Just joined

New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
** Your first post MUST go here. Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your interest in distilling. Any posts asking distilling questions will be deleted. **

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
Virginnybouy
Novice
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:30 pm
Location: Humboldt county

Just joined

Post by Virginnybouy »

I’m a good ‘ol boy from the Shenandoah valley started making whiskey as a teenager as my neighbor did it & I had to cut through his yard to get down to the river to go fishin. One day I asked him what was up and he showed me some corn mash that was fermenting pretty swiftly & let me take a nip of some he’d ran off the week before. I was bout 17 at the time & he & my pops had already invited him over to watch foot ball and drink beers with us …. Any way I got into whiskey makin and eventually made my first still with the help of my dad & I ran my first batch at the on my 18th birthday. Since then I’ve made so much good whiskey & I now live and work in Northern California as a cannabis farmer ….about a decade ago I let a buddy of mine who knew hank 3rd personally take a hat down to the Bay Area to share with Hank after a concert he’d played & he gave it to him any how to make a long story short the Jar ended up at a whiskey tasting event and the judges deemed my squeezins the best they’d tasted …… I know that’s a bit of a huge Bragg comin in right off the bat , but I’ve been resin some forums & couldn’t help but get the urge to lend some of my own advice to soma y’all’s wundrins ….. I’m sippin a batch I ran two nights ago I accidentally let too much grain solids in my little 5 gallon reflux from stillspirits.com outa New Zealand … any way it’s gotta electric element & the solids scorched a bit to it & I must say it’s not all that bad ….. almost like scotch …. I’ve had worse scorched liked but this is just a touch of the scorch …. Any way can’t wait to meet some of y’all and have fun chattin it up talkin shop & what not .
User avatar
Twisted Brick
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3760
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:54 pm
Location: Craigh Na Dun

Re: Just joined

Post by Twisted Brick »

Welcome Virginnybouy!

Hope you enjoy your stay here.

TB
“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”

- W.C. Fields

My EZ Solder Shotgun
My Steam Rig and Manometer
Corn Cracker
Swill Maker
Posts: 377
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:25 am
Location: Southern U.S

Re: Just joined

Post by Corn Cracker »

Welcome, that's an interesting back story.
"To ease the pressures of this world here's the way i got it figured, the thing to do for me and you is to drink lots of good corn liquor"
Buck Owens
Rum Agol
Swill Maker
Posts: 216
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:22 am
Location: Scotland

Re: Just joined

Post by Rum Agol »

Welcome, great story and im sure you will enjoy this community
User avatar
jonnys_spirit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3623
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:58 am
Location: The Milky Way

Re: Just joined

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Welcome Virginia! I had a scorch or two as well and don't enjoy it lol - kept it and aged it and still didn't enjoy it after a year - ended up as fire-starter fluid... Maillardizing (toasting) some oats or other grains before mashing now that's a different result... Looking forward to more input though!

Cheers,
j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
User avatar
Demy
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3073
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:45 pm

Re: Just joined

Post by Demy »

Welcome!
Virginnybouy
Novice
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:30 pm
Location: Humboldt county

Re: Just joined

Post by Virginnybouy »

Yeah man I was pretty disappointed in myself for being a bit too hasty ….. normally what I do is decant my pilot run into a vessel & put that into the freezer ….. continuously check it til the solids drop & sink , siphon the clarified beer off the top of the cooled vessel and then let that Beer stabilize its temperate before I turn on my “ electric element in my “small pilot batch still” which is my stillspirits.com reflux unit……. I’ve owned for almost 20 years ….. what a great machine and I fully recommend it to the novice beginner …. It’s a great little still and it’s not alll that small it’s actually “just the right size” for home distillation. Ok that was a tangent …. Back to the point … this unit is very finicky when it comes to scorching grain solids ….. so finning is key to a good flavor …. You gotta fine …. I prefer to use chilling as my method of finning , & it works well sometimes I can get away with not finning and get the beer into the unit and run it and its glorious but that takes more time …… I was too anxious & threw it in & ran it …… it was a great recipe it’s a model of Jacob spears original bourbon 51% flaked hydrolized corn , & 30% malted rye & 19% 6 row malted barley . It rocks ! I love this recipe. I cook the corn first … I soak the flaked corn in cold water first over night then I drain the water into a pot &fire up the cooker & get it going when it’s about 170°F i throw the soaked corn into the water …. Let cook then top off to my target volume stirring like hell all the way & then I let that shit boil til it’s good and soft …. Completely hydrolized ….. then …. I put in my immersion chiller …. Run water til it drops to 120° F add my malted grains & then raise the temp slowly til it reaches 126-127°F then I let rest for 20 minutes ….. then I warm it up to 155°F ….. let stand for a couple hours …. Then I warm that shit up to 170°let hold & slowly drop
To 169 ….. then I chill it to 80 ° & add glucoamylase wait a bit then pitch my yeast & I leave my grain in …….
User avatar
Saltbush Bill
Site Mod
Posts: 9648
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:13 am
Location: Northern NSW Australia

Re: Just joined

Post by Saltbush Bill »

This is the Welcome Center, not the " chat about anything area" :thumbdown: ..it is reserved for your Introduction and greetings from members.
Please use another appropriate area for chit chat.
Post Reply