Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by bil »

I guess I was confused when you say "clear yellow" because yellow to me would mean it is not "clear". Yes there is about 6 inches of yellow liquid above the spent grain. I didn't do a gravity reading today, but I squeezed out about 9 gallons or so and have it clearing over night in the fridge. So just to be clear, the clear liquid after letting it settle will still be a yellow color? I was expecting to see water like color when everyone refers to "clearing".
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by copper sweat »

Jimbo I just started a gumball head I just couldn't bring myself to toss out my spent grain after one of my best AG I'm glad I saved the spent grain after reading this
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

copper, sounds good. Makes a nice drink for mixes, Jack and Coke and such, IMO. Its a little thin on flavor, like Jack, for drinking neat for my tastes. But it got more flavor than a straight shine, so just depends on your taste preferences.

Bil, ever seen water colored beer? Basically youre making beer here. Clear means you can see through it, the solids that make it opaque have settled out. During ferment the CO2 bubbles and active yeast keep it very stirred up and cloudy.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Last week I cracked into a batch of this I made in early Feb. 2 fifths in now. When I made it, even into spring, I was wondering when it would shape up. 6 months old now and its the best batch yet. Note to the perplexed. LET IT AGE!! . Damn this is good.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by shinendine »

Jimbo, I can't thank you enough.

I used your method for my first attempt at an all grain. Awesome results.

I used:

15ga water
3ga water w/ l.acid
6tsp gypsum
25lbs cracked corn
10lbs flaked wheat (not malted)
10lbs 6-row
3 packs of US05

Boiled my water. Let the corn and wheat sit for 5 hours. Temp was 178 when I pulled the blankets. Cooled to 148. added malt. Let that sit overnight.
Initial gravity was 1.062
Pitched US05.
Took a really long time to ferment.(wife keeps it 68deg inside the house) still wasn't quite done by day 8. Had to run early, as I got called back offshore to work.
Ending gravity was 1.010

SUMBITCH THAT WAS A LOT OF SQUEEZING THOUGH.

13 gallons into my 15ga keg boiler.

Bottom line = best tasting product I've made yet.

Thanks again!!
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

Hey Jimbo, what's your thoughts on a saison yeast in the hot weather? Ever tried it before?
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

I love a good Saison yeast in beer :)

Sure why not for a spirit, interesting esters/aromatics. Give it a try and let us know how it goes. Make sure your bucket has lots of headroom, they are known for firing off fast and can foam up and blow bucket lids off. Also they sometimes get stuck halfway through, but will finish with time, so dont panic if it starts fast and then stalls.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

ok sounds good, I'll report back...I'm going to mix up a few batches tonight!
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Some of the Farmhouse Saison yeasts make more phenolics than others. The Saison II from one of them, White Labs I think, makes more clove flavors, others make more spice. Check them out at somewhere like this to pick a good one thats what youre shooting for.

http://home-brewing.northernbrewer.com/ ... east&asug=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

Well I ran quickly to a homebrew shop and bought a pack of wyeast 3724 Belgian saison. I hope this works for a $9 pack of yeast...damn. I'll read more into that link and choose another yeast from there but this is the choice for this batch
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Shits expensive huh! They're mighty proud of their yeast! I dont buy yeast often, when I make beer I harvest it into pint jars. Then use that for beer and spirits fixins. But when I make an oddball, like a Saison, I gotta spring for some fresh yeast!
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by jedneck »

Two quarts of 55% on two sticks of once used chard white oak. My grain bill was 60% corn, 30% malted red wheat, and 10% oats. Wheat was self malted and most of the sprouts were left on. After one month on oak it is coming along nicely. Still needs months of time though. Jimbo you are the man.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

:clap: Looks delicious
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Dukeboxer, our chats about Saison made me thirsty for one. This is a nice one from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City MO. Had a couple with dinner last night.

