Scotch Recipe

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HDNB
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by HDNB »

now that i read that wall of text, i'd focus on item 9...you got to stabilize and smooth out the run, you don't want to be adjusting shit to change temperature.

temperature is going to rise during run. normal. it's ok. go fast on the strip run.
Then on spirit run...just stabilize and run at a nice steady stream, not too fast, not too slow.
don't change anything. just let it run. patience...the hardest thing to put in a bottle of whiskey.
keep collecting in fractions, you'll find the cut points when you smooth out the run.


read item 10. then get that shit out your head and forget you ever saw a you tube video and don't watch another until you are ready for a laff. (with the exception of our jes2xu..he's got some fun vids!)

you like highland, so you can re-run this to clean it up a bit and make a lighter whiskey. wood will perform miracles, but why waste the wood and the time in hopes of something good? make it good, then barrel it.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Thanks HDNB. Does anyone have any tips to help shorten the learning curve? Its discouraging to hear of 20 plus runs before it starts to work. Reason being, in our cold weather (its super cold for over 8 or 9 months of the year), I will be lucky to do one real batch per year (maybe two if I am lucky) so twenty plus runs for me means 20 plus years. if its going to take twenty plus years to get a drinkable batch I may as well seell all my equipment. I don't have that kind of time. perhaps there are others who can suggest something ? a good book? a guide? videos? anything?
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Thanks. Its been in the barrels for only 2 days now. So, its ok to pull it from the barrel and redo the run (sorry if that's a horrible newb question but lets face it I am a newb after all).

I brings me hope to think that I may be able to re run the entire distillate a 3rd time and mayble take better cuts this time. Any tips on preventing smearing? From your feedback the smearing thing seems likely to me. Also, did I make poor cuts? Probably.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

I feel like I better add something. There were times during the runs (both stripping and spirit runs) where my condenser heated up quite a bit (I am using a very large bucket of cold water that's recirculating) Once it got warm I tried to get on it quickly and drain the large reserve bucket and refill it. however, I am certain that at time the condesor had very warm soup like water in it. Could that explain the smearing?
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by der wo »

On the one hand you tossed way enough foreshots, on the other hand you have the apple flavor, which is normally the very first flavor coming out the condenser. Sounds like smearing.
You cut the tails relatively late I think, but not much too late according to the numbers, but bitter = tails. Sounds again like smearing. How long did the spirit run need?

But I am not sure. A new make doesn't need to taste perfect.
The general problem for us is, that you didn't start with something easy like All Bran and then with a sugarhead like Sweetfeed, but with AG from the very beginning. We don't know if we can trust your taste. And also you cannot trust your taste.
But generally your fermenting result sounds well. I think either it's a distilling problem or you don't know how it has to taste like. I don't think a few days in the barrel will destroy something. Wait a week, don't toss anything. Then decide if you want to rerun everything.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by bilgriss »

You can reduce smearing by running more slowly.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by HDNB »

you are standing knee deep in a good book with all the info you could ever hope for. you got to slow down, stabilize, normalize and balance to reach the harmonious outcome you seek.
there is no way to short cut it. if you don't have the time to walk down the hill and screw all the cows then maybe being a bull isn't for you?
enjoy the ride this is supposed to be fun, not fast.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Awesome feedback all. I like the idea of waiting a few weeks then re running it. I finally pegged the bitter taste that lingers on the tongue for a LONG time. To me, it tastes like wet piece of grass stuck in my mouth. I feel like the AG went well. I feel like der wo had a great recipe. The spirit run of 15 liters of Low wines went for about 3 hrs. Or so. I will check the barrels in 2 weeks and re run slower if needed. Great advice. I think maybe we have a smear scenario. What are your guys thought on the fact that my condenser water reached fairly warm soup like temps during the run for some time before i got it cool3d down Is this a big problem.
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Still Life
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Still Life »

As long as you're knocking down vapor, it's cool enough.
Warm is certainly not a problem.

Check this out for how warm some members like their product coming out.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by der wo »

The warm water is only a problem, if steam is coming out the condenser.

I reread your long post:
-to stop the stripping at 95°C is absolute wrong IMO.
-105°C is a bit high. I think your thermometer measures at least 3°C too high.
-did you measure the abv of the low wines? This would verify your mashing and fermenting success.
-did you once measure with you alcoholmeter an unsweetened commercial spirit? If not, please do it. Only then we can trust your numbers.
-3h spirit run is relatively fast, but I don't think, here is the main problem.

