#21 | April 10th 2024
After a long, long wait we've finally received and installed the crane for our Brewtools brewing system. We might be a small scale operation, but it's still been a killer task to lift the malt basket manually by hand. That's all in the past and now we're ready to do some serious mashing!
Furthermore, in about two weeks time (on April 26th & 27th) we're having an Open House event at the distillery. Everyone is welcome and there is no entry fee. For those who are not into whisky (!?), there'll be a small flee market to explore too... ;-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#20 | March 17th 2024
We took an important step towards reducing our carbon footprint this weekend. By using recycled tanks and equipment we've made a cooling system, that reduce our water consumption considerably and help conserve the heat energy else wasted.
It works like a charm, but it is a prototype. As always we have some ideas to improve both efficiency and control that we'll try out in the days to come. Distillation is a wasteful process in environmental terms and every little optimisation counts.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#19 | February 26th 2024
Much of our recent attention have gone into our distillery project, but we are first and foremost whisky aficionados. Our wee whisky web shop is a reflection of this passion and we are happy to report, that the web shop is open once again.
We won't bother you with the details, but in todays jungle of complex legislation it's a running battle to keep up with all the bureaucracy needing attention to keep a web shop running. But we try our best and we hope you appreciate it :-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#18 | February 4th 2024
It's not always easy to be a distiller. Three hydrometers showed quite different readings in our latest low wines run. Luckily our trusty old refractometer could tell us which were broken... o.O
In any case, the production is up and running and we're happy with the preliminary results. It's early days, but we're getting some very fine notes in our distillate. However, only time will tell how they'll evolve during maturation. We keep our fingers crossed!
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#17 | January 21th 2024
Today we registrered start of production with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, so now - after more than four years since we started our journey - we are finally up and running - wee hee!
We owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people, who've inspired and helped us along the way. Thank you very, very much - we might not have made it without you.
But enough with the small talk! Now it's time to get cracking and start making some good whisky!
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#16 | January 9th 2024
So we're not quite there yet, but it is definitely close now. Our first distillate will be matured in a small 28 liter French Virgin Oak cask, which we are currently preparing for the first fill (water treatment).
Using a small virgin oak cask is entirely deliberate, as it will give us valuable insights into how our spirit evolves and interacts with the oak. In that respect the cask will serve as a reference for new cask expressions and cask combinations down the line.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#15 | December 27th 2023
Santa came by and fixed the hole in the jacket, so now we're all set to do the final test run. We've also put an order in for some quality virgin oak casks that will be filled with our first distillate in early 2024. It's a bit of a gamble, but we'd like to see how our new make reacts with virgin oak and we prefer to keep other factors like the previous content of the casks out of the equation. In any case we'll learn a lot from the experience.
A happy (and safe) new year to all from us at NOBS Distillery :-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#14 | December 15th 2023
Okay, so we did the first water run on the still a couple of weeks ago and we found a few minor leaks - no biggie. Or so we thought. Unfortunately it turned out that the pressurized jacket also had a small hole in it. That's a really bad thing because that makes it very hard to build up a jacket temperature above 100 degrees celcius.
So now we're waiting for the local welder to stop by and have a look at it. All we want for Christmas? To have that hole fixed! ;-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#13 | November 27th 2023
The distillery reached a milestone last week when we were able to report the construction as completed to the municipality. What a wonderful feeling that was! We've had a number of small issues which have all been solved, so now it's only a question of getting all the right signatures in all the right places.
In terms of production we plan to start water runs next week to cleanse the kettle and get acquainted with the workings of the pot still. When that's done, we have to wait for the final approvals to tick in order to start distilling. It's getting close!
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#12 | September 19th 2023
Things are moving fast now. In the still room lights and power have been installed and the still itself is all but ready for testing. Mash tuns and fermentators are in place as well, so we're almost ahead of schedule.
We've also required some additional test equipment to experiment with different yeast strains and steeping processes. It's all about finding the perfect balance between flavor and efficiency.
And we haven't forgot that we promised a new batch of bottles in the web shop either - they'll get there eventually. Good things are worth waiting for - right? :-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#11 | September 1st 2023
Last friday we moved our pot still to the refurbished still room. What a great day that was! Good friends came by to lend a hand and everything went smoothly.
