What'd ya'll make today?

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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hypnopooper
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by hypnopooper »

Making 100% unmalted rye in the mash tun as we speak. I'm using a 2lb-1gal grain water ratio. Rye has been milled to flour.
1. Correct the water PH to 5.2
2. Dough in in at 115F and hold for an hour, added ViscoSEB L
3. Heat mash to 185F hold for 1.5 hours, Add SEBstar HTL at 130F on the way up to 185f
4. Cool to 150F add SEBamyl GL
5. Cool to 90F and pitch usw-6 safspirit whiskey yeast.
6. Final measurement before fermentation is 18 brix or about 10% potential alcohol. :)
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

Just stripped my third and final batch of a enzyme-mashed wheat + oat whisky. All in I've got about 17L of low wines to run. Not sure if I'll get a chance to do the spirit run this weekend. Think I'm going to start mashing in some HBB.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Jonsmith8608 »

I did 5 16oz bottles of 100%corn syrup with 10 lbs sugar in 5 gallons
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by greggn »

Jonsmith8608 wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:49 pm I did 5 16oz bottles of 100%corn syrup with 10 lbs sugar in 5 gallons

Honestly, that doesn't sound promising. I'll be shocked if it doesn't stall.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bushman »

Making up some apple pie from some of the apple juice I produced recently.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Jonsmith8608 »

greggn wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:39 am
Jonsmith8608 wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:49 pm I did 5 16oz bottles of 100%corn syrup with 10 lbs sugar in 5 gallons

Honestly, that doesn't sound promising. I'll be shocked if it doesn't stall.
Why you think it will stall? I've done a sugar wash with 10 lbs sugar
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by greggn »

Jonsmith8608 wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:18 am
greggn wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:39 am
Jonsmith8608 wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:49 pm I did 5 16oz bottles of 100%corn syrup with 10 lbs sugar in 5 gallons

Honestly, that doesn't sound promising. I'll be shocked if it doesn't stall.
Why you think it will stall? I've done a sugar wash with 10 lbs sugar

Corn syrup not only contains glucose but maltose and other long-chain sugars. While yeast can metabolize maltose, and longer chains, they require the right combinations of nutrients in order to manufacture their own enzymes to do so. Yeast also consume sugars in a specific order so my concern is that your yeast may be stressed and unable to break down those polysaccharides once they've consumed all the monosaccharides.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by dieselduo »

Making a kolsch today
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

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Exciting Day: Spirit run on a big batch of Gin!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

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Stripping batch one of four - Straight Melter Honey Mead Shine. Took a good month and change to ferment dry from 1.070 using TOSNA 3.0 protocol. I’ll recycle the melter honey dunder into next ferment as well as a feints/oils cut into small batch spirit runs.. Very aromatic and unique.

I’m saving the D47 trub sediment for nutrients in next batch as well as kicking off with a starter. I’ll wash/clear about 1/2 for subsequent starters and boil the other half for nutes (plus fermaid O)..

I want to use a good amount of the dunder and will manage the pH in order to not stall.

Cheers!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bryan1 »

Ran my quince ferment I put down back in April today over 4 plates got just over 3 litres @90% so will check the cuts in the morning then onto French Oak for a year or more
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

Ran 3l of pear brandy feints (probably took too much feints) and 3l of OEG feints and refluxed them.
Got a fantastic 90%+ ABV "neutral" with some lovely pear, juniper and citrus flavours.
Thinking of just watering it down to 45% and make a flavoured vodka.
Thought I might call it a "Junipear" or a "Ginipear" vodka!
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Deplorable »

Finally got around to squeezing off the 3rd ferment of my all corn mash and cleaned the fermenter for mash number 4. I'm not really sure when Im going to get to run this, so it's sealed up in buckets until I can get to it.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Rum Agol »

Just stripped 40l of an all molly wash ended up with about 7L of low wines which i'll add to a previous batch for a future spirit run.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

First Yellow Label mash. 8kg of wheat in 25L of hot water. Going to make 3 batches, strip and spirit in the CCVM and hopefully get something fairly neutral for ginsperimenting.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

NormandieStill wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:25 am First Yellow Label mash. 8kg of wheat in 25L of hot water. Going to make 3 batches, strip and spirit in the CCVM and hopefully get something fairly neutral for ginsperimenting.
Any thoughts on the difference between a neutral made from all grains and a neutral made from a sugar wash?
In particular, thoughts on dryness, crispness, bite on the tongue etc?
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

CoogeeBoy wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 2:03 pm Any thoughts on the difference between a neutral made from all grains and a neutral made from a sugar wash?
In particular, thoughts on dryness, crispness, bite on the tongue etc?
Right now, none at all but I'll keep you posted in 3 weeks or so when it's done. I'm hoping for smoothness firstly and once I've tweaked the method, cheapness and efficiency.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Ran some gin that I prepared yesterday, getting ready for Xmas and the coming months of hot humid weather. It's hard to beat a large GnT when the thunder is rummbling and humidty is at 99%.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 12:22 am Ran some gin that I prepared yesterday, getting ready for Xmas and the coming months of hot humid weather. It's hard to beat a large GnT when the thunder is rummbling and humidty is at 99%.
20211014_154055.jpg
so you got those storms and hail yesterday too!

Huge weren't they.