At the moment it looks like 45l 8.5% wash, 15l 25% low wines, this is 3.8l pure alcohol. And 4l 63.5% hearts and around 500ml 85% fores. Together 3l pure alcohol. What means, tails were only 800ml pure alcohol. 11% fores, 68% hearts, 21% tails. Way too much hearts. Fores are ok IMO, but you cut tails very late IMO. Perhaps other members want to comment this proportions of the fractions too please. Because I do all my spirit runs with a reflux still, I have other proportions, my comments are not 100% safe here.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by still_stirrin »

kevin007 wrote:...What are your guys thought on the fact that my condenser water reached fairly warm soup like temps during the run for some time before i got it cool3d down Is this a big problem.
Not really a big problem until your product condenser no longer can knock down all the vapor you're producing in the boiler. Then, it IS a big problem.

Remember, heat transfer (from the vapor to the coolant/water) is proportional to the temperature difference between them. As the water heats up, the temperature difference diminishes and heat transfer is likewise reduced. If it is severe enough, the vapor may not fully condense and exhaust out of the product pipe.

Also, remember that the total heat (energy) you put into the boiler to make vapor will be output into the coolant reservoir. So, the higher your power input is and over the duration of your run, the warmer your coolant will become. So, a secondary method of liberating that energy will be needed.

Some add ice chunks to the reservoir (marginally effective). Others drain and refill the reservoir periodically (works on small reservoirs accordingly). Still other options include a secondary heat exchanger, like a car radiator, in the coolant "closed loop" system to release some of the heat to the ambient air. Radiator size, water circulation rate, and convective heat transfer (fan) all affect the efficiency of such a system.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by zapata »

I think maybe you are being a scarred new parent? Let it age, its probably fine. If it is drinkable, consider that a success. For the record, I don't think you will take 20 runs, many make decent booze on run #1 and improve from there. Most everything you did is within the realm of reasonable, a lot of it just depends on preference judgement and experience. The best way to really learn is to sip your mediocre booze while thinking it all through.
My best guess would be that your whisky is fine. Maybe just a bit headsy until you get some evaporation, and tailsy enough to be pretty rough white. But within reason for something to age.

I didnt really understand #9 though, where were those temps taken?
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by HDNB »

it's too hard to brain all the math, but i'll bet Derwo is really close. my heads are (average) 14-17%... hearts at 60-65% and tails the balance of the available alcohol so the % make sense to me on a pot still. but this is an area where YMMV.
smearing happens for me if there is changes to the equilibrium of the run as it goes...smooth runs make smooth booze.
i also get better results with cooler PC temps, but YMMV here too. a warm distillate should off- gas the more volatiles, right? but not the case for me.
Zapata makes a lot of sense. i "barrel cut" wider when when aging. for a white spirit i'm way more selective. you may have a real winner, but think 6 months not 2 weeks. If you think "hey this is coming together" at 3 or 4 weeks, leave it a full six months...there is an awkward period from around week 5-6 to around week 22-24 when things start coming back together.
and 20 runs was a bit of an exaggeration, but i'm much happier with the equipment i'm using after tweaking it for many, many runs. the first 4 or 5 i was really unhappy with.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Thanks for the replies. Zapata your comment of "being a scared parent" might be spot on. In any case that made me laugh and reassurd me. Still Life thanks for the info on output temps. HDNB thanks for the comments

Der Wo: Thanks for your feeback on temps. I will aim to stay below 105. The abv of the low wines came in at 30% but I messed up and measured these when the fuid was perhaps a little on the warm side still so my understanding (I could be wrong) is that this 30% reading was maybe 5% less if taken at the right temp.

Thankfully I did measure my alcoholmeter with a 40% vodka and it was dead on.

From the feedback I have just gathered it seems likely to me that I went way too deep into the tails and PERHAPS also had some smearing. Smearing is a topic I now instend to study as I am still not clear on what causes a bad smear and what steps to take to prevent it. In the meantime, I appreciate the suggestions on keeping it oaked for now and that's what I am going to do. If I don't like what I see in 3 or 4 weeks, I still have some time left in my warm season, to pick a warm day, and redo it. I hope by then to have abetter understanding on how to prevent bad smears. If anyone want to leave any comments here on smear prevention, or provide any links to other threads on smear prevention I would be very grateful.

Cheers

K
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by HDNB »

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 63&t=13261

there is lots of ways to smear. click HD google search at the top of the page ^^^ leave space and type

smearing

you'll see a bunch of ways to screw the pooch.

so eliminate all of them. The last and very big component of smearing on my equipment was insulation on the top of the kettle, when i removed it from the top of the still.... the top now seems to work like a whiskey helmet, providing just enough passive reflux for the higher boiling temperature congeners to drop out before making for an exit through the column.

with the insulation, i was pushing oils through hard. evidenced by bitterness, cloudy spirits below 46%ABV and a lot of shit being left in the column walls on plates and down comers. without it? way cleaner in the column, bitterness gone. no more cloudy...even diluted way down to 20's (preferred for taste testing)

small change, big difference. took a bunch of runs before i even considered it though, because i liked the insulation, it was safer...kept the still house cooler and saved heat. reduced warm up times.

which reminds me- easy way to test for tails smearing!! dilute with distilled or RO water (preferred) (not mineral/spring water) and see at what ABV it goes cloudy, will give a reference to how much oils are in the booze.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Shine0n »

If you put all the distillate in the barrel you messed up by not making proper cuts.
YouTube will screw you most times. Whoever posted that may be at a different elevation which will have a different boiling point and temps according.

