uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Boiler goodies should always be <40%.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Mash hit a wall sometime today. Put it in the fermenter Sunday. Bubbled like crazy through this morning. Come home from work and it slowed way down to a crawl. Is that Normal?
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Pretty much...depending. What's the SG and the pH?

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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T-Pee wrote:Pretty much...depending. What's the SG and the pH?

tp
didn't have a change to check, will do after work tonight. Im new and it seemed like it stopped pretty fast, so just wanted to check.

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Wash temperature plays a big part too, btw.
Is the wash still "fizzing"?

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

Post by Prairiepiss »

Deezil wrote:Mash hit a wall sometime today. Put it in the fermenter Sunday. Bubbled like crazy through this morning. Come home from work and it slowed way down to a crawl. Is that Normal?
Put it down Sunday and its slowed down on Thursday? Sounds about right to me.

But check the SG. As tp Said. I bet its down around 1.000 if not lower. And should start clearing on its own. If so give it a couple days to clear. And run it.

Most of the time I can put down a recipe one day. And expect it to be ready to run the same day a week later. But some have that stretched out to two weeks later.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Ok thanks, weather has warmed up, so its been pretty warm in the house (72-4). I should have time right after work to check the readings.

:)
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Go for the SG first. Then you'll know if something else is amiss and needs fixing. If it's 1.000 or less, let it clear then run it.

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Started a modified Ujssm in a 55 gallon screw top yesterday. Sorry the camera wouldn't focus :?: Pitched @ 72 degrees F, SG 1.060-1.070, 50 gals of hard water @ 250 ppm, bakers yeast, 85 lbs of whole kernel hard white wheat, 75lbs sugar, 5 lemons to adjust PH from 7.8 to 4.2 (which is lower than I intended to go.)

I will replace/add rye over the wheat with subsequent generations. I've never preferred bourbon so I am wary of trying corn. The initial wash tasted like bread soda pop, and the yeasties are kicking up settled grain with all the co2 being produced. :ebiggrin:

Things I'd do different would be to crack the grain, raise the pitch temp, use DADY, use softer water, and have an initial PH of 5. Regardless, I am sure excited for next weekend, and subsequent generations. :thumbup:
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Now THAT is a ferment! :clap:

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Mine today
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Ran it Saturday, like this stuff way better than sweet feed, got 3x the product, and way better tasting, look forward to the weekend to run the next batch! I did make a mistake though, for some reason I put the feints into the fermenter, wasn't thinking, is that going to screw it up? Not much, like a jar full. :roll:

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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It may or maynot? Depends on the ABV. If the total ABV with the potential of the sugar and what feints was added. Is less then 14% ABV. You should be fine. It would be much better if it was lower then 12% ABV. But most yeasts will be fine up to 14%. Worse case it doesn't finish as low as the first batch. And you will have some off flavors. Best case it finishes off good. With little off flavors. Only time will tell.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Prairiepiss wrote:It may or maynot? Depends on the ABV. If the total ABV with the potential of the sugar and what feints was added. Is less then 14% ABV. You should be fine. It would be much better if it was lower then 12% ABV. But most yeasts will be fine up to 14%. Worse case it doesn't finish as low as the first batch. And you will have some off flavors. Best case it finishes off good. With little off flavors. Only time will tell.
Could just add a 1 gal or so of water to off set the ABV so the yeast can finish its job with out getting stressed! Can be figured out with the handy calculators we have here. Assuming it was quart of heads and tail probably about 45%.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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I have a UJSSM on it's 3rd generation, and for this 3rd generation in addition to some fresh cracked corn I decided to also add about 3 lbs of crushed barley malt (honey malt). The fermenting wash smells great and I am hoping to taste a bit of malt in the product.
Has anyone tried this with their UJSSM, and what was their result? I know I should know better than to mess with this fine recipe, but I do like to experiment a little.
Thanks for all your helpful advice and information.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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It's been done by many. This is a great recipe. But it also is a great base recipe to build off of. I use wheat in mine. But you will find people using anything grain in it. And many different grain bills. I'm sure any grain you add will work out fine. And make a good drop. As long as you like that grain. LOL
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Fine point PP. To each his own. I posted my modified version above some 4-5 days ago and the sweet run is absolutely revolting. Used hard white wheat and it tastes like taking a shot of raw dough bread. :thumbdown: Probably should have toasted the grain...