These beers are full of yeast, you could buy a 6 pack for the price of that damn WHite Labs shite, drink 5 and culture your own ;)
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by bearriver »

Jimbo wrote:These beers are full of yeast, you could buy a 6 pack for the price of that damn WHite Labs shite, drink 5 and culture your own ;)
I cant find anything but souless lager in a six pack, worse yet, my grocery store has several isles for beer. :cry:
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Bear, Check out Boulevards beer finder. I dont know which bear river, where, you are but if youre by the one in Eureka youre in luck.

http://www.boulevard.com/beers/beer-finder/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

Jimbo, I love saisons. I like that nice yeasty flavor for some weird reason. What got me thinking of that yeast was the 2 Roads Brewing Saison in Stratford CT. This is their description of the beer and yeast they use for it...

A traditional farmhouse ale made with a very expressive yeast strain that contributes an array of tropical fruit, spice flavors and aromatics. Brewed with a variety of harvest grains including barley, wheat, oats and rye as was likely the case with farmhouse brewers of yore. The result is a complex, refreshing and distinctive example of this esoteric style. Intensely fruity (passion fruit, pineapple, mango, lychee), slightly spicy (clove, white pepper)

Then I realized that it ferments at higher temperatures which is what I'm looking for right now. I was actually going to ask you about getting yeast from (bottled store bought) beer but I read on some brewing forums that a different yeast is used for bottle conditioning. In my mind unfiltered beers like a saison aren't bottle conditioned with a different yeast but then again there's some weird shit floating around up in my melon so I wanted to confirm my assumption first. I think i'll try that route next time. From what I've read you pour out most of the beer, pour the lees into a small amount of a SG 1.020 starter and then let it grow and then move to a stronger gravity and larger amount of wort, let it grow some more and then pitch...good idea?

Also I made up 2 batches, one with the saison yeast and one with SafInstant bakers yeast (I didn't have any more of the fresh bakers yeast I used to use for UJ) to see if I could tell any difference. I'll let you know how they turn out. I'd also like to tell everyone about what I made it with and how I did it. I used degerminated yellow corn meal for 2 reasons, one it is food grade, not feed grade so it is a lot cleaner and 2, it cost me about 20 cents more for a 50 pound bag. I put 10 pounds into a bucket and put 6 gallons of water onto the stove to heat up. When the water was between 110 and 120 degrees I added enough water to the corn meal to soak it and cover it by about 2 inches. Maybe a gallon to 1.5 gallons. I just scooped it in with another pot. I stirred it really well each time I added a pot full of water so that all the corn was soaked and there were no clumps or dry spots. This helped out a lot so that when I added the boiling water it dispersed really well, again no clumps. It also took about 1 hour give or take to gelatinize completely. The whole time I left the top off of the bucket and didn't insulate it. I stirred it the best I could and when it cooled down to 158-160 I dumped in 5 pounds of white wheat malt, stirred it up good only going down a few inches at a time with a mortar mixer on my drill. When it was all mixed up good I threw the top on and left it over night to cool and pitched the yeast the next morning. I think some people are put off by using corn meal because of scorching but by doing it this way, the same way you do it with the cracked corn, there's no issue at all. It gelatinizes so quick there's not even a real need to insulate it, unless you want to when you throw the malt in to hold the temps better. I wanted to describe this because I was reading your wheat flour recipe and I think this might be an easier way to avoid clumping all together.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Most beers arent bottle conditioned. A cloudy Saison should be safe to culture from

Im at the pub now eating with the fam and enjoying another Saison. This one a coup d'etat from Revolution Brewing in Chi Town. Great beer. More sour and floral than the Tank 7.

