What'd ya'll make today?

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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

Post by Squirrel_Ess_Gen »

Drank about 4 fingers worth of my corn/sweetpotatoe/oat whiskey. Its sitting now at 90 proof. I put s bit of water into it.

It's less than a week off the pipe and is my 1st attempt at a all grain whiskey ( other than booners I refluxed). Definitely not harsh at all I an can detect the sweet potatoe character. Not great but time will tell. When I get some more I'll oak and age it for a while.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

Iv done alot of reading and writing and screenshots.
Iv dug way back in the archives here to find what I think I need.
Iv received help and criticism from other members.( all of it very welcome and appreciated)
Soooo. Today I made a sugar wash and added some corn for flavor.
I heated my cracked corn to 170F for 3 hours. It got very thick and porridge like. Just like you guys said it would.
I let it cool to 155F and added my amylase to sit for 90 min. Turned very watery after the 90 min. ( again just like you guys said it would)
I then cooled down to 85F and added my multivitamin and some boiled yeast for nutrients( my DAP is on the way).
Then I aerated by pouring back and fourth between pails.
Took a gravity reading and got 1.1( I'm sure this is a little high from what iv researched)
Added my yeast( 14 grams bakers)
Started working about 15 min after I added the yeast.
After running my first batch through my pot collecting in 20 jars and blending my hearts( what I figured were hearts) tested to 115 proof. I'm guessing this is also low for the numerous mistakes I made.
I will wait now and see how my 2nd turns out.
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

E41087DB-01ED-4D15-8F00-1959B44EBC69.jpeg
Stripping the last bit off my AG and mashing in a little bit of starchy grains and topping up with blackstrap for second ferment on leftover spent grains. Boiling hot backset, enzymes, and a few fun malts - pH correction if needed - pitch onto spent grains at temp and top up with water and blackstrap as needed to estimate 10% fermentable.

Cheers!
-j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Deplorable »

Ordered all the bits-n-pieces to build a power controller for someone needing it.
Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Deplorable »

Made a few labels for the "house" bottles. These are what I fill from the aging vessel for the bar.
house whiskey lable.jpg
House bourbon.jpg
Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Surinam Cherry Gin. Replaced all citrus with the cherry, it's leaves and some fresh Sichuan peppers.

A very nice sipper at 45% even though it is hours old. Unfortunately, I only had one cherry, so the batch is tiny. I know where there are a couple of bushes a couple of hundred miles away, but Covid lock downs have meant I haven't had a chance to check them out.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bushman »

Kümmel, in the Scandinavian Countries called Aquavit Liqueur made from some of my neutrals.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by tombombadil »

Started a mash for some neutral. Kitchen sink vodka. Just used what I had left over.

19.5# white wheat malt
16# corn
25# quick oats
Enzymes
Bread yeast

I meant to be more like 20#s of each but that's what I had on hand. I'm sure it'll turn out fine.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by still_stirrin »

I’ve been working on this all week. Just finished it this afternoon.
stock pot potstill head
stock pot potstill head
1-1/2” copper riser with a 7x 3/8” tube shotgun product condenser, just like mine. This one is for my nephew. Hope he likes it.
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My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by still_stirrin »

I made this yesterday. Wheat & rice bran sugar wash.
sugar wash
sugar wash
Bubbling slow, but steady. We’ll see how it turns out.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

Today I made SBB's Molasses rum recipe. It's been 2 hours and it is off like a rocket. That airlock ain't going in right now. Lots of foam. Can't wait
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Finished up and blended cuts for a bourbon spirit run.

25# Blue Hopi
25# White corn
5# Red Wheat
5# White Wheat
5# Blonde Roast Oat Malt
5# Carastan Malt
7.5# Crystal Rye Malt
7.5# Munich Malt
10# Quick Oats

Proofed my heart cut to 120pf and topped up the bloody bear bourbon barrel for a red white and blue blend.

Tapped in the bung and there’s no testing spigot so it’ll be few and far between. I’ve got one gallon extra sitting in glass on oak fingers to top up.

Cheers!
-j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by General47 »

12.6 liters of 45% blue berry Gin
from 25 liters of sugar wash at 9% and 25 Liters of wine at about 12%

Gin:
2 parts Juniper (Its about 30mls per part)
1 part coriander
1 teaspoon ground star anise
1 teaspoon cloves
6 or so all spice
all ground up and vapour infused through the gin basket

Then macerate on blue berries
To alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems. ~Homer Simpson
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Metalking00 »

Did the spirit run on some agave nectar wash which came out pretty good, and made a few bottles of gin, and a bottle of gine mare. The gin mare is interesting, the olives came through in a way that makes the gin taste almost like a dirty martini if you had just taken a bit of savory meat. Pretty good!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Evil_Dark »

