What'd ya'll make today?

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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

Post by Deplorable »

8Ball wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:28 pm
Deplorable wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 4:58 pm
8Ball wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:26 am
Toxxyc wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:05 am I don't want it overly corn-forward but I do want that classic corn sweetness as well. Would 75/25 barley/corn be a good volume?
Yes, that would be very similar to NC Hooch’s tried & true Carolina bourbon.
Actually opposite. 75%barley, and 25% corn.
Ah, yea. I focused on the “want that classic corn sweetness” comment. My bad.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by rubberduck71 »

I did a 3x25L fermenter experiment of corn meal with Angel Yeast yellow label.

It's aging in glass with oak spirals.

QUITE tasty & difficult to keep my paws off of it. Luckily, I did a sugarhead of the spent grains, which should help keep my greedy paws at bay (for a while).

Next up: SCD CROW bourbon, but with the rye content on the majority side...

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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

So I don't really want to go for too much corn, not because of flavour but mostly because it's a pain in the ass to work with.

THAT being said I've only ever worked with raw corn, not hot rolled. What does pre-gelatinized corn do in a mash? Does it also create a thick "porridge" in the mash, or not really?

Also, would 25% barley be enough to convert the 75% corn in the mash, or should I simply get myself a bottle of enzymes to add to ensure I get proper conversion?
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by still_stirrin »

Toxxyc wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:44 pm…What does pre-gelatinized corn do in a mash? Does it also create a thick "porridge" in the mash, or not really?
Yes, it will…maybe even more so. But, it has been gelatinized, so you can just go straight to the saccarification step. No need to heat to boiling again.

Toxxyc wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:44 pm…Also, would 25% barley be enough to convert the 75% corn in the mash, or should I simply get myself a bottle of enzymes to add to ensure I get proper conversion?
Enzymes are ALWAYS GOOD to have on hand. Get some.

But yes, with 25% malted barley, it will convert a grainbill with 75% corn (even flaked).
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

OK cool, thanks. The enzymes are very very cheap here these days so I'll get some anyway. And I think I'll go with the 75/25 corn/barley then. Sounds great, actually!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Made up a bottle of my 2019 Mezcal de Pechuga. Very nice.

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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Corsaire »

What went in it? Chicken or turkey, any other botanicals? I might get some mezcal to redistill.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Chicken & seasonal fruit.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by River Rat »

I ran a second run on 5 gallons of panela low wine. Straight off the still I was surprised how similar it is to all molasses. Definitely lighter on flavor, but the flavor seems to be the same. Not that it's a good or bad thing, just an observation from a newbie to the rum world.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

I made bread. But due to work constraints and screwed up timing I let it rise for a full 36 hours before cooking. The yeast had started digesting the gluten and it reeked of beer. The bread was a little flat, but very tasty.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

NZChris wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:08 am Made up a bottle of my 2019 Mezcal de Pechuga. Very nice.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... CAY&uact=5
I just learned that people put chicken in their booze. WHAT THE HELL
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by bluc »

And rattlesnakes
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Toxxyc wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:06 pm
NZChris wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:08 am Made up a bottle of my 2019 Mezcal de Pechuga. Very nice.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... CAY&uact=5
I just learned that people put chicken in their booze. WHAT THE HELL
A few years ago I read about Hamburger Gin. I looked it up: https://www.diffordsguide.com/beer-wine ... burger-gin

It was an April Fools joke and had sucked in the person who had posted it.

So .... I made my finest hamburger patties using the appropriate herbs and spices, BBQd them to perfection, smoked them over JD barrel chips, then ran a gin with them and toasted bread in the basket. I had a swig a couple of days ago when I came across the bottle. It's very nice.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

NormandieStill wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:01 pm I made bread. But due to work constraints and screwed up timing I let it rise for a full 36 hours before cooking. The yeast had started digesting the gluten and it reeked of beer. The bread was a little flat, but very tasty.
Hmm, I didn't know you could let bread rise for too long and/or that was what would happen.
What about sourdough though? Those yeasts / starters can be decades old, even more than one hundred years from what I understand
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Corsaire »

Toxxyc wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:06 pm I just learned that people put chicken in their booze. WHAT THE HELL
The result's quite tasty. People have been fatwashing bourbon with bacon for a couple of years as well.
Question is Chris, did you eat the chicken after the run?
It's a hell of a way to make chicken soup ;-)
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

3649CE5E-2A89-457C-AEEE-7FBB211CDF30.jpeg
Vacuum degassing one of three melter honey meads. Took a while to ferment dry even with TOSNA schedule and pH buffer adjustment. No hurry on these and i’ve got three more ferments worth to do so this one is for harvesting honey dunder, feints, and a couple small batch spirit runs to test out cuts.

Vacuum degassing pulls all the sediment into suspension again but without CO2 nucleation it’ll fall out quickly for a nice clear mead to strip.

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

Post by The Baker »

CoogeeBoy wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:30 am
NormandieStill wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:01 pm I made bread. But due to work constraints and screwed up timing I let it rise for a full 36 hours before cooking. The yeast had started digesting the gluten and it reeked of beer. The bread was a little flat, but very tasty.
Hmm, I didn't know you could let bread rise for too long and/or that was what would happen.
What about sourdough though? Those yeasts / starters can be decades old, even more than one hundred years from what I understand
You have there two different propositions.
A non sequitur.
One statement does not follow the other.

Yeast in storage is one thing.
And a sourdough in storage may need a little nutrition and a cool temperature. You can find information on that.

