What'd ya'll make today?

[Husker]

[

Now, I am bout ready to head home from work, and case up the HDogs, sticks and Summer. The bacon gets "bricked". Then the dogs, sticks and bacon go into the smoker (might not happen till this weekend). While the Summer is done in a roaster over with water (sounds strange, but is a GREAT way to do summer sausage).

H.

Husker,

Wish i lived next door to you, just to learn and i would work my ass off, just to see how you do it. Have read a lot but doesn't take the place of hands on experiance. And to see how you build and manage your smokers and stuffers. Used to have a commercial meat grinder when we raised our own hogs. Want to do that again also.

Also, share our sipping brew, and tall tales.

Thanks for shareing, and inspiring.

There is a local "Hobart" butcher supply company (they sell all sorts of Hobart restaurant stuff also), which does about 8 sausage "classes" a year. They sell quality stuffers, smoke houses, mixers, and most of all, seasonings and cures. Surprising fool proof, if you start out with good spices (and cures), and good meat.

They do 2 or 3 classes a year out where my wife works (she sets things up, and they get the theater to do the class). The wife works at an aquarium / outdoor education center (works for the state). They have an 85 seat theater. However, Mike (owner of the Hobart shop), and one of his other guys, always put on a good class (I have been to 3 of them, and will be in another class Nov 4th). The classes at the aquarium are pretty minimal (time), and he mostly talks and explains, and all he makes is some summer sausage (in the roaster pans). The classes at his shop are all day (8:00 am until 2:00pm is the schedule, but it usually goes until 6 or so). At the shop, they do everything, from grinding, mixing, casing, smoking, etc. All of that is hands on. I am looking forward to that, as all I have done so far is be in his quick/dirty classes at the aquarium.

However, from his instructions, and the mixes, I have made some pretty dam good stuff. The classes at the aquarium are targeted at hunters, and most of the recipes are designed with "how do I do this with venison or other game" in mind.

Almost all of the butcher shops / meat cutters around here use their spices (if they make sausage or flavored meats).

Note, I do not work for them (just use their products), but I know they are A #1 quality. http://www.friscospices.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here is a nice page from their site (on spice "knowledge") http://www.friscospices.com/knowledge.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

H

[Tater]

[

Now, I am bout ready to head home from work, and case up the HDogs, sticks and Summer. The bacon gets "bricked". Then the dogs, sticks and bacon go into the smoker (might not happen till this weekend). While the Summer is done in a roaster over with water (sounds strange, but is a GREAT way to do summer sausage).

H.

Husker,

Wish i lived next door to you, just to learn and i would work my ass off, just to see how you do it. Have read a lot but doesn't take the place of hands on experiance. And to see how you build and manage your smokers and stuffers. Used to have a commercial meat grinder when we raised our own hogs. Want to do that again also.

Also, share our sipping brew, and tall tales.

Thanks for shareing, and inspiring.

There is a local "Hobart" butcher supply company (they sell all sorts of Hobart restaurant stuff also), which does about 8 sausage "classes" a year. They sell quality stuffers, smoke houses, mixers, and most of all, seasonings and cures. Surprising fool proof, if you start out with good spices (and cures), and good meat.

They do 2 or 3 classes a year out where my wife works (she sets things up, and they get the theater to do the class). The wife works at an aquarium / outdoor education center (works for the state). They have an 85 seat theater. However, Mike (owner of the Hobart shop), and one of his other guys, always put on a good class (I have been to 3 of them, and will be in another class Nov 4th). The classes at the aquarium are pretty minimal (time), and he mostly talks and explains, and all he makes is some summer sausage (in the roaster pans). The classes at his shop are all day (8:00 am until 2:00pm is the schedule, but it usually goes until 6 or so). At the shop, they do everything, from grinding, mixing, casing, smoking, etc. All of that is hands on. I am looking forward to that, as all I have done so far is be in his quick/dirty classes at the aquarium.

However, from his instructions, and the mixes, I have made some pretty dam good stuff. The classes at the aquarium are targeted at hunters, and most of the recipes are designed with "how do I do this with venison or other game" in mind.

Almost all of the butcher shops / meat cutters around here use their spices (if they make sausage or flavored meats).

Note, I do not work for them (just use their products), but I know they are A #1 quality. http://www.friscospices.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here is a nice page from their site (on spice "knowledge") http://www.friscospices.com/knowledge.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

H

Be great to have something that close to learn from .I make several things outta my deer meat as well.Read this guys book several years ago and have bought supply's there as well. http://www.sausagemaker.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow How ever one of my favorite venison recipes is a baloney I got from a old cook book when cook books still covered a few game recipes.

