All Bran Recipe

[Braz]

I am going to try this "slimmed down" version tomorrow - because I'm out of DAP and I don't feel like waiting for the postman to get here with it. I'll add a couple of vitamin B tabs and maybe a dash of epsom salts since I have those.

My ferments are taking longer than yours. The one I started Sunday is not done yet (4 days) but I am sure that is because it never gets above 67 degrees in the house and drops to 61 at night. Mine are taking 5-7 days at those temps.

Braz

[Kentucky shinner]

Hey Rad, down to 1 bubble every 3 seconds. How is your wash doing?

[rad14701]

Hey Rad, down to 1 bubble every 3 seconds. How is your wash doing?

It's definitely slowing down but I haven't inserted an airlock yet... Mine just passed 48 hours... I'm just trying to see what the time will be without added nutrients as I usually add epsom salt, 20-20-20, or both...

[Kentucky shinner]

I am right at 56 hrs.

[Braz]

An update on my try at the minimalist All Bran wash.

10 lb. Sugar inverted in 10 cups water and 1 tsp citric acid
5 cups All Bran
2.5 tbsp boiled yeast
add water to 20L
1 tsp epsom salt
2 crushed vitamin B tabs

Initial PH was 6.4 - added 1 tsp citric acid to bring it to 5.6

Pitch 2/3 cup bakers yeast, aerate well
Starting SG=1.090

It started off well but seems to have stuck after three days with an SG of 1.020 (PH=4.5) Note that my SG measurements are not corrected for temperature. The wash is steady at about 67F.

I just added 1/2 tsp of DAP to see if that perks it up again.



Rad and K.S., how are yours doing?

Braz

[tryingitout]

Well I thought that I would add my 2 cents worth. I made a 5 gal. wash this morning and this afternoon. Because it appears that I had a brain fart. when I was mixing up the cereal and water 2 to 1, it did not look like enough water so I added more. Well after it started boiling I looked at my measuring cup, and realized that it was a 4 cup not a 2 cup LOL. So I used half of it in the first 5 gal. And then went and bought more sugar for the second. So now I have 10 gallons of all bran plus a 5 gal. birdwatchers. Guess I will get some practice now. I learned another valuable lesson today, that all the other novice should know. Don't hydrate your yeast until you are ready to pitch it. Once you have wet all the yeast you only have aprox. 5 to 10 minutes before it foams all over the counter, I even had it in a 2 quart container.

Thanks Rad. This is an easy recipe and it started bubbling with in 15 minutes of pitching the yeast. It’s bubbling like mad now, glad I put a hose on it and into a gallon of water, not sure if my small air lock could have kept up.
TIO
Edit I think I am going to strip the birdwatchers and slow pot the first all bran and strip the 2nd let you know how it turns out

[Kentucky shinner]

mine finished Saturday evening. sg was 99. Raked it off this morning and will run it when the weather permits, raining outside all day yesterday and today. I would rather run outside now that the temp is warm. Much easier than recirculating what in my garage.
KS

[rad14701]

Mine is still bubbling away, but way slower than it has been... I gave it a quick stir today just to see if it was residual CO2... I'm guessing that it would have benefited from some 20-20-20 or epsom salt... It might be done tomorrow when I check it...

[wkcrawler]

hey rad,
how exactly do you aretae?
thanks and sorry for the noob question!

also, i have a mini still for tests which is 2L capacity, how much hearts should i be looking t ollecting in a 2L wash?
thanks!

[Dnderhead]

2L of 14%wash= 280ml alcohol of witch you keep about 1/2 so you mite keep 140ml.
aerateing can be done in several ways , simply pouring from one container to another,,vigorously stirring,, or in larger wash you mite use an air stone.

[rad14701]

wkcrawler, the amount of sodium may or may not be an issue depending on the actual brands ingredients... I'll have a look at mine later today to see what the percentage of sodium is in it... My current batch is going a bit slower, mainly because I left out the 20-20-20 and epsom salt which means it may be going slower because I left salt out...

I'd be more inclined to believe that your problem is falling pH than anything else... If you are on municipal water it is entirely possible that they are adding a small amount of pH buffer for adjustment that is being depleted quickly...

As far as a boiler, forget about using a small 2 liter boiler... The absolute smallest practical boiler, in my opinion, would be 6 - 8 liters... I run an 8 liter boiler and after many dozens of run I'd never consider going smaller than that volume... I don't know what you're "testing" for, but you need a larger base sample... Any idiot can heat up a volume of liquid with alcohol in it and have alcohol come out before water so I just don't see the point in "testing" to see if you can do it... It's been proven plenty of times already so it doesn't warrant proving again... Yes, without doubt, even you would be able to do it so why bother... Build a practical sized still rather than fussing with a toy that won't accomplish anything other than perhaps spawning a giddy schoolgirl giggle and dance... Try out the many calculators on the parent site and you'll see just how futile your efforts would be with such a small boiler...