If you expect a new distillate to taste like a 10 year scotch you need to read a bit more on this hobby for some understanding of what to expect and what to not expect.

Temps on a potstill is completely unnecessary but if you run the same recipe everytime it can have some use if done exactly the same everytime.

I understand how you feel but for the life of me I can't see how if you've read so much you wouldn't know the answers to the most of your own questions, not being rude but seems like you want some to spoon feed ya?

Now you have a spirit in the barrel, make another mash, ferment it, distill it, and compare what you did with the first to what you have done to the second.

Make proper cuts, blending for aging and be patient for the results.

Best of luck to ya,
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Im going to empty by barrels back into my boiler and re run my spirit run doing all new cuts. My goal is to take what I have gathered and try to prevent as much smearing as well as go less far into the tails. One question: Should I add my jar of foreshots back into this second sprit run OR leave them out? If I leave them out, do I do another cut of forshots on this 2nd run?

Thanks all. Except for shineon. Nothing in your post of any value to a noob and I have no idea what would posess you to comment at all if you have nothing of value to add. This entire threat has already been commended by newbies for the wealth of information that's in it. So I am not alone in confidently being able to say that everyone has been incredibly helpful in disseminating their experience to those that could use it. Then you come along with a comment that amounts to "im smart, youre dumb, go read a book and piss off" Why don't you just go ahead and stick to other threads or forums if you would prefer to read into higher level discussions that benefit your knowledge and hoard your knwodge to yourself. As to this thread and forum, there are others including myself that are getting tremendous value from it.

If anyone has anything insightful or intellifgent to add regarding my (noob) question about forshots and a second spirit run please let me know. Snarky, elitism and pretentions snobbiness is not something this hobby needs, and is certasinly not something the Scotch community needs any more of either.

Thanks to the rest of you for all your kind sharing of experience and insight.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Pikey »

Generally speaking Kevin, we ask all newbies to read a lot of the basic stuff - on safety and basic distillation. Several of our contributores carry around links in their signatures - If you find ANY post by cranky, he carries a great selection. This keeps you safe, educates you and helps to keep the main sections free of very novice questions.

We have ALL "served our time" as Newbies and/or novices - There Are no "bypass the learning" methods, which is why those who try to do it "You-tube way", generally fail. You have made your way to a great resource and if you research, there are very few questions which do not have threads devoted to them.

We do not have any obligation to educate you - but we Will, if we have evidence that you are committed to helping yourself.

I wish you many happy hours, weeks and months - many years even of studying and learning. Take it slowly and enjoy the journey.

Just one question - this "Scotch community" to which you refer - is that on here, or somewhere else ? :?
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by zapata »

Kev, since you are new you probably don't get it. So I suggest you re-read shineon's post and take it to heart, it is as valid and good advice as any have offered. Really, you didn't complain about any of the other advice, and I'm sure many if not all experienced distillers agree with what shine had to say. Don't bite the hands that feed you, even if they arent serving the meal you expected. Quite frankly, noobs who don't understand the most basic principles of distillation preaching about what the hobby needs is IMHO one of the few things we actually dont need.

That being said, are you sure you want to re-run it? I'd let it sit and see. Spend your time now on your next mash. Your cuts are wide by many hobbyist standards, but not absurdly, and they aren't bad for commercial cuts. And it sounds like you don't really have the experienced pallate for judging newmake. In the end you can rerun it later at any point if you want. But if you pull the plug now, you won't ever know what it could be, and you lose that learning experience forever, most likely thinking that you did learn something from it.

If you do re-run, 2 options. 1 add everything and start over . 2. Just rerun your hearts and a bit of water and make much smaller cuts. Personally I would go with option 2.