[punkin]

Spirit run on the UJSM today.
23 litres of 55% gave me 11.5 litres at 80% with 1.5l heads and a few litres tails.
Diluted to nearly 15 litres White Dog and stored in my keg waiting the arrival of my barrell.
Ran my all grain batch after that for 350 ml White Dog off 20 odd litres
Keg 40 litres beer tommorrow and run 45 litres UJSM strip.
I'll put down a 25 litre rum wash too.

Busy w'end round here, trying to build my shed in the spaces tween runs

[bourbonbob]

Stripped 45 litre UJSM today, got 9.5 litres in 2 hours, averaged 40%, I will do another 45 litres later this week, will probably do a 45 litre rum wash the following day.

Punkin....did you really get 11.5 litres at 80% off 23 litres or was that a typo error?

Bob

[cannon.co.tn]

well he was givin' a second run to 55% liquor so....

[punkin]

Stripped 45 litre UJSM today, got 9.5 litres in 2 hours, averaged 40%, I will do another 45 litres later this week, will probably do a 45 litre rum wash the following day.

Punkin....did you really get 11.5 litres at 80% off 23 litres or was that a typo error?

Bob

Yes really, got nearly 15 litres when cut to 63% ready for my barrell.

Did a 45 litre strip run again yesterday, i got 7.2 litres to your 9.5 litres but my average is a little higher than yours. I start at 66% and collect down to twenty, i spose i get a fair bit more reflux in my pot cause of the size of the head and the amount of incline.

It'll all work out the same in the end though as the second run gets cut by both of us to the same %

[wineo]

It was cleanup day today in the basement.I bottled 2-3 gallon batches of wine.Ones a cranberry,ones a concord.I cleaned out 5 carboys,lots of bottles,and other junk I had soaking.I put another 30 bottles in the bleachwater to soak so I can delabel them later.I made a 1 gallon yeast starter with 4 packs of 1118 for my 10 gallons of mexican sugar wash that I will be starting in 2 days.I also cut down the sugar wash that has been airing out for the last week to 80 proof,and have the airpump bubbling air through it in a 3 gallon carboy.The carboy is almost full.
I still have 18 gallons of wines that will need to be bottled soon,and some rasberry,and a small batch of pumpkin wine still working.I still havent started any elderberry yet,but will get to it when I make room.I have 30 pounds of them in the freezer.Needless to say,its going to be a busy winter in my basement!
wineo

[bourbonbob]

well he was givin' a second run to 55% liquor so....

Sorry, I misread that. I think it might of had something to do with the litre of UJSM I had consumed

[Tater]

Ran the honey and molasses wash this weekend.Made for a smooth tasting likker. Taste to me like a lite rum with a honey after taste. Got 2 1/2 gallons after tempering.Think Ill either char it or make the kids some spice rum outta it for Christmas.

[partonken]

today is not a good day! I had 6 litres of 72% ujsm on oak in a large glass jar sitting on my fridge, and most of its gone!

the glass jar has broke!

I have been rotating it in and out of the freezer for a month, and all i have left out of 6 litres is 1 and a half litres!

It was 5th generation, just starting to taste real good, and pow! its gone!

Ill try filtering the remainder, and start looking for a sturdier glass jar.

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

DOH! That bites.

[Uncle Jesse]

That really does hurt!

This is why I avoid storing liquor in glass unless it's a commercial bottle. Carboys/deminjohns and bottles always make me nervous because they break easily. A 750 bought at the store seems a lot more foolproof which is what I like.

[Dunderhead]

I don't know what ther made of but howabout
thoes new miny kegs?

[Uncle Jesse]

I use connie kegs or cornelius kegs or whatever the common name is.

[punkin]

My heartfelt sympathies.

I use 2l flagon bottles. A bloke at work drinks 6 litres cheap port a week, so i get as many empties as i want. You'd have to bash em to break em.

I don't use the freezer method either, tried it at first and found it actually had the opposite effect. My freezer bottles were colouring up markedly slower than the ones sitting on the lounge room floor. Not saying anyone else is wrong, just that i tried it and didn't think it was worth the trouble.

Now i don't bother with it all, i find that all harshness is gone within 3 weeks (although it does keep getting better), just sitting in the lounge room with frequent shaking and occasional airing.

[birdwatcher]

I use screw top 750 ml wine bottles for my vodka and gin.

G

[partonken]

I think from now on im going to use SS. ill distress age my ujsm in a 2 or 4 litre SS pot, that way i know its going to work!

Im going to rotate it from my garage in winter to the warmth of the house
(i live in Ontario) so winters can be very cold.