Now it seems very likely that we'll be able to do our first test runs in October. These runs will be pure water destillations to get aquainted with the basic operation of the still. They'll also help to cleanse the kettle and the pipework from impurities that could affect the quality of our spirit.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#10 | August 7th 2023
What a busy summer we've had! Fortunately, our pot still will soon be installed, so we can start testing. We also have a batch of new whiskys on their way to the web shop, so keep an eye out for them.
With any luck, we will meet our deadline and start production before the end of the year. Of course, this partly depends on whether the authorities can manage to process all the applications that are required before then. But we remain optimistic and look forward to getting started.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#9 | May 8th 2023
Partly due to the pandemic we hadn't been to Scotland for five years straight, but last week we made up for that. It was - as always - a fantastic trip. Good company, great food and excellent whisky.
A tour at Deanston Distillery was among the highlights, but even more interesting was a visit at Sterling Distillery. Eventhough Scotland and Denmark have different legal systems, the challenges you face when trying to start a small craft distillery are very much the same.
We hope the best for the nice people at Sterling Distillery and we'll definitely be back to taste their whisky.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#8 | April 10th 2023
We got a whole lot done in the distillery project during Easter. As you can see in the picture, the still room floor is now finished, and so is the floor in the entrance to the visitor shop. Even more important, the bank has approved the financing of the remaining build, so now we're on a straight track to the finish line.
On the down side we simply couldn't find the time to arrange an open day at the distillery during the Easter holidays, so we decided to postpone that a couple of months. But that's okay - the weather will be warmer then and more people will hopefully get a chance to pay us a visit.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#7 | March 26th 2023
We're making good progress in the still room. The pipes and drains have been cast and in the coming weekend it's time for the floor man to do his magic.
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The plummer has also paid us a visit and he has agreed to do the basic fittings (it's a legal requirement). So with a little luck we're all done with the floor and fittings in April.
In May we'll get the door and windows sorted and then it's time for the electrician to get to work. That's the final major task to complete, so there's definitely light at the end of the tunnel!
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#6 | March 9th 2023
Spring is here and we're excited. Last friday we had a blast hosting the third official tasting in Samsø Whiskylaug - our local whisky club. Nice people and good whisky is such a great cocktail. Smiles and happy faces all around.
The distillery project is also on track. The central drain has arrived and we're ready to cast the floor in the still room early next week (if the weather holds). We can't wait to see the final result!
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#5 | February 9th 2023
From time to time we release very limited series of bottle blends under the NOBS Distillery brand - on request & for special occassions only. The process of 'bottle blending' is simple to describe, but it's hard to master. By nose & taste we select & marry several quality whisky bottlings in a 'bottle blend', that we believe to be better than the individual bottlings themselves. That's by no means an easy task!
Another benefit of doing these bottle blends (besides making lots of people happy), is that we develop & train our sense and understanding of what flavors we ultimately want to strive for in our own product. A worthwhile - and extremely tasty - endeavour.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#4 | February 3rd 2023
In these cold winther months we've found some time to optimize our mash bills, experiment with various yeast types and prepare ourselves to hit the ground running as soon the Still Room is ready for production. One thing we are extremely focused on, is how to minimize our environmental impact by re-thinking processes and tradition. It's unlikely that we'll generate any genuinely new knowledge, but we might be able to combine already known insights and techniques in new and better ways, In any case - we have lot of fun trying to do so!
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#3 | January 22th 2023
It's hard labour to get the still room up and running, but it'll be all worth it. While we wait for warm weather, we cut grooves for the drains and cooling pipes, sand the ceilings and much more.
Check out the video of our progress so far.
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#2 | January 13th 2023
Only minor updates in this release. Some small bugs and styling issues has been resolved. But still we've managed to add a few more bottles in the shop as well. More will be comming in the days ahead... :-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
#1 | January 9th 2023
We've made some small changes to the web site to make it more easy for you to navigate. We've also added several new whiskies to the web shop and a few more shipping options.
The Still Room is also comming along nicely, but due to the damp and cold weather, we won't be casting the floor before spring sets in. But good things are worth waiting for :-)
Kind regards,
Jens & Karina
