The Art of Making Whiskey | Page 6

matter gave 25 gallons of spirit 19°, which comes to 4lbs. of sugar per
gallon.
We shall make use of that scale in comparing the processes of the
brewer with those of the whiskey distiller.
Supposing the bushel of grain to weigh 50 pounds, and that it gives 2

gallons of whiskey at 19°, each of which gallons is the product of 4lbs.
of sugar; then the strong beer which contains in 40 gallons the sweet
matter of 200lbs. of grain, contains the elements of 8 gallons of spirit,
or 32lbs. of dry sweet substance; and as the 40 gallons of this beer
weigh 320lbs. the 32lbs. of sugar form only one-tenth of it, which is
one half of Lavoisier's proportions.
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.
CHAPTER VI
DEFECTS IN THE USUAL METHOD OF MAKING WHISKEY.
1st. The most hurtful of all for the interests of the distillers, is
undoubtedly the weakness of the vinous liquor. We have seen that the
proportion of spirit is in a ratio to the richness of the fermenting liquor;
that Lavoisier, by putting one-fifth of the mass of dry sugar, obtained
twice as much spirit as the rum distiller, who puts in the same quantity,
but drowns it in water. From those principles, which are not contested,
the distiller, whose vinous liquor contains only one-fiftieth part of
sweet matter, obtains the less spirit, and loses as much of it as he gets.
2dly. Another defect is joined to this: bodies are dissolved by reason of
their affinity with the dissolving principle; the mucilaginous substance
is as soluble in water as the saccharine substance. A mass of 100
gallons of water having only 16lbs. of sugar to dissolve, exerts it's
dissolving powers upon the mucilaginous part which abounds in grains,
and dissolves a great quantity of it. There results from that mixture, a
fermentation partaking of the spirit and the acid, and if the temperature

of the atmosphere is moderate, the acid invades the spirit, which is one
of its principles: nothing remains but vinegar, and the hopes of the
distiller are deceived.
Some distillers have been induced, by the smallness of their products,
to put in their stills, not only the fluid of the liquor, but the flour itself.
Hence result two important defects. 1st. The solid matter precipitates
itself to the bottom of the still, where it burns, and gives a very bad
taste to the whiskey. In order to remedy this inconvenience, it has been
imagined to stir the flour incessantly, by means of a chain dragged at
the bottom of the still, and put in motion by an axis passing through the
cap, and turned by a workman until the ebullition takes place. This axis,
however well fitted to the aperture, leaves an empty space, and gives an
issue to the spirituous vapors, which escaping with rapidity, thereby
occasion a considerable loss of spirit.
3dly. The presence of the grain in the still, converted into meal, is not
otherwise indifferent. It contains a kind of essential oil, more or less
disagreeable, according to its nature; which distils with the spirit. That
of Indian corn, in particular, is more noxious than that of any other
grain; and it is the presence of meal in the stills, which causes the
liquors obtained from grains to be so much inferior to that of fruits.
4thly. There is a fourth defect, at which humanity shudders, and which
the laws ought to repress. Vinous liquors are more or less accompanied
with acetone acid, or vinegar; but those proceeding from grain contain
still more of this acid. The stills are generally made of naked copper;
the acid works upon that metal, and forms with it the acetate of copper,
or verdigrise, part of which passes with the whiskey. There is no
distiller, who, with a little attention, has not observed it. I have always
discovered it in my numerous rectifications, and at the end of the
operation, when nothing more comes from the still but what is called
the sweet oil of wine. An incontestable proof of this truth is, that as the
stills of the distillers are of a green color in their interior part; that