A 3rd option would be to combine this run (either just hearts or all the cuts) in your next spirit run. I don't remember if you said your boiler size, but this apporoach would make judging cuts easier by simply increasing the volume of each. Again though, I'd just make a new batch and save this option for 3-6 months down the road.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Still Life »

Hey, kevin.
Don't mis-judge ShineOn.
He has gone out of his way to help others.
The tone simply rang wrong for you.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Cheers. As to the "Scotch Community" this is a generalization not specific to this forum at all.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

BTW: I re ran a MUCH slower run of the entire distillate from my first sprit run 9except one jar which I accidently dropped and broke) The results are sweet, clean and rather superb IMO for a new make spirit. None of the bitter grassy tones and off flavors are present. I am glad I did it. Maybe the wood could have removed some of the ugliness given time but I felt strongly that my cuts were wrong so I had to do it. This time around, I went really slow (almost 5 hours of steady drip) only increasing speed on my last two jars of tails. I think I got rid of ugly fusels and did a far better job of belnding in some nice esters. I have this aging in some lightly toasted oak cubes and at some point I intend to transfer back to my sherry seasoned barrel to finish. Unless I screw up the aging somehow which is entirely possible I feel pretty good about this "cut" and expect a decent drink whens its all said and done.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by zapata »

Congrats! Exciting times eh? The irony of a great spirit made through happy accidents is you'll never be able to repeat it!
Step 3: drop and shatter the 4th cut jar, rerun everything else
:crazy:
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

hahaha. Nice Zapata. That's fricking hilarious! lol
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Wouter »

Hey guys,

Thanks all for the great information. Very nice topic with some basic informations that´s not included in the starters topics.
And thanks Kevin for asking the questions!
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by kevin007 »

Cheers Wouter. Hope it helped. I know the info from this thread is what got me my first batch! I am hugely grateful to all the fine folks who contributed. The recipe works great. My only comment is that when you go back to page one, and der wo's mash bill of 2kg to 2.75kg )depending on the wash ABV you are going for) my personal suggestion is to go with 2.75kg. I used 2.5kg and got a wash of around 7-8%. I think I will shoot for a higher ABV wash (more grain) on my next batch. Cheers, and goo luck!
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Stilman »

I made my first batches of single malt following tried and true...I think Jimbo's and another. Both times, the initial spirit run had a funny smell and flavour. I used charred staves in 1 gallon glass jugs. Did one batch in a bag and one batch fermented on grain. One peated, one not.... I ended up with a gallon of each.
Almost a year in, both have improved immeasurably...both golden beauties...both still have a slight "off taste" but are both very drinkable and I can only imagine that, were I not already drinking them, they would be much better a year from now.

So with winter approaching, I will use some of the tips above and try again. I think with a red wheat barley this time. Lets keep these scotch conversations going. Kevin, let us know how your scotch is down the road.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Down_Home52 »

I have been hanging on every word of this thread as I try my first AG. I have ran sugar shine, sweet feed, agave, corn syrup with honey and peach brandy all with great results. Did get one round of sweet feed that came out with a funky taste but ran it back through and it cleaned it right up so would never hesitate to try that again. My biggest problems are leaving the product alone long enough to age properly and I am starting to notice the "bite" from cane sugar in the recipe, the peach brandy has been my best effort. My ultimate goal was to make a mild-heavy smoky, Islay type scotch. Thought I would work up to that after doing a bourbon/rye whiskey but after reading this thread thinking now I will go with a single malt. Have not found malted barley at my normal suppliers listing peated content in ppm just mild and heavy peated. Any thoughts here appreciated. I have a mill but noticed most offer crushed for a small fee. Worth it? Will it be finicky about starting fermentation? I usually use B12, graham crackers and yeast nutrient in my sugar head washes. Liked the discussion on yeast and thought about ordering whiskey yeast but think I will just pitch Red Star DADY on first batch. Kev if it is any solace I took some feedback the wrong way when I was told to get a cup of coffee and go back and read.....well I went back and read. Still a noob. Will still ask dumb questions but once you know the safe way to do things trial and error can be discouraging but it always gives you real activities to discuss and I have found that to be appreciated by even the...well...er..let's say the most crusty experts.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by NcHooch »

Something i've done that produces good results:
Make your beer as usual, all grain, or partial mash (with sugar), but you don't need to use a lot of peat smoked malt in the mash.
Ferment as usual with an english ale yeast.
Once fermentation is complete rack to the boiler and distill as usual.
air it out overnight and make your cuts the next day. (I usually add a small amount of tails for complexity)
Oak/Age with used oak @120 proof and add 1 teaspoon peat-smoke barley for each quart.
Leave it for as long as you can stand it :) (2-4 years)
Dilute to 80 proof for bottling.

It usually lands somewhere between a Highlands and an Islay.
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Re: Scotch Recipe

Post by Down_Home52 »

2-4 years!!!!!! I'm too old....NcHooch you mentioned waiting till the next day to make cuts or to blend? The addition of the 1 teaspoon/qt of peated barley infuses that much flavor....wow. Thanks for the suggestion. Now to find the right supplier for the grain. BTW thanks for the note on the yeast.
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