But yeast in a bread dough is munching on the nutrients in the dough and that is quite different.
It can become 'worked out', with certain times and temperatures.
And it can reek...

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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

CoogeeBoy wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:30 am Hmm, I didn't know you could let bread rise for too long and/or that was what would happen.
What about sourdough though? Those yeasts / starters can be decades old, even more than one hundred years from what I understand
It was also a bread made with a poolish (a sort of starter that, as best as I can tell, deliberately stresses the yeast which adds flavour and texture). As Geoff says, it can rise for too long and then starts to affect the dough in other ways than just making it fluffy. I'm far from an expert on this. I have a technique which I use for making bread, but from time to time something goes awry. It smelled a lot like I made solid beer!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Corsaire wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 4:19 am
Toxxyc wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:06 pm I just learned that people put chicken in their booze. WHAT THE HELL
The result's quite tasty. People have been fatwashing bourbon with bacon for a couple of years as well.
Question is Chris, did you eat the chicken after the run?
It's a hell of a way to make chicken soup ;-)
The breast is inedible. Overcooked, tough, dry, bitter, just plain nasty. It goes into the compost with the rest of the ingredients.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by MihiT »

Distilling off a "Sunday Roast" Whisky... ferment was kumara (native sweet potato) and corn.
Yield is indicating 13% wash, which is surprising since by OG-FG there should only be 6% there...
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

MihiT wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 1:33 pm Distilling off a "Sunday Roast" Whisky... ferment was kumara (native sweet potato) and corn.
Yield is indicating 13% wash, which is surprising since by OG-FG there should only be 6% there...
Enzymes in the kumara might have been doing some converting for you.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

The Baker wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:32 am
CoogeeBoy wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:30 am
NormandieStill wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:01 pm I made bread. But due to work constraints and screwed up timing I let it rise for a full 36 hours before cooking. The yeast had started digesting the gluten and it reeked of beer. The bread was a little flat, but very tasty.
Hmm, I didn't know you could let bread rise for too long and/or that was what would happen.
What about sourdough though? Those yeasts / starters can be decades old, even more than one hundred years from what I understand
You have there two different propositions.
A non sequitur.
One statement does not follow the other.

Yeast in storage is one thing.
And a sourdough in storage may need a little nutrition and a cool temperature. You can find information on that.

But yeast in a bread dough is munching on the nutrients in the dough and that is quite different.
It can become 'worked out', with certain times and temperatures.
And it can reek...

Geoff
Thank you Geoff and NormandieStill
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

10 litres of EOG Gin, I put the citrus peel in the vapour path this time, boy did that make a difference, I'm afraid it may have been too much citrus upfront.
Will taste tomorrow and if I have stuffed it up, will be back looking for advice on how to moderate that citrus.
Fingers crossed.
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

The simple answer is .....regardless of vapor infusion or Maceration ....use less....don't over think stuff.
Best advice I got , is lash out n buy some real precise scales....ones that weigh down to 0.10 of a gram...weigh everything ..keep notes....$30-40 bucks will do it .....less than a good bottle of gin.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

CoogeeBoy wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:06 am 10 litres of EOG Gin, I put the citrus peel in the vapour path this time, boy did that make a difference, I'm afraid it may have been too much citrus upfront.
Will taste tomorrow and if I have stuffed it up, will be back looking for advice on how to moderate that citrus.
Fingers crossed.
OEG uses far more citrus than I currently do.

To fix it, I would run a batch with no citrus and blend them.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

Thank you NZChris, I will water down to 45% today and let it rest for a day then taste it. I did notice the citrus came through early and I think the back end of the hearts have less citrus, will do a little blending and see what comes of it but otherwise, already started the ferments for the next batch!

Just FYI, I steeped some star anise and some cloves to see what came through over the last week, really like the star anise, the cloves were a bit underwhelming. Was thinking I might blend a bottle or 2 with some star anise "essence" and see what it comes out like.

Ordered my bottles for bottling, won't get those until end October, things must be busy pre-Christmas!
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CoogeeBoy »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 3:17 am The simple answer is .....regardless of vapor infusion or Maceration ....use less....don't over think stuff.
Best advice I got , is lash out n buy some real precise scales....ones that weigh down to 0.10 of a gram...weigh everything ..keep notes....$30-40 bucks will do it .....less than a good bottle of gin.
Thanks SBB, I did drift from the % typically used for a gin bill. I just stuck with the OEG recipe and scaled it up, of course, that doesnt account for different size fruits etc.

Got a good set of scales already and used them for the juniper, coriander and cardomon but didnt for the citrus!
Taking a break while I get a new still completed....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

0.2 of a gram per 2L of 40ish abv boiler charge , works for me.
Your mileage /tastes may vary.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by tombombadil »

I've got two things going at the moment.

I have a sweet potato mash to run. 21#s of sweet potato with enough water to get it to 5.5 gallons of volume ended up being 1.045 s.g. so I added a few pounds of sugar, ended up at 1.065. I used some belgian ale yeast because I had it handy. I did this one on a whim, just curious how much sugar I could get and what it would taste like.

I also started a peach brandy. I got 150#s of peaches for $0.75/#. I'm not using any sugar, just mashing them up, pureeing with a sharpened mortar mixer, adding some pectin enzyme and 71b wine yeast. Hopefully I can get a gallon of bandy out of it.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Jonsmith8608 »

Mashing in kiwi as we speak.
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