Search found 1239 matches
- Tue Dec 24, 2013 5:51 am
- Forum: Condensers/Cooling Methods
- Topic: As I build my shotgun condenser...
- Replies: 6
- Views: 3088
Re: As I build my shotgun condenser...
Nice work! For the copper, simply add some copper mesh between the line arm's elbow and the condenser. Careful not to use the copper --plated-- scrubbies, but rather, get the good stuff. Garden centers will sell rolls of pure copper mesh as a slug repellant. Available on-line if you don't have a loc...
- Wed Dec 18, 2013 3:42 pm
- Forum: Novice Distillers
- Topic: Getting hot dunder from bolier
- Replies: 46
- Views: 4411
Re: Getting hot dunder from bolier
I run the still in the evening, and just leave the dunder in the still until the next day....
- Sun Dec 15, 2013 6:00 am
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Rye bread whiskey
- Replies: 478
- Views: 150976
Re: Rye bread whiskey
If the distillate is coming-off the still with any color at all, you're either puking or your have some bad metals in the condenser!
- Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:11 pm
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Rye bread whiskey
- Replies: 478
- Views: 150976
Re: Rye bread whiskey
I followed your recipe to the letter!
- Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:32 am
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Rye bread whiskey
- Replies: 478
- Views: 150976
Re: Rye bread whiskey
I'm on my 6th generation right now; two 2 first ones used 100% of the backset, and the rest have used roughly 75%. Still ferments completely within a week or less. I shoot for an ABV of 5 to 6%; no more than that. I haven't removed any of the trub from the fermenter, and have not added any new yeast...
- Fri Nov 08, 2013 9:30 pm
- Forum: Grains
- Topic: Trouble malting barley
- Replies: 77
- Views: 49465
Re: Trouble malting barley
By definition, a single malt is made of an all malted grain bill. What you're suggesting would lean the flavor profile more toward an Irish whiskey, because the Irish, always the penny-wise, do exactly as you suggest. They use enough malt to convert the whole wash, and not more; the rest of the grai...
- Fri Nov 08, 2013 9:22 pm
- Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
- Topic: Malting corn, winter style
- Replies: 53
- Views: 8667
Re: Malting corn, winter style
I made a simple 3'x4' frame from 2x6 lumber, then lined it with a fine mesh metal screen. Don't staple the screen to the bottom of the frame, because your malt will find its way between screen and frame... Attache the screen to the top surface, and let it hang into the frame; this way, all your malt...
- Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:01 pm
- Forum: Recipe Development
- Topic: Rye whiskey help
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1005
Re: Rye whiskey help
How long has it been "working"? Some mashes take several weeks to complete.... Using two different yeasts is a bad idea, unless you really know what you're doing, because some yeast are 'killer yeasts' and will kill-off the other one. Won't stop your ferment, but you also don't get the ben...
- Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:22 pm
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Rye bread whiskey
- Replies: 478
- Views: 150976
Re: Rye bread whiskey
The amount of yeast to use for anything depends simply on how much patience you have. The more yeast you toss, the faster and more vigorously it will take off. You can go overboard with this, and the wash will literally explode on you, leaving a sticky mess all over your fermenting room. The only ri...
- Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:08 am
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Rye bread whiskey
- Replies: 478
- Views: 150976
Re: Rye bread whiskey
I found it a bit too raw in the white, but then, I don't typically like -any- whiskey in the white. And please re-read the early part of the thread; you're not going to use regular North American "rye" bread, which is mostly wheat with just enough rye to call it rye, and it's leavened and ...
- Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:23 am
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Rye bread whiskey
- Replies: 478
- Views: 150976
Re: Rye bread whiskey
I can give this recipe a well-deserved thumbs-up! A great drink!
I didn't find the correct rye bread in regular grocery stores and supermarkets, but I did find it in high end grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and such. Well worth the search!
I didn't find the correct rye bread in regular grocery stores and supermarkets, but I did find it in high end grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and such. Well worth the search!
- Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:14 am
- Forum: Mashing, fermenting, flavoring and aging related hardware
- Topic: Conical Fermenter
- Replies: 30
- Views: 4378
Re: Conical Fermenter
In beer making, we do a primary, then a secondary, fermentation. The primary lasts about a week; then we rack the beer to a secondary fermenter, leaving behind the trub and dead yeast and stuff, and finish fermenting for another week or two. This leads to a cleaner beer. With a conical fermenter, we...
- Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:54 pm
- Forum: Mashing, fermenting, flavoring and aging related hardware
- Topic: Conical Fermenter
- Replies: 30
- Views: 4378
Re: Conical Fermenter
I'd be concerned with rough welds harboring bacteria or other nasties, spoiling your efforts. Other than that, sounds do-able!
- Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:45 pm
- Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
- Topic: cleaning fermenters
- Replies: 35
- Views: 4103
Re: cleaning fermenters
Beer and/or wine maker have to get all anal about their fermenters, but we don't need to be. Keep it clean, decently sanitized, and you'll be fine. Use, at least, bleach to sanitize. Between ferments, I keep my fermenter(s) filled with a water and bleach solution, then rinse it completely and re-fil...
- Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:59 pm
- Forum: Novice Distillers
- Topic: copper scrubbers
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1523
Re: copper scrubbers
I got screwed with plated-copper scrubbies about a year ago. No fun! Ruined an entire batch! It was the same "name" brand that I'd used before, but I guess with the rising cost of copper, they're cheaping out and plating now. Simple way to check them is to wad-up a piece, and rub it vigoro...
- Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:52 pm
- Forum: Novice Distillers
- Topic: About letting the hooch air out. What about stripping runs?
- Replies: 6
- Views: 994
Re: About letting the hooch air out. What about stripping r
Go ahead and let the low wines air out for as long as you wish. You're not going to lose any usable alcohol. The only thing you will lose is a bit of the most volatile or volatiles, which we toss anyway. It'll help minimize smearing in your spirit run...
- Sat Jul 13, 2013 8:10 pm
- Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
- Topic: rum mash
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1440
Re: rum mash
I've forgotten a rum wash here and there for many --months--. It was just fine, and in fact was excellent. As long as you leave it closed-up so it won't get infected...
- Wed Mar 27, 2013 2:23 pm
- Forum: Novice Distillers
- Topic: Barley mash!
- Replies: 117
- Views: 12442
Re: Barley mash!
When you reflux, You are making a neutral product It takes a LOT of reflux to make a true neutral. A bit of reflux at the beginning will help compress and separate the heads, then you can run hard and without reflux to get the full-flavored hearts. I have run my pot still with my 3" flute's de...
- Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:08 am
- Forum: Novice Distillers
- Topic: Barley mash!
- Replies: 117
- Views: 12442
Re: Barley mash!
While it's hard, if not impossible, to completely separate the nastiest of the heads with a pot still, it can easily be done with a reflux column or plated column. But.... Packing your pot still's short column with copper or stainless steel scrubbies AND putting a strong fan blowing directly on it, ...
- Mon Mar 11, 2013 3:46 pm
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
- Replies: 546
- Views: 257599
Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
Your molasses has more sugar than feed molasses(as per Pugi's recipe), so I'd use less molasses, not less sugar. In fact, that IS what I do, as I use fancy molasses, too. Just use about 1/2 to 2/3 gallon(to a 5 gallon wash), then as much sugar as necessary to bring the SG to where you want it.
- Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:05 pm
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
- Replies: 546
- Views: 257599
Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
Ain't no microbes gonna live long enough in a 30/40% abv environment to cause us any trouble.....
- Thu Mar 07, 2013 3:25 pm
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
- Replies: 546
- Views: 257599
Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I like your suggestion of letting the hearts marry with the dunder before the spirit run, too. We still need to make a big heads and tails cut, because despite leaving them out from the strip runs, we run the strips hard enough to get a lot o...
- Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:54 am
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
- Replies: 546
- Views: 257599
Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
The gist of Pugi's method is that we remove the heads and tails from every strip, but save the oils and hearts, then put all the accumulated oils and hearts together for the spirit run. I had questioned the method because I just kept getting more and more oils, and they didn't seem to incorporate th...
- Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:30 am
- Forum: Tried and True Recipes
- Topic: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
- Replies: 546
- Views: 257599
Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"
had kinda a light bulb moment earlier.... When you take out the rum oils your just going down to like 20% ABV...but aren't you using all the dunder for your next wash? So if you didn't get the rum oils out and used the dunder, wouldn't you be essentially using the rum oils that are still in the dun...
- Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:21 pm
- Forum: Pot Distillation/Thumper and Design
- Topic: my copper is dissolving
- Replies: 41
- Views: 4882
Re: my copper is dissolving
I was just about to ask the same question..! Many, if not most, copper scrubbies are simply steel that's been plated with copper, and the copper comes-off in a run or two. Happened to me recently with the same brand of scrubbers I had used before, but this time, they turned out to be copper coated, ...
- Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:19 pm
- Forum: Recipe Development
- Topic: Partial Mash UJSSM Style
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1493
Re: Partial Mash UJSSM Style
If you're afraid that the SG is too high(I agree that it is a bit high..), then just split-off into two fermenters, and add enough water to each one to bring the SG to 1.04, for a quick, clean ferment. Nice job with the conversion, by the way! Bet this will be your best drink, yet. Once you get used...
- Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:23 am
- Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
- Topic: Corn cooking project
- Replies: 49
- Views: 6942
Re: Corn cooking project
And that's why I mentioned that I had never used a pressure canner.....
Thanks for clarifying!
Thanks for clarifying!
- Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:02 pm
- Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
- Topic: Corn cooking project
- Replies: 49
- Views: 6942
Re: Corn cooking project
I've never used a pressure canner, but I've used a pressure cooker in the kitchen a lot, and instead of waiting forever for it to cool down before opening it, I just put it in the sink and run water on it to cool it. Start with hot water so's not to shock the cooker and perhaps crack or warp it, the...
- Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:53 pm
- Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
- Topic: All barley malt wort
- Replies: 3
- Views: 432
Re: All barley malt wort
All grain can be slow to start, especially with bread yeast(which really do prefer molasses or sugar). An Ale yeast would help you see more activity, sooner, but you should be fine. And as the others have said, don't expect it to go all nuts like a sugarhead does...
- Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:50 pm
- Forum: Novice Distillers
- Topic: Re-running first gen rum?
- Replies: 7
- Views: 868
Re: Re-running first gen rum?
The entire reason we make "strip runs" and "spirit runs" is to even out all the generations. In other words, take everything you've collected in the first 4 or 5 gennies, and run them either separately in a spirit run, or add them all -along with- your 5th or 6th gennie, and run ...