Distillation – Page 2 – Dram Devotees

Stoll & Wolfe

There are many new distilleries popping up in Pennsylvania, but none carry the Pennsylvanian distillery torch quite like Stoll and Wolfe. You see the name Stoll and Wolfe, which is […]

New Distilleries in Pennsylvania

Posted on: March 29, 2016American whiskey , craft whiskey , Distillation , Distilleries , History , mashbills , Production , Reference , Whiskey laws and regulations

The American Whiskey Convention in Philadelphia was a bit of an inspiration for me to spend a bit more time discussing the boom in whiskey distilling here in Pennsylvania. The […]

What is a Sour Mash Whiskey?

Posted on: January 8, 2016American whiskey , craft whiskey , Distillation , History , Production , Whiskey Facts , yeast

So what is sour mash whiskey anyway? The term sour mash gets thrown around a lot, but it’s really just a technique used in making whiskey. It is not particular […]

What Are Congeners?

Posted on: January 4, 2016June 1, 2022Distillation , Whiskey Science

What the heck is a congener? The easy answer is that they are the flavor bits that yeast leaves behind after “digesting” sugar during fermentation. Yeasts are the wonderful little […]

Why So Defensive About Sourced Whiskey?

Posted on: December 12, 2015December 12, 2015American whiskey , Article link , Blends , Bourbon , craft whiskey , Distillation , Distilleries , Non Distiller Producers , Packaging , Production , Reference , Rye , Whiskey Facts

I was asked at the Dram Devotee’s Whistle Pig tasting on Thursday, “Why do you sound so defensive when you are speaking about sourced whiskey?” It must be true that […]

Jim Murray’s World Whisky of the Year for 2016 goes to…

Posted on: November 20, 2015Canadian Whisky , Distillation , Distilleries , History , International Whiskies , mashbills , Production , Reference , Rye , Wheat , Whiskey Facts

So the news is out that Crown Royal’s Northern Harvest Rye was named the 2016 World Whisky of the Year by renowned whiskey writer Jim Murray. This news will most […]

Midleton Distillery -Old and New

Posted on: November 10, 2015November 12, 2015Blends , Distillation , Distilleries , History , Irish Whiskey , Production , Prohibition , Whiskey Facts

Midleton Distillery is home to the whiskeys we will be tasting this Thursday at Nektar in New Hope. The distillery in use today is not the one founded in 1825 […]

Why Do Copper Pot Stills Look So Different?

Posted on: October 27, 2015January 22, 2023Distillation , Stills , Whiskey Facts

Why do copper pot stills always look so different? Every still produces a different whiskey. Alembic stills (the ones that look like copper cauldrons with elephant trunks…) have been around […]

White Corn is in the Mashbill

Posted on: October 14, 2015November 6, 2015Corn , Distillation , Distilleries , History , Master Distiller

Did you know that the original recipe for Old Taylor called for an heirloom white corn, not yellow corn? Generally bourbon made today uses feed corn in their recipes because […]

XXX on Whiskey Jugs Means Something…

Posted on: October 7, 2015November 7, 2015American whiskey , Distillation , History , Patents , Whiskey Facts

Did you know that the XXX on old whiskey jugs actually means something? We’re all familiar with these jugs from cartoons and from American mythology. It was a common marking […]