I dont mind storing my finished product in glass, but alot of the glass jars dont like the cold , warm fluctuations you get when you distress age your spirit from freezer to stove room.

the 1 litre i salvaged is pretty dam good stuff!! i had 3 ounces ujsm mixed with pepsi 3 to 1 last night and it was smooth, very smooth!

It does get better after the 4th generation!! cheers

[Uncle Jesse]

I'm not sure why but the UJSM definitely is better after 4 or 5 runs. It seems to take on a nice mellow consistency after that point. It's good after the first sour mash run but something improves. I'm not sure if it's the feints or some equalibrium it reaches during fermentation or what.

[partonken]

im new to this game, but im having alot of fun! as well, some of my close friends are very happy also, as well as amazed that moonshine can be such a dam good product!

presently ive been collecting all spirits between 68% and 80%, discarding foreshots, and taking approx 500 ml for heads, and maybe a couple of litres of tails to be used as feints

i haven't added any heads or tails, but i would like to experiment with adding some of each, to get a different taste

there is a thread on this in the parent site, and im headed there right now!cheers!

[wineo]

Just bottled 30 bottles of thompson seedless/wild cherry blend wine.Bottled 5 bottles of wild cherry port,and 25 bottles of rasberry wine.My mexican sugar wash isnt done yet so I wont be distilling for a week or two.I will be starting another 12 gallons of the mexican sugar wash today,as soon as I wash out that carboy the wine was in.

[Ricky]

run my dog terd rye mash today. best tasting whiskey i have made yet. 80%rye,20% malted barley. screwed up the conversion and had to add sugar. going to try to sourmash it and do a doubling run. hope it works. caught a pint in the middle of the first run to sip on and it sure put a craven on me.

[punkin]

Ran 40 odd litres of UjSM on sun night for 7 litres of low wines to add to the 13 odd i already had.

Ran the 20 odd litres of UJSM low wines yesterday for 12 litres of spirit from 87% down to 59% ready for cuts, also added 1.5 litres of low tails to the feints jar.

Had to restart one of my ferments from scratch after only 8 generations, was slowing down and then finally stuck. Don't know if i'm pouring in the backset/sugar while it's too hot Although it fired up for a day and a half) or if it's the rainwater i'm using from my plastic tank (having some algae probs) or if the mashes are just getting too acidic. I added fresh yeast after testing at 1025 on day 6, but it only fired for a day, then settled to spurious bubblling. After another week it was down to 1010 so i ran it, but still got nearly a full yield from it.

[wineo]

Sounds like too much backset.Take a quart of working mash out next time,and save it for after your run.Add your sugar and hot backset and when it cools some add the quart of working mash.You wont have to worry about killing your yeast with heat.

[punkin]

Sounds like too much backset.Take a quart of working mash out next time,and save it for after your run.Add your sugar and hot backset and when it cools some add the quart of working mash.You wont have to worry about killing your yeast with heat.

Thanks Wineo, was using 16 litres b/set to 24 litres water/7 kilo sugar.

Might drop it down to 12 litres backset for the future. With my smaller brews (8l/12l) it seemed ok but the bigger ones are fading after 6 generations.

[wineo]

That much backset will make the PH get too low after a few runs so if you cut back,you will be fine.You can also just cut back,or skip it if you see its getting slower.

[punkin]

That much backset will make the PH get too low after a few runs so if you cut back,you will be fine.You can also just cut back,or skip it if you see its getting slower.

Thanks mate, i tossed it and started again, but next time will try skipping it. I had two gens warning, it was one day slower the first time, then 2 days, then stuck. So i'll know when it happens again.

Fermenting knowledge expanding....

[bronzdragon]

Stripping run on 5 1/2 gallons of rum wash.

~r~

[rumbaba]

Today I ran my first run of rum without any copper packing. I generally use one for rum and 7 for running vodka. I am running a still that I made from Smileys design. Partially out of laziness, but mostly out of interest I thought I would give it a go with no packing. The temperature seemed a lot more managable, less heating time involved but the difference was particularly noticable with the change in cuts. Either that or my nose is getting more adept at distinguishing the change. I am more than happy with the result, so I think am going to only use packing for vodka runs from now on.

[bronzdragon]

Grain mash put on today for whiskey,

7 1/2 pounds cracked corn
2 pounds barley
1 pound rye


Tmw, stripping run on 5 1/2 gallons whiskey mash that was

10 pounds cracked corn
2 1/2 pounds barley
4 pounds sugar

~r~

[Ricky]

double distill of dog turd rye came out a little different than i expected. does real well when mixed 50/50 with ujsm. this weekend should be interesting. added 3 lbs of rye to my ferment of ujsm that has been going about 4 gens now. will run it soon. WINEO if you are out there what is mexican sugar wash/