Here's a hint... With a 2 liter charge of 10% you would get about 1/3 of that 10% (200ml), or ~70ml (2 shots), for all of your effort... If you pot still the volume will be higher but the %ABV will be lower... Not much reward for the time and effort invested... I see that Dnderhead beat me to the yield issue while I was posting...

[wkcrawler]

so i can stir it for 1 hour with a wooden spoon?

[Dnderhead]

It wont take that long, depending on size, aerating is just getting air in the water, so you want to stir as much air in it as possible .
so sort of "whip" as you mite egg whites ,whip cream, scrambled eggs, some use a beater,spoon, whisk, whatever you like.
and just poring from one container to another from a height will work.if you have not boiled the water it mite not need any aerating.

[WhiskyPete]

Your Allbran wash wash was my first distillation. It seemed to be a great one to try out because of the price and the fact that no enzymes or malt have to be used (making it less likely to screw up). It took a little over a week to ferment for me probably in part because of my lack of aeraration and only using tomatoe paste for added nutrients and using a little less yeast. I syphoned into another carboy and let sit for two days to settle at cooler temperatures. I suppose I was a a little unprepared for the results. This is probably good info for newbies like myself. The distillate on the first run, atleast in my case does not taste, smell or look like whiskey. I was prepared for this to some extant, but was still a little surprised. Upoun second distllation I found the resulting spirit to be more pleasant. I made very conservative cuts, but kept quite a bit to be run as feints. I was a little disheartened with my effort, but preceded to cover jars with coffee filters all the same. The next day I noticed that the spirits had mellowed dramatically. In fact it smelled and tasted quite decent. I blended to the best of my amateurish abilities added raisins, sticks of lightly toasted oak and a tiny touch of good quality Caribbian vanilla. This was a week ago and I have tasted little bits of it every day and I must say it is totally different animal than those first drips off the still would have had me believe. I suppose the moral of my story is to not get discouraged right away and follow and learn from those who have done the same before you. I would like to thank Rad for this recipe and this forum in general for giving me the knowedge and confidence to try out this fun and rewarding hobby.
Later

[Kentucky shinner]

I am running my albran ferment as I am writing this. My bok is in total reflux right now and i will post later what I got from this ferment.

[rad14701]

@Kentucky shinner

Mine is still fermenting and I think it'll take a full week to finish by the pace it's at now... If I was shooting for speed I would have added additional nutrients, but I'm not in a hurry for this batch because I have spirits here to get me through until this batch is done...


@WhiskyPete

It is a common misconception that spirits come out of the still in any color but clear ("white"), as you have discovered... Much of the coloring and flavoring actually comes from the aging process where it takes on color and flavor from the charred oak... I drink virtually all of my spirits "on the white", or as "white dog", because I am usually shooting for neutral spirits or vodka... Tthanks for the kudos on the recipe... It was intended to be a beginners recipe but several members have stuck with it even after gaining useful experience...

[Kentucky shinner]

Well Rad I dont know what happend. I got 3 qaurts of 90% ABV today. That is not bad but I got the same the last time and used 2 pounds less sugar. I collected about a 1/2 qaurt of tails and shut down. What I did get smells really good. I will air it out for about 2 days the proof it and give it a try. I think I will stick with 10 pounds of sugar next time.

[cluey]

I ran Rad's recipe twice and told myself "THIS IS THE ONE". it ferments like a mad banshee, I cant even put a bubbler on til the second day or the lid is blown off. Both of the orginal batches finished in 4 days and I cleared the wash In the fridge for two days.

After reading the posts about adding additonal adjuncts i decided to give the following a try to create a sort of canadian whiskey. I have just finished stripping my first run of this wash, in a potstill, and it tastes delicious. I carried over 2 gallons gallons of backset from my strip run to make a 6.5 gallon wash. Here is what I am using for 6.5 gallon wash.

12 pounds sugar (inverted with 1 t citric acid) ($4.94)
Half Box (approximately 5 cups) of Walmart's Great Value Bran Flakes 17.3 oz size ($.86)
Half Box (approximately 6 cups) of Walmart's Great Value Corn Flakes 18 ox size ($.78)
1 pound of flaked rye (1.98)
3.5 t DAP ($.10)
3.5 t Boiled Dry Bakers Yeast ($.10)
12 T Bakers Yeast (3 T started in 2 quart jar day before in mixture of sugar and DAP) ($.50)

Process

-Invert sugar in 3 quarts of water by boiling 30 minutes with the citric acid
-In another pot boil the Brann flakes and 3.5 t dry bakers yeast and 8 cups water
-add 2 gallons cold water cooled night before in the refrigerator to the fermentation bucket
-add the boiled brann mixture and sugar to the cooled water and stir
-add two more gallons of cold water from refrigerator to the bucket
-Smash Wheat flakes into small pieces about a fith of the original size. Add flaked rye. Mix in well. I did this in hopes of retaining flavors. I am thinking of next maybe soaking both in warm water for 30 minutes prior to adding to fermentor.
-add Prepared Yeast Starter and mix in
-add water to make 6.5 gallons (7.5 gal fermentation bucket)
- sprinkle the remaining 9 T of yeast on top and let ferment

On the second generation I kept 2 gallons of backset from my first run and plan on doing the same with subsquent generations.

