Spirits & Distilling Podcast

Spirits & Distilling•spiritsanddistilling.com

Enjoy and learn from conversations with leading distillers as co-hosts Sydney Jones, head distiller for FEW Spirits in Chicago, and Molly Troupe, master distiller for Freeland Spirits in Portland, Oregon, explore the technical and creative processes behind award-winning and storied spirits. It’s a podcast by distillers, for distillers, that covers the broad world of finely crafted spirits—botanical and herbal spirits, fruit distillations, agave spirits, grain spirits, and more. Listen as the hosts discuss every aspect of the process, from ideation and ingredient selection through conversion and fermentation, distilling, aging, finishing, proofing, and packaging. Subscribe to this bi-weekly podcast for tips and techniques that will help you make better spirits.

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Episodes

5: Riley Henderson of FEW Spirits Explores Whiskey’s “Last Frontier”—Fermentation

It may seem like everything that can be done, has been done, but for FEW Spirits (https://www.fewspirits.com) operations director Riley Henderson, novel fermentations offer new opportunities for flavor in familiar spirits such as rye whiskey and bourbon. Half a decade ago, FEW embarked on a project to explore the impact of fermenting with koji, a mold historically used for saccharification in sake and soy sauce, among other foods and drinks. Results were mixed at first, but through iteration and...

May 01, 2024•1 hr 6 min

4: Reade Huddleston of Monster Brewing Shares Perspectives on RTDs, Water Quality, and More

Are distillers really just “dirty” brewers? How do you stabilize ingredients and flavors in canned RTDs? How can water chemistry at the municipal level cause potentially expensive issues with arrested fermentations? Through his career, Reade Huddleston has seen it all, and now as Director of Distillation and Spirits at Monster Brewing (https://www.monsterbevcorp.com), he’s putting into daily use these best practices gleaned from years of brewing and distilling, as well as focused study. In this ...

Apr 18, 2024•55 min

3: Lisa Wicker, Itinerant Distiller, Considers Lessons From Her Past While Looking to the Future

Master distiller Lisa Wicker may have taken an unconventional path through her career, shifting from wine to distilled spirits, but that’s hardly the only decision she’s made that some might deem unusual. For Wicker, spreading out and exploring adjacent but interesting fields has improved her approach to distilling and blending much more than intense focus could. Now, she pulls on all that background to hone fermentations with atypical grains, tighten distillations, and blend with identifiable c...

Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 2 min

2: Ale Ochoa Takes a Scientific Approach to Sensory Evaluation and Whiskey Blending

Ale Ochoa is an expert sensory scientist and master blender with years of experience building sensory teams both large and small. In this episode, she outlines key parameters for sensory programs and outlines both simple and more complex ways of deploying sensory tools to improve blends, identify flaws, create more compelling descriptions, and make better spirits. Through this episode, she covers: Understanding flavor and aroma interactions in blends Identifying flaws and setting thresholds for ...

Mar 26, 2024•1 hr 12 min

1: Hosts Sydney Jones and Molly Troupe Share Their Favorite Distilling Techniques

Welcome to Episode 1 of the Craft Spirits & Distilling Podcast, featuring hosts Sydney Jones, head distiller for FEW Spirits (https://www.fewspirits.com) in Chicago, and Molly Troupe, master distiller for Freeland Spirits (https://freelandspirits.com) in Portland, Oregon. Recorded live at the ACSA trade show and convention in Denver, this conversation introduces the podcast and the hosts via a deep dive into their favorite distilling techniques. Along the way, they discuss: distilling fresh ...

Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 4 min

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