Distillery

“ A distillery must not, without permission, be carried on at a greater distance than half a mile from a market town, nor may it be situated within a quarter of a mile from a rectifying establishment. A distiller must give notice of the erection of new plant or apparatus, of the time of brewing, of the removing of sugar from store or of yeast from wort or wash, of the making of " bub," of the locking of the spirit receiver supply pipe, &c. ”

“ A pump to empty the hogsheads, and covered pipes to conduct the liquor into the still, is what has been found to answer that purpose. A good distilling apparatus is undoubtedly the most important part of a distillery. It must unite solidity, perfection in its joints, economy of fuel, rapidity of distillation, to the faculty of concentrating the spirit. ”

“ The woman who had the management of the distillery, wishing to give us a taste of the spirit, thrust a stick, with a small tuft of camel's hair at its end, through the external covering of clay, and thus collecting a small quantity of the brandy, she drew out the stick, dropped a portion on the retort, and, waving the instrument above her head, scattered the remaining liquor in the air. ”

“ As a rule, the large firms do not distil the brandy they sell, but leave that operation to the small farmers round about, and then blend their products; as, to produce the quantity they sell, enormous distilling space would be necessary, wine only producing one-eighth or one-tenth of alcohol to its bulk. The farmer’s distillery is very primitive ”

“ When the purest spirit is intended to be drawn from the grain, the fermented wash ought to be suffered to settle, till it becomes transparent. The dispatch, with which the distillery is generally carried on, often prevents this useful circumstance taking place, and occasions a want of vinosity in the liquor. ”

“ As it is demonstrated that the spirit is the more abundant in proportion to the richness of the vinous liquor,* it is therefore necessary to enrich that of the distillery* which is so deficient in that respect. ”

“ Whenever a distiller wishes to commence the business of de-naturing alcohol he must make written application to the collector of the district in which the distillery is located for the approval of a de-naturing bonded warehouse. ”

“ I believe he means to turn it into some kind of a factory—and, I rather think, will connect therewith a distillery. This is a fine grain-growing country, as you know. If he does set up a distillery, he'll make a fine thing of it. Grain has been too low in this section for some years; this all the farmers have felt, and they are very much pleased at the idea. It will help them wonderfully. I always thought my mill a great thing for the farmers; but what I did for them was a mere song compared to the advantage of an extensive distillery. ”

“ The store house, or cellar for keeping whiskey in, ought to be some distance from the distillery, and the liquor deposited, and all work necessary in it done by day, to avoid all possible danger arising from candles or lamps, from which many serious calamities have occurred. ”

“ And this is not all: corroded by the acetous acid, they are full of small holes, particularly in the cap, where all the vapors collect themselves, as in a reservoir. It is easy to conceive with what rapidity they escape, which occasions a considerable waste of liquor. In proof of the truth of this observation, we may refer to the smell of whiskey, so strongly perceivable on the roads leading to a distillery, and preceeding from no other cause than that liquor wasting out of bad vessels, to the great loss of the distiller. ”

“ That section requires the distiller to furnish to the assessor an accurate plan of the distillery and distilling apparatus, showing the location and mode of construction of the apparatus and the cubical contents of each vessel. Undoubtedly the main elements necessary for a determination of the producing capacity are the size of the stills, mash-tubs, and cisterns, and the duration of the fermenting period. There is unquestionably, in the nature of things, a true fermenting period, dependent on the operation of natural processes, a period which may be variant from that selected by a distiller. ”

“ Where wood is scarce and money plenty, the patent distillery is certainly to be recommended, indeed, in all cases, I would recommend it, where the proprietor has money enough. It is by far the most profitable, and will sooner or later become in general use in this country. ”

“ We have said that the processes of mashing, &c., in the distillery are similar to those adopted in brewing beer. We may add that, as richness in alcohol, and not flavour, is the object aimed at in the distiller’s wash, not only is a large quantity of unmalted grain employed, but the process of boiling the wort with hops is omitted altogether. The wort is commonly ‘set’ at 70° Fahr., and the fermentation and attenuation of the liquor pushed as far as possible by large and repeated doses of the best ‘top-yeast’ of the porter brewers. ”

“ You and some of your friends have been illicitly making whiskey. You have a distillery somewhere in the mountains, and, while working in the mills during the day, you have taken turns in running the still at night. ”

“ Distilleries, big and little, are likely to be set up all over the country, and the time is not far distant when the farmer will be able to carry his corn to his local distillery, and either return with the money in his pocket, or with fuel for farm engines, machinery, and perchance his automobile.
When our government shall have become as far-sighted as the German government in this matter, every farmer will be able to manufacture his own de-natured spirits. ”

“ It is not, indeed, to be allowed that the custom of drinking distilled liquors, however prevalent, has yet arisen to the height at which the noble lord, who spoke last, seems to imagine it arrived; for though it is undoubtedly true that seven millions of gallons are annually distilled, it is not to be imagined that the whole quantity is wasted in debauchery! some is, exhausted by the necessities, and some by the conveniencies of life; a great part is exported to other countries, and the distillery promotes many other purposes than those of riot and licentiousness. ”

“ I do not mean to say that the quantity of four gallons can be made at an average, in every distillery, with every sort of grain, and water, or during every vicissitude of weather, and by every distiller, but this far I will venture to say, that a still house that is kept in complete order, with good water, grain well chopped, good malt, hops, and above all good yeast; together with an apt, careful and industrious distiller, cannot fail to produce at an average for eight months in the year, three and three quarter gallons from the bushel at a moderate calculation. ”

