Need a good all Rye recipe

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HooBilly
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Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by HooBilly »

I am looking for a good mostly rye recipe to play with. Have been trying to get close to the taste my grandfather made when I was a kid, back in the hills some 40 years ago. I believe he may have aged it in barrels with fruit in them. I can remember watching him fish something out of the still fire (apricots maybe?) and drop them into the barrels along with some other things. I wasnt really paying attention at that time, I was like 8 or 9. By the time I was old enough to pay closer attention, he was taking a long vacation, all paid for by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, so I missed to much to recreate. I know for sure that there are several gallons left hanging around, one of my Uncles broke out a gallon last Christmas, and the all sat around remembering Papas moonshine. It is by far the best rye I have ever tasted, and I have had more than a couple of tastes.. :) If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.. Thanks Yall
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Tater
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by Tater »

Try a search theirs several fokes who's done rye . My grandfather would char peaches in fire and add to his likker.
I use a pot still.Sometimes with a thumper
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LWTCS
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by LWTCS »

tater wrote:My grandfather would char peaches in fire and add to his likker.
Have you ever used that technique tater? Stones removed?

Sounds like "Southern Comfort" before there was such a thing.

Hope you comment further.
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Tater
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by Tater »

Yes Ive used it ya char the whole peach and try not to damage it anymore then ya can help (makes it easier to filter if your a mind to .Grandpa didn't filter ).Caramelizing peach dark.Add whole. I use large peach to a qt will add color/flavor to likker .
I use a pot still.Sometimes with a thumper
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LWTCS
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by LWTCS »

Since one would be adding some heat to the peach, would you say that a slightly less ripe peach would fare better than a completely ripe peach?
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Dnderhead
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by Dnderhead »

if you had a juicer you could make juice, peach/pair maybe pineapple for rum,,cook down until golden . add to taste
HooBilly
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by HooBilly »

Thanks for the input guys, I think I am going to try a recipe out, and try and age 2 gallons on some fruit. The closest thing I can remember tasteing like Papas rye was a bottle of Rock and Rye I found at a liquer store a few years back. Havent been able to find any like it since, just some cheap syrupy stuff that tasted more like sugar than fruit.

60 % Rye
20 % Soft White Wheat
20 % 6 Row Malted Barley
Ec-1118

Will age in un-toasted oak barrell with some fruit and see how it turns out.

Also wondered what I should use to clean an old, old copper still, it doesnt appear to have any leaks that I can see, havent run water through it yet to find out just looks very tarneshed. Its been out in a barn for 30 years now, I got it out and brought it out of the hills last summer, havent done much but look at it yet. As close as I can figure, its around 70 to 80 gallons with an almost alembic type top and maybe 6 inch round lyne tapering down. Would love to get this going, even just once.. Would make my Uncles proud. :) It definetly dwarfs my 15.5 gal pot still that I have been running Papas sour mash in for that last 10 years.
kiwistiller
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by kiwistiller »

wow, the still sounds awesome. pictures?

KS
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LWTCS
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by LWTCS »

kiwistiller wrote:wow, the still sounds awesome. pictures?
:wink: :wink: :wink:
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rad14701
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by rad14701 »

Don't worry too much about some patina... A good clean out for sterilization purposes should suffice... The patina adds character...
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Husker
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by Husker »

You SHOULD NOT remove the patina. The patina is hard, and keeps the copper from reacting/dissolving. When you remove patina, more forms, and this uses up more of the copper.

If it is green scaly 'copper rust', then you might want to clean that up just a touch.

Once you have done a tiny cleanup, run a little crappy sugar wash through it. DO NOT drink what comes out. It is simply to clean. Better yet, run a very weak vinegar wash first (couple gallons of water, and a half cup of white vinegar). In that run, you can check for leaks. It would be better to find leaks then, prior to running any ethanol, and fixing them up. The vinegar will also do some cleaning, and if weak enough, should not damage the patina. Then after this weak vinegar run, do a cheap sugar wash that you throw away.

DO NOT clean up the outside of the still. Leave that patina alone. Some of those old stills are pretty thin, if they were used a lot. Some of them are built like tanks. You will just have to do the best you can, to get that piece of history pumping out the juice again.

Also, be sure to rinse out the boiler GOOD between runs. Get that dunder out of there, and wash off all of the acid from the dunder. It will keep that antique working longer.

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HooBilly
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by HooBilly »

As soon as I can afford another camera( I got da ol ladys wet when we turned the canoe over in a very, very small rapid, long story, very embarassing) and post them. It currently has no worm or thumper barrell like Papa used. I think my cousins sold them for scrap copper, which is why I talked my uncles into letting me bring it back to Indiana. I am the only one of the boys to take an interest in Papas hobby, even though they nearly disowned me when they came up for Thanksgiving and saw I was using propane and " new fangled yeast stuff" instead of fire and bakers yeast.

Still, they had no problem drinking my hooch. They especially like the DWWG aged on clean oak, then a little toasted, but not charred oak. I have to thank all the folks here for the recipes and aging ideas I have picked up over the last several years here, and only wish I had registered earlier. I have been to many sites, and a few forums and this is by far the most respectible and polite place I have visited.

Thanks folks
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Re: Need a good all Rye recipe

Post by Hack »

You might want to check that old still for lead in the solder.
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