On hold

[S-Cackalacky]

I think I'll be putting everything on hold for the next few months. The weather is getting cold and my basement is a little too cool to support good fermentation. I'll be building a heated fermentation box, but won't be able to do anything about it until well after the holidays.

I'm also not completely happy with my first few spirit runs and will be using the down time to rethink my process. I'm finding that what I've made so far isn't so much to my liking. My first mistake was using backset to dilute the low wines for my first spirit run. The backset gave the SF strips a little too much added flavor. The second mistake was to use this product to make liqoures like apple pie (3+ qts), ameretto, butterscotch snapps, and some nuke aged stuff. The quart of ameretto taste pretty decent, the aged stuff is tolerable, but the apple pie and butterscotch completely suck.

I still have a 5 gallon bucket of Producer's Pride All Grain. For future SF runs I think I'll be trying to tone the flavor down a bit - diluting with water and possibly a second run through the still. I like the flavor of the SF, but the way I ran it is just a little too much of a good thing - overpowering. Once I finish with the SF, I'll be trying rum - hope I've learned something with these first runs.

Anyway, a little diapointing, but I'll move forward - hopefully with better results.

S-C

[Truckinbutch]

OH , HELL , BUDDY ! DON'T quit that easy . Rerun what you don't like and save the good stuff . Get an appropriate size aquarium heater to keep your ferment warm and wrap the fermenter in a blanket . I found , too , that I don't like apple pie and other mixes made with aged product . I been airing and ageing high test white dog to use in blends that get rage reviews . Apple pie included . What I oak is left unmolested until it has some time to mature .

[bonehead]

stick around, i have read a lot of your stuff.

[bearriver]

If you need a break to reabsorb distillation lit then good for you. I hope you do come back, but taking the time off to do research is admirable.

I hope you get to making what your looking for.

[ga flatwoods]

If you need a break to reabsorb distillation lit then good for you. I hope you do come back, but taking the time off to do research is admirable.

I hope you get to making what your looking for.


Yea SC wtf Siri just said. Computer answers everywhere. If you had a problem you could have asked Siri , lil rad, or Capt Kirk for the text answer. Sounds like a damned wiki. We know you not leaving. There is a difference in laying low for a while and high assing outa here. We admire your confessional though.
GA Flatwoods

[mmmmmm]

Hey man, you know what makes a fantastic insulated fermentation box? A busted deep freezer. Keeps a perfect seal and it comes completely insulated.


Lately I've been trying to heat my wash with a $15 fish tank heater. I only do five gallons at a time though. I sterilized the whole thing, put it on high, and put it in my bucket, put the lid on loosely, and wrapped the whole thing with a blanket.

It's not *quite* up to recommended temp for my birdwatchers, but it seems to be working just fine. 1.09 SG to 1.05 in 24 hours, so I figure I should be right on schedule for that stuff finishing on time.


And I personally don't like my flavors until I've distilled it at least twice.

[slow trickle]

Give the sweet feed shine a few months to age and mellow out. Doesn't matter if on oak or not it will mellow. I have some sweet feed shine on oak in my storage building that I didn't like at first and now think it is the best I've made so far. It has been out there for just over two months now and tastes great. Got to get some more fermenting as what I have will not make it through the holidays.

[YHB]

Now I have a temperature controlled fermenter I actually prefer brewing in the winter. There are no beasties flying around and when the brew has finished, turning off the heater is the best clearing agent ever, the yeast just falls to the bottom and I am ready to go in a couple of days. The end result is that in the winter I can have a cleared wash in less time than the summer.

I cant help with your other issues, that is for you to decide. I know it is a disappointment when you have put the effort in and the drink does not live up to expectations I have had more than my fair share of them, but a couple of times through the still again, works wonders.

[S-Cackalacky]

Thanks folks, but don't be mistaken, I'll still be here on the forum.

The apple pie is the biggest disappointment. The SF flavor completely overpowered the drink and I don't see any way to rescue it. So anyway, I'll deal with the losses and move on.

The down time will be put to good use. I have a thumper that needs to be reworked. I shelved it early on due to some serious design problems. I'm looking forward to bringing it back online. There are also tweaks to be made to my still. And, I have a seriously beat up keg that needs some attention to get it ready for a new boiler build.

I still have a couple of quarts sitting on wood chips that I recently nuke aged. One is aged with toasted and charred pecan chips and the other with toasted and charred apple chips. If they're not to my likin', I have some feints I'll mix them with and run them through the still again.

Lots of stuff to do, but probably no fermentation for a few months. Believe me - I'm not throwing in the towel.

S-C

[dakotasnake]

yea nutrals are better for apple pies etc.. you may also consider useing a colder yeast like ec1118 this time of yr. its 22 below here and the wash is in the 60's and bubbling away.

[Ayay]

You may be on hold, but your friendly yeasts will keep going down to 10*C. Just give them more time to brew and settle.

I agree that using backset depends entirely on whether the backset is worth the increased flavour. I have used the backset of Nutrigrain and this told me once and ferall that the Nutrigrain flavour is not what I want. It brews fine and fast, the flavour was a bit funky but OK. Backsetting told the truth...the flavour sucks!

Only backset the flavours you want more of. For me it's back to Cornflakes and the backset of Cornflakes!

