Anyone processing cattail rhizomes for ethanol?

[Ron Fisher]

Anyone out there processing cattail rhizomes to make ethanol?

[Thumpin455]

Nice batch you have there, we've been working on it just need to harvest some and try some new ideas. The next test is going to be drying them before they are processed into pulp, Peggy mentioned that in an email a while back.

[jon b. quick]

I borrowed a neighbor's DR chipper/shredder and it chopped up the undried as well as the dried rhizomes. I don't see the point in the extra step in drying the rhizomes unless you plan on storing them for more than 4 or days. They chopped up like a carrot in a food processor.

I harvested about a 100' X 100' area yesterday. I used my hay cutter to cut the tops, and then baled the tops two days later. Then yesterday I took my tractor bucket and scooped up plant, roots and dirt. This I dumped on a screen I made up and this separated the dirt from the roots. I then sorted the rhizomes from the tap roots by hand. The dirt was then replaced and made into rows. The tap roots were replanted and then I ran the rhizomes through the chipper shredder. Now I'm trying to figure out a mash formula.

[jon b. quick]

What age are those plants?

[Ron Fisher]

These are old plants that are wild on my property...They were mixed with dead rhizomes that I sorted out...

[Thumpin455]

I have very old patches, and I harvested them in early spring this year. Going to do some this next week before the snow. The old ones have a tough fibrous shell on them that is really hard to get off with small equipment, hence the drying.

To start you can use a potato vodka recipe and experiment from there to see what works best.

Its too big to post here but I can email it to you, just give me an address to send it and its on its way.

[Ron Fisher]

If you will send me a copy to [e-mail]

[jon b. quick]

Send anything pertaining to still making, mash recipies or anything else to [e-mail]

[James McGrath]

Please send me your vodka recipe to distill cat tails. Do you know of any cat tail projects at municipal sewage treatment plants that are up and running? Something that estimates acerage and costs.

[Thumpin455]

Mail is on its way.