What'd ya'll make today?

Production methods from starch to sugars.

Moderator: Site Moderator

User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13036
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Gin, with Sichuan pepper replacing half of the coriander seeds. It's not the first time I've tried it. It also had the peel and core from a locally grown pineapple in the boiler. No basket, everything in the boiler, overnight maceration.

Very nice straight and in a G&T.
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

NZChris wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:10 pm
Toxxyc wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 4:34 am
NZChris wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:13 pmSome of the early nasty stuff and late nasty stuff, may be needed for a full bodied rum, or should be gotten rid of if you are in a hurry.
This is brilliant advice. I think I just reached the end of my run for today. The ABV took a rapid dip during the last jar I took, but the flavour suddenly picked up again. Between the hearts and this last jar were a few that smelled funky and tasted a tiny bit stale, but this one I'm collecting now is suddenly rich and almost sweet. Yes, it's turning cloudy, but there's flavour there. I'll see if I can use this somehow. Thanks for this. I've heard people talking about it before, but as a predominantly all-grain distiller I've never seen it myself. With whisky I have never found gold in the tails, so after the hearts I tend to just get a big-ass jar (or tap straight into the feints jar) as all that remains is dank.
What type of still are you running? Including a cloudy jar from a pot still usually results in cloudy end product after aging and proofing, which is fine as long as you don't mind. I don't. If you want to impress your friends in the near future, including cloudy jars in your heart cut is probably not going to go down well with them.
Pot still, through and through. Not even packing in the riser (although I do have copper mesh I wouldn't mind trying, just worried I'll lose flavour). I've tasted the cloudy product and also tasted the product before it, and as this rum is going into a competition - I'm not adding the cloudy tails. I'm keeping this one clean.

Oaking will probably commence this afternoon or tomorrow, and then I'll spice along the way as well. Got a whole bunch of spices I'm adding sparingly to get a rum I enjoy drinking. Can't wait!
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13036
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Toxxyc wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:58 pm Not even packing in the riser (although I do have copper mesh I wouldn't mind trying, just worried I'll lose flavour).
Copper in a pot still boiler and vapor path only removes flavors you don't want.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13036
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Four stripping runs of a sugar wash made on the pomace from this years brandy. The resulting spirit will be useful for gins, ouzo, Absinthe and anything else that benefits from a hint of grape in the base spirit.
User avatar
Deplorable
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3980
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:10 pm
Location: In the East, (IYKYK)

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Deplorable »

I'm on jar 31 of an all feints pot still run.
20210502_154148.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.
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

NZChris wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 10:20 pm
Toxxyc wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:58 pm Not even packing in the riser (although I do have copper mesh I wouldn't mind trying, just worried I'll lose flavour).
Copper in a pot still boiler and vapor path only removes flavors you don't want.
Great, thanks, then I'm going to pack the riser and get it over with. Will it not also assist with the passive reflux and increase ABV a little bit?
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13036
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

If you open and close the distillery door on a cold, windy, day it will make enough difference for you to be able to measure it.

There is no point in raising abv off the spout if it means that you then have to add water to get your heart cut back down to barreling strength for aging.
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

Yeah I currently collect my hearts typically between 65% and 75% ABV, depending on how aggressively I run my still, and how far I blend into the hearts and tails. I'm VERY happy with this, which is why I've not added the copper yet. To make it more clear, my last rum after blending with some of the very late heads and some of the very early tails, I hit 70% ABV on the dot in the glass jar. I decided to start oaking right at 70% ABV, so I didn't have to water down anything. It's perfect as it is. Glad to know it won't make a huge difference, so I'll proceed to pack the riser then. I have the mesh here - might as well use it.
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

OK, so I distilled (spirit run) this rum as follows, in jars:

1. Fores. I collect twice the recommended volume because I hate that sharp bite. Around 500ml for this batch.
2. First heads. Collected here until the bite subsided.
3. Late heads. Collected a fairly low amount until I was really happy with the taste coming off the still.
4. Hearts. Ran this until I could see a visible drop in production and I could taste the truly smooth hearts just-just starting to fade. Got a big jar full.
5. Late hearts #1. Collected a jar that all tasted the same to me. Sweet, but slightly less rich than the hearts. Stopped when the sweetness seemed to fade a bit.
6. Late hearts #2. Collected a jar that had a lot of flavour, but less sweetness, as described. There was a tiny bit of funk that got introduced and then I stopped this jar.
7. Early tails. This was the start of funk, and I didn't like this flavour. I collected until the jar was full and swapped it out.
8. Tails. This was the jar that started getting cloudy halfway through collecting. I turned up the still a bit as soon as the cloudiness started just to finish the run off.
9. Tails. Full tails. Low ABV (didn't even test, but could taste), funky, musty, wet cardboard and an almost tannic finish. Collected until I couldn't detect a lot of alcohol at the spout anymore and stopped.

