The Practical Distiller
5/5
()
About this ebook
Read more from Samuel Mc Harry
The Practical Distiller An Introduction To Making Whiskey, Gin, Brandy, Spirits, &c. &c. of Better Quality, and in Larger Quantities, than Produced by the Present Mode of Distilling, from the Produce of the United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Practical Distiller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Practical Distiller
Related ebooks
The Practical Distiller: Or, An Introduction to Making Whiskey, Gin, Brandy, Spirits, &c. &c. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Recipe: Reviving the Lost Art of Home Distilling Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHome Brew Recipe Bible: An Incredible Array of 101 Craft Beer Recipes, From Classic Styles to Experimental Wilds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cider Makers' Hand Book - A Complete Guide for Making and Keeping Pure Cider Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh Ingredients Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making Craft Beer at Home Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Traditional Home Winemaking: Growing Your Own Home Wine Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCider Planet: Exploring the Producers, Practices, and Unique Traditions of Craft Cider and Perry from Around the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCask Management for Distillers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys: Recipes, Techniques, and Traditions from around the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Postmodern Winemaking: Rethinking the Modern Science of an Ancient Craft Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDistilling Made Easy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Joy of Home Distilling: The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Own Vodka, Whiskey, Rum, Brandy, Moonshine, and More Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Home Distillers' Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCider Making Made Easy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsField To Flask: The Fundamentals of Small Batch Distilling Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Everything Hard Cider Book: All you need to know about making hard cider at home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Joy of Brewing Cider, Mead, and Herbal Wine: How to Craft Seasonal Fast-Brew Favorites at Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMead and Honey Wines: A Comprehensive Guide Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Start Your Own Microbrewery, Distillery, or Cidery: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ultimate Guide to Beer Cocktails: 50 Creative Recipes for Combining Beer and Booze Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Home Brewer's Recipe Database: Second Edition Ingredient Information for Thousands of Commercial Beers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings400 Homebrew Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Beverages For You
The Unofficial Disney Parks Drink Recipe Book: From LeFou's Brew to the Jedi Mind Trick, 100+ Magical Disney-Inspired Drinks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWitchCraft Cocktails: 70 Seasonal Drinks Infused with Magic & Ritual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bartending For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homemade Ice Cream Recipes: Over 200 Sweet Daily and Seasonal Recipes for Your Homemade Ice Creams with Local Ingredients Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,000 Cocktails Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Backyard Homesteading: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self-Sufficiency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Craft Coffee: A Manual Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Fully Raw Diet: 21 Days to Better Health, with Meal and Exercise Plans, Tips, and 75 Recipes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drinking with Your Patron Saints: The Sinner's Guide to Honoring Namesakes and Protectors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Old Fashioned: An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fancy Af Cocktails: Drink Recipes from a Couple of Professional Drinkers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Whiskypedia: A Compendium of Scotch Whisky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mocktails Made Me Do It: 60 Delightful Cocktails for the Mindful Drinker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCocktails: More Than 150 Drinks +Appetizers and Party Menus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDetox Juicing: 3-Day, 7-Day, and 14-Day Cleanses for Your Health and Well-Being Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tea Sommelier Course Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Little Book of Fika: The Uplifting Daily Ritual of the Swedish Coffee Break Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Distilling Made Easy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 24-Hour Wine Expert Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coffee Gives Me Superpowers: An Illustrated Book about the Most Awesome Beverage on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edible Wild Plants & Herbs: A Compendium of Recipes and Remedies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Juicing for Weight Loss: Refreshing Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss, Health and Vitality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlackthorn's Botanical Brews: Herbal Potions, Magical Teas, and Spirited Libations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moon Milk: Easy Recipes for Peaceful Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herbal Tea Magic for the Modern Witch: A Practical Guide to Healing Herbs, Tea Leaf Reading, and Botanical Spells Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for The Practical Distiller
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
The Practical Distiller - Samuel McHarry
PREFACE.
When I first entered on the business of Distilling, I was totally unacquainted with it. I was even so ignorant of the process, as not to know that fermentation was necessary, in producing spirits from grain. I had no idea that fire being put under a still, which, when hot enough, would raise a vapour; or that vapour when raised, could be condensed by a worm or tube passing through water into a liquid state. In short, my impressions were, that chop-rye mixed with water in a hogshead, and let stand for two or three days; and then put into a still, and fire being put under her, would produce the spirit by boiling up into the worm, and to pass through the water in order to cool it, and render it palatable for immediate use--and was certain the whole art and mystery could be learned in two or three weeks, or months at farthest, as I had frequently met with persons who professed a knowledge of the business, which they had acquired in two or three months, and tho' those men were esteemed distillers, and in possession of all the necessary art, in this very abstruse science; I soon found them to be ignorant blockheads, without natural genius, and often, without principle.
Thus benighted, and with only the above light and knowledge, I entered into the dark, mysterious and abstruse science of distilling, a business professed to be perfectly understood by many, but in fact not sufficiently understood by any. For it presents a field for the learned, and man of science, for contemplation--that by a judicious and systematic appropriation and exercise of certain elements, valuable and salutary spirits and beverages may be produced in great perfection, and at a small expense, and little inconvenience, on almost every farm in our country.