[OBX Phantom]

S- cac, I am not sure what recipe you used to make your apple pie, But IMO corn likker works better because it imparts that crust kinda flavor in it. And I also guess it depends on the recipe you are using for your apple pie. Also IMO (and from what I have read) Apple Pie is not just apple juice and a cinnamon stick or two.

Try this:
1 part apple juice
1 part apple cider
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg
all spice
corn likker

I didn't include quantities because I make mine 4 gal. at a time and most don't want to make that much at one time. so just use those ingredients and adjust to your taste.

P.S.
The first likker I Made was SW, and I didn't like it either. So after that I tried corn and liked it much better. So my point is that maybe it is not your process creating likker that your not happy with, maybe it is the ingredients you are using.

[OBX Phantom]

S- cac, I am not sure what recipe you used to make your apple pie, But IMO corn likker works better because it imparts that crust kinda flavor in it. And I also guess it depends on the recipe you are using for your apple pie. Also IMO (and from what I have read) Apple Pie is not just apple juice and a cinnamon stick or two.

Try this:
1 part apple juice
1 part apple cider
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg
all spice
corn likker

I didn't include quantities because I make mine 4 gal. at a time and most don't want to make that much at one time. so just use those ingredients and adjust to your taste.

P.S.
The first likker I Made was SW, and I didn't like it either. So after that I tried corn and liked it much better. So my point is that maybe it is not your process creating likker that your not happy with, maybe it is the ingredients you are using.

[Hound Dog]

SC, that is why I use the All Bran recipe and got it working pretty well for me. I found that I made a neutral and it was a more versatile liquor. That is why I quickly went from a pot still to a LM Reflux.

I made some SF and tried running it at 185+ proof takeoff and thought it would be clean enough for an apple pie. Nasty stuff. I proofed it down some, oaked it a while on JD oak and it is some good whiskey. I am not that big of a whiskey guy though. I guess if you are, learning to run the pot would be the way to go but the LM is just easy for me as a beginner I believe. I have some Panela I need to run and experiment with along with a piece of 3" pipe a buddy gave me for a new build. I need to get all this done soon since I also ordered new cabinets and the wife will put a stop to my antics when they arrive. I will need to focus on the kitchen remodel for her at that time.

[wv_cooker]

S-Cack you have had a wild ride so far. Sorry you have had so many disappointments. Keep at it you will be one of the best with your persistence. As for the apple pie, some like it with corn likker and some like it with neutral better. Personally I like all my sweet stuff better with a neutral. You hang in there you'll do just fine.

As for the ferments being cold a $10.00 fish tank heater and a blanket have worked miracles for me in the winter. Keep the head up man!!!!!!

[Halfbaked]

So S-Cackalacky I am on a sabbatical also. I have been on it way to long but nothing I can do about it at this time. Advice to you, if you don't like flavors you are getting try something else. If you have to strong of a flavor run it again. The problem with what everyone is doing here is if you oak it takes 3+ months to see what your results are and is it good to your tasting or not. Its easy to go to the liquor store and buy a bottle or 2 and say I like that and don't like that. Good notes in you box of goodness or badness helps your memory.. The great part is if you don't like it throw it back in and rerun it. You don't have much money in it if you can't drink it.

Now with what exactly you said sounds like your tastes might be a little like mine. I don't like over powering corn. I don't care how you cut it. I gotta oak it. The corn smell transfers over to the taste buds for me. I like a nutty fruity warming Sippin likker drink that don't bite up front if I am drinking in the white. I like DWWG with a real tight cut. I think it could be even better than I made casue I don't have much experience with yeasts. I think second run with backset is better than first. I like flavors and I like smells and tastes. Not to over powering. This is kinda why the wheat posts get me going. Jimbo and his wheat get to me and I recently read a good thread that Piss wrote on his all grain wheat blunders and positives. He said his all grain wheat was best drop that he ever drank. I bet he has had a drop or 2. We all know you have it in you. Sometimes a step back kinda opens mind. It helped me, well I think it has as im not makin again yet. Basically I am trying to say you gotta find out what you like and how to make it. Don't be frustrated with not being not happy with your results ask for help. You got it in you I know it and I think most here have more confidence in you than you do. READ.

[DuckofDeath]

My first sweetfeed was nasty. So I threw it on Oak and forgot about it. 6 months later it was heaven. So I made more and the next batch was even better. I am my harshest critic. People will fight over something I personally wont drink.

[S-Cackalacky]

I want to thank y'all for all the support. I'm not so deep into this yet that the disappointment is that great. I've always been of the opinion that the best learned lessons in life are those learned from our mistakes. They're the ones better seated in our memories and move us forward with greater determination. Making a couple of runs of bad likker isn't what I'd consider one of my greatest failures in life. I know what I did wrong and know what to do to make future runs better.

I have about 25 lbs of SF grain left to use. I plan to go ahead and finish it up with some changes in how I do my runs. I'll continue to do stripping runs and dilute with clean water for the spirit runs - possiby running a second time.

One of my long term goals is to build a reflux column that I will use with a keg boiler that I will build first. The keg should be a fairly simple build - electric heat and a triclamp and easy flange to connect the column. I will also adapt my current pot still head to run with the keg. The reflux column will be a simple CC-VM similar to what DAD300 has described. Would like to do 3", but will probably have to settle for 2" because of the cost. I plan to pack it with lava rock.

The reflux still be for neutrals for making the sweet liqouers and maybe gin. With the pot still I hope to focus more on rum. Anyway, that's the plan.

Thanks again,
S-C