What'd ya'll make today?

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Picked up two 50lbs bags of corn and a 50lbs bag of oats. I’ll need to order some other grains and plan on running some bourbon.

Earlier in the weekend I mashed in two brutes full of HBB which is fermenting nicely now so will be doing at least two kr three more for that run.

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

Post by Expat »

Second feints run, smaller this time, yielding 1.5 gallons of neutral at azeo. But now I've used up all my saved fients, it's time to pack up the bok and get stripping my HBB which is clearing nicely post squeeze. Almost ready for a second rack. :D
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

A six hour Carter Head distillation making a Bombay Sapphire style gin. Fresh off the still it is nice as a sipper and in a G&T.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CuWhistle »

Took 11 litres of around 30% UJ strip from 50 litres of cleared wash. Better yield than I expected. Took 7 1/2 hours including 2 X 1 hour boils. They started at around 60% warm and I stopped both at about 20%. Further than I usually go and I took 250 ml of the front end both times so that's 11.5 litres total. UJ just keeps giving and giving. Still got the same amount to do tomorrow and then the full fermenter again to finish up next week.

I also bought the bag of Microbarley I meant to try 6 years ago. Looking forward to giving it a try with some enzyme pretty soon.

Full time job this.
Last edited by CuWhistle on Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fizzix
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by fizzix »

CuWhistle wrote:I also bought the bag of Microbarley...
Microbarley?? As in micronized horse cereal?
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by MtRainier »

NZChris wrote:A six hour Carter Head distillation making a Bombay Sapphire style gin. Fresh off the still it is nice as a sipper and in a G&T.
Nice! Can you give more details about what was in the basket and what was in the boiler and how you did it? I've done a few OEG and would like to try something different. I have a Carter head but never used it yet.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CuWhistle »

fizzix wrote:
CuWhistle wrote:I also bought the bag of Microbarley...
Microbarley?? As in micronized horse cereal?
That the stuff. I'm curious to see what can be done with it. I asked about it and was given some advice on it here years ago but never got around to it. There is a short thread on micronised barley from that time.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=43562&p=7127181&hi ... y#p7127181

The original links to the products don't work anymore but it is just micronised horse barley.
Last edited by CuWhistle on Tue Jul 09, 2019 3:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

MtRainier wrote:
NZChris wrote:A six hour Carter Head distillation making a Bombay Sapphire style gin. Fresh off the still it is nice as a sipper and in a G&T.
Nice! Can you give more details about what was in the basket and what was in the boiler and how you did it? I've done a few OEG and would like to try something different. I have a Carter head but never used it yet.
I used the botanical list on the bottle, steeped overnight, (sometimes I don't), put the liquor in the boiler and the botanicals in the basket, ran at very low Watts to get six hours running.

My Carter Head is dry at the end of the run. If yours isn't, you need to fix that by insulating it to minimize heat loss and the consequent condensation. Search for images of the Carter Head at Bombay Sapphire.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

MtRainier wrote:Nice! Can you give more details about what was in the basket and what was in the boiler and how you did it? I've done a few OEG and would like to try something different. I have a Carter head but never used it yet.
There is a relevant discussion on Bombay Sapphire here. viewtopic.php?t=66835
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CuWhistle »

I'm an all-grainer. I made my first tentative steps today. It had better be worth it because it's a lot of work.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Ran out of my own rum in the drinks cabinet so made up a blend including a relatively new make from 9 months ago. I like the new make as a sipper on it's own, but even at 1 in 6, it isn't a match with the other rums and essences I chose. I'll make up another blend tomorrow and be a bit more fussy about what goes into it.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

I mashed in a batch of about 50lbs HBB grains into 24gallons of backset and water in a 32gallon brute which I just purchased to increase my batch size. My mud mixer must have made a small hole because my GF woke me up @ 3:30am to come to the cellar and find the contents of my gelatinized corn all over the floor... I was able to save a 20gallon brutes worth and then dumped in my malts...

I always worry about the brutes because they get a little hot and gooey when you fill them with boiling water...

-jonny
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i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by fizzix »

jonnys_spirit wrote:...My mud mixer must have made a small hole because my GF woke me up @ 3:30am to come to the cellar and find the contents of my gelatinized corn all over the floor... I was able to save a 20gallon brutes worth and then dumped in my malts... I always worry about the brutes because they get a little hot and gooey when you fill them with boiling water... -jonny
Sorry to hear that, jonny. That's one of my concerns when mud mixing in just my 6-gallon bucket. Granted they're a lot thicker than Brutes are... but the thought's there.
Glad you were able to salvage some of it.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by MtRainier »

ugh. That's a terrible mess. Hope she doesn't abuse you too much about it.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Well just to skank up the whiskey a little we scooped a bunch up off the floor with a dust pan and dumped it back into the bucket. We’re moving forward not all is lost!

In the bucket’s defense we did go through two bottles of wine and more HBB while squeezing then mashing.

-jonny
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Oldvine Zin »

jonnys_spirit wrote:I my GF woke me up @ 3:30am to come to the cellar and find the contents of my gelatinized corn all over the floor... I was able to save a 20gallon brutes worth and then dumped in my malts...

I always worry about the brutes because they get a little hot and gooey when you fill them with boiling water...

