Production Junction

Maggi – The Pot Still

The daily operation of a small batch distillery is a balanced system. It is a process based on scientific method, intuition and sensory awareness. To make a quality batch of spirits, it takes a constant and watchful eye to ensure the process goes smoothly. Our team has found this balance and is producing a remarkable vodka in a short amount of time. In fact, after just 6 months of experimentation and productions, we won the Bronze Medal in February at the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco, California. We’ve discovered this simple fact: How we start our week determines how we finish it.

Each day begins with the cleaning of our two stills. They have aptly been named Tumwater (the column still) and Maggi (the pot still). Once the stills are emptied from the previous days’ productions we start the process of making vodka. We begin with Maggi: We fill the pot still with our exclusive apple mash, which is pumped in from fermentation drums into the belly of the still. It takes a full day of cooking this half-batch to produce our stripped apple mash.

This stripped apple mash, a simple base alcohol, is then poured into Tumwater to begin the refining process of making high quality Vodka. This process takes approximately two days of careful and deliberate monitoring to ensure that we are consistent in our endeavor. In-between the ongoing tasks of working at a small batch distillery, Nic and I are continually moving between both stills. We are careful to ensure we attain success in every step of our process through touch, smell and careful monitoring of gages, temperatures and output.

 The distillation of the vodka is only half of our production process. Once the alcohol has been refined to our specification, we blend the finished product with high-quality water and store it. A freshly distilled batch of vodka can have an alcohol content of close to 190 proof. The water-cut yields a product that is finalized at 80 proof and stored for filtration. 

Filtration is an extremely important process for our finished product. So, we begin a multi-stage operation utilizing a special filtration process that ensures the finished vodka has all the consistent character and elements we are looking for. Once again, we are utilizing a balance of technology and the artful-skill of our master distiller. Dennis Roberts takes the lead as we work through each filtered batch; smelling, tasting and comparing the filtered product to meet our quality benchmarks. It is his skillful nose and palate that ensures the vodka is ready for final bottling. Dennis works carefully with Nic and I to learn his art.

Once we are confident we have a product that can be enjoyed to perfection we begin the bottling process. It’s the end of the week by this time and all our efforts have afforded us one complete batch of Vodka. Nic & I will prepare the bottling machine and Tammy will warm up wax to seal the corks. We will finish our week by polishing each bottle and boxing each batch for delivery. It’s a trade we are proud of and a skill we will carry forward as our production grows to meet demand.

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~ by plowline on April 29, 2010.