Distilling

“ They understand and practice the art of distilling spirits. When a certain kind of berry, of a sweet and agreeable taste, is ripe, large quantities are collected and put into a skin bag to ferment. On being sufficiently advanced, they are deposited in a large pot and boiled, and the steam drawn off into another vessel joined to it by an old gun-barrel. The liquor is then allowed to settle for a few days, and becomes so strong and intoxicating that a small glass or two is sufficient to upset any man’s reason not previously accustomed to it. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For example, the Distilling Company of America, which controls probably 90% of the entire product of corn spirits, found it to its advantage to add to its plant several rye distilleries, and to purchase a number of the leading brands of whiskies for consumption as beverages, in order that they might supply the needs along different lines of practically all dealers in spirits and whiskies, in this way saving for themselves many customers who otherwise might have been lost. ”

“ The anchorsmiths, ropemakers, and others employed in the rigging and fitting out ships, are very numerous; and brewing and distilling may be introduced among the manufactures of this town, where so many thousand quarters of malt are annually converted into beer and spirits: and as the various kinds of beer brewed here are not to be paralleled in the world, either for quantity or quality, so the distilling of spirits is brought to such perfection that the best of them are not easily to be distinguished from French brandy. ”

“ When you intend to distil, then first make a fire in the Furnace, that the distilling vessel come to be very hot. But if it be not fastned to the Furnace, then set it upon a grate, and lay stones about it, and coals between, and so let it grow hot, and lay melted lead in the space between the two edges or brims, to the end, that the lid, when it is put on, may close exactly, so that no spirit can get through. ”

“ Comprising the most perfect and exact Theoretical and Practical Description of the Art of Distillation and Rectification; including all of the most recent improvements in distilling apparatus; instructions for preparing spirits from the numerous vegetables, fruits, etc.; directions for the distillation and preparation of all kinds of brandies and other spirits, spirituous and other compounds, etc. etc.; all of which is so simplified that it is adapted not only to the use of extensive distillers, but for every farmer, or others who may wish to engage in the art of distilling. ”

“ All modern distilling apparatus for the production of a high grade of alcohol is based upon the principle set forth in the description of the Coffey still; that is, upon using a distilling column and a concentrating column, wherein the “wash” or mash fermented as described, passes over a series of plates or other obstructions in contact with an ascending column of heated vapor. This heated vapor extracts the alcohol from the wash, or from the low wines of the concentrator, and is continually strengthened during its journey until it passes off to a condenser as a vapor very rich in alcohol. ”

“ This is a branch of distilling that I cannot too highly recommend to the attention of every American—nor can the cultivation of this valuable vegetable be carried to a too great extent, the value of which ought to be known to every planter and it some times has awakened my surprise that they are not more cultivated, as it is notorious that they will sustain, and be a tolerable food for every thing possessing life on this earth—and as they produce a brandy, if properly made, of fine flavour. ”

“ 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 ”

“ They have no wine, but a pleasant sort of liquor, which they get from a certain sort of palm trees, in this manner -- they give three or four strokes with a hatchet on the trunk of a tree, and set vessels to receive the distilling juice, which is very sweet, but in a few days grows strong, yet will not keep long, for in fifteen days it grows sour. ”

“ The Coals being burnt out, and all the spirits being come forth, you must cast in more Coals, and more materials, until you have got a sufficient quantity of Spirits. In this way of distilling, you may at your pleasure cease, and begin again without any danger. ”

“ The spirits so produced are low grade, fiery and rough in taste, but the point is that alcohol may be and is so produced.
Between these simple beginnings and the elaborate plants of big distilleries there is a wide range, so wide that it is impossible within the limits of this book to go into detail. The makers of distilling apparatus furnish all grades of stills and to those contemplating erecting a plant it is suggested that their best course is to communicate with such manufacturers, giving the circumstances of the case, the particular product to be worked and the capacity desired. ”

“ Again, I wish to stimulate an interest in the art of distilling among those who trade in whisky, and to aid in demonstrating, what I am convinced is correct, that good whisky, as a beverage, is the most wholesome spirit in the world. ”

“ Tho’ when the distilling Liquor runs from the Bottom of the Worm-pipe, thro’ a long Pipe fixed to it, the Waste by the ventilating rushing Air, is not great when the Water in the Worm-tub is not hot; yet the following Precaution, if needful, may be used, in distilling by Ventilation, viz. to fix at the lower End of the Worm-pipe, by means of a wooden Fawcet, a small Cask for a Receiver ”

“ Distilling of alcohol is an important industry; besides 1469 persons who make alcohol on a small scale there are 7 large distilleries. There are small breweries in all of the large towns and there are 7 large breweries. ”

“ And thus much sufficeth concerning the preparation of vegetables that goes before the distillation of burning spirits.
The manner of distilling in general followeth. He that is going to distil, hath need to stir his fermented matter very well with a stick, that the thicker parts may be well mixed with the thinner, and then he must fill therewith his distilling vessel set upon a treefoot, and joyned to the copper globe in the furnace on one side, and to the refrigeratory on the other, the joints in all places being well closed either with Oxe-bladders, or with starch and paper. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Distilling in general, is the Art of extracting Spirits from Bodies.
To extract spirits, is to produce, by means of heat, such an action as will secrete them from the bodies in which they are detained. ”

“ The principal products of its numerous factories are silk, cotton, woollen and mixed fabrics, velvet, iron goods, machinery, shoes, cables, soap and cigars. Dyeing and finishing, brewing and distilling, are also carried on. ”

“ But to return to the distillery: you will see that the processes which the grain has gone through of mashing, fermenting, and the extraction of the spirits from the beer by distillation, and the placing of the completed product in the distillery bonded warehouse, are all done under the supervision of a Government officer, and thus far the distiller has had no opportunity, even if he had any desire, to adulterate the liquor. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Man, seeking ways of producing alcohol from substances other than wine, early made the important observation that fermentation and the production of alcoholic liquids go hand in hand. This discovery, as time passed, became common knowledge, with the result that fermented liquids from different sources came to be looked upon as characteristic national drinks—thus in France wine from grapes, in Jamaica rum from cane, in Russia vodka from rye, in Japan saki from rice, in Germany beer from barley and in America whiskey from Indian corn. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Whoever drinks is ruined, and follows him to the tavern.
The brandy-distiller reaps a double harvest; first the red berries from the mountain-ash, from the hop, from the sweet-broom, from everything that here produces fruit. He believes in the Spirit of Nature, that lives in all created things, and conjures it out of the fruits of the forest and, like the magician in the fairy-tale, into the bottle and, putting the stopple in quickly, imprisons it there. His distillery is a magic circle under a high, gloomy pine, a circle like that which the spider draws and weaves. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”