russman wrote:Hey guys, this sounds like a good recipe for after my current all bran run... But I have a newbie question... What do you guys mean when you "3rd or 4th generation"?
Read the Uncle Jessie sour mash thread instructions and it will give you the idea.
I thought that was it,
Thanks
Russ
SW Washington
15G Kegger, 33" column, 15G thumper
so im just asking......since most sweet feed is cracked corn rolled oats and molasses (usually 4% for 50lbs) if my math is correct! if i take 24lbs of cracked corn and 24 lbs of rolled oats and 2lbs of molasses id have a pretty close to money sweetfeed???? input please
travelin man wrote:so im just asking......since most sweet feed is cracked corn rolled oats and molasses (usually 4% for 50lbs) if my math is correct! if i take 24lbs of cracked corn and 24 lbs of rolled oats and 2lbs of molasses id have a pretty close to money sweetfeed???? input please
Just mix it and go. It's not gona really make that big a difference.
travelin man wrote:so im just asking......since most sweet feed is cracked corn rolled oats and molasses (usually 4% for 50lbs) if my math is correct! if i take 24lbs of cracked corn and 24 lbs of rolled oats and 2lbs of molasses id have a pretty close to money sweetfeed???? input please
Just mix it and go. It's not gona really make that big a difference.
so went to the feed store and asked for all grain sweet feed with no pellets. had my water boiling and all ingredients measured opened the bag to find pellets mixed with cracked corn. i decided to proceed and worst case i learn a lesson on what not to do. i followed the ratios and put 4" of feed in a 5 gallon bucket added 2 gallons of boiling water. this basically swelled up to a blob of mush. after about an hour i topped off with cold water and now have a thick slurry. beings this is only my 3rd time making mash and a new recipe im not sure if this is the consistency im after or if i should pour some off and add some more water to thin....... my other issus is im now with in 3" from the top of the bucket and am concerned with the head growing to much .........
PLEASE HELP!!!!
15 gallon keg boiler
copper pot still head
Liebig condenser cooled with a recirculating pump in an ice bath
sunshine1101 wrote:so went to the feed store and asked for all grain sweet feed with no pellets. had my water boiling and all ingredients measured opened the bag to find pellets mixed with cracked corn. i decided to proceed and worst case i learn a lesson on what not to do. i followed the ratios and put 4" of feed in a 5 gallon bucket added 2 gallons of boiling water. this basically swelled up to a blob of mush. after about an hour i topped off with cold water and now have a thick slurry. beings this is only my 3rd time making mash and a new recipe im not sure if this is the consistency im after or if i should pour some off and add some more water to thin....... my other issus is im now with in 3" from the top of the bucket and am concerned with the head growing to much ......
PLEASE HELP!!!!
Dump it out and rinse out your fermenter. Either take the bag back to the guy that told you it didn't have pellets and get your money back or set it out to feed the local deer.
Forget that the title of this thread says "Sweetfeed" it is misleading to modern day people who don't farm. Look for All Grain Feed. This will more than likely have molassas in it. If you are at a real feed store ask for Wet COB (corn oats barley). Likely you are not though. Modern day "sweetfeed" has the pellets of alfalfa. It seems that no matter how much you post here to get All Grain everyone still gravitates to the bag at Tractor Supply that says 12% Sweetfeed. Just don't do it. You might as well ferment some lawn clippings and brown sugar. Mmmmmmm Mmmmmmm!
My friends, it's been awhile since I last reported. I'm still using the 15.5 keg with the detuned bok. The only thing I've changed is that I no longer ferment in 5gal buckets or 15 gal vessels. I took a 55 gal food grade drum and cut the top of 3" under the rim. That makes it easy on several levels. The top sits right down on top of the "cut" drum. It's easy to wrap a round of duct tape around the top to seal it. I melt 60lb of sugar into 20 gallons of water, then add it to the SF recipe.
About 4-5 gal of SF added to the sugar water.. on later generations, and warm weather, yeast can be re-used or just "upped"
I've made about 30 gallons of really good hooch in the last year. Most of what I've dripped has gone to worthy friends. I never have a "stock".. the SF product makes wonderful apple pie.
Best of all, one of the guys that I gave a pint or 2 cornered me and asked the questions .... I gave him the basics, then referred him here for real knowledge
Happy New Years to all brew fans around the world: 8 days late!!!!
This is the first recipe I ran. Loved it. It's easy to make and has a decent finish. I'm looking into replacing the sugar with honey on some upcoming batches!
