Distilling 1.0 with ABV Control: One-Run Flavor Production

Explore one-run architecture for flavor-rich spirits using ABV control strategy, including operational gains, constraints, and pilot implementation approach.

Quick summary

Core principle

The last few years, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I always do a lot of thinking, but on this topic, because if 1.5 is better, if 1.5 is better than 2, wouldn't we make the best product if we could simply do one distillation?

So the last three, four years, I've spent most of my thinking and innovations around that topic. And it makes me very happy to say that since a year, it's 2020 now, so mid-2019, now the beginning of first quarter and first quarter 2019, we were there.

We had designed a robot in such a way that we are able, with the iStill hybrid column or the original iStill column, to actually bring that 8% beer in one go to 65 or to 60 or anything you dial in. So we're not just combining low wines like on the 1.5, no esterification, and fresh beer, esterification.

We're doing everything in an esterification model. So instead of 25% more flavor, 1.5 versus double distillation, we basically create 50% more flavor.

Again, apart from IR reaction, apart from on-the-grain distilling, apart from having control over those flavors when you do fermentation and actually harvesting the right flavors because you've now an understanding and maybe a toolkit to help you harvest the right flavors, we have technology that brings your 8% to 60% or 65% or 55% if that's your goal or threshold, or 95% if that's your goal.

How it works in practice

But then we're talking vodka again. Let's talk flavor-rich, 60%, 65% in one go. No more need for stripping, no more need for finishing.

Every run is a stripping, finishing run combined. Or you can run your still twice as efficient, create double the outputs. The base is always fully alcohol and organics.

Full esterification every step of the way. And the fun thing is we can do this with a hybrid still and we can also do it with a new plated still. So also the plated still, even though it cannot make vodka, can make flavorful products in one go.

Brings 6, 7, 8, 9% alcohol, rich beer or wine, up to 65, 70% in one go. And I think that's an amazing way for you to spend less time behind your still, for you to utilize your still like twice as much, put out twice as much, and to create 50% more flavor in the process because quite simply, you're working from the organics with the organics present all the time. ABV stands for alcohol by volume and control stands for control.

It's programmed into your machine. You can mimic it with your mini, so do that, right? So make a taste-rich product, put wine in there, put beer in there, make sure to degas the beer, or put an anti-foam in it because beer foams and you don't want that.

Common mistakes and decisions

Distill and start to turn that knob down a bit to make sure the alcohol percentage goes up. Make your cuts, of course, and all of a sudden, you can go from 8% to 65% in one go. Saves you a run, saves you energy, means your still time available for production has just doubled and you're creating 50% more flavor in the process.

Did I already say that craft distilling, bringing the battle to big alcohol is about flavors? It's not about yield, it's about flavors. And flavors translate to yield on your bank account.

That's what matters in the end. You're an entrepreneur, right? That summarizes this topic, distilling 1.5 or distilling 1.0.

Continue with Relates one-run control strategy to repeatable vapor behavior. to build directly on this foundation.

Key Takeaways