Read for about 2 weeks. Spent 2 more putting a valved reflux still together and then with the leftovers built a potstill. During the potstill build, started a moonshine ferment with the horse sweetfeed recipe. Ran it this weekend with the potstill and WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! I MADE MOONSHINE!!!!!
Took it to a neighbors house that had an alcohometer and between the 2 of us figured out it was @58%. Tossed the first 6 oz. and kept the rest up till about 89 C. Ended up with about a quart and a half. I'm so pleased. Thanks for all those who write great articles and take the care to explain exactly what they do better than I do.
Ran the moonshine thru some carbon then tossed it in my Jim Beam barrel I got from Walmart; which BTW I pulled some mighty fine bourbon from. Have it now on a gimble mount so I can distribute the 'shine around the barrel once a day. For what reason, not real sure.
I now have another batch o'shine fermenting along with a molassas rum wash fermenting as well well. This is a great hobby guys; I'll wrire more later.
Nothing quite like making your own hooch.
Sounds like you have the drill down fairly good. One question though; Why did you run your whiskey through carbon?
Whiskey can be run through charcoal, as Jack Daniels is. However, carbon will just strip your flavor out.
Swag wrote:Nothing quite like making your own hooch.
Sounds like you have the drill down fairly good. One question though; Why did you run your whiskey through carbon?
Whiskey can be run through charcoal, as Jack Daniels is. However, carbon will just strip your flavor out.
Well actually.............I didn't run it thru carbon. I said that cause I thought ya'll would think I was silly. I have 4 bags of Jack Daniels grill smoking pellets that I crushed and ran it thru this instead. Don't know if it did anything or not but since I was going to put it in the barrel for a little mellowing, I didn't think it would hurt. Sorry for the fib. BTW.........I started ANOTHER shine ferment tonite. In a cooler, 4" sweetfeed, 1 pkg yeast, 3 double handfull dry molassas(I know; bought it then read about it;got to use it up somehow), 5 lbs. sugar, 5 gal. water.
Don't worry about what we think, we are all just trying to figure this stuff out.
There are a couple of ways to make your own charcoal out of maple if you're interested.
Isn't that Jim Beam barrel charred on the inside? If it is you have all the charcoal your need.
Yes, it is charred on the inside. When I drained it the first time, there was several quarter size chunks floating in it. Being that I'll never get 53 gallons or so in it at one time, I'm hoping that by it being on a gimble, that distributing the shine around the inside on a daily basis will have a somewhat mellowing effect. I feel sure that I'll add at least 10 gallons or so over time, taking some out to try in between.
partsbill wrote:Yes, it is charred on the inside. When I drained it the first time, there was several quarter size chunks floating in it. Being that I'll never get 53 gallons or so in it at one time, I'm hoping that by it being on a gimble, that distributing the shine around the inside on a daily basis will have a somewhat mellowing effect. I feel sure that I'll add at least 10 gallons or so over time, taking some out to try in between.
You'd be surprised how quickly you can fill things up with whiskey, especially when you get the sour mash going. It's so easy to strip it and replenish it every week that you can build up a lot of product before you know it.
I usually do about a 10 gallon wash and get almost 2 gallons of strip. I'm about ready to do another spirit run which will just about fill my second 5 gallon storage jar. That will make 10 gallons of undilluted sour mash and I've only been making whiskey for a couple of months. That's enough whiskey to last me a long time.
You could fill that barrel in a year, no problem.
Even if I could fill it up, while I'm filling, do you think it makes sense to swill the shine in the barrel to ; at the very least; keep the barrel wet inside? I feel that I'm going to impart some of the shine in the oak and release it in some fashion as if were filled and in a tall barrel house.
partsbill wrote:Even if I could fill it up, while I'm filling, do you think it makes sense to swill the shine in the barrel to ; at the very least; keep the barrel wet inside? I feel that I'm going to impart some of the shine in the oak and release it in some fashion as if were filled and in a tall barrel house.