~Well a Moonshiner's life it's a hell of a life when your working on that good 'ol mointain dew~Hank Williams 3
So i am going to mix my own sweet feed with this mixture+ 24 lbs. of cracked corn and 24lbs. of rolled oats and 2lbs. of molasses!! i have 2 15 gallon fermenters and want to make enough mash to make 15 gallons total (enough for 2 runs through my 10 gallon keg/pot still!! Now i have been trying to figure a mixture of water/grain/sugar but i am not sure....my thought was id use 8-10lbs. of feed and 8-10lbs. of sugar (1/2 white and 1/2 dark brown sugar) with 7.5 gallons of water in each fermenter!
Putting this recipe together tonight. 30 gallons in a 55 gal drum. Since I have a 15 gal boiler I will run three 10 gal runs.
Still have my very first wash ever (BW's) fermenting. I plan on running the sweet feed slow and low. Hope to get a good taste and 150+ proof first time through. If I have to run it a second time to get the proof up I will.
Planning on keeping and aging two jars at 150-ish proof. One with oak chips. Then knocking it down to 120 proof and doing the same thing. Then probably knocking it down again to 110-120 proof and aging the rest with and without oak. Plus keeping some out to drink of course.
Question for you guys that run this a lot..... What proof do you guys like it at? Does your flavor profile change as you knock it down?
I am not skilled with a pot still like some guys but I would have to say it's a pretty high goal to reach for going for the 150 mark throughout a run. Have at it!
Jimbo wrote:My potstill hearts are 40 's % off a 8% wash. And high 60 's -70's off a 30% spirit run.
Well....I think I will lower my % expectations
I will be doing a spirit run for sure. I will have the tails from 21 gal BW and from the 30 gal sweet feed. I do hope to get a couple pints or quarts from the hearts that I can keep from the first run based on flavor.
As for the high proof I certainly am not interested in drinking hot ass fire whiskey. I just wanted to age a little at a high proof to see how it goes. I really am after a good flavor 90-110 proof.
Got my first 30 gal try put together last night. Had a 57 gal drum and finding the 25 gal mark to fill water to was a guess so I left it short. Got sg of 1.09 so I did small water adds and stirred and stirred......aaaaaaaand stirred until it came down to 1.068. Close enough. I saw KS ran some at OG of 1.07 so im good with that. Pitched two packets of prestige wd with ag. Nice dense cap this a.m. I almost fell over from the pungent CO2 blast I got when I bent down and took a sniff.
For those that run this recipe, do you knock the head down with a gentle stir every day or two or do you just leave it til it falls? My lid is not air locked
ledyard wrote:
For those that run this recipe, do you knock the head down with a gentle stir every day or two or do you just leave it til it falls? My lid is not air locked
This is a subject that has a lot of opinions.
The Stillers with beer and wine experience often use sealed fermenter's with air locks. They seem to stir the least or not at all.
Some folks ferment in food grade barrels with nothing but a lid to keep out the critters. They may stir a little or a lot.
When using barrels for fermenting, my opinion is.
Stirring may be needed on the first couple of days. After that the yeast will keep it's self stirred up.
I use a small hoe to stir with. It can scrap the bottom of the barrel and more importantly move stuff vertically.
Try it and you'll understand.
Last edited by shadylane on Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Keep your nose pickers out of it Set it and forget it . Every time you peek in there you run the risk of contamination . I set 40 gallon batches of sweet feed . I check on second day to be sure the ferment is going . Just a gentle peek to see bubbles . Next time I look in is on day 22 or so . It will get done when it gets done .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
ledyard wrote:
For those that run this recipe, do you knock the head down with a gentle stir every day or two or do you just leave it til it falls? My lid is not air locked
This is a subject that has a lot of opinions.
The Stillers with beer and wine experience often use sealed fermenter's with air locks. They seem to stir the least or not at all.
Some folks ferment in food grade barrels with nothing but a lid to keep out the critters. They may stir a little or a lot.
When using barrels for fermenting, my opinion is.
Stirring may be needed on the first couple of days. After that the yeast will keep it's self stirred up.
I use a small hoe to stir with. It can scrap the bottom of the barrel and more importantly move stuff vertically.
Try it and you'll understand.
No, I totally get where you are coming from with the hoe. I was already thinking I was unhappy with my stir stick for that very reason. I am using a food grade 57 gal drum. I have two of those and a 30 gal food grade. The lid is just set on top. Its a snap ring lid so obviously the snap ring isn't on it. The only reason its not air tight and drilled for an air lock is because its winter here and I have to have a submersible heater in the wash. So just the cord is sticking out and the lid is pretty snug. If it were warm out, I would have an air lock on it. I went to take the temperature earlier to make sure the heater had gotten it up where I want it and I noticed there was sweet feed all through it. anywhere I moved the thermometer it was thick with sweet feed.