-jonny
I wonder about folks that start a mash and go to sleep before it's finished, I hope that you don't run your still that same way .

Be safe
OVZ
jonnys_spirit wrote:Well just to skank up the whiskey a little we scooped a bunch up off the floor with a dust pan and dumped it back into the bucket. We’re moving forward not all is lost!

In the bucket’s defense we did go through two bottles of wine and more HBB while squeezing then mashing.

-jonny
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Oldvine Zin »

jonnys_spirit wrote:Well just to skank up the whiskey a little we scooped a bunch up off the floor with a dust pan and dumped it back into the bucket. We’re moving forward not all is lost!

In the bucket’s defense we did go through two bottles of wine and more HBB while squeezing then mashing.

-jonny
been there done that :wink:
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by DetroitDIY »

jonnys_spirit wrote:Well just to skank up the whiskey a little we scooped a bunch up off the floor with a dust pan and dumped it back into the bucket.
That's awesome Jonny! I burst out laughing reading this.

I will say that stilling cleanliness standards are way lower than my simple fermenting standards, but I can't see using my shop dust (and all things nasty) pan to scoop up a mash. I guess you never know just what you'd do until you're confronted with the situation. Kudos to you.

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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by DSM Loki »

For the first time in almost two years my fermenters are bubbling away with some sweet music. Put a batch of uj down. Figured I'd ease back into it with something familiar. Planning to replenish my stock of uj, neutral, try my hand at panela rum, and try to go all grain by the end of the year.

Now to just find time to do it all haha.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Bushman »

Mascerating a Double Raspberry Liqueur recipe. Also ran a lavender essential oil run.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by DetroitDIY »

You go Loki!

I finished fermenting 3 runs of an Oat Rye Whiskey this past weekend, and have 3 batches worth of the beginning of my Panela fermented to run this weekend.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by DSM Loki »

Nice work Detroit. The yeast were certainly happy today with the higher temps. I plan to run 2 fermenter cycles of uj, two of birdwatchers for neutral, and then hop on the panela. Only being able to ferment 80-90 gallons at a time is kind of a drag
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by DetroitDIY »

Home alone, working hard to to get that barrel full... Bunch 'o rum airing out pre-cuts from a mixture of molasses, panela, and feints.

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

Post by fizzix »

Lookin' good, Detroit.
I was at the other end of the line this weekend emptying 1+ year old barrels.
Proofed, diluted and jarred the following:

Honey Bear
Booner's
Crow's Rum
Death Wish Wheat Germ
...and some plain old sugar whiskey

Like children, it's nearly impossible to pick a favorite. But for all the terrific flavors, I'm leaning towards Crow's Rum.
But I always favored rum anyway, so it's really not a surprise.

Now, what to do with all this liquor!!
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by CuWhistle »

Turned 20 kg of coarsely cracked corn into cornmeal using a broken Chinese nutribullet grinder. Worked a treat.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Down_Home52 »

Running 4.5 gallons of muscadine wine through my pot. Wine was 1.060 SG and finished at .992 FG. Nothing came across until column temp was 170F. I usually get high stuff at 125-130F. This stuff started at 144 proof and I am on second quart and still holding 130 proof. Muscadines never cease to amaze me. Letting this years crop stay on the vine until the wasps get on them. Get as much sugar as I can. Be interesting to see what this brandy tastes like cut to 80 proof. As clean as this is running will probably run down to 40 to get some flavor.
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

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Down_Home52 wrote:Running 4.5 gallons of muscadine wine through my pot. Wine was 1.060 SG and finished at .992 FG. Nothing came across until column temp was 170F. I usually get high stuff at 125-130F. This stuff started at 144 proof and I am on second quart and still holding 130 proof. Muscadines never cease to amaze me. Letting this years crop stay on the vine until the wasps get on them. Get as much sugar as I can. Be interesting to see what this brandy tastes like cut to 80 proof. As clean as this is running will probably run down to 40 to get some flavor.
That late picked muscadine should make an outstanding sweet wine...
Might be worth just drinking it as a special occasion wine.

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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Down_Home52 »

Geoff I have hit on a recipe that I really like for a sweet muscadine wine. 30 pounds of black fruit and 6 pounds of white. 9 pounds of cane sugar. EC-1118 yeast. Stop it when it gets to 1.005-1.010 FG. It is outstanding. With the EC-1118 and Distilavite GN nutrient getting to .990-.992 is normal. Running another 5 gallon batch tonight. It just started running at 172* F column temp. Think I will squeeze the fores down to about 30 ml per gallon of wash. Having a drop of 20% peated scotch that was aged in a new white oak medium charred barrel. It just keeps getting better every time I proof a bottle out and sip it. Started at 100 proof but found a really nice finish at 80-85 proof using limestone spring water to cut it. Oh my.....
I dream of a worm running like a water hose.....
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Mashed my first successful 32 gallon brute bourbon this past weekend about 50lbs of HBB grains and 25gal water total. While it mashed and cooled over a 24h period I made a yeast starter. The mash was a little over 1.060 and pitched the yeasties. Very active ferment this week. Looking forward to the next run.

Cheers,
jonny
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Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by The Baker »

Sounds nice, Down_Home52.

Not something we have in Australia. Muscadine is a grape native to America, I don't think we have any NATIVE grapes...

Geoff
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