Why Extra Neutral Alcohol from Spirit Spring is oh-so-goooood

WHAT IS THE BEST NEUTRAL SPIRIT IN THE WORLD?

Funnily enough, this question is a bit like talking about religion.

Firstly, we at Spirit Spring have noticed that usually when you ask someone this question, people will say that whatever neutral alcohol is made from in their neck of the woods is best. Most French (And our friends from NSW) will say wheat, most Poles will argue it is potatoes, most Germans will insist it is some type of fruit, most Brazilians, Pakistanis and Queenslanders will claim it to be sugar, most Indians will will put rice forward, most Americans will mutter corn, most South Australians will venture that it must be grapes, and most Victorians will say... well, what exactly?

Since not everyone can be right, our first observation is that psychology, culture and habit clearly all play large roles in how people will reply to this question.

​​Secondly, and this is where there is a bit less controversy, most distillers have no difficulty admitting that having a really good still helps heaps, as does knowing how to operate it as close to perfection as possible. In the case of extra neutral alcohol, where the aim is to remove as many of the impurities as possible completely or at least to bring them down to miniscule amounts, as well as maximising the ABV (Min. 96.0% v/v at 20°C is the globally accepted gold standard), having a very tall column still and very deep pockets to buy the best kit there is also brings undisputed advantages.

Thirdly, when you do a blind tasting of very well-distilled neutral alcohols from various raw materials, even die-hard professionals throw in the towel when it comes to identifying the raw material on the nose alone.

However, curiously and confoundingly, where there does appear to remain a difference between extra neutral alcohols made from various raw materials is in the mouthfeel of the spirit, which, while subjective, tends to be zestier, spikier and crisper in the case of most grains, fruits and sugar, and softer, creamier and rounder for neutral alcohols made from potatoes, corn and whey. Before you start throwing bushels of wheat at me (I'm looking at you, mates from Shoalhaven), give it a try with a blind-tasting, and remember that yours is arguably among the mildest of the grain parties.

I MAKE GIN. WHAT NEUTRAL SPIRIT SHOULD I GO FOR?

Seeing as you will be throwing heaps of botanicals into the neutral alcohol, which will have a much greater effect on the final taste of the spirit than the base alcohol that went in it, the world is your oyster, mate.

What you may want to consider though is to perhaps not use exactly the same base alcohol as everyone else in your neighbourhood or state, so that you can instead legitimately claim that your own gin is better than theirs, and not only because of the amazing botanicals that you use.

I MAKE VODKA. WHAT NEUTRAL SPIRIT IS BEST FOR ME?

Here you want to consider what style of vodka you want to make:

If you do want to launch something artisanal that still intentionally retains some of the flavours and aromas of the raw material used, go for whatever raw material floats your boat the most. 

If, on the other hand, you want to create a super-neutral tasting vodka with as few traces of the raw material in it as possible, you will likely want to redistill the neutral alcohol a few times anyway (And not just to qualify for the excise remission). Now the mouthfeel will become a lot more important, as in the absence of any noticeable impressions on the nose, your tastebuds and palate will perceive a lot more all of a sudden.

HOW ABOUT RTDs AND SIMILAR TYPES OF MIXED DRINKS?

The same principles apply as with the gins and the vodkas: The clearer and "cleaner" the final application, like with a hard seltzer, the more important it is to choose a really neutral alcohol as a base. If you flavour the alcohol generously with ginger beer, butterscotch and honeycomb notes, the raw material of the neutral alcohol used will become less noticeable in the final product.

Either way, make sure that what you make or purchase in the way of neutral alcohols is very low in impurities, so that you know that there will not be any liability claims down the road from unhappy consumers, and that the quality of the product from batch to batch is stable, so that you won't have to readjust your still from one run to the next again and again.

ANYTHING ELSE TO REMEMBER?

Buy from someone who is nearby, who looks after you and whom you can trust. While it is easy to purchase on price alone, do look at how long or short the lead-times are, how precise the delivery timeframes are that the suppliers offer to you, and how easy and convenient the suppliers make it for you overall.

SO WHAT DOES SPIRIT SPRING OFFER IN TERMS OF NEUTRAL SPIRITS?

Broadly speaking, we have access to neutral alcohol made from all sorts of raw materials from all over the world, including some rather rare and exotic ones like apples or organic barley. Just ask and we'll be happy to tell you more about all of the options out there.

What we specialise in locally is our extra neutral alcohol made from whey, with very low impurity levels and a creamy, silky mouthfeel, which we offer from our warehouse in Greater Melbourne with MOQs of just 1,000 litres in IBCs.

As with all of our bulk spirits, we can also take care of the delivery conveniently all the way to your site, and did you know, that in the case of our extra neutral alcohol from whey, we can also pick-up the empty IBCs from your free of charge after you will have used up all of the alcohol that was inside?

Volume discounts are available, as is a loyalty bonus if you order from us repeatedly over set periods of time - you scratch our back, we scratch yours!

Call, email us, or get in touch here to find out more.

We look forward to chatting with you!