Truckinbutch wrote:Keep your nose pickers out of it Set it and forget it . Every time you peek in there you run the risk of contamination . I set 40 gallon batches of sweet feed . I check on second day to be sure the ferment is going . Just a gentle peek to see bubbles . Next time I look in is on day 22 or so . It will get done when it gets done .
So basically you don't dick with it and you let the cap fall on its own. I'm kinda gun shy after having one heater die. These new submersible ones are doing the trick but I do like to make sure the temp is still 80 degrees. I estimate about 7-10 days on mine til its dry. my BW I have going should be dry in the morning.
I also wanted to ask you guys.... to go 2nd generation on this 30 gallon wash I have going would I basically follow the recommendation made on the first page? Meaning I would take half the backset from 30 gal. (I'll be doing 3- 10 gal runs) So like 15 gal hot backset and dissolve another 50 lb sugar in it? Then maybe in the UJSSM way would I take some of the spent feed off the fermenter? Instead of replacing it directly I could add it to the hot backset(or just put it back in the fermenter)? then when it had cooled to <90 degrees dump it back in the fermenter and water up to 30 gal again. In theory the yeast would wake up and start munching correct? I know it probably should seem obvious but if the yeast doesn't take off you need to re yeast right? <<< I just mean that the 2nd generation wash isn't crap now just because yeast didn't fire back up?
Truckinbutch wrote:Keep your nose pickers out of it Set it and forget it . Every time you peek in there you run the risk of contamination . I set 40 gallon batches of sweet feed . I check on second day to be sure the ferment is going . Just a gentle peek to see bubbles . Next time I look in is on day 22 or so . It will get done when it gets done .
So basically you don't dick with it and you let the cap fall on its own. I'm kinda gun shy after having one heater die. These new submersible ones are doing the trick but I do like to make sure the temp is still 80 degrees. I estimate about 7-10 days on mine til its dry. my BW I have going should be dry in the morning.
I've got some hard water and ph issues I'm still learning how to deal with that extend my ferment times . I've also had issues with aquarium immersion heaters either going too hot or dying on the job . I simply lift my insulation blankets enough to use a laser thermometer to check the outside temp of the vessel . If that looks good I go no further . When I open one and the cap has dropped and it is starting to clear I turn off the heater and move it to the cold room for first racking in a day or two (provided that the fg is acceptable) . No need to make this harder than it needs to be .
You want the easiest way to get a job done you put the laziest man you have in charge of it ...................... And here I stand
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Truckinbutch wrote:
You want the easiest way to get a job done you put the laziest man you have in charge of it ...................... And here I stand
Elegance in simplicity my friend. I live by it. Just like presenting on some shit or other at work. Say the most with the least words possible. Soon as folks show slides packed with words i know they dont have any damn idea what the hell they're talking about.
so what is the latest feed that everyone is using? I have been using this with pretty good results I think but I have been away from this for a good while. I was wondering if anything better has surfaced.
Truckinbutch wrote:] I've got some hard water and ph issues I'm still learning how to deal with that extend my ferment times .
That sucks man. We have an artesian well with awesome water. Must be helping my BW wash go so fast.
Great for you . I got to just adapt , improvise , and overcome the obstacles in front of me .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
I hope I didn't give you the impression that you were being a dick I was simply stating my situation . Setting up 40 gallon ferments kind of negates faucet mounted filters for a kitchen sink . Lots of folks before me used this same water successfully . It just takes a little more time .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Truckinbutch wrote: I've got some hard water and ph issues I'm still learning how to deal with that extend my ferment times
Butch, Read down the page a bit and the part about boiling your water and the sediment. May help you. http://www.wikihow.com/Soften-Hard-Water" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Set it and forget it . Every time you peek in there you run the risk of contamination . I set 40 gallon batches of sweet feed . I check on second day to be sure the ferment is going . Just a gentle peek to see bubbles . Next time I look in is on day 22 or so . It will get done when it gets done .
Great for you . I got to just adapt , improvise , and overcome the obstacles in front of me .
I was simply stating my situation . Setting up 40 gallon ferments kind of negates faucet mounted filters for a kitchen sink . Lots of folks before me used this same water successfully . It just takes a little more time .
