This is the heart, liver, and kidneys of our distillery. While the actual pumps are submerged in the water tanks, you can see the pressure tanks, some of the filters, and the ozone generator that is important to the purification process.
Ozone is my preferred treatment for water. The byproduct is oxygen. So no toxins are left behind. Ozone is a heavy oxidizing agent. It breaks down compounds, kills pathogens, and prevents stagnation.
String filters remove sediments and activated carbon removes various sized molecules after the ozone has broken them down.
Spirits are what a distillery is known for, but the majority of most products is water. Water is why I got into distilling. Water quality can make or break a product. Water quality affects fermentation. Water is the primary ingredient and major flavor component in a clear vodka or rum.
We store, purify, and filter our water. We use water for our cooling processes. Water is the "blood" of the distillery.
Each batch is small, unique, and often seasonal. While it will always be similar to other batches, you can often tell subtle differences. Fruits and spices can vary in flavor and intensity from season to season. Vanilla from Madagascar is different than from Tahiti or Mexico. So I tell our customers, "If you really like a particular batch, buy a couple bottles, it may be different next time."
Barrel aging is the time tested and proven way to make a spirit smoother and more flavorful. Allowing a spirit rest makes for a more complex interesting product. Flavors get a chance to mature and marry into a superior spirit.
We use new charred American oak for our gold rum and whiskey. This will rest for at least 5 years. Our dark rum gets at least an additional year.
Most of our infused products rest in a used barrel which can be our previously used American oak, but it also can be put into previously used French oak wine barrels.
We bottle, cap, and label each bottle by hand. To the right in this picture you can also see where we settle products to clarify, and filter.
Clarity of a product makes the bottle more appealing visually. There is usually sediment in our bottles because we use real ingredients. This sediment has no bearing on the flavor or stability of the spirit.
Every product is bottled at 80 proof or more to ensure shelf stability. Although UV and temperature can affect flavor. So it is best to store spirits in a dark cool cabinet.
Downtown Reesport!
We started in Charleston and were there for over 10 years. It was a bit rural, but it gave us a good start. Now we are in the heart of Reedsport Oregon.
464 Fir Avenue Reedsport Oregon 97467
Right across the street from 2 Shy Brewing Reedsport.
Call for hours: Rick 253-732-8458
This wall shows the different stages from fermentation, stripping, and finish distillation. The fermenter (bottom left corner) is where the process begins. Water molasses, cane sugar, yeast, and nutrients is the composition of a rum wash. The yeast eats the sugar and produce ethanol and other compounds.
Stripping stills (two vessels with silver columns) seperate the volatile compounds leaving behind mostly water and solids from the molasses and the yeast.
Finish still is at the far right.
Our finish still is the last stage of distillation. This produces the finished product that gets barreled, aged, infused, blended, and bottled. Copper is an important part of the process because copper is a purifying metal. Copper draws sulfites out of the vapor, making the distillate smell and taste better.
Infusion is the secret to our wide variety of products. Using real fruit, spices, and other botanicals creates our intense flavors. We try to use local ingredients as much as possible. Following that we use local suppliers to source as much as possible.
Using real ingredients produces a considerable amount of soild organic byproduct. We look for ways to use this in other culinary applications, and the remainder gets composted, to grow more ingredients.