It’s hard to say how effective the existing oak and charcoal in your barrel are going to be for your shine. Who knows how many times it's been refilled.
You could always toast up some oak chips or slivers and toss them in the barrel. Even un-toasted oak sloshing around in there will have a beneficial effect on your likker.
I think moving the barrel around is also a good idea. It helps work the whiskey through the wood and aerates it too. And like you say, it keeps the top of the barrel from drying out.
partsbill wrote:Even if I could fill it up, while I'm filling, do you think it makes sense to swill the shine in the barrel to ; at the very least; keep the barrel wet inside? I feel that I'm going to impart some of the shine in the oak and release it in some fashion as if were filled and in a tall barrel house.
It’s hard to say how effective the existing oak and charcoal in your barrel are going to be for your shine. Who knows how many times it's been refilled.
You could always toast up some oak chips or slivers and toss them in the barrel. Even un-toasted oak sloshing around in there will have a beneficial effect on your likker.
I think moving the barrel around is also a good idea. It helps work the whiskey through the wood and aerates it too. And like you say, it keeps the top of the barrel from drying out.
I would assume that the barrel was used only once since Jim beam barrels are used only once so I'm told. The bourbon inside the barrel was smooth, very amber, high in alc. , and rather tasty. Seemed like the real Beam.
tater wrote:Ive allways been told the taste of your aged keg likker is as old as the last ya poured in it.
That makes sense to a point. However; if I had kept the bourbon in the barrel, whatever proof and quality it was, it was far superior to my first batch o'shine. And by putting my 1.5l in it, I then would have had 2.25l of something that I think would have tasted better than my first run.
I think the swirling of the spirit in your keg will help mature your spirit faster.Aeration is a big part of the maturing process. With only a sealed non-oxygen permiable container, even on wood chips, the smoothing is slow. I aerate my spirits by doing bottle to bottle transfer, and shaking up the new bottles, stuff like that, and it makes a big difference. Besides, having your barrel on a gimble like a sea captian's bar is kind of cool.
One thing h2o2 dosent help is outgassing. Outgassing lets disolved co2 and other gasses and odors stop being trapped in the spirit. I havn't tried H2O2 but it could help some things. Bubbling air through the spirit would be better...I think. Smell some fresh rum, and then some that has been "aired out" from the same recipee. Bifg difference.
if you use H2O2, you would need an airlock, of the releas of O2. so gasses can leave (CO2) but can't enter the rum.
I think if you bubble gas in the rum, you might loose some % of alcohol, right?
I can't investigate the difference, 'cause I don't have spirits that have to age
partsbill wrote:Yes, it is charred on the inside. When I drained it the first time, there was several quarter size chunks floating in it. Being that I'll never get 53 gallons or so in it at one time, I'm hoping that by it being on a gimble, that distributing the shine around the inside on a daily basis will have a somewhat mellowing effect. I feel sure that I'll add at least 10 gallons or so over time, taking some out to try in between.
You'd be surprised how quickly you can fill things up with whiskey, especially when you get the sour mash going. It's so easy to strip it and replenish it every week that you can build up a lot of product before you know it.
I usually do about a 10 gallon wash and get almost 2 gallons of strip. I'm about ready to do another spirit run which will just about fill my second 5 gallon storage jar. That will make 10 gallons of undilluted sour mash and I've only been making whiskey for a couple of months. That's enough whiskey to last me a long time.
You could fill that barrel in a year, no problem.
You were right!! Got the sour mash going and I split it several times in 12 gal quantities(48qt coolers), and this week so far have put @9 liters in the barrel. Kinda went overboard. Fermenters everywhere. Now whether I was right or wrong, I also carmelized some sugar(about 2 lbs) real dark, mixed it with some fresh shine to thin it out and put it in the barrel as well. I hope it goes well as I am consistently putting 65% stuff in the barrel with an occasional liter of 50%.
