Supply Chain Woes

So much for the best laid plans of mice and men. Now, let’s not get too disappointed; we’re still proceeding with the tequila. We just have to be flexible because the stuff I wanted wasn’t available locally. Given time constraints that I’d just as soon not get into here, I want to start the fermentation this weekend. That will put distillation day towards the end of the month.

Most of my disappointment is in my inability to source Fermaid-O in a reasonable amount of time. I’ll for sure pick some up in a future project, but for now I’m in a “beggers can’t be choosers” sort of mood. Rather than Fermaid-O I am going to use Elo’s Premium. Now, I don’t want to get anyone excited. A quick search around the net has revealed no connection between the yeast manufacturer and the band that brought us “Mr. Blue Sky”. More’s the pity, I’m afraid.

I went with Elo’s Premium because it was available and because it claims to provide the yeast with the horsepower it needs to go the long haul in a wash more or less devoid of nutrition. It has a decent reputation and I’m excited to check it out. This will be the first time to “activate” the yeast rather than “pitch and pray” turbo yeast.

I’ve picked Lalvin D-47 as the yeast for this round, and I can honestly say that the yeast wasn’t picked primarily for it’s availability. It’s a yeast that seems pretty well regarded by mead makers for both it’s speed and efficacy (up to 14% which will help out with the post distillation yield). It also states that it has a moderately low nitrogen demand. The long and short is that it feels like a pretty safe bet for my first attempt and yeast activation. It’s not everything I had hoped for, but I’m far from discouraged. Besides, perhaps we’ll try the same recipe later in life with Fermaid-O or Midwest’s Yeast Nutrient.

Next step for me is to source the agave. I’ve seen it in the larger grocery stores around town. I’m looking for a nice amber syrup. We’ll just need to figure out how much of it we’ll need to achieve the desired sugar content. I’m not gonna lie, my plan at this point is to over sugar the wash to make sure we have enough to make the magic happen.

Hoping to get the party started on Saturday or Sunday this week.