Oh dear, what went wrong

[tomraven]

I tried making a whiskey using 6kg sugar plus tin of liquid malt extract and about 1.5kg of rolled barley. I made it up to 30 lts and pitched in some bakers yeast and beer drying enzymes to possibly convert some of the barley (I wasn't sure if it would do anything)

The garage is quite cold so fermentation took a while, but eventually it stopped and the SG was 990.

I distilled it using my new copper pot still head on my Turbo500's boiler using a variac I have built to control the power input.

I went nice and slow and collected about 13 x 250ml jars.

I through out the 1st 89ml. The 1st jar came off at 75% with the temperature athe the top of the still at 82deg c and tatsed and smelt like the run I got from my first sugar wash using a reflux head. Tasted and smelt sweet. No other flavours.

The percentage dropped until eventually at 35% and a temperature of 98deg C, I stopped.

The first 2lts smelt and tasted quite neutral. At this stage the run was coming out at about 55%, but after that the taste and smell deteriorated. It got more flavour and smell, but it was not pleasant.

I a not sure what flaovours and smells I was expecting, but I didn't think the first part of the run would be so bland. Does it get a lot more flavour when oaked and aged?

Should I call it a day and redistill it in the reflux still and make a neutral or can i still do something with what I collected?

You read such a lot on the forum, but when you put it to practice you realise how little you know. and everything you have learnt goes out the window in the heat of the moment.

TR

[Kentucky shinner]

cover your jars with coffee filters and let it air for a while, I air mine at least 48 hours. You might really be surprised at how much aging it will improve it also. after only one month mine totally changes. I am sure the more experienced guys on here will have better information for you.
KS

[rubber duck]

Your using a sugar based recipe so it's not going to have a strong grain flavor like a signal run corn mash. It's going to be a light flavor, oak will help the character a lot. As shiner said air it out, then take the cuts that you like and oak them. I'll but it turns out better then your expecting.

What kind of malt extract did you use? It wasn't hoped right.

[Dnderhead]

Using a pot to make whiskey, the cuts are not as sharp as a reflux still, the fores will blend into the harts much later,
and so will the tales, take off fores,discard, take off heads save for redistilling, next comes harts the abv will drop
and you will have almost a neutral, keep running it will take on a grainy taste witch will increase throughout the run, then it will
start to take on a bitter/oily taste /feel at that time your into tales,cut there, save tales for rerunning.
it is much easier to learn making cuts, if you do in small jars, airing, then make your choices later, as you gain experience you can eliminate jars. also aging /wood has a lot to do with flavor. it sounds as if you have went to far into the tales.

[tomraven]

Thanks for the input guys.

I used an unhopped malt, so that isn't the problem.

Having never tasted a good white dog before, I have no idea what it should taste like. The spirits towards the end off the run does have a chewy grainy flavour, and I can't taste any oily bitter flavour towards the end of the run, so maybe the bulk of it is good,

I have ordered a small 5 lt oak barrel. I'll give a go and try aging it for a while and see if it changes.

I have bought some enzymes and rolled animal feed barley for my next run (it was cheap - the brew shops charge $4 - $6/Kg for small quantities. This was only $1/kg at Knights. If I cook it up, can I ferment it on the grain to get a better yield?

Having been rolled, is that sufficient to be able to cook the startches out or should i put it in the blender first?

The bug has really bitten. I bought the still as my daughter had tried to make Lemoncello using off the shelf vodka, but it froze when she put it in the freezer. This gave me an ideal "reason" to buy a still and make some higher percentage neutrals using the dreaded turbo yeast, to solve her problem. Further motivation, was to make neutrals for putting over fruits and preserving them for speacial occasions.

Since then, I have made some bourbon using a neutral and essence (very smooth - I call it Sir Jack), brandy from some wine my business partner threw out and some grappa from grapes harvested right at the end of the season down in Margaret River (thank you to the wine maker who let me into his vineyard).

At the moment I have my first batch of Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash in the fermenter ready to distill.

When I started out, I said I like my scotch and I am happy to buy my single malts, but now my mission is to work on some thin mashes and work my way up to a single malt. Not ever having made beer or wine or distilled any form of alcohol before, I am starting from scratch. I also don't have any friends who have any knowledge in this craft either, so I will be relying heavily on the forum and the books I am reading.

Once again, thank you guys for your input and your guidance. This is a great community.

Cheers

TR

[Dnderhead]

that 5L barrel will color more than age, about a month in it is all you will want. then remove and place in glass/stanless with head space.