The professed chymist, and profound theorist may smile at my ideas, but should any one of them ever venture to soil a finger in the practical part of distilling, I venture to say, he would find more difficulty in producing good yeast, than in the process of creating oxygen or hydrogen gas. Scientific men generally look down on us, and that is principally owing to the circumstance of so many knaves, blockheads and conceited characters being engaged in the business.--If then, the subject could be improved, I fancy our country would yield all the necessary liquors, and in a state of perfection, to gratify the opulent, and please the epicure.
I had no difficulty in finding out a reputed great distiller, whose directions I followed in procuring every necessary ingredient and material for distilling, &c. He was industrious and attentive, and produced tolerable yield, but I soon found the quantity of the runs to vary, and the yield scarcely two days alike. I enquired into the cause, of him, but his answers were, he could not tell; I also enquired of other distillers, and could procure no more satisfactory answer--some attributed it to the water, others to witchcraft, &c. &c.
I found them all ignorant--I was equally so, and wandered in the dark; but having commenced the business, I determined to have light on the subject; I thought there must be books containing instructions, but to my surprise, after a diligent search of all the book-stores and catalogues in Pennsylvania, I found there was no American work extant, treating on this science--and those of foreign production, so at variance with our habits, customs, and mode of economy, that I was compelled to abandon all hope of scientific or systematic aid, and move on under the instructions of those distillers of our neighborhood, who were little better informed than myself, but who cheerfully informed me of their experiments, and the results, and freely communicated their opinions and obligingly gave me their receipts. In the course of my progress, I purchased many receipts, and hesitated not to procure information of all who appeared to possess it, and sometimes at a heavy expense, and duly noted down all such discoveries and communications--made my experiments from time to time, and in various seasons, carefully noting down the results. Having made the business my constant and only study, carefully attending to the important branch of making yeast, and studying the cause and progress of fermentation, proceeding with numerous experiments, and always studying to discover the cause of every failure, or change, or difference in the yield. I could, after four years attention, tell the cause of such change, whether in the water, yeast, fermentation, quality of the grain, chopping the grain, or in mashing, and carefully corrected it immediately. By a thus close and indefatigable attention, I brought it to a system, in my mind, and to a degree of perfection, that I am convinced nothing but a long series of practice could have effected.
From my record of most improved experiments, I cheerfully gave receipts to those who applied, and after their adoption obtaining some celebrity, I found applications so numerous, as to be troublesome, and to be impossible for me to furnish the demands gratis, of consequence, I was compelled to furnish to some, and refuse others; a conduct so pregnant with partiality, and a degree of illiberality naturally gave rise to murmurs.
My friends strongly recommended a publication of them, the plan requiring the exercise of talents, order and method, with which I presumed myself not sufficiently versed, I for sometime obstinately refused, but at length and after reiterated solicitation, I consented to enter on the talk, under a flattering hope of affording useful information to those of my country engaged in the distillation of spirits from the growth of our native soil, which together with the following reasons, I offer as the only apology.
1st. I observed many distillers making fortunes, whilst others exercising an equal share of industry, and of equal merit were sinking money, owing to a want of knowledge in the business.
2d. In taverns I often observed foreign liquors drank in preference to those of domestic manufacture, though really of bad quality, possessing pernicious properties acquired from ingredients used by those in our commercial towns, who brew and compose brandies, spirits, and wines, often from materials most injurious to health, and this owing to so much bad liquor being made in our country, from which the reputation of domestic spirit has sunk. Whilst, in fact, we can make domestic spirits of various materials, which with a little management and age, will be superior to any of foreign produce.
3d. By making gin, &c. as good if not better, we might in a few years, meet those foreign merchants in their own markets, and undersell them; which we certainly could do, by making our liquors good, and giving them the same age. The transportation would of consequence improve them in an equal degree, for the only advantage their liquors of the same age have over our good liquors, is the mildness acquired by the friction in the warm hold of the ship in crossing the ocean.
And moreover as liquors will be drank by people of all standings in society, I flattered myself I could improve our liquors, render them more wholesome to those whose unhappy habits compel a too free use of ardent spirits, and whose constitutions may have been doubly injured from the pernicious qualities of such as they were compelled to use. For there are in all societies and of both sexes, who will drink and use those beverages to excess, even when there exists a moral certainty, that they will sustain injury from such indulgence, and as an evidence of my hypothesis, I offer the free use of coffee, tea, &c. so universally introduced at the tables of people of every grade.
The wise Disposer of worlds, very happily for mankind, permits the exhibition of genius, mind and talents, from the peasant and lower order, as well as from the monarch, the lord, and the opulent. To Europe they of course are not confined--Genius has already figured in our hemisphere--The arts and sciences are becoming familiar, they rise spontaneously from our native soil, and bid fair to vie with, if not out-shine accomplished Europe. In possession, then, of all the necessary materials, ingredients and requisites, I would ask why we cannot afford ardent spirits and wines equal to those imported; and thus raise our character to a standing with other countries, and retain those millions of dollars at home, which are yearly shipped abroad for those foreign liquors, so common, so universally in use, and much of which so adulterated, as