, and proceeded to add them back in.

When I first distilled that wash, I thought I'd reflexed too much and collected too slow, actually wanting some more smearing. But after being less than happy with some 'forced smearing', I tend to return to my methods from the first run and blend those early tails back in...really cleans up nicely on toasted oak :handgestures-thumbupleft: