sweetfeed whisky

[Dnderhead]

here we go, horses digest only about 50% of the sugars available. also can cause colic (causes bacteria in gut)in some,can spoil a horse to not wanting anything but sweets,contrary to popular belief oats is the best grain for horses and does not make them hyper as some believe,oats is one of the lowest in food value and mostly fiber.(just try fernemting some)
high energy foods/grain for horses would contain fats/oils not sugars. corn is "heating" that is to say it produces body heat, good for horses that is Wintered out side .

(been there done that)

[WalkingWolf]

I've seen this thread (and many others on sweetfeed) continuing to circulate and can't really see the point. I been feedin' "sweet feed" for about 40 years now and I've probably seen 30 different formulations. The ones that have the pellets thrown in is what probably got me wonderin bout this. To each his own but I'd think the time and effort spent would be better spent on using a grain that you at least know what it is. I aint against using stock feed in any way nor stock grade molasses but this sweetfeed thread baffels me.

Kinfolk had a feed store/feed mill/fertilizer operation. Sweetfeed blend depended on what they had in bulk tanks for the week.

ww

[Dnderhead]

as last most of the pellets are alfalfa ,not something to ferment.

[Kentucky shinner]

The sweetfeed I use makes some of the best whiskey I have tried. I am from Kentucky I dont know what sweetfeed looks like in the rest of the world. I have a freind in Scotland that is using it and has the same opionion. I know many horse trainers that use sweetfeed that I know. Never seen any sweet feed with pellets myself. I get mine from the co-op.

[still crazy]

Hey Kentuck
You running that thru your reflux and still getting flavor ?
SC

[ty-tek]

I have a freind in Scotland that is using it and has the same opionion.

Where/who does he get his from?
Or is it made up to suit his needs??
What ingredients are in your sweetfeed by volume/weight???

[Kentucky shinner]

hey stillcrazy, I sometimes Keep some of the heart of the strip run. The rest I run through my Bok reflux column. When you cut the proof back to 50 - 55% ABV there is just a slight sweet taste. It does have a different flavor than just corn likker.

[Kentucky shinner]

this is from the southern states co-op

Triple Crown Horse Feeds - 14% Performance Formula

A well-balanced "sweet" feed designed for horses with specific protein needs , especially broodmares, yearlings, foals and performance horses who typicall eat grass forage. Because this ration is high in fat and numerous other alternative energy sources, it reduces the amount of feed needed to maintain excellent body condition. In fact, its unprecedented vitamin/mineral fortification will eliminate the need for other supplements. In addition to being formulated with the same triple recleaned oats, barley and corn fed daily at many premier race tracks, 14% contains roasted soybeans which are high in fat and have a flavor horses love. Triple Crown 14% now includes Rice Bran as a portion of the total fat level. Available in 50 lb. bags

I have included a link if you would like to read about this. Here it is.

http://www.southernstates.com/products/ ... ce_14.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Kentucky shinner]

Hey Ty-Tek. see if you can find a member on here called Samohon . He is from the UK and he loves the sweet feed likker. He buys it there in the UK. If you cant find him let me know and I will try to find out where he gets his.
Good luck...

This is Horse Feed.

[vicrider]

Please forgive my ignorance but what actually is 'sweetfeed'?

It might be called something different here in the UK.

Horse feed that has had molasses added. There are several kinds out there so read the ingredient list to make sure you aint gettin nothin you dont want. IE some have minerals added. V

[ty-tek]

If I ran the sweetfeed wash through a Bokabob would I get anything that was like whisky or would it be more like vodka?

The reason I ask is because I am taking delivery of a length of 2" copper pipe, fittings, etc. and a bokabob is the obvious choice of still to me.
I want to keep some flavours in my final product and don't want to make a complex flavoured wash if it's all going to be lost in distillation.

[vicrider]

You can keep the flavor if you detune the boka and run it in pot still mode. IE remove the packing, insulate the column and run with the valve wide open so you don't get any reflux.

[ty-tek]

You can keep the flavor if you detune the boka and run it in pot still mode. IE remove the packing, insulate the column and run with the valve wide open so you don't get any reflux.

