uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

[chrisl]

Thanks. Chris

[chrisl]

Well it has been 24 hours since I started the UJSSM it is burping about every 5 seconds. Is this a good rate or bad. Will it get more active. I do not have any heat on it, at all, just inside the house. Thanks Chris

[Stevewhiskey]

Quick question for you guys,

I had a second gen UJSM bubbling in my fermenter and i didn't get a chance to distill it before i had to leave on vacation. Its been in the fermenter for about four weeks now, will the long time in the fermentation cause any problems/dangers etc

Thanks

[olddog]

Should not be a problem, I have done the same , turned out fine.

[Hawke]

Well it has been 24 hours since I started the UJSSM it is burping about every 5 seconds. Is this a good rate or bad. Will it get more active. I do not have any heat on it, at all, just inside the house. Thanks Chris

It should pick up a bit, in the next 24 hours. May take a week to finish. The next generation will start and finish much quicker.

[scarecrow]

I just put one down yesterday.

Bubbling at the rate of about 2 blips per second. Been going like that after the first 2 hours.

This is one wicked recipe. I hope it taste nice, it's a snap to make.

I'm aiming for 3 runs out of this. The first will be used as feints in another run.

Thanks to the originator for this great wash.

scarecrow

[chrisl]

Ran my first ujssm on Sunday. After mixing it up by the directions I had a wash with a potential abv of 5.8%. It did it's thing and was done in 4 days let it rest for 2 more days. Ran it through my potstill this morning. After my fores, I got 2 quarts of abv of 65% and stopped at 40%. I will use all of this as feints for my next run. I then cooled the backset and used 25% backset and 7 lbs more sugar, I mixed the sugar into the warm backset that really helped a lot. I have a potential abv of 8% with this wash I have this under lock, and it started popping in about one hour. The best part I had a great time, very addictive hobby. Chris

[kiwistiller]

Ran my first ujssm on Sunday. After mixing it up by the directions I had a wash with a potential abv of 5.8%. It did it's thing and was done in 4 days let it rest for 2 more days. Ran it through my potstill this morning. After my fores, I got 2 quarts of abv of 65% and stopped at 40%. I will use all of this as feints for my next run. I then cooled the backset and used 25% backset and 7 lbs more sugar, I mixed the sugar into the warm backset that really helped a lot. I have a potential abv of 8% with this wash I have this under lock, and it started popping in about one hour. The best part I had a great time, very addictive hobby. Chris

you've probably thrown away a fair amount of recoverable booze in the tails there... most people would run lower than 40% I think? Personally I go to 10%, lots use 20%.

Glad you're having fun, it is very addictive indeed.

[HookLine]

The best part I had a great time

Congrats. May there be many more great times for you and your still/s.

And Kiwi is right, don't throw away those tails between 40 & 20%.

[chrisl]

I surely did not want to stop collecting my tails, but The temp was 204, and I could hear the still getting to a low boil. I read, that do not collect at 205 or over, in the Alaska bootleggers book. I just wanted to be safe the first time. Also, I was running my heat source, on he lowest setting.Any tips? Also, A pic of my still is on the first try thread. Thank You Chris

[kiwistiller]

Generally by the time I'm sure I won't want to use any more product blending (so safely into the tails), its getting late and I'm getting impatient so I unleash the full fury of the burner on my still, run it hard through the tails to get it over and done with.

Temperature is, at best, only a rough guide, and ABV is much better measure of when to stop. every still / mash will be different as far as temp goes, so go by the hydro and recycle those tails as feints. I'm not saying you should DRINK them, not now anyway, but just throw them (With the heads) into the next run. Alternatively, you can save them up and do an all feints run, but that requires storage.

[chrisl]

Thanks Kiwi :I will do that, coming up, this weekend. How many runs, or generation's, can you get out of ujssm. Chris

[kiwistiller]

I thought it was pretty much indefinite... if you can save some dunder then you can start a new wash with it at a later date, you'll preserve a great deal of the taste that you've built up. The thing to watch out for will be an acid build up I think, if you can keep an eye on that and vary it by the amount of dunder added back, then you should be right for a good many runs. I had one I was using 45% backset in, and it slowed right down after 5 generations. I reduced the amount of backset and all was well again.

