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So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other day...

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:10 am
by Boomgate
The place is in Melbourne (I wont mention the name, but PM me if you want to know), and its only $10 for a tour, and you get to taste test their wash, their hearts and the final result.... pretty good deal if you ask me..

It was really interesting to hear how they make their whiskey, which has won heaps of awards...

The first thing I noticed was the the stills are relatively small... I mean, they are huge compared to mine, but smaller than I was expecting... I was expecting huge pot stills, but apparently to reduce the height they have put some heatsinks around the outside of the riser...

The second noteworthy thing was that they use a mix of turbo yeast and brewers yeast.... I have only tried a turbo yeast once and I thought the result was quite awful, but their flavour was really nice... Unfortunately they wouldnt share their secret with me.

Just sharing

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:37 am
by ed9362
i have done the same tour, i enjoyed it but i though the whiskeys they had on offer were pretty ordinary. they did have a couple of nice gins though.

My tour guide didnt mention turbo yeast he did say they use a combination of distillers and brewers yeast.

i was surprised to find that they use pilsner malt exclusively for their range of spirits.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:44 am
by wynnum1
There is nothing wrong with some of the turbo yeasts just how they tell you to use have used Essencia Super 6 Ultra Pure Yeast to make cider from supermarket apple juice only using a teaspoon to ferment they could be using one that has added enzymes.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:30 pm
by Boomgate
ed9362 wrote:My tour guide didnt mention turbo yeast he did say they use a combination of distillers and brewers yeast.

My guide went on to say distillers yeast is turbo yeast... :)

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:02 am
by crow
I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you mean Starward, if so a bunch of us were given a private tour. Technically they were closed and running whisky at the time but as we had a few interstate members and this day was kinda their only day we could fit a tour in they very kindly organised for us to have a private tour. In my opinion the products produced here are under valued, not that every expression is for every person but on a whole they produce what I would call a high quality product. As for turbo here's the thing, there are the strains we all know and love to hate ( turbo 48, turbo extra etc) . The same company also procures and sells strains not really conected with those high yield fast fermenting abominations and one is the turbo whisky yeast which as far as I'm told is a reputable whisky yeast with enzymes like glucoamylase added to it. It was explained exactly where the strain came from a few years back when I was first shown it by the previous local HBS owner and I can attest it does not have any of that normal turbo wretched stink.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 6:37 pm
by Wobblyboot
crow wrote:I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you mean Starward, if so a bunch of us were given a private tour. Technically they were closed and running whisky at the time but as we had a few interstate members and this day was kinda their only day we could fit a tour in they very kindly organised for us to have a private tour. In my opinion the products produced here are under valued, not that every expression is for every person but on a whole they produce what I would call a high quality product. As for turbo here's the thing, there are the strains we all know and love to hate ( turbo 48, turbo extra etc) . The same company also procures and sells strains not really conected with those high yield fast fermenting abominations and one is the turbo whisky yeast which as far as I'm told is a reputable whisky yeast with enzymes like glucoamylase added to it. It was explained exactly where the strain came from a few years back when I was first shown it by the previous local HBS owner and I can attest it does not have any of that normal turbo wretched stink.

I wasn’t a fan of their whiskey aged in a wine barrel but I liked everything else they had :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:20 pm
by Boomgate
I was trying to keep their name out of it... but yes..

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 11:50 am
by Sam.
I am a massive fan of Starwards whiskies.

Having said that, now that they are part owned by Diageo and are blending grain nuetrel spirit with their whisky to pump out a cheaper product at higher volume like some do in other countries I am afraid they are going to flood the Aussie market with cheap shit whisky.

Just my thoughts.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 4:35 pm
by Boomgate
Sam. wrote:I am a massive fan of Starwards whiskies.

Having said that, now that they are part owned by Diageo and are blending grain nuetrel spirit with their whisky to pump out a cheaper product at higher volume like some do in other countries I am afraid they are going to flood the Aussie market with cheap shit whisky.

Just my thoughts.


They only do that on the two grain whiskey (apparently), the other two are fully made inhouse.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:23 pm
by bluc
What makes grain whiskey crap? Poor cuts the fact they use to many plates for whiskey?

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 6:05 am
by Aussiedownunder01
Fark at $100 plus a bottle my uncle j is just fine

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:25 am
by Sam.
bluc wrote:What makes grain whiskey crap? Poor cuts the fact they use to many plates for whiskey?


It’s grain nuetrel spirit. Doesn’t have to be 100% grain.

Single malt is 100% malt barley.

There is a big difference.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 11:48 am
by bluc
Sorry sam yea I meant grain neutral spirit, not whiskey. Ahh so it more of a neutral they use to bulk up "whiskey" :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 6:07 pm
by orcy
I had the standard whisky flight at standard on the weekend. Not a single one I'd take a bottle of home. Just so boring. The cherry barrel aged gin was the standout.

Re: So I was at a commercial whiskey distillery the other da

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 6:43 pm
by bluc
Aged gin cant say I have read about that before.. :-B