I'll be making vodka instead out of what I got and trying this again with an unmodified recipe or maybe rye...
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Did my first sour run yesterday, looks like my mistake above didn't hurt it much, excited to check it over tonight after its aired out and do some cuts. If its better than the sweet run is Im going to love this stuff.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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deezil, put it on some wood for a while with a teaspoon of agave syrup/quart, and you won't be able to put it down!
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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The repetitive ways of fermenting UJ offers is just great. I have done pretty much all sorts of grain with it. And - inspired by PP - just baught a much bigger fermenter. It is 55 gallons. Currently, I am running rye in it, aiming for 8 to 8.5% abv. The bigger amount means I can now make me something that lasts. And once it will be a vodka, then a white whiskey. And sometimes I put something on wood. It just keeps on going.

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Prairiepiss wrote:It's been done by many. This is a great recipe. But it also is a great base recipe to build off of. I use wheat in mine. But you will find people using anything grain in it. And many different grain bills. I'm sure any grain you add will work out fine. And make a good drop. As long as you like that grain. LOL
Next week I will do my first run with the UJSSM with rye, the fermentation was great, even better then using corn.
Because it's a new wash (with old backset from the corn) the first run will go to the neutral, but I have great expetations for the second run.
Odin, I'm using 120 liter (30 gallons) fermeters, that makes 3 stripping runs, and enough for 1 spirit, works great! Better will be a bigger fermenter, maybe soon
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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I aim for around 170 liters of wash now. I do three strips of 50 liters and end up with around 30 liters of 40% low wines. I add the last 20 liters of wash to that and do a finishing run on the combined low wines and remaining wash.

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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I have been thinking of adding some rye to the original recipe. Would any of the more knowledgable on here recommend malted or unmalted? My thinking is that if using malted, it would have to be replaced at each generation.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Stink_Pickle wrote:I have been thinking of adding some rye to the original recipe. Would any of the more knowledgable on here recommend malted or unmalted? My thinking is that if using malted, it would have to be replaced at each generation.
I would use (and am using) unmalted cracked rye, why choose malted?
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Malted rye will bring over some extra fruitiness, but at a price. Malted grain is very prone to lactic infections. Whenever I used malted grain in an UJ type ferment, for sure, after two or three generations I could ditch the whole ferment, due to lactic infections.

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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

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Ok, thanks for the info. One reason I ask, I can get a few pounds of malted rye for 4 or 5 dollars. If I buy unmalted I will probably have to buy 50 lb. Not a really big deal but if I just wanted to try it to see if I liked it thought I may have wanted to go the malted way. Thanks again all.
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Re: harsh, scorched flavor in 3rd gen UJSSM with malt

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I ran a 3rd gen UJSSM that I had supplemented with 3 lbs of honey malt ground in my Corona mill to a coarse texture resembling corn meal. The distillate has a harsh, scorched taste (almost like charred wood) that I have not tasted before. This flavor is present in all fractions- heads, hearts, tails (most prevalent in tails). It was run slow using a clean 1500W electric element heat source (8 gallon boiler, 3 inch pot still head with Liebig condenser) so I don't think I burnt it. The electric element was shiny and clean after the run- no burnt residue on it. I wonder if the fine grind on the malt left suspended grain husk that siphoned with the beer into the still, and that is the source of the flavor? Is it possible to get rid of the burnt taste by redistilling on my pot still (I don't have reflux equipment)? Any advice would be most welcome, and I thank the members for their help.
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Re: harsh, scorched flavor in 3rd gen UJSSM with malt

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brick wrote:I ran a 3rd gen UJSSM that I had supplemented with 3 lbs of honey malt ground in my Corona mill to a coarse texture resembling corn meal. The distillate has a harsh, scorched taste (almost like charred wood) that I have not tasted before. This flavor is present in all fractions- heads, hearts, tails (most prevalent in tails). It was run slow using a clean 1500W electric element heat source (8 gallon boiler, 3 inch pot still head with Liebig condenser) so I don't think I burnt it. The electric element was shiny and clean after the run- no burnt residue on it. I wonder if the fine grind on the malt left suspended grain husk that siphoned with the beer into the still, and that is the source of the flavor? Is it possible to get rid of the burnt taste by redistilling on my pot still (I don't have reflux equipment)? Any advice would be most welcome, and I thank the members for their help.
If you failed to let the wash clear adequately before charging the boiler you could end up with some slight scorched flavor and smell due to the internal element... There is no guarantee that the element would display signs of scorching, however... I can't come up with any other reason for getting that smell from the standard UJSSM recipe...
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

Post by brick »

Thanks, Rad. It looked adequately cleared when I siphoned it, but maybe it wasn't. I'll give it more time to clear next time.
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Re: uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

Post by brick »

I forgot to mention that I usually put a small roll of copper mesh in the neck of my stainless steel still head, and after the run it looked unusually dark.
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