Will comment on the rest when im not out
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

Jeeze Jimbo, you've got my mouth watering with all these beers!! I'm just re reading my post and I wanted to comment on the temps when I threw in the malt. The 158-160 reading was about 6 inches into the corn, the top inch was at about 110/120. That's why I mixed down only a few inches at a time letting each layer cool from the malt addition as I went down.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Ideally you want the whole mash at the same temp and at about 148 when you start mashing and low 140's at the end. Stir the malt in real good at a temp that will land you at 148, thats usually about 151, 152 for the corn and wheat in a bourbon.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

I took a temp after I stirred it in and it was at 145. That's pretty good right?
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Ya 145 is great. What was it after an hour?
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by DukeBoxer »

Good question...I know it was still around 135 when I went to sleep and that was about 3 hours later.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by heartcut »

Had 10 lb cracked corn and 10 of pale US laying around and read this thread. Gelatinized the corn in 12 gal boiling water on Saturday night, threw the pale, 10# of special 3.5L and 6 lb of red wheat malt in the next morning at 144degF and left it for 3 hr. Got 1.079 so the corn softened up fine. Fermenting on the grain nicely now. Not sure what to call it, maybe I should wait and see what comes out. "Clean Out the Grain Bins" or maybe Burcotch? Scotbon?
Edit- added 4 gals cool water in the fermenters.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

Sounds like whiskey to me. :mrgreen: Nice work.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by bonacker »

I did the first run of the bourbon Friday. Long story short I didn't convert the starches properly, (I grabbed regular barley, not malted barley. Didn't realize till after the mash was done.) I only got some conversion because I also added a little amalyse. So Friday night after the run I started the gumballhead. Used about 3 gallons of backset. Just checked it, about 1 bubble a minute in airlock, and spec. gravity was actually reading a little below 1.000. Is this mash actually done, or should I wait on it a few more days? In the meantime I have drawn off the liquid down to the grainbed, and put more water in just to cover the grainbed. Figured I'd keep an eye on this for another day or two while I let the drawn off liquid settle.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by goblin »

what was the starting gravity?
dont sound good. if i am reading this correctly.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by Jimbo »

bonacker, the alpha amylase may have saved you a little. But it doesnt make Maltose like beta amylase does when you mash in with malt in the high 140'sF. Still should have gotten somethign tho. Let us know how that turned out.

The gumballhead is sugar and leftovers, so the yeast will munch happily on the sugar if conditions are good (aerated, good pH). You said you made it Friday night, and by Sunday it was below 1.000? That doesnt seem right. It can take 2 days to come down quite a bit, since they yeast load is so high from the previous bourbon run, but a day and a half to 1.000 sounds extreme. Thats usually about 4-5 days for me for the gumballhead. And the orig bourbon is 1-2 weeks depending on temperature. 1 week at 68-70 with the ale yeasts I use.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by bonacker »

I didn't think it sounded right either Jimbo.
Friday night I used 8# of sugar into the 2-3 gals of backset,(I'm doing half the volume of your original recipe) cooled and added to the grain from the bourbon run. took off like a sumbitch and was like a gattling gun Saturday morning. By sunday afternoon maybe a bubble a minute in airlock. the only thing I can think of is I also added a "yeast bomb" to the bourbon wash. maybe all those extra nutrients helped the yeast go into overdrive.:crazy:

I drained it down to settle but left an airlock on it just in case, haven't seen a bubble out of it yet.
going to let it continue settling til tomorrow night, run it and see what happens.
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Re: Jimbo's easy 1/2barrel Wheated Bourbon and Gumballhead

Post by stumpjumper »

Hi

Thanks for all the information contained in this thread. Sure is helpful and generous of all of you to share your time and experience with those of us who are green at this. One thing going back in this thread and another by Brendan is the 'puke' smell some encountered when they get to this with corn. Brendan ran a great thread about making a corn starter with flaked corn and only water. He talked about three phases and the middle phase was the 'puke' aroma of souring corn denaturing the first phase. Then a sweeter smell of corn replaces the middle phase - the last sour result is then ready to start a sour mash.

Earlier in this thread several were talking about throwing out their puke smelling mash. So, long way around, is the puke smell a problem or just a phase to get you to the end of a process?

Thanks again!
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