Heads in commercial

[flamehawk]

During the week i have been tasting my run from the weekend. Nothing more than a small sip for flavor changes etc.

I put some oak in there and its a great sipping beverage. The oak has been in there a week and its achieved a colour that i'm happy with. Just mucking around so don't flame me yet.

I tasted heads early on and its corse and not as pleasant as hearts. I just tasted some low shelf "Highland scotch" and found it to of the same consistency as heads. Am i right to assume that i paid good money for heads.

The rubbish i produced last week tasted smooth and you can't help but want more.

What gives here

[Urrazeb]

You will find most commercial distilleries look at quantity over quantity, they can reach high abv (and therefore dilute for more product) found in the heads, a lot of them run whats called a continuous still which never removes fores, heads or tails.

Not my post but a bit of info..

"Commercial whiskey distillers make no distinction between "foreshots" and "heads". To them, these are simply different names for the same thing. Similarly, they draw no distinction between "feints" and "tails". Now these guys must surely know what they are doing, as many of them have been distilling whiskey for generations, so I just wondered if we might not be introducing distinctions that really don't matter.

After almost a week of searching through the internet and browsing through the local library, I've also learned that although whiskey washes contain methanol, resulting from the use of grain, not one drop of foreshots/heads or feints/tails is ever thrown away, but is instead frugally stored in the 'low wines' vat for inclusion in the next batch."

This hobby is great because we DO make the distinction and are purely after a good product, not necessarily lots of it but quality is first on the agenda

[flamehawk]

Amazing. This is going to be a no brainer to produce a product that better than commercial

I always managed to brew a nice brew and had it on tap. Co2 just kept going on and I gave it away because having it on tap just cost me a fortune for botle rental. I thought that i would be making a knock off that would never be as good.

Once i get my controller for temperature its going to be dead easy.

I am a little annoyed that i did not try this earlier. I'll not be able to drink commercial again. I'm ruined.

\

[Sam.]

They have the advantage of aging in large barrels for a long time. The same scotch that was average at 12 years might be amazing at 21. The heads and tails in there would also add to the complexity.

Having said that I'm not putting and shitty heads or tails in my product before aging :snooty:

[Urrazeb]

I thought that i would be making a knock off that would never be as good. \

You will be surprised at how many people think homemade spirits are an inferior product. I get it occasionally, fellas trying to pick holes in my gear and comparing to commercial spirit.

The ones that have tried my spirits over time know what it is like, and know that it is better than some commercials. At first I didn't even like my rum.. I made bad cuts and never had such a hangover, but after learning a bit more and reading lots I can safely say I make a good drop.