I left these jars open for 36 hours, covered with an insect shield, to air out. Never done it this long before, but figured it's worth a shot.

Come blending I tasted the hearts first. Taste was fantastic, right on the money, albeit maybe a bit lower on the molasses flavour than I had hoped. Next time my wash will contain a higher percentage molasses for sure. I tasted up and down and based on what I enjoyed most, I ended up using:

Jar 5, complete. I liked it as it was.
Jar 6, complete. This actually aired out pretty nicely. Smooth, and albeit a bit lower in ABV there was a good amount of flavour that I liked.
Jar 7, half. This also aired out well, but there was still a tiny bit of funk I didn't enjoy all that much. Used half the jar, rest into feints.
Jar 4, quarted. This aired out well and a lot of the bite faded away. The sweetness in this jar is why I kept it. It wasn't in your face, like true heads or fores are, but almost hidden and subtle. I liked the fact that there was a typical rum flavour, but I was worried about the heads so I used only about 1/4 of the collected volume in the jar. I could maybe have used more, but I played it safe.

The total volume ended up being just over 6 litres of spirit, measuring in at 70% ABV. To this I added:

90 grams of American Oak. This is a virgin piece of oak that I bought pre-made from a homebrew shop a long time ago. It's medium toast, and I LOVE the smell of this. I never used it in a whisky, for some stupid reason, but I'll definitely use it in the future. I weighed a piece of the stave I had, measured out the piece I wanted and sawed it off. I was aiming for 100g, but cut a bit short, so I'm going with what I have.

2 x chunks of French Oak. This is virgin French oak I got from a masonry/joinery a while ago. They buy their wood raw, but cured, for their projects and I managed to get my hands on a few pieces here in South Africa. The chunks are about 1cm x 2cm x 10cm in size, each, and I charred them with a blowtorch to completely charred all over before spraying down with water and dumping in the rum. I'm hoping this will impart a bit of charred oak flavour, and perhaps even a tiny bit of burnt sugar flavour.

About 15 grams of ex-bouron barrel chips. I bought this from a distilling shop and I used it in a whisky I currently have aging. I'm immensely fond of the flavour it gave the whisky (an all-grain whisky I made on my old still, actually), and I figured I want a hint of that in this rum as well. 24 hours later and the colour is a rich golden colour, looking (and smelling) absolutely devine. I'll let this sit for a few weeks and then I'll add the glycerine and spices to get it ready for bottling for the competition. Can't wait.
Yodaspike
Novice
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat May 23, 2020 10:35 am
Location: S.A

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Yodaspike »

So had 300g of instant oats and 2kg of mabela poridge, or as you might know it sorghum powder, so both is 60-70% sugar, chucked both in 12lt of water with 1 sweet potato and boiling at 65-70C for 2 hours, and already having good results, aiming at a 20lt beer batch but thinking it might come out in the 6% abv mark, so will see once done what its at and taste, other wise i will just run it and make some whiskey.
At the moment it messures almost the same as 10g sugar to 100ml water og
Yodaspike
Novice
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat May 23, 2020 10:35 am
Location: S.A

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Yodaspike »

O and made a starter from 500ml of the strained mash and bubbling in just a few minutes
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

Boiling at 65°C - I don't understand?
Yodaspike
Novice
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat May 23, 2020 10:35 am
Location: S.A

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Yodaspike »

Boiling/cooking/heating/converting/
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

All of those are different things. 65/70 means you mashed.

Mabela - you're in South Africa then :P
User avatar
Grappa-Gringo
Swill Maker
Posts: 442
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:44 pm
Location: North of 49th/PNW

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Grappa-Gringo »

Had a bunch of crushed apples that I've pressed in the Fall, and fermented... yadda yadda yadda... finally got around to putting them in the still and pushed out a little over 3 liters at 40% from approximately 8 gallons worth. Not bad. Relatively smooth, no harsh taste. I'm trying to figure out if it's more of an apple brandy or moonshine with a bit of an apple taste. No hard and fast line on this one. But hey, that's what I made....
They say, "you are what you eat"... Then I'm fast, easy and cheap!
User avatar
Not sure
Bootlegger
Posts: 106
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:55 pm

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Not sure »

I pumped off a strip run of wineos wash and it's in the still now after an early work day
Stainless pot with copper shotgun I'm a simple kind of guy
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

Making a 40l batch of rum wash today. 5kgs molasses, 6kgs sugar, dissolve in hot water, cool down the cold water, in goes the yeast and let it do it's thing. This one is for a friend.
User avatar
Rrmuf
Rumrunner
Posts: 667
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:07 pm
Location: Canada

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Rrmuf »

Finished off a gin run! Yielded 12l .... for a wedding 😬
-- Rrmuf
Yodaspike
Novice
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat May 23, 2020 10:35 am
Location: S.A

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Yodaspike »

Lite rum i guess. Ran 30lt of a 50 lt rum today, stopped at 50% took out 2.4lt about.
12.5kg black strap and 4kg brown sugar.
9 day fermentation
Sailman
Swill Maker
Posts: 448
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2019 7:02 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Sailman »

IMG_20210427_094450.jpg
90 proof Rye Bread
20210502_184037.jpg
and some with peppers
20210502_183704.jpg
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

Got some molasses dissolved in hot dunder last night. I'll heat it up again and mix in the sugar tomorrow morning, and then I'll be pitching yeast on another 50l rum wash. This one's for a friend. He likes my rum and wants his own, so now I'm making a batch for him.

