Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I know there has been quite a few threads on this so forgive me for going over old ground but I have just done a peated whiskey through my 4 plate bubbler and was expecting more flavor out of it.

Mash was 5 kg of bairds heavy peated malt, added 2 kg of sugar and fermented with lowans and safale. Mash and ferment went well, ended up with 25l of 7.5%.

Single run thorough the bubbler. Took off the first 100ml one drop at a time, closed the reflux valve till i got a toothpick stream and sat on 92% for most of the run; then % slowly dropped down and I collected till 30%.

I don't seem to be getting much flavor out of the hearts section and it wasn't till it dropped down below 85 to 80% that I detected even a hint of peat. Tails are peat city.

This was my first time trying a malt whiskey so I am not sure if what I am getting is right. Can I expect to see more flavor after I cut and oak?

Thanks in advance,

Charlie.

First off, I haven't had the bubbler long, so you can take or leave my advice with no risk of offense :D , but, I'd be going into the tails of when you do the cuts....to keep the flavour, the mankiness will go away with time and it should mature into something tasty....

im not so sure on to much tails but oak and time will bring out the whiskey flavor :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The peat will come out more after time on oak :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Bairds heavy is one of my favourite grains... I usually run a pot strip run followed by a 2 plate spirit run. Plenty of flavour and aroma, nicely balanced by spirit warmth.
Doc

the Doctor wrote:Bairds heavy is one of my favourite grains... I usually run a pot strip run followed by a 2 plate spirit run. Plenty of flavour and aroma, nicely balanced by spirit warmth.
Doc

Do you prefer 2 plates over 4 plates for peated Whisky these days Doc?
4 plates for a lighter less flavored product that ages a little quicker?

Crusty wrote:

the Doctor wrote:Bairds heavy is one of my favourite grains... I usually run a pot strip run followed by a 2 plate spirit run. Plenty of flavour and aroma, nicely balanced by spirit warmth.
Doc

Do you prefer 2 plates over 4 plates for peated Whisky these days Doc?
4 plates for a lighter less flavored product that ages a little quicker?

Yes mate the last few barrels of Belle Epoch (Hebridean style) which we laid down were 2 plate finish... but a touch more centre cut. I am still doing my other two whiskeys with a 4 plate finish ( they are a more Irish style )...both work well. but the Bairds heavy is better with 2 plates..when i ran it through 4 plates i lost a fair bit of the peat and at $68 a sack for grain..it was a bit of a waste.
Doc

the Doctor wrote:

Crusty wrote:

the Doctor wrote:Bairds heavy is one of my favourite grains... I usually run a pot strip run followed by a 2 plate spirit run. Plenty of flavour and aroma, nicely balanced by spirit warmth.
Doc

Do you prefer 2 plates over 4 plates for peated Whisky these days Doc?
4 plates for a lighter less flavored product that ages a little quicker?

Yes mate the last few barrels of Belle Epoch (Hebridean style) which we laid down were 2 plate finish... but a touch more centre cut. I am still doing my other two whiskeys with a 4 plate finish ( they are a more Irish style )...both work well. but the Bairds heavy is better with 2 plates..when i ran it through 4 plates i lost a fair bit of the peat and at $68 a sack for grain..it was a bit of a waste.
Doc

Thanks for that Doc. Still have 20kg of grain left so I might try the pot strip followed by a 2 plate run.

How my oak are you using on your peated whiskey?

What's the consensus on a single run but dropping back to three plates?

the Doctor wrote:

Crusty wrote:

the Doctor wrote:Bairds heavy is one of my favourite grains... I usually run a pot strip run followed by a 2 plate spirit run. Plenty of flavour and aroma, nicely balanced by spirit warmth.
Doc

Do you prefer 2 plates over 4 plates for peated Whisky these days Doc?
4 plates for a lighter less flavored product that ages a little quicker?

Yes mate the last few barrels of Belle Epoch (Hebridean style) which we laid down were 2 plate finish... but a touch more centre cut. I am still doing my other two whiskeys with a 4 plate finish ( they are a more Irish style )...both work well. but the Bairds heavy is better with 2 plates..when i ran it through 4 plates i lost a fair bit of the peat and at $68 a sack for grain..it was a bit of a waste.
Doc

Awesome Doc.
Thanks for the tip.
Cheers.

Thanks for that Doc. Still have 20kg of grain left so I might try the pot strip followed by a 2 plate run.

How my oak are you using on your peated whiskey?

4 months on bubbler using shiraz oak ( to add colour ) then into 226 lt Barriques ( French )for 4 to 6 years.. then a few weeks rest under bubbler before bottling.
Doc

Thanks for the insight Doc :handgestures-thumbupleft:

4-6 years is quite a while, for me to wait :wtf:
It seems like an inevitable trade off when aiming for fuller flavor: less plates, more congeners (good and bad)= fuller flavor but longer maturation?
More plates, less flavor, but faster maturation. :think:

Oh well, good things come to those who wait. o:-)

I would prefer to drink a bottle with more flavour and that has aged for a long time. sonething i might not b able to do 8-}

gooie wrote:What's the consensus on a single run but dropping back to three plates?

I've done this with a UJ type drink. At first it tasted tailsy but after 12 months on oak it turned real nice.

the Doctor wrote:

Thanks for that Doc. Still have 20kg of grain left so I might try the pot strip followed by a 2 plate run.

How my oak are you using on your peated whiskey?

4 months on bubbler using shiraz oak ( to add colour ) then into 226 lt Barriques ( French )for 4 to 6 years.. then a few weeks rest under bubbler before bottling.
Doc

Sorry to bump an old thread but I'm really curious as to what the doc is talking about here as I don't understand what he means when saying "4 months on bubbler" and "then a few week rest under bubbler."

Could somebody enlighten me?

Think he means his aeration system :-B

bluc wrote:Think he means his aeration system :-B

Yep that must be it. Thanks bluc I hadn't heard about that method until now.