The first batch fermented even crazier then Rad's orignal recipe, keep the top of the fermenter loose the first day. The second day tighten lid and add bubbler.

I have high hopes this will make a decent whiskey without messing with grains. I had grain brewed beer for many years. But at this point i am just searching for a decent tasting product with the minimum effort and cost.

BTW total cost of the material for this run was 9.26. I think next run I will cut the flaked rye down to .5 pound, thus reducing the cost by about a dollar.

[LWTCS]

cluey, cluey , cluey.

I love everything about what you are doing with this. This kind of work is benificial on all levels.
Dead easy, dead cheap, dead tasty. If you can install some complexity with multiple generations, then this kind of stuff is golden IMHO.

Will you continue to render more generational batches? I hope so.
I also hope you will continue to offer an evaluation for what you are doing.
Thanks
Larry

[cluey]

Thanks for the kinds words Larry.. oh yes i plan on continuing with this and using latest backset for each new wash.. In fact I love this recipe so much I am keeping Rad's Oringinal Recipe going to use as neutral washes, with no backset being used. In addition, I will keep a run of the hopeful Canadian going for at least 7 or 8 washes as I am real interested to see how the backset profile contributes to the flavor and where it starts to taper off adding more character then the prev addition of backset is done.

The only real changes I am anticipating at this time are varying the amount of rye, presoaking the rye and corn flakes in warm water before adding to fermentor, and trying different yeasts. I bought some EC 1116 and EC1118 to go in the next round. I was thinking of useing the EC1116 in the Canadian wannabe and distilling on the lees for a few generations, and using the EC1118 in Rads orignal and trying to take the sg up from 1.09 to 1.10 or 1.11 for maybe a 15 or 16 ABV. I know many recommend staying at a lower ABV to stop the offtastes but thought is that this ferments so quickly and thoroughly with so few off tastes that maybe the recipe can stand going to a higher ABV in the wash.

Any additional thoughts, pros or cons, would be appreciated.

[LWTCS]

The only real changes I am anticipating at this time are varying the amount of rye, presoaking the rye and corn flakes in warm water before adding to fermentor, and trying different yeasts. I bought some EC 1116 and EC1118 to go in the next round. I was thinking of useing the EC1116 in the Canadian wannabe and distilling on the lees for a few generations, and using the EC1118 in Rads orignal and trying to take the sg up from 1.09 to 1.10 or 1.11 for maybe a 15 or 16 ABV. I know many recommend staying at a lower ABV to stop the offtastes but thought is that this ferments so quickly and thoroughly with so few off tastes that maybe the recipe can stand going to a higher ABV in the wash.

Any additional thoughts, pros or cons, would be appreciated.

Sounds to me like you've got it handled and are in good position to properly asses your project evolution and inform us (the forum) on your forthcoming "Thoughts" and "pros or cons"

[billy,hill]

just came back from still-fest..... 3 15 hour runs 32gallons of rads all-bran(ive been busy)

my rig ran like a top... a little slow but im not really the fast kind

got a ton of likker got some on oak some in blueberrys and strawberrys

all in all i got bout 3 gallons of high proof

vodka,whiskey,shnapps,gin,likuors, this stuff does it all

like a pig in a pile o s**t im happy

[wkcrawler]

so do i keep the boiling water and sugar simmiering and boil while adding the cereal then boil with cereal in?
thnaks!

[billy,hill]

i boil sugar in one pot, ceral and yeast in another boil bolhfor 30min

[rew88]

Just started one of these all bran recipes, it will be my second batch first was a turbo yeast batch that i diluted and filtered yesterday got 8l at 40% so I'm pretty happy about that but it has a bit of a smell which is probably due to the turbo yeast tastes fine. I'm hoping this will come up even nicer.

I used 6kg of sugar, 4 cups of Kellogs All Bran Wheat Flakes, boiled the sugar, cereal and yeast separately and made hell of a mess then added to the fermenter and topped up to 25l. Let it cool over night (takes forever here) then i pitched the yeast and nutrient a few hours ago. I checked it a little while ago and its starting to bubble nicely (smells better than turbo yeast already).

Will keep you posted on how it goes.