Lot of stuff going on every week... I't been only couples months that I began to distill, and I already have way over 20 distillation done!
Past weekend I distilled a DME mash, and turned out good! I kept 1L for long term aging, and the rest for nuclear rapid aging to see the potential.
I made also an traditional all grain mash, I realized that i'm far from being well equipend to make a real mash!- Started in a 5gal tun, it gave me a final mash of 2.5 gal at 1.060. Very fun to make, but a lot of PITA... Will purchase some brewer equipment to help preparing a bigger volume mash. Found a used Tun of 15 gal, with the bottom grain screen. Looks a lot easier to use than the brewer bag!
Start to look on the grain bill effect on the spirit taste. I do test also the reflux way to make pure whisky regarding the Odin's techniques. Very interesting! Here in canada, there is no max ABV required for whisky production.
A lot to learn and to play with!

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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

Mashing is something that scales nicely. It seems to take about the same amount of effort and time to mash 30kg as it does 3kg (If you have the equipment).
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Evil_Dark »

I have bottled some nice whisky yesterday night, and while tasting different batches with different grain bills and different wood aging and techniques, I am still surpized how the wood can affect the taste result! A spirit (UJSSM) that came very hot and "burny" out of the still, turned out smooth and calm after 4 cycles of nuclear aging and 3 weeks on wood!
It amazes me!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

Today I bought 18kg (39.6lbs) of pure honey. I will make 2-1gallon jugs with 3.5lbs honey in each. I want to make sure it goes we'll before investing all my honey in one shot.I wanted to try some mead so
Lots of digging told me I better use "Joe's recipe. So ancient orange it is. I followed the recipe exactly as he said. I didn't even use my grandma's yeast she bought years before she died. :D . New stuff for me.
Been 1/2 hour and here comes the foam. I give some feedback in a couple months or so.
Oh by the way I get the honey for 20 dollars (Canadian :lol: ) for 3kg. So about 10 bucks to make a gallon plus some spices etc.
20220112_200738.jpg
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by tombombadil »

Bradster68 wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:04 pm Today I bought 18kg (39.6lbs) of pure honey. I will make 2-1gallon jugs with 3.5lbs honey in each. I want to make sure it goes we'll before investing all my honey in one shot.I wanted to try some mead so
Lots of digging told me I better use "Joe's recipe. So ancient orange it is. I followed the recipe exactly as he said. I didn't even use my grandma's yeast she bought years before she died. :D . New stuff for me.
Been 1/2 hour and here comes the foam. I give some feedback in a couple months or so.
Oh by the way I get the honey for 20 dollars (Canadian :lol: ) for 3kg. So about 10 bucks to make a gallon plus some spices etc.20220112_200738.jpg
JAO is a really great place to start. Honey, orange, spice, what could go wrong?
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

tombombadil wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 8:44 am
Bradster68 wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:04 pm Today I bought 18kg (39.6lbs) of pure honey. I will make 2-1gallon jugs with 3.5lbs honey in each. I want to make sure it goes we'll before investing all my honey in one shot.I wanted to try some mead so
Lots of digging told me I better use "Joe's recipe. So ancient orange it is. I followed the recipe exactly as he said. I didn't even use my grandma's yeast she bought years before she died. :D . New stuff for me.
Been 1/2 hour and here comes the foam. I give some feedback in a couple months or so.
Oh by the way I get the honey for 20 dollars (Canadian :lol: ) for 3kg. So about 10 bucks to make a gallon plus some spices etc.20220112_200738.jpg
JAO is a really great place to start. Honey, orange, spice, what could go wrong?
I see you like the mead. Do you do JAO or got another you like?
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
tombombadil
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by tombombadil »

Bradster68 wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:01 pm I see you like the mead. Do you do JAO or got another you like?
JAO is pretty good, like a lot of mead makers that's the one I made first and a few times since then.

I like to have something fruity, an apple pie mead and an oak aged sweet mead around. I don't drink it very fast anymore so I end up doing a batch every couple years or so.

Sweet mead is pretty simple, often called sack mead or show mead. Just honey, water, yeast, nutrients and some form of oak. I tend to use oak cubes in mead/wine.

Blueberry mead is pretty simple, just like a show mead but add a bunch of crushed blueberries to the fermentation and a bunch more when it's almost done fermenting. Same process for most fruit meads really.

Apple pie mead is also simple, just use apple juice instead of water, then add some of your favorite apple pie spices. Musselmans apple cider, the cloudy one, seems to turn out the best mead. I've tried other brands and have been disappointed so far. Unfortunately the price seems to keep going up on that one.