It took 10 minutes for the 5kgs of molasses to run into the boiler onto the dunder due to the cold. Super, super thick stuff, but tastes oh-so-amazing.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13036
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Selected a very tight heart cut on yesterday's sugar & grape pomace spirit run. I'm confident it will be a great base spirit for a variety of products because this isn't the first time I've done it.

The feints will go through my Bokakob to make some much needed high proof neutral.
User avatar
HiroP
Novice
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:55 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by HiroP »

Tried pine 'buds' for the first time 3 days ago.
The tree in our yard is just budding (west coast of Canada). After one day in 60 abv (500 ml) and about 500 ml loose pack bud by volume and about a tsp corriander seeds, the taste was amazing, lemony, almost sweet like gin/juniper. Strained off neutral after only one day, sweetened and proofed down to 30 abv.
Picked all the remaining buds off the tree yesterday and make 1 l this time. Just going out to strain (and soak the bud in ro water for a day and use to proof down).
The result is a cloudy, a pleasant green, and a refreshing and unique taste.

Lovin' this hobby. :)
User avatar
Deplorable
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3980
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:10 pm
Location: In the East, (IYKYK)

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Deplorable »

1200ml of a mixed berry panty dropper from SSS and some frozen berries. SWMBO likes the mixed berries better than all strawberries.
This is a blend of Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Dilution math says it ended up at 38%
Next, it goes back in the fridge for a week or so to let the pectins (?) settle out and the product clear before racking off into a bottle for the backbar.
20210508_094247.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.
User avatar
oksofar
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:16 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by oksofar »

Vodka from a sugar wash for wifey. Got 1.3 gallons of (up to) 192 proof likker which will make nearly three gallons of her vodka.
Brewer's Beast 16 gallon mash tun
Spike CF15 Conical Unitank 
Mile Hi 16 Gallon Stainless 4 Inch Flute – 4 Sections
User avatar
oksofar
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:16 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by oksofar »

Made the "Tried and True Recipe": NChooch's Carolina Bourbon
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 14&t=17750

Scaled it up to 14 gallons of mash.
Brewer's Beast 16 gallon mash tun
Spike CF15 Conical Unitank 
Mile Hi 16 Gallon Stainless 4 Inch Flute – 4 Sections
User avatar
oksofar
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 6:16 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by oksofar »

Bottled and labeled the batch of wifey's favorite vodka. Very clean tasting. Had run this in two stages: first a stripping run in pot-still mode followed by tempering back to about 38% ABV, then a flute still run on the MileHi. The two shorter runs may take two seperate days but seems to go quicker than all day doing a slow, single flute still run.
Last edited by oksofar on Mon May 10, 2021 4:40 am, edited 3 times in total.
Brewer's Beast 16 gallon mash tun
Spike CF15 Conical Unitank 
Mile Hi 16 Gallon Stainless 4 Inch Flute – 4 Sections
User avatar
Jonalthor
Novice
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:05 pm
Location: PNW of USA

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Jonalthor »

Made some quince rakija (brandy/eau de vie). Fermented it last fall from a mash of cooked Portuguese quince and sugar. Aged the mash 6 months and distilled today. There were minimal heads and the taste already is amazing!!

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202105 ... 34fdd8.jpg[/IMG]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
...While we sit bousin, at the nappy,
And gettin fou and unco happy...
Toxxyc
Swill Maker
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 4:26 am

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by Toxxyc »

Mixed up the diluted molasses with some sugar and cooled it down with tap water. Underestimated the temperature in the keg at the bottom and pitched yeast with nutrients. Fermentation took really long to start so I felt the bottom of the keg and found it still very very hot. Guess I killed the yeast. Left it for a day to cool off, and then re-pitched new yeast (cheapest bakers yeast I could find).

Took off like a rocket, and smells amazing once again. Added some KOH this morning to keep the pH from going too low and this thing is going like mad. Looking into the ferrule of the keg looks like the stuff inside is boiling like the yeast is churning the wash over from the ferment. It's awesome.

Got the electric blanket around the keg on the middle setting just to keep it warm enough and it's working like a charm.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13036
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: What'd ya'll make today?

Post by NZChris »

Fitted my pot still & preheater Liebig temperature controllers with a tidy solenoid setup to replace the jury-rigged spaghetti of hoses and spare solenoids that I'd cobbled together when a solenoid failed during a run.
Post Reply