[cluey]

Rewind. I too had a prob with the finishing temp because of all the extra heated products besides sugar you add. I solved this by refrigerating the water I was adding overnight and by freezing 4 half quart containers that I could get the ice out of ez by running warm water over the container. I add all the ingredients but last gallon or so of water and checking temp. If over 95 f I will add ice to bring it down to that. Finsish adding cold water to the level u want.

[cluey]

Ok, I have committed a sin.

I have completed two of Rad's Original Recipe and came away so impressed that I am using it as the basis for some experiments. The first is adding extra adjuncts such as rye and corn flakes to make what i call a canadian wannabe. The second experiment I wanted to try is increasing the ABV of the wash for more yield. I know that in regular sugar washes this leads to lots of off tastes, but Rad's original works so much better then comparable ABV washes i have convinced myself there is a real possibility that it could withstand higher percentages and still result in a good product.

So here goes. I originally was aiming for 16 per cent wash but i must have miscalulted something as I ended up with a sg of 1.098 which when temperature corrected ended at 1.111.
According to the chart on the master site that converts to a potentional of 17%. The size of the wash was choosen to go the the maximum recommendation for one package of yeast.

Ingredients for 7 gallon wash

16.75 pounds beet sugar
1 t citric acid for conversion process
7 cups Walmart All Brann
3.5 t Bakers yeast to Boil
5 t DAP
1 crushed B complex
1 t citric acid to wash
1 package of Lavin EC 1118 champange yeast w/ starter solution 36 hrs prior
3 T Bakers yeast

Process

The day prior to doing the wash I put 5 gallons of water in the refrigerator to cool. Normally this isnt needed but with the addional heating of the Brann/yeast mixture my temp ends up to high to pitch yeast right away. In addition I have various sizes of water frozen in steril containers to use if necessary.

Yeast Solution - start one or two days prior to pitching. one quart of 90 f water in 2 quart jar with two teaspoons sugar, 1/4 DAP, one package Lavin EC 1118 yeast. Stretch cling wrap over top and punch a few holes in it and set in a warm area.

-Boil sugar in 2 gallons of water with 1 t. citric acid for 20 minutes
-Add Bran and 3.5 t bakers yeast to 7 cups of water and bring to a boil (in a seperate pot).
-While sugar is boiling add two gallons of water and a 1 quart size ice cube to fermentor
-add sugar and brann mixtures to the fermentor and stir until ice cube has melted.
-add two more gallons of water
-add 1 t citric acid, 5 t DAP, 1 crushed vitamin B complex tab
-stir vigorously for several minutes
-take temp and add more ice if needed, if not fill to 7 gallons.
-add prepared yeast starter and stir
-add 3 T Bakers yeast to top and seal


Notes:
- used one and half times the DAP I normally would use to help with the higher fermentaion. It is still less then would be recommended for a normal sugar wash.
-I added 1 t citric to increase the acidity of the wash to help with higher alcohol and its cogeners.
-Vitamin B was added to provide a llttle extra
-I added The Bakers yeast to the top of was at the end to help get the wash started. I believe that the ec 1118 is a yeast killer and will kill off the bakers yeast at some point which will help with the higher ABV of the wash, I hope.


Hopes abd Dreams

I am hopeing to get a wash that can be utilized at a higher ABV. Theoretically this wash will produce almost two liters more of alcohol at 55%. Practically I am trying to see it in practice it does produce more, and secondly, if the final products quality it comparable to lower
ABV washes of the same style.

I thought this was an ideal time to experiment with this as I have just completed the spirit run of rad's original and it will serve as a good baseline for the product of this experiment.

[Braz]

Results of my try at the "minimalist" version:



It took a full seven days to ferment out, but that is not unusual for me as my ambient temperature is 67 daytime and 61 nighttime.

It stalled twice, as you can see. First time I kicked it in the butt with some more DAP but more DAP didn't help the second time and I ended up throwing some more yeast at it to get it going again.

Bottom line is that I'm going back to the earlier version of the recipe. I think I will start two batches at the same time and in one add the DAP at the start and in the other add the DAP a little each day. Don't know if it will make any difference but SaltUber has a similar experiment going on a WPOSW and he thinks the daily dose might be better.

Braz

[DCT]

question
I am going to make this recipe, but want a rum version, going to use black strap mollasses, question never inverted mollasses before, if i use this 1 gallon recipe can i use equal amonts of brown sugar & mollasses, can i invert the two together? does mollasses invert like sugar & will one cup of mollasses invert the same alcohol amount as one cup sugar or doi need to add more mollasses to equal one cup sugar?

[LWTCS]

Molassas has unfermentables. So you will need more than a comparable all sugar.

Btw, do a graham cracker and all bran combo. When you get to the third generation you may call this your "go to" rum recipe.

Or not.