Re: Star K hechsher for whisky, brandy, gin

On Dec 24, 2:41 pm, mi...@xxxxxxxxxxx (Micha Berger) wrote:
meir b. <meir...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Dec 23, 8:12 am, "Abe Kohen" <abeko...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Why do you need a hechsher for whisky?
    Some liquors are aged in sherry casks, raising a question of stam
yaynam.

Replying to this thread by Abe's request...

I would seehttp://www.jeremyrosen.com/halacha/scotch.html
He quotes a teshuvah from Igeros Mosheh that I mentioned to Abe, but
his coverage as a former rav of Galsgow has many things

Someone in Elizabeth, NJ, got the idea to make kosher whiskey (you
can't make "whisky" in New Jersey), and R' Pinchas Teitz wrote R' Moshe
Feinstein to get his opinion. RMF held there was no need, but isn't it
nice that Jews want to avoid the quostion? And why not support a Jew by
buying his whiskey?

Here's the issue, AISI. Stam yeinam (wine that was banned as a step
against intermarriage) is nullified by echad besheish (which means either
1 in 6 or 1 vs. 6 -- IOW, there is a dispute whether the "6" is the
quantity of the total, or of the non-wine). One part wine to six parts
water (assuming, just to maximize the point) will not bury the taste. So
we see that the nullification of non-kosher wine doesn't go by taste.

Whisky makers try to buy old casks from sherry makers, as that way the
wood is already full of sherry and won't add woodiness to taste of the
product. The sherry that leaks out of the cask to give texture to the
taste of the whisky is obviously far less than 1:6 of the whole. So even
though the taste may be noticable (I'm not "into" drinking), the whole
sherry cask would be a non-issue.

And as for the recipe and the normal kashrus issues-- a whisk[e]y maker
would be ruined if the were caught selling adulterated whisk[e]y as
the real thing. Therefore, we can trust that they didn't veer from the
standard ingredients without inspection. (The same is true of unflavored
beer, except for the darker beers. Dark beers may be colored with red
wine and still be within the beer tradition.)

And this is why Jews have been drinking whiskey and beer for centuries
without requiring a hechsher.

I had a tangential connection with the question when it first
arose, as well as some firsthand information about the dispute between
Rabbis Feinstein and Teitz.

The issue was not one of casks, but of an actual grape deivative
(grape pectin, IIANM) which was added to aid in the blending of
blended whiskies. Rabbi Teitz never raised a question about straight
whiskies. And the question did not arise because someone wanted to
make a kosher whiskey. This statement reverses cause and effect.
Rabbi Teitz, having raised the issue, felt that a solution should be
presented, and convinced a local distiller to manufacture a blended
whiskey in which Shabbat-observant Jews would add the grape-derived
product at the necessary time in the process. In order that it cost
no more than the blend he considered non-kosher, he arranged for those
Jews to serve on a voluntary, unpaid basis. As I understand it, the
product was not of too good a quality, and thus was a failure. I
cannot attest to this part personally, since I was below drinking age
at the time (and to this day, more than half a century later, have
never developed a taste for any alcholic beverages, beer or liquor,
blended or unblended).

Meir B.

.
.

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