Diary of a Distiller: Chapter Nine - Of Lobsters, Oysters, and Culinary Couples

As I wrote last week I had several friends in town on vacation. We traveled all over and ate our way up and down the coast. I ditched the camera for awhile so I could stay in the moment so I can't show you most of our meals, except for one day when we stuffed ourselves on local specialties. Maine Lobsters and Glidden Point & Pemmaquid oysters. I had a specific request from Joe Distefano for raw oysters, a favorite of his in hot weather, and it sure has been warm out the past week.

So we took off on a drive to get the best and freshest. We went direct to Glidden Point Oyster Sea Farm and picked up a dozen fresh Glidden Point's that had been in the water just a few hours earlier. Then to Oyster River Lobster Company for some Pemmaquid oysters and eight 1.5 lb. soft shell lobsters. (Remember Oyster River Lobster Company? I wrote about their famous Blue Lobster and their amazing Lobster Pies.)

When we got home I shucked the oysters and steamed up the lobsters and we set down to a feast. Just a word of warning. If you take several guys away from their girlfriends for a week, add in several bottles of cold and crisp white wine, and good food; it can get rather silly out.



After my friends left... and you know the saying, "Guests and fish start to stink after three days," I tried to settle back in to work.Exciting things are happening in building the distillery and brewery. The new equipment has completely changed my plans and I am delirious with delight. We are building all kinds of equipment that were only possibilities before. Now we will have two, then in a few months three stills instead of just one. The new ones we are making and will have internal steam heating. This means that we can set up most of the process to be semi-automatic so that we can run all the stills, plus the brewing equipment, at the same time with ease. Using steam to heat the stills means different types of products can be made, as well as different flavor profiles. So with both steam and direct fired stills I am going to be able to make many more types of spirits, as well as much larger quantities.

There are still plenty of loose odds and ends to work through in setting up everything. We have started to organize the brewing, mashing, and fermentation vessels and get them in to their places. It's detailed work lining everything up just right, as well as locating missing or misplaced gadgets, doodads, thigamajigs, whatsis, doohickeys, whatchamacallits, and other thingys. We have been making a list of devices that are missing, placing orders, and getting them installed. Of course the bills are piling up fast.

Below are a few photos of the brewery/distillery as we install and set up the boiler, mash tun, cooling plate and diverter, and fermenters; as well as piping along the walls for cold water to chill tanks, and to go to the condensers of the stills. I am in a bit of a tailspin as I think about all this. We spent months waiting for the gas company to install the lines, and now we had to have three of the four lines removed, since we won't need them.



Sometimes I feel like I understand how Sisyphus in Greek mythology felt. As punishment for his hubris he was compelled to roll a huge boulder up a mountain, only to have it roll back down again. He then had to start over, again and again, for eternity. Well at least I'm not stuck with setbacks for eternity, it only feels that way.

As I have mentioned before, we teach culinary courses at our Pairings Food and Wine Education Center. Right now, in addition to many other courses, we have a series focused on teaching newlyweds and young couples in the basics of cooking. The first in the series is focused on breakfast. The teaching menu for the class is to make the following breakfast items: Cheese and chive omelet, crepes with orange supremes in Grand Marnier caramel, and baked caramel apple French toast.

Here's a gallery of photos from the class.



This past week I am down in New Orleans attending Tales of the Cocktail. Earlier this week I was one of the judges for the 2008 Ministry of Rum Tasting Competition, and am one of the contributing writers, as is fellow Slashfood blogger Keith Waldbauer, and it is an amazing and mildly inebriated time. You can read what all of us contributing writers are posting about Tales of the Cocktail here. All of the writers have been posting previews over the past few months and writing all week about the seminars and other events we attend. I will cover it in more detail next week.