Can you explain what you mean by 'run with the valve wide open'

[rad14701]

You can keep the flavor if you detune the boka and run it in pot still mode. IE remove the packing, insulate the column and run with the valve wide open so you don't get any reflux.

Can you explain what you mean by 'run with the valve wide open'

You leave the product takeoff/reflux needle vale wide open - open all the way...

[Kentucky shinner]

Hey Rad correct me if I'm wrong but I guess you just basically run your bok like you would a pot still right?

[ammo man]

I just took the plunge. I mixed a couple 25L's of Sweet Feed mash. I bought a 50 lb bag of Producer's Pride 10% Sweet Feed from Tractor Supply. I have no idea what is in it. I looked on their site and the listing they had for ingredients did not tell me much.

I use those 30L fermenter's you buy from the brew supply houses. I filled two each with 5 L's of the Sweet Feed, and then covered with very hot water. I added 7 lbs sugar to each, and then added some more hot water stirring each until everything was dissolved. Then I added cold water to each to bring the mash level to 25 L's. After the water cooled to the point I could comfortable submerge my hand, I added to each 3 packets of Fleishmann's ActiveDry yeast.

At this point I plan on only doing this and one more generation, distilling spirit pot type. I will post the outcome.

Bert

[Kentucky shinner]

I look forward to hear your results and how well you like it. If you will let your hootch age about 1-2 months it really gets a good smooth flavor.

[ammo man]

Thank you Kentucky shinner. I have learned for me that if I let it age for about a month, I usually get a smooth taste. However, my problem is that most of the time the angles and me drink it all before a month passes. This time I am going to run off enough so maybe some will make it a month.

I will keep all posted. I just have a gut feeling I am going to like this taste. I have made several batches of moonshine with chopped corn, a few batches of all grain, and several batches of rum using fancy molasses. But to date none really fit my taste although as said some have been smooth.

Bert

[Kentucky shinner]

I am on a 8th generation of this and the stuff just seems to keep getting better.

[Samohon]

Hi yaw'll. Now on my 4th generation of this great recipe, just keeps gettin better an better. I'd love to age some for a year or so in an oak barrel and really see what sort or beverage is at the end of the wait. Gonna really try and get a 10L or 20L barrel made.

In the meantime I have come up with a great way to colour our Sweet Feed Sour Mash. Its a wild plant called, 'Saint Johns Wort'. My father in law is Ukrainian and makes a lovely smooth neutral vodka from nothing but a sugar wash similar to Birdwatchers recipe. He goes to the river and picks this wild plant, dries it thoroughly, then soaks 70%abv + on top of the dried plant for 3-5 days, until the desired colour is achieved. He then filters the liquid through coffee filters, dilutes to 45%abv and chills in a fridge. Really adds a nice golden reddish glow to the vodka, not unlike my avatar.



It does not add any aftertaste, smell or un-pleasant discolouration to the liquid, just colours it. I have drank it both clear and coloured and saw no difference between them. I am now wondering if I could colour my sweetfeed to resemble other off the shelf brands. Ofcoarse is purely to make the likker look good, has no chance of doing the same thing a good white oak, sherry tainted barrel would produce. But for those looking to colour their hooch, its certainly one way of colouring it naturally.

I'll let you know how I get on... In the meantime...

Heres a link to the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John's_wort

Thanks again KS for this great recipe, now i'm off to do some sippin

[Grabasstic]

Other than a couple of sugar washes and a run of boxed wine all of my washes have been made with sweet feed. I put about three or four inches in the bottom of a six and a half gallon bucket and pour boiling water in on top of it. Then add sugar. The first time that i made it I used way to much sugar, almost 20 pounds. I let it ferment until it stopped bubbling and then transfered to a carboy. When transfering it i used a pair of panty hose (new, not old ones) to keep the grain out of the carboy.
I am just now starting to keep notes on my runs and dont remember exactly how much i got from it, seems like out a 4.5 to 5 gallon run i was collecting just under a gallon and a half with an average of about 130 proof.
I didn't know anything about making cuts, (still dont know a lot, but learning), so was keeping everything after the foreshots that got dumped.
Even with out making cuts after it was cut down to 100 proof it had a pretty good taste. Was a little bit sweet with the first taste and then you got the alcohol taste. People i gave it too seemed to like it pretty well. What i kept for my self i soaked on charred oak in glass jars and to me that really helped the taste of it, really mellowed out the harshness.
Sweet feed around here was $7.00 for 50 pounds and where i bought it has cracked corn for about 5 dollars for 50 pounds.

It is definately worth trying out, and makes some decent likker.



Grab

[mikeofa2]

I have some pitchable liquid Champagne yeast hanging around. It's not 8 tablespoons, just one of those glass vials. Would that be enough for this recipe or should I stick with the bakers yeast?

[Dyce51]

Be sure if you are distilling in a pot still you pour it through a pillow case or some kind of filter/strainer otherwise the grains and fines will burn to the bottom of your pot. I do a double distill unless I have a thumper then I only run it once. After making pintoshine's rum recipe I only use rain water (just seems to work alot better). Just a couple of thoughts.....

[Yungin]

Is there any negative or positive effects that would come from boilin this for a little while? My thoughts were that if I boiled as you do many of thesugar washes on here maybe it would help convert the sugar better and the grain a little. Give me some feedback on what you think.

[Kentucky shinner]

I personally have never tried boiling it. It would not hurt anything and I would like to know how it comes out. As far as the question on here about the champagne yeast, I have no idea if it would make any difference. I would not think so but just have never used champagne yeast before. Let all of us know how these turn out.
KS

[ScottishBoy]

I would wonder if the boiling would not destroy some of the nutrients.
Its my understanding that boiling will destroy many nutrients and especially vitamins, so it MIGHT reduce the overall nutrient value of the wash. But on the other hand it should free up many of the starches in the grain base. Im thinking those people with a tendancy towards enzymes/malting might like that effect. I still get a gut feeling that they may need to supplement SOME nutrients.

To play devil's advocate...
Some of the sweet feed mixes are designed for older horses and are designed to have water added to them ( it doesnt mention boiling or not) to aid in digestion. (Random Thought: Anyone ever tried horse vitamins as a nutrient mix for yeast?). Practically all the vitamins in the horse feed are water soluble. They could easily be destroyed by boiling. But molasses gets boiled in making rum...hmmm. This might need a little experimentation

I bet boiling 1/4, or maybe 1/2 of the sweet feed with a comparable dose of malt might make this recipe even better.

So the methodology would be:

Boiling 1/4, no nutrients
Boiling 1/2 no nutrients
Boiling all, no nutrients

Boiling 1/4, nutrients
Boiling 1/2 nutrients
Boiling all, nutrients

Standardized nutrient dosages for each group. Standardized sugar and yeast application. SG reads daily to finish or inactivity, whichever comes first.

Control = Standard recipe.

I also think I am starting to see the possibility of a 50 pound bag of sweetfeed in my future...
I need some gallon jugs, caps, seven medicine bottles, seven hollow shafts and seven smaller medicine bottles...and a hot glue gun!

SB

[Kentucky shinner]

I think I am going to try a 30 Gallon ferment of this. I just got a 30 Gallon food grade drum and think I will see how this does when done in a large batch at one time.

[heeler]

Hey ammo man ( Bert ) just wondering how that sweetfeed mash came out?? From the date on the orig. post it should be done by now??
I have done it twice and both times it came out rummy like. I guess cause of the mollasses. I used a pot still with a goose neck tower to keep all the flavor cause thats what I was after. Maybe I should'nt have -- hmmmmm maybe that was the porb. All advice is excepted and appreciated. Please chime in.

[Yungin]

Thanks Scottishboy and Kentucky shiner for the replys
I have a 50 lb sack of 12% sweetfeed and 50 lbs of sugar plan on boilin this for 45 minutes and then topoin up to 50 gallons this weekend I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

[Kentucky shinner]

Hey there Heeler, sometimes I will save alot of low wines from my sweet feed then run a batch through my reflux tower. If I let it age for about a month when you have a drink there is just a hint of sweetness right at the end of each sip. I have some oaking now to see how it is. I will let you know. but this will be a while. I have promised myself not to try it for a year. We will see if I can make it. It has been 3 months so far.
KS