The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-24
TIPS ON WHISKY MAKING.
EOuy,ER AND souRER THE YEAST,
FINER THE WHISKY.

7Iirher the Price-Recipes.
From the New York Sun.
Mr. c. e. Pellew of Columbia Universe
., delivered his third lecture on alcohol
:, the American Museum of Natural His
,,rv ON Saturday evening. His subject
IA. aistination and adulteration of dis
ma liquors. The conclusions reached by
~, lecturer were rather remarkable in
.so, he said that nine-tenths of the dis
.ued liouor sold in the United States is
.ot the direct product of the stills, but
=, an artificial combination of alcohol.
-,,ot4r and favoring extracts. Further
=, nv Pellew said that such artificial
.,iv+ures are TECHNICALLY much purer and
,,,rch more free from possibly harmful
sroradiants than liquor that has been hon
estly made.
"rhis lecture" said Mr.. Pellew, con
earns itself almost altogether with the
,nanpfacture and adulteration of whisky,
which may almost be said to be the ma
,ional drink of the American. American
'rhiskv is made from corn, which is real
", he cheapest form of starch in this
Country: 1t Is really cheaper than pota-
NOuht4S -
toes.
"a with II. The theoretical way of max
inc whisky is this: Corn, thoroughly
Ground to a fine meal, is mixed with wa
ter to the consistency of stiff paste, like
hasty pudding This is called the
Smasb When mixed by hand in the
GOOD old-fashioned way, it was the basis
for the grand old 'handmash whisky
The ordinary and universal way of pre-
narlng the mash nowadays Is by means
of steam stirrers in great watts. with
the corn is mixed 10 per cent. of rye meal
10 encourage the yeast growth. When the
mash is a perfectly stiff paste 10 per cent.
of matted barley is administered, and al
most instantly, by peculiar digestive
process. it thins right down to a liquid
malt sugar. This is cooled and run INTO
watts. The yeast is mixed in, grows in
the sugar. and makes distiller's beer.
The quality of the beer depends upon
the Yeast The yeast man in distillery
is a highly important person. He has a
private Office ne draws the biggest sal
ary and he dictates to his employers. 1t
is a peculiar thing that the purer and
stronger the yeast the poorer is the dis
titled product. 1t has less flavor and con-
tains much more raw alcohol A full
favored whisky takes it's aroma and taste
from dirty yeast, the acum of previous
lamentations. The fouler and sourer the
Yeast the richer and finer the whisky.
When this old yeast is used less alcohol
Is given off in distillation, and it is neces-
sary to distill several times over before
reaching the proper strength for the fin
ished whisky.
The United States laws provide that
tax shall be levied on all distilled mixtures
80 per cent. strong in alcohol; for every
ba additional tax
is levied. No deduction is made for liquor
coming from the still less than so per cent.
strong in alcohol. The government gauger
in a distillery is a more important person
that the yeast man; not door can be
unlocked, not machine pvt in operation
without his permission. He carries all
the keys in his pocket, and If the proprie-
tor of the dstillery wishes to enter out OF
hours, he must go to the government
gauger to get permission This 50 per
cent. mixture is technically known as
'proof-spirit'; it may be a 50 per cent. mix
ture of alcohol and pure water, or, II may
contain every known mixture ofyfusel oils
that have been given OFF by distiifation.
This proof spirit coming from the still Is
the nastiest rankest, harshest, and rave
est mixture imaginable. 1t is for a great
part favored with heavy alcoholic solu-
tons of vile poisons, and partly favored
by aeetic and butyric acids, the latter 1t
will be remembered, Is the acid of rancid
butter. This mixture is quite unstable as
beverage, and the government allows the
dstiller three years in which 1t may be
held in bond to ripen and soften before IL
is sold. AT the end of three years the
manufacturer must pay the tax whether
II has been sold or not Before ripening IL
is run into barrels that have been charred
inside with fire of pine shavings. This is
where whisky gets its color--theoretically
The longer it has remained in the charred
barrel-this supposition is always theore-
tcal-the deeper the color. Not every dis
tller can wait three or four years before
realizing on his whisky. In this case he
conducts his distillation with the object
of producing Immediately a mixture that
Is very strong in alcohol and very weak
In flavors. He mixes in a coloring extract
Of burnt sugar or caramel that satisfacto-
ry approximates the effect of long con-
flnement in a charred barrel. He ripens
the liquor rapidly by exposing 1t to heat
or the air or by administering chemicals.
BY these processes it is made ready for
sale within three or four months. The
more enterprising dstiller considers it
great shame to wait six weeks or three
months before obtaining his finished pro-
duct, and goes in for fine old whiskles
made while you wait
AS matter of fact, nine-tenths of the
whisky in this country is made from
cheap alcohol that is run out 95 per cent.
strong from the stills, diluted with water,
colored with caramel, and favored with
few ounces of essential oil. And no
chemical process can possibly distinguish
whisky thus made from one whose man
ufacture has extended over a term of ten
years These favors are fusel oils. Fusei
oil. be ii understood, is not, as certain
worthy temperance advocates insist,
hXed and absolute poison. Cinnamon ex-
uaet Is fusel oil; vanilla extract is a
luse oil-in short, fusel oil is another
name for iavoring extract. A man who
says that his whisky contains absolutely
no tusel oil advertises the fact that he is
selling pure alcohol. The trade definition
u iusel oil is what the other man puts
u MS whisky To the chemist fusel oil
= what distinguishes distilled whisky,
m'dhdy or rum from alcohol and water.
nav whisky Is a mixture containing
urge quantity of bad, strong fusel oils
uldt nave not been ameliorated and have
lo' become suitably converted into salts
~ the passage of time. The journalistic
,9Nes about fusel oil are as incorrect as
Ivy are absurd. AS a matter of fact,
r3perly distilled whisky contains the
~ lively large quantity of one ounce
~ lusel oils to every Eve or six gallons
~ me finished whisky; whereas, the
rSaIS-nade whisky contains only Just so
as uvn as Is necessary 70 give the proper