My first grain distillation. Flawed?

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Kruger1801
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My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by Kruger1801 »

Hi All,
I've been brewing beer for some time now, and recently decided to get into distilling. For my first attempt I decided to go for 'Jimbo's Single Malt AG Recipe'.

I used the following:
11.5 gal water (43l)
2 tsp gypsum
20 lbs (9 kg) milled Wheat Malt
Us-05 ale dry yeast

My mashing went as planned but gravity was a little lo so I added some table sugar to raise it a little bit.

After fermentation was complete, it smelled really funky - unlike any smell i've come across making beer. It smelled really sour with a hint of vomit. I did a stripping run and found this sour /off taste was also noticeable in the low wines coming off the still. There were also no signs of a bacterial infection.

Question: Is this normal? Is this a result of fermenting on the grain? Is this because of the sugar addition?

Or am I being prematurely paranoid as it should still go through a spirit run etc?

I've read some people describe the smell of grain fermentations a bit like sourdough. This was not like that at all.

Please forgive my ignorance, as this is my first post outside of the Welcome Center. I would really appreciate any input or advice!

Cheers!
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Still Life
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Re: My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by Still Life »

Fear not!
Most of my finished grain ferments sit for a few days and have a noticeable "vomit" smell ---and they always distill great.

One rye recently had a slight used diaper smell after sitting for 5 days. But it had a lacto infection.
Still, it came out tasting terrific.

You're doing fine.
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Kruger1801
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Re: My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by Kruger1801 »

Still Life wrote:Fear not!
Most of my finished grain ferments sit for a few days and have a noticeable "vomit" smell ---and they always distill great.

One rye recently had a slight used diaper smell after sitting for 5 days. But it had a lacto infection.
Still, it came out tasting terrific.

You're doing fine.
Thanks Still Life,

Thats reassuring!

Cheers
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MichiganCornhusker
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Re: My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Sugar addition? What was your SG? Shouldn't be any need for sugar addition with this recipe.
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still_stirrin
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Re: My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by still_stirrin »

Kruger1801 wrote:...11.5 gal water (43l)...20 lbs (9 kg) milled Wheat Malt...Us-05 ale dry yeast
...gravity was a little lo so I added some table sugar to raise it a little bit...it smelled really funky.
My calculator says that 20 lb. in 11.5 gallons of what would net an OG of 1.050 to 1.053. That would give you a potential alcohol around 5.5 to 6%ABV, perhaps low for a distiller's beer, but very acceptable. Adding the table sugar was probably a mistake.

As a longtime beer brewer, you have a paradigm how a ferment should smell, and "funky" is not appropriate. But, it also is not very descriptive, so troubleshooting is nearly impossible. Taste and smell the ferment and describe it thoroughly.

And remember, fermenting table sugar will give you a cidery smell & taste (depending on how much you added).

More than likely, if the ferment is terminal (FG=1.000 +/- 0.005), it's done. So let it settle a few days and strip it. Don't be such a "worry wart". Worst case scenario...you give the product to your mother-in-law. :crazy:
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Kruger1801
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Re: My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by Kruger1801 »

still_stirrin wrote:
Kruger1801 wrote:...11.5 gal water (43l)...20 lbs (9 kg) milled Wheat Malt...Us-05 ale dry yeast
...gravity was a little lo so I added some table sugar to raise it a little bit...it smelled really funky.
My calculator says that 20 lb. in 11.5 gallons of what would net an OG of 1.050 to 1.053. That would give you a potential alcohol around 5.5 to 6%ABV, perhaps low for a distiller's beer, but very acceptable. Adding the table sugar was probably a mistake.

As a longtime beer brewer, you have a paradigm how a ferment should smell, and "funky" is not appropriate. But, it also is not very descriptive, so troubleshooting is nearly impossible. Taste and smell the ferment and describe it thoroughly.

And remember, fermenting table sugar will give you a cidery smell & taste (depending on how much you added).

More than likely, if the ferment is terminal (FG=1.000 +/- 0.005), it's done. So let it settle a few days and strip it. Don't be such a "worry wart". Worst case scenario...you give the product to your mother-in-law. :crazy:
ss
Thanks for the response!

The first fermentations OG came out around 1.035 so there must not have been total conversion of the starches - thats why I decided to add some table sugar, and I didnt want to waste money on DME as it was my first attempt at a fermentation specifically for distilling.

I did however do another batch using the same ingredients the past weekend, only variation being distillers yeast instead of Us-05. I also upped the grain ratio a bit and got around 1.065 OG. I still have that overpowering sour taste allthough the smell seems a little bit better and more grainy (less vomit smell). I think the sourness comes from fermenting on the grains, which is new to me... Generally doing Weiss or Wit beers in the past I've noticed a similar hint of sourness from the wheat, but nothing like this.

So I might do another batch this coming weekend on the same recipe but without fermenting on the grain, and see what happens.

Cheers!
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Kruger1801
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Re: My first grain distillation. Flawed?

Post by Kruger1801 »

Just stumbled upon this thread on the same recipe, also posted today:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p7484199
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