“ Accidents in the distillery-such as the breaking of the bands of the cisterns, and leakage from unknown defects, the danger of an approaching fire, fire, and many other causes-may not only render it necessary, but a duty, on the part of the distiller, to draw off the liquor in the speediest way. ”

“ At night they take their harvests home, where the petals are carefully removed, placed in kettles similar to an ordinary still, and the oil extracted by steam. Thousands of tons of rose leaves are thus gathered annually, and the oil produced is worth at the distillery from $50 to $75 a pound. A single drop will perfume a two-ounce bottle of alcohol. ”

“ The bank notes current among the people are issued, at but a small per centage, by distilleries and pawnshops. The first crop to ripen in the district is barley, and that, the natives will tell you, all goes to the distillery. On the road you will meet large carts drawn by six or seven mules. The load is grain, and of these carts a large number are owned by distilleries, and go round the country collecting grain, from which to brew whisky. One of the first things to be heard in the morning after daylight, in a quiet market town, is a peculiar beating of a wooden drum. ”

“ The object of this Work is to give a familiar description and history of all the Whisky Distilleries of Great Britain, the product of which brings the largest revenue to the Imperial Exchequer of any industry in the Kingdom. Also to draw attention to the rapid increase of the Whisky Trade, and the vast field of Distillery enterprise now existing in this country; the annual output of Scotland alone being for the year 1885-6 17,982,338 gallons, whilst that of Ireland was 10,620,584 gallons. ”

“ The earth producing the grain, hops and utensils, which a combination of fire and water reduces into a liquid by fermentation, and when placed in the still to see air engaging fire to assist her in reducing the liquid that fire and water had produced, into a vapour, or air, and afterwards to see fire abandoning air, and assisting water to reduce it into a liquid by means of the condensing tubes, and then to consider the number of hands employed in keeping the distillery a going, will present one other patriotic idea. ”

“ There ought always to be in a distillery more vessels than are necessary for immediate use, that they may alternately be exposed to the frost and air one night at least before brought into service, always bearing in mind that the utmost attention to cleanliness is necessary, in order to afford such yield from the grain, or fruit, as may be requisite to compensate for the expense and labor of extracting spirits—and moreover, that the exercise of the finest genius possessed by man is scarcely capable of taking from small grain, all the spirit it contains:.... ”

“ A distiller may at pleasure convert his whiskey into gin. He needs only to perfume the wort which he puts in fermentation, by adding a certain quantity of the berries, slightly broken: the fermentation is then common to both; their sweet mucosity enriches that of the wort, and increases the spirit, while at the same time the soapy extract, which is the proximate principle of vegetation, yields the essential oil, which perfumes the liquor. ”

“ We extract from Fruits, at least from some, Colour, Taste, &c.
From aromatic Plants, the Distiller draws Spirits, Essences, simple and compound Waters.
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From Spices are procured Essences, or in the Language of the Chemists, Oils, and Perfumes, and also pure Spirits.
From Seeds or Berries are drawn simple Waters, pure Spirits; and from some, as those of Anise, Fennel, and Juniper, Oil.
The Colour of Flowers is extracted by Infusion, and likewise by Digestion in Brandy or Spirit of Wine: The Smell is extracted by Distillation; the simple Water with Brandy or Spirit of Wine. ”

“ One single and same distillation can therefore yield to the distiller either gin or whiskey, as it requires no more labor, and its conversion into gin costs only the price of the berries, which repays him amply, either by the spirit it yields, or by its essential oil, which, floating on the surface, may be easily collected. ”

“ Those of the distiller of whiskey are 100lbs. of grain to 100 gallons of water, or thereabouts: 100lbs. of grain contain only 16lbs. of dry sweet matter: therefore, as the 100 gallons of vinous liquor weigh 800lbs. the 16lbs. of sugar form only its fiftieth part.
Thence is seen how inferior the proportions of the whiskey distiller are to those of the brewer, and how far they are from good theory. But the brewer aims only at producing a sort of wine, and succeeds; while, the distiller wants to make spirit, and only obtains it in the manner the most expensive, and opposed to his own interest. ”

“ Hist. Alcohol is peculiar to the organic kingdom, being exclusively produced, in the natural way, by the process of fermentation.
Sources, &c. Dilute alcohol may be procured, by the ordinary process of distillation, from all fermented liquors. When drawn from wine (as in France) , it constitutes BRANDY; when from the refuse juice of the sugar-cane, it is called RUM; when from malt, grain, or molasses (as in England) , it is called MALT, RAW-GRAIN or MOLASSES SPIRIT; and when from rice or palm-wine, ARRACK. Brandy, rum, Hollands, and whisky, contain only about half their volume of alcohol ”

“ In the fermentation of molasses a particular product is formed which by distillation gives the alcohol compound possessing the aroma and flavor of rum. In the making of brandy, only sound wine can be used as the raw material, and this sound wine, when subjected to distillation, gives a product containing the same kind of alcohol as that found in rum, but associated with the products of fermentation which give to the distillate a character entirely distinct and separate from that of rum. ”

“ With such a distiller, and a complete still-house, furnished with every necessary utensil for carrying on the business—it cannot fail to prove a very productive establishment, and present to the world, from the materials of our own farms, a spirit as wholesome, and well flavored and as healthy as any spirit whatever—the produce or yield of any country, provided it be permitted to acquire the same age. ”

“ The raw materials generally employed in making industrial alcohol are the sugar beet, and beet or cane molasses, potatoes, maize, rice and similar starchy materials. The manufacture of spirit for industrial purposes in many respects resembles the process for manufacturing potable spirit, but, broadly speaking, it may be said that the raw materials employed need not be of so high a class, and that the main object of the distiller in this case is to produce as high a yield of alcohol as possible. ”