[chrisl]

My second wash I used 25% backset and I planned to keep using that but on the second wash I added PH buffer and 1/8 teaspoon amylase, It has been popping nicely since Sunday, hopefully be read for the weekend. I have to admit that when I was doing my first virgin run, it was daybreak, had everything up and going, when the sun popped through, nice and quiet. Except for the sound of the propane burner, then the sound of a trickle, "success" it was just that cool. Chris

[chrisl]

OK: Sat was my second run. I added my feints from the first run, about 2 quarts. After my fores then a little heads. out came about 2 quarts of very nice middles, it was about, at the start, 75% abv I ran it until it started tasting a little off. That was about 58% abv. ran it down to 20%. I used 25% backset, my first wash, was at 5.8 potential, 2nd was at 8%, this wash was at 10%. Seems to be growing nicely. My middles were pretty neutral tasting, with a hint of sweet corn taste. I really got a education with this run. I did not, really pay, any attention to the temp, just taste and smell. I think I did good on the heart run. I cut it down to 40% and did a little partaking of it last night. I am going to run this wash, until I get enough feints for a spirit run, then, I am going to raise the bar, and try a cooked mash recipe. Any suggestion on a first starter recipe. Thank for everybody's help Chris

[Keyser Soze]

I ran off a seventh generation batch of this last winter, and it still tastes harsh to me. Seems to have a real bite. I know it's something I'm doing, or not, but I'm not sure what it is. Is it necessary to let this clear before distilling it? I think the main trouble wih all my runs of anything may be that I have not allowed enough time to let it clear.

Any ideas?
It gets better with age on wood chips, but still harsh at 40%.

[olddog]

I always let my wash sit for a couple of days after its finished burping, rack off and leave for another couple of days to let all of the remaining yeast sink to the bottom, then rack off into your still.
I always let my UJSSM air for up to a week, this seems to get rid of all the off flavours.

[Kill-Devil]

I ran off a seventh generation batch of this last winter, and it still tastes harsh to me. Seems to have a real bite. I know it's something I'm doing, or not, but I'm not sure what it is. Is it necessary to let this clear before distilling it? I think the main trouble wih all my runs of anything may be that I have not allowed enough time to let it clear.

Any ideas?
It gets better with age on wood chips, but still harsh at 40%.

I'm running generation 4 now, and I share your sentiments. I haven't tasted anything worth aging yet. I can't seem to separate the nasty flavors from the corn flavor. Both are clearly there.
Clearly this recipe works for a lot of people, but I just can't seem to get it down. It's a very different taste than all-grain whiskey. How much of a flavor compromise do we expect here?

--KD

[scarecrow]

Did my first strip run and squirreled it away into my feints jar. Tasted some of the middle run. Dang this is nice.

Added some water, sugar and backset for the second ferment. 6 hours later, not a burp.
Opened it up and it didn't smell right. Dipped the finger in and it was puke. Out with the pH meter. WTF........3.1 AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH where my Bicarb?

pH is now 4.7 and as bubbly as a blonde bimbo in a bikini with a beach ball. Beauty Newk!

scarecrow

[blanikdog]

Isn't this just the best easy corn likker? And I'm right out of it. Looks like a busy spring/summer (fires excluded hopefully) in the shed. And again, I just drank the last of my millet sugar head. BUGGER.

blanik

[dropping_planets]

I ran off a seventh generation batch of this last winter, and it still tastes harsh to me. Seems to have a real bite. I know it's something I'm doing, or not, but I'm not sure what it is. Is it necessary to let this clear before distilling it? I think the main trouble wih all my runs of anything may be that I have not allowed enough time to let it clear.

Any ideas?
It gets better with age on wood chips, but still harsh at 40%.

I'm running generation 4 now, and I share your sentiments. I haven't tasted anything worth aging yet. I can't seem to separate the nasty flavors from the corn flavor. Both are clearly there.
Clearly this recipe works for a lot of people, but I just can't seem to get it down. It's a very different taste than all-grain whiskey. How much of a flavor compromise do we expect here?

--KD

...no flavor compromise......in the last year i've spent a ridiculous amount of time locked in my tiny distillery running off 7 gl. batches of different versions of this recipe....made it to generation 28 with a brown sugar version....now it's organic blue corn meal and turbinado...(given to me by a friend)....once you hit a groove, the fermenting and distilling portion of this is super smooth....with a sg of 1.050 it'll run off in 2 to 3 days...and can than keep you really busy and rack up low wines stupid fast....even with little ferments like mine....
are you using the generic cut scheme.....? if so bag it.... you obviously know what flavors you dont like.....isolate em.....after a spirit run let your jar set air out for a solid week....take your time tasting and smelling... why rush after all that work...start tasting in the low 70's some where, and work outwards....cut with 2 to 3 parts water going up... and 1 to 2 parts water going down.....make much broader cuts if your oaking your booze....i make both my cuts right at the point of extreme offensiveness....way past intrusive....before i took em that far, my oaked ujsm tasted like oak splinters....now it ages with a much larger flavor profile.....your gonna always have that sugarhead edge....it's fermented sugar...but theres no reason for it not to be absolutely smooth and yummy....fermenting and distilling this became super robotic which supplied me with plenty of booze for countless blending/cutting and aging/oaking experiments, making proper cuts fallowed by slow (hence the word 'age', killed a ton of juice by trying to rush and over oaking it) aging is definitely where the magic happens....cannot thank uncle jesse enough for this recipe (and this forum), it gave me a ton of concentrated hands on experience that i absolutely needed for my all grain experiments which are finally moving along much smoother....sparging has been a tough one for me to get down....
as i got halfway through this post i opened a magnum of ujsm that corked several months ago with a couple inches of head space in the bottle...it was part of an over oaked batch i put aside for experimentation....this juice was pure splinters when i bottled it....now a very short life time later,it is woody but in no way offensive or harsh....it reeks of caramel which i love...once over oaked... now a success...which is good as i have 2 more magnums... it is more wood than i like but i imagine it blending beautifully with something thats light in the wood...like my very last bottle of DWWG from another short life time ago....in fact i gonna get on that blend now...............