Am waiting for my bottles to bottle my OEG for Xmas presents also. Keep safe young man.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

I small-batch spirit ran my second melter honey (of eight total in this series). From each ferment/strip cycle I get two small batch spirit runs so this was the second spirit run off that ferment/strip. Yielded approximately 1/2g @ 111 proof after cuts. I added one small toasted oak finger. First spirit run also yielded approx 1/2g @ 117 proof which I put on a few used bourbon oak fingers.. My second melter ferment (four total) is cruising along and has been transferred into carboys to finish out the last few gravity points and in addition to 24# of melter I also added 8# of local wildflower honey to that ferment. I'm expecting this series to take maybe 6-8 months with the long six week ferment/clear for each mead batch. I intend to set up a solera for this since the extended time frame lends itself nicely. Cleanup, transfers, etc are very nice without a bunch of spent grain to deal with and spreading out a 15-17g ferment every six to eight weeks also spreads out the cost of honey.. Also excited to do similar with molasses and agave syrups down the road after wine season free's up some fermenter space.

Cheers!
-j
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

Well, I didn't make anything today but..... I got some short grain rice on special and now I am going to try my first rice wine. I got a 5kg bag (Sunrise Hinata)and am hoping to get enough to warrant a distillation. Got my special yellow label Angel yeast, I know it can convert the rice without gelatinisation but would like to try that and compare.
I suspect my OCD gets in the way of me just focussing on one thing!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by ThomasBrewer »

Stripped a gen14 UJSM, started a gen15.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Yonder »

5 gallons of the best sweet cherry mead I ever had. Can’t wait for it to mellow with age.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

In the past two weeks, I've put down about 7 gallons of Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead from a large pot of 15 year old honey I was given. The honey was beautiful.

The last batch I made was 7 years ago and is very nice and is aging in a place that is hard to get at, so there is plenty left. It shouldn't run out before this next lot is ready. By the time this latest mead is ready, it will have been 20 years in the making.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

I blended some of my pear brandy. Problem now is I can't get any bottles so all my booze is in 2l and 3l jars until I get some!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by tombombadil »

I've been busy.

~6 gallons cyser - aka apple Mead
- I like to always have some oak aged sweet Mead and some apple Mead around. I'm down to my last few bottles of apple Mead so it's time to stock up.

5 gallons merlot from a wine kit
- I'm not a wine connoisseur, but I have recently discovered that most of the time, a $20 bottle of wine is much better that a $8 bottle of wine. I'm hoping the $140 wine kit makes wine as good as the $20 bottles I can get at the store. Last year I made a batch of the $70 wine kit and it's not very good. Hoping the higher price kit turns out better.

And last but not least, started the first mash, 75#s grain, for a HBB like bourbon that will fill my second barrel.
- corn, oats, wheat malt, honey malt, abbey yeast
- My wife has agreed to get me another 5 gallon barrel for Christmas so I'll have to have some bourbon ready to fill it. My first barrel is still holding last years chocolate bourbon. Coming up on a year here pretty soon. Not sure what I'll use for the second fill...
NZChris wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:29 pm In the past two weeks, I've put down about 7 gallons of Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead from a large pot of 15 year old honey I was given. The honey was beautiful.

The last batch I made was 7 years ago and is very nice and is aging in a place that is hard to get at, so there is plenty left. It shouldn't run out before this next lot is ready. By the time this latest mead is ready, it will have been 20 years in the making.
Wow, you do a good job of letting your Mead mature! How is it stored? Carboys? Bottles? I tend to bottle mine after a year or two. Have some that's going on 5 years old in bottles but nothing 7 years old. I just don't drink it very fast...
Last edited by tombombadil on Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by shadylane »

Chopped yellow dent corn cooked with steam.
SEBstar HTL and gluco enzymes.
When the mash finishes fermenting, it will be stripped using steam injection.
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NZChris
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

tombombadil wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:00 pm
NZChris wrote: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:29 pm In the past two weeks, I've put down about 7 gallons of Joe Mattioli's Ancient Orange Cinnamon Clove Mead from a large pot of 15 year old honey I was given. The honey was beautiful.

The last batch I made was 7 years ago and is very nice and is aging in a place that is hard to get at, so there is plenty left. It shouldn't run out before this next lot is ready. By the time this latest mead is ready, it will have been 20 years in the making.
Wow, you do a good job of letting your Mead mature! How is it stored? Carbons? Bottles? I tend to bottle mine after a year or two. Have some that's going on 5 years old in bottles but nothing 7 years old. I just don't drink it very fast...
I follow Joe's instructions and bottle after two months using recycled screw cap 330ml RTD bottles as that size suits our drinking habits. The dregs get filtered and their ABV boosted to prevent bacterial activity, then get used for Glayva type whiskey liqueur experiments.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Rrmuf »

Working and travelling, BUT I am monitoring a ferment I kicked off at the still site by remote control. I am loving the Tilt hydrometers I got a while ago!!!! It is a nice piece of kit, especially when your still site has WIFI access! Between that and some smart plugs, I can turn off the fermenter heat when the SG hits a constant .993 and it can start to clear. I expect to be back there within a day or two after it is done.
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Does any body else have experience with Tilt hydrometers?
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

I don't have a Tilt, but I do have an iSpindel. I've used it a few times for sugar washes and beer and have a plan for a sort of cage that might make it usable for AG ferments. I tend to use it to monitor an initial batch and if it has worked I repeat it without the iSpindel. At the minute it logs to a French beer brewing site, but at some point I might deploy an old PC or a RPi as the monitoring hub. I have plans to add some levels of monitoring and automation to the still at some point so it wouldn't be out of place.

My fermenting is currently all done indoors in a well-insulated house. Even in winter we rarely get worse than a 5C swing in temperature so my ferments largely run cool (around 23C) and are unheated. I like the idea of remote / automatic cold crashing based on a detected end of fermentation.
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