Good luck in your mead journey!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by RockinRockies »

Filled the boiler with 3 gallons Concord Brandy at 55% that I didn't like after 2 years
7 gallons of infected fresh picked Concord wine. (I wanted to make a high octane sugar wine but forgot about it and it had so much head space. I dumped in 3oz olive nation blueberry extract
3 gallons of unknown hand picked wine. Also, tried to salvage it with too much headspace.

The total alcohol content was 20%
Just getting the reflux going on five plates in a 4-in column.

Hopefully it'll be decent enough to turn into blueberry panty dropper
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

tombombadil wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:38 am
Bradster68 wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:01 pm I see you like the mead. Do you do JAO or got another you like?
JAO is pretty good, like a lot of mead makers that's the one I made first and a few times since then.

I like to have something fruity, an apple pie mead and an oak aged sweet mead around. I don't drink it very fast anymore so I end up doing a batch every couple years or so.

Sweet mead is pretty simple, often called sack mead or show mead. Just honey, water, yeast, nutrients and some form of oak. I tend to use oak cubes in mead/wine.

Blueberry mead is pretty simple, just like a show mead but add a bunch of crushed blueberries to the fermentation and a bunch more when it's almost done fermenting. Same process for most fruit meads really.

Apple pie mead is also simple, just use apple juice instead of water, then add some of your favorite apple pie spices. Musselmans apple cider, the cloudy one, seems to turn out the best mead. I've tried other brands and have been disappointed so far. Unfortunately the price seems to keep going up on that one.

Good luck in your mead journey!

This is awsome info. I few good tips here and my mead making just jumped to a new level.
Thanks so much for your time and info.
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by tombombadil »

Bradster68 wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:02 am This is awsome info. I few good tips here and my mead making just jumped to a new level.
Thanks so much for your time and info.
One last piece of advice (then I'll shut up since this is not a mead forum) is that a must (mead before it's fermented) is lacking in nutrients. JAO uses fruit (orange and raising) for nutrients. I think you'll eventually find that you may want to use commercially prepared nutrients for your mead ferments. Google TOSNA, or look here: https://www.meadmakr.com/ for info on the process.

The nutrients are pretty cheap compared to the cost of honey, fruit, wine yeast. Most people think it's worth it. Basically to get a quick, clean and complete fermentation you need to add nutrients. Without adding nutrients results may vary...

If you really like JAO then just keep doing that. But if you want to make other recipes then you will probably get better results following TOSNA or something similar.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

tombombadil wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:11 am
Bradster68 wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:02 am This is awsome info. I few good tips here and my mead making just jumped to a new level.
Thanks so much for your time and info.
One last piece of advice (then I'll shut up since this is not a mead forum) is that a must (mead before it's fermented) is lacking in nutrients. JAO uses fruit (orange and raising) for nutrients. I think you'll eventually find that you may want to use commercially prepared nutrients for your mead ferments. Google TOSNA, or look here: https://www.meadmakr.com/ for info on the process.

The nutrients are pretty cheap compared to the cost of honey, fruit, wine yeast. Most people think it's worth it. Basically to get a quick, clean and complete fermentation you need to add nutrients. Without adding nutrients results may vary...

If you really like JAO then just keep doing that. But if you want to make other recipes then you will probably get better results following TOSNA or something similar.
Good to know. It's filed away for safe keeping. Thanks again.
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Yummyrum »

Put down 200litres of All molasses Rum wash using Salty’s Pressure cleaner method . :thumbup:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=71293#p7530801

Ran second half of a Neutral spirit run in the 2” VM .
Although I have a 4” 2Metre packed column VM for such occasions , I find it mote relaxing to drag out the 2” …. even if the boiler is smaller and I have to do it in two or more runs .
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Deplorable »

I squeezed a ferment this morning.
20220115_122453.jpg
Recovered 23.5 gallons to clear.
20220115_122418.jpg
After I cleaned up, I started a power controller build for a prior member on here.
20220115_132033.jpg
20220115_164048.jpg
20220115_173956.jpg
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Caraway Havarti cheese.
I've been alternating between cheese and likker for the past week. Yesterday was a Sugar Shine spirit run, the day before was Ash Cheese, before that was the stripping runs, before that was haloumi, before that was a very special gin run with a rare ingredient.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bradster68 »

Today I made a Ted fast ferment. Followed recipe exactly as shown. And wow is it going crazy an hour later. Glad I left some head space. Gonna do a stripping run and save till I have enough to run through my column.
Only thing I'm worried about is that I live on an island and supplies are sometimes hard to find. So I used multivitamin. (The only 1 i could get locally). Hope it's good enough.
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NormandieStill »

I started a new batch of BB's rum a couple of days ago (with molasses that aren't contaminated with potassium sorbate!). And yesterday afternoon I started two batches of Yellow Label + wheat for a GNS.
"I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo

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