[stangas]

Hey guys,

I have not been on this site for some years now, but thought i would put a quick high five for this recipe. I have been making my whiskey like this for a long long time and gotta say it rocks.

My missus drinks only Jack Daniels and now she only drinks Jacks and UJ Sour Mash.

I find it too smooth, and very pleasant tasting. I on the other hand am trying to ruff it up for my own preference. The wood i find is the key.
I have some french oak, which is what the missus likes, and some american oak which is a bit harsher. The size of the wood bits makes a big difference.
French is small chips which i have a 20L container full of and have been attacking it for 5+ years.
The american is old barrels that are blocks about 5cm x 10cm. I cut these into kindling and chuck em in my jarrah wood fire (very hot). When fully ablaze i remove, drench, then add to whiskey.

Any way, cheers for the help over the times.

[scarecrow]

My second generation has just finished. 17 days. Dang, what's the next one going to take. My first one was dry in 9 days.

I also had to add a bit of bicarb to the second one because the pH was very low. If I ever get to the 10th generation, it's going to taste like soda water.

Do you need to keep the pH up? What do you guys do? Do you add extra yeast? (Mine didn't restart the bubbling for 2 days untill I added more yeast, then it took off)

The other concern is that it is taking longer and longer to go dry.

I also noticed that it slows right down once it gets to 22C (72F), and picks up again when it hits 24C (75F). Talk about touchy.

Is it neccessary to remove the layer of white (spent?) corn and replace it every generation or can I let it go for a while?
I don't have a lot of floaties. I thoroughly washed and graded the corn before I started. Thankfully, no oils came out.

Interesting flavour though. Very nice corn whiskey taste and it's getting better just on a small amount of untoasted oak.

scarecrow

[XXXX]

Hey all, I've got a problem with insects being supplied with my corn from the only feed shop locally. Is there an easy way to remove them? I need to remove them right?

[Hawke]

Stangas, add some rye to the mix. That will rough it up a bit. Good wood aging is the key to any flavored spirit.

Scarecrow, Don't use as much backset for a generation or two. You want to keep the Ph at about 5.5.

XXXX, Dump the corn in water and stir. Skim off anything that floats and you will be good to go. (A few bugs just add character)

[scarecrow]

Is there an easy way to remove them?

Put a couple of double handfuls of the corn in a bucket and stick a garden hose in the bottom and turn it on flat out and all the bugs and crap will float out the top.

(Say that quickly ten times with a mouth full of minties then go and do it)

scarecrow

[Selby]

I always thought the aim of making grain whisky was to not rely at all on sugar otherwise you end up with sugar head moonshine. Selby

[Dnderhead]

UJSSM is somewhair between, sugar with grain flavor and does not have to be mashed.many recipes like this was used during prohibition.
some use it as the next step up from all sugar. other like this type good enough to stay with it,(you can vary grain bill) then others
cant git enough grain or has no way to mash all grains. if you go back in history you will notice that they made with what was available
in that local. northern US is short season crops as wheat, oats, barley, as you go south more into corn/maze. many of are members
live in cities or apartments and cant git grain at all they make "off the shelf" you have to thank of them also. it just makes this hobby more interesting.

[ct1870]

hello everyone just wanted to say i have finished my ujsm. i had to stop. I did a stripping run of and have 21 gals of 45 to 50%. I have 14 gals of the stripping run left to do my spirit run. I did a spirits run on the first 7 gals and got around 3.5 to 4 gals of great spirits. I chard 2.5 gals. and it has been on the wood for about a mnth. I do a spirits run of around 7 to 8 gals. I go slow, make my cuts and catch all i can as feints. I used a cracked corn from the local feed store, pearld barley, and a little wheat. I think i has turned out great. here are a few pics

this was my first sg

after about 8 hrs and 90 f

ending sg

I have a few more of the stripping run.

[ct1870]

I fermented 10 gals at a time and distilled it in a 15 gal pot. I used the taste, smell, feel to make my cuts but i also like to watch the temp in the collum. I built a parrot while doing my stripping runs and used it on the last run to get a feel of how it works. I plan on using it for my spirits run.

I placed a fire retarder between the spirits and the flame, It alson help on keeping the heat off the condenser

here is the temp gage i use

here is the parrot i had a chance to build

at 205 I was catching 19 to 20% alc