Bourbon yeast?

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Bavis54
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Bourbon yeast?

Post by Bavis54 »

Hey friends, lately I been makin good bit of honey bear, with a kick of rye added. I been using ec118 yeast bc this time year it’s cold at night and it finishes well. Only thing is that the last cpl runs I keep noticing I get a tails flavor kinda early in the run and I don’t get as much hearts or a final blend as I’d like. The hearts I do keep are great but I get a lot of early tails. Is this typical or I just nuts? Anyone have any good bourbon yeasts ideas? I kno ec118 is my go to for peach and fruit brandy, and bakers will work I jus get a off taste at times with it. Any ideas be appreciated
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Twisted Brick
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Twisted Brick »

I just finished my first AG bourbon using Safale S-04 yeast and it turned out fantastic. Now I know why so many guys swear by a good ale yeast. I was able to ferment right in the middle of the recommended temp range (67F) and kept 23l out of a 29l still charge (38%). FWIW, the last jar of deep tails had the rich grain taste of..... rye. I did notice a 300ml jar of early-ish tails that I really didn't like the taste of, so I kept it out of my final blend.
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Bavis54
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Bavis54 »

I just bought cpl packs of safale 05- the local brew shop told me it was they’re go to ale yeast, thought I’d try it. I’ll get safale 03 next time. I did notice it’s more expensive but if it gives better results it’s worth it. I’m not totally unhappy with ec118, I did several 30 gal ferments with it this winter- even in 15 degree weather , I used aquarium heater and I got several great runs of honey bear using it, the only thing is once cuts were made I didn’t get that much final product, n I kept noticing smells n taste of early tails early in run. I use a 12 gal boiler with 8 gal thumper, and with a full boiler and 4 gal in thumper I’d only get 2 gal of product before cuts, after I separate cuts n blend sometimes I’d only get a gallon. Wat I kept was great stuff tho.
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by jonnys_spirit »

I used safeale05 for a while and it’s great. I have now started using different yeasts and slightly different protocols and grain bills / etc in batches with more than one mash / run to increase variation and complexity in the final product.

Cheers and best luck!
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WIski
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by WIski »

I prefer Bakers for Grain ferments. Love that aroma and flavor. And it's easy. And it's cheap. YMMV :eugeek:
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by butterpants »

Safespirit USW-6 or Safeale US-05

Everytime I've used something different, it wasn't as good. Not very scientific but oh well I've been drinking.

I bet genetically they are super similar
A 500g package of USW-6 is significantly cheaper than US-05. [img]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201803 ... 0639e5.jpg[/img]
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Appalachian spirits »

Im like wisiki, ive had much better luck with bread yeast in all my grain mashes. Its cheap and It has produced consistant flavor profiles batch after batch, year after year so i use it exclusively in all my grain bills.
Not sayin specialty yeasts arent as good or anything like that as im far from an expert in the subject.
I primarily make whiskey the way my ancestors did which is a traditional moonshine using the same equipment they used. (Modernized of course) so again im no distillation expert.
I would like more information on good yeasts for fruit fermintation as im still searching for that perfect one
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by butterpants »

Wine or champagne yeast for fruit. EC1118, K1-V1116, D47, mead yeast
Bavis54
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Bavis54 »

Jus checked bourbon mash, it’s ready.. og is jus below 1.00, maybe .999, still bubbling every now n then. I gna do firstbrun tom night. I got two runs in this barrel, I’ll do next run next wknd. By then it prob be even drier, the safeale 05 worked well. Took forever to start tho, 24 hrs almost, temps at night got down to 52 and the highs at daytime maybe 70 or 72, so far it’s been in barrel for 12 days. Beer smells n tastes really good, might even have a very slight fruity smell, that’s only difference I notice so far between the safeale and ec118 I used early winter. Tom night I’ll see how turned out!
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Twisted Brick
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Twisted Brick »

Bavis54 wrote:Jus checked bourbon mash, it’s ready.. og is jus below 1.00, maybe .999, . Tom night I’ll see how turned out!
At that low ferment temp I'll bet it turns out really clean. If it took 24 hours to start, just use more yeast next time and you'll be golden. I pitch a 1gal starter of S-04 into 12gallons of AG bourbon.

By chance, do you have pH figures at SG and FG? I usually end up 1.00 - 1.002, and seeking to finish under 1.00.
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Bavis54 »

Ph was 4.5-5, starting gravity was 1.064 and today it is 1.00-.999
Like I say I think it’ll go even drier bc it still workin a little bit. I agree with you on the colder temp fermenting producing cleaner ferments- all winter I been making corn/ bourbon/ honey bear mashes, this winter I did three 50 gal ferments in 20 degree weather- I used ec118 bc it can handle the cold, I used an aquarium heater set to 72, and all 3 ferments although took much much longer- they fermented extremely clean and dry. My only complaint is the early onset of tails flavor early in run, n I’m not 100 percent convinced it was yeast. I made a new n larger worm and I may be running it too fast, it’ll knock anything I throw at it down heat wise. I normally do one and done runs with 8 gal thumper on my bourbon, I keep distillate at a pencil thin stream. But Tom I gna keep it at a drip, I wanna make double sure that’s not issue, I never had this problem before, I used ec118 all summer on peach brandy n it was great.
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by aircarbonarc »

For grain I've always gone with ale yeasts, saf05 seems to be the safest, dryest with less heads and later tails. Lately it's been Imperial "House" liquid yeasts, starts fast ends well and has lots of clean flavors. Its a bit more expensibe than saf or bakers but will go a long way if your keen on yeast farming.
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Twisted Brick
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Twisted Brick »

Thanks. I think I'm just being impatient in letting my ferment finish. Next time I'll wait two days after there are no more bubbles visible.
“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”

- W.C. Fields

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Bavis54
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Re: Bourbon yeast?

Post by Bavis54 »

Ran my bourbon mash tonight, the jury still out on safale 05- everything’s airing now- I’ll blend next week n see how turned out, right away I noticed a very slight sweeter smell and taste, I definitely got more hearts this run, but I’m still catching some tails early - I gotta water everything down n taste it to be certain. I’m starting to wonder if I got leak somewhere I not seeing
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