uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

[Large Sarge]

Trying a new take on UJSSM, used the 14 pounds of corn and instead of plain sugar I dropped in two gallons of Steens Pure Cane Syrup (Think really light sugar cane molasses or the sugar cane equivalent of pure maple syrup) and topped it up to 11 gallons. I used a quart jar of yeast slurry from my last all grain Sour Mash (Fermented off the grain). Took about 45 minutes to light up. Kind of a Rum-ish Sour Mash. We'll see how she turns out. Smells pretty good already. Any thoughts?

[WalkingWolf]

You'll end up with a strong molasses flavored "sweet feed" type ferment.

1 gallon of molasses/5 gallons is a full strength rum wash. Consider it rum with grain as the molasses will far out-power the grain in the flavor profile. Don't throw out any of the backset -- there will be a lot of flavor(s) that can still be extracted over additional runs. Consider yourself having entered a rum cycle and commit yourself to 6-8 ferments to maximize the ingredients you have committed.

[Large Sarge]

WW, You really think it will pull that much over? I have made rum with it but it was really light on the molasses flavor. Some but not extreme. I'm looking for some rum type flavor but I do not want to drown out the corn.

[stinkypete]

hi guys its been nearly 10 days since i started 3rd gen wash and its still bubbling away but dosent appear to be changing in sg (1.30 ) , i used 50 % dunder from previous wash , is it possible there was unfermented sugar still in my previous wash ?

cheers stinky

[WalkingWolf]

I'm looking for some rum type flavor but I do not want to drown out the corn.

Maybe it will be to your liking. Let us know how it turns out. For those with access to Steen's it is definitely a clean, affordable source for molasses flavor.

[LWTCS]

Large Sarge,,you may find that adding back separately to your ferments and / or your boiler charge ,,,or even your finnish product may be the best way to tweek your profile. Rather than a standard straight line multi-generational approach?

Just thinking out loud

[Odin]

Stinky,

If your fermentation is stuck, maybe it is because you used quite a bit of backset. Will lower PH and might hinder the yeast. If it doesn't go anywhere, just distill it and make a next gen with a little less backset of some PH modifiers added.

Odin.

[stinkypete]

thanks odin , just tasted and its not really sweet so think ill follow your advice thanks
by the way guys my second gen has had medium toast oak chips in it around 3 or so weeks , cant get over the beautifull aroma and great taste of this likker ill be running this untill iv got enough for a wine barrel !

stinky

[Gamblor]

I need some more advice from the gurus.

I have made what I think is another basic newbie mistake. My next generation of UJSSM I have run three stripping runs (8L each) through my first potstill (on a glass-top stove)

The third stripping run some of the flour paste seal apparently fell in the boiler, and has burned to the bottom of the boiler. Roughly a finger in size on the bottom, 1mm or so high, black char right on the pot surface. I tipped the backset from that stripping run into my backset container before I realized it was burned at the bottom. The backset overall smells like it has an additional very faint "burnt toast" smell.

The low wines of this run fortunately were in seperate containers from the low wines of the other two stripping runs. Tasting them I can just detect a slight burn toast taste.

The questions I have are - is my backset salvagable at all, and would using the low wines from this stripping run (in a spirit run) with the low wines of the other two stripping runs be highly detrimental to final flavor (I intend to drink it white, while other generations are aging on oak chips). If the taste is probably only slightly impaired, I would prefer to use them for final volume, but if its likely to be awful I'll get rid of them and run with a smaller spirit run.

Also I wanted some wheat flavor in this run, but couldn't think of a proper source of it - so I used ground up wheat bix cereal. Anyone done this before, and does it work out OK?

Thoughts? ideas?

[mash rookie]

Sample your low wines and see if they have a burnt taste. They are probably okay and can be combined for your spirit run. Wait for it…

I wouldn’t use the backset. That is the biggest loss. I always keep a few gallons of extra backset in my shop fridge just in case I screw up.

I would knock up another fresh batch and when you run it use combine your stripings with your previous low wines before your spirit run. They should have enough flavor to help a virgin run.

Backset is the golden ring here. Save some extra third or fourth generation backset just in case something like this happens again.

MR

Edit to add. yes, any wheat cereal like wheaties, total, etc will add a wheat flavor.

[Odin]

Gamblor,

I did what you want to do once. Yes, taste will improve (or at least: change), in my experience, but ... there is a but.

If what you intend to use is like all bran or special K or even this very fine granulated stuff babies like to eat with milk (hope you get what I want to say!), it tends to choke up. Broken corn is pretty solid, the stuff I used (kinda All Bran) filled up the holes so to speak. My yeast/grain bed became like a paste allmost. Couldn't draw off my beer anymore. Well, I could, but with difficulty.

Now, if I understand u use meal of some kind. So ... how does that work for you? New grains/meal every time? Or ... how do you get around the choking problems I had, drawing beer of and such?

Answers & questions ...

Odin.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Gamblor,

Congrats! You may have answered a question I put up some weeks ago. "Cannot a UJSSM benefit from a rum/aged dunder approach?" It seems it can!

Odin.

I may have to try this - Ive had gen 5 waiting to strip for some time now. I've got about andother 3 generations worth of corn in my shed so might put the whole UJSSMW on hold for a month or so and age me up some dunder before i start my 6th gen and see what i can get. . . i'm hoping to run one giant spirit run probably 3 gal of all 9 generations in one hit to get the most consistant and interesting flavour accross the board, thoughts?

I buggered this for fair - had a 20L bucket and all ready to save the back set and let it mature, then through force of habit i dumped the lot down drain GRAHHHHhhh - so pissed off i'm going to take a break from UJSSM and buy some sweetfeed instead.

[AKAAB]

Note to self...when the recipe calls for five gallons of water use five gallons of water!

Don't just put in the corn and top up the fermenter to the five gallon mark. Otherwise, when you go to rack off the beer you will be embarrassed to discover the corn takes up about two gallons of space and you end up with a smaller charge than planned. ::facepalm::

(First generation so no harm done, I guess.)

[Odin]

Frozen,

A Dutch distilling buddy of mine who is on the Dutch version of HD started a sweet feed ... and did the same as what happened to you on UJSSM!

Still ... good luck on your sweet feed. I love it. Has more taste than UJSSM. Guess what I am drinkin' right now? A 50/50 mix of UJSSM and SF.

Not Bad At All!

Odin.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Hey O,

I'm going to do my monster combined spirit run on the 6 generations of UJSSMW today, also going to put on a second set up of Sweet feed as i bought a HUGE sack of it I only have 25L fermenters so i'll have two sets of barrels set up to cycle generations of the stuff and get through it faster.

[Odin]

Good luck to you ,Frozen!

I will order five 55 liters fermentors tomorow. Would go perfectly with my allmost finished 50 liters olive oil vessel boiler!

Odin.

[sizzlnchef 1]

Started to cook 3rd generation today had a little disaster. Didn't even have any to put back in wash for # 4. Was just wondering how will this effect the process?

[AKAAB]

Can you elaborate on what the disaster was and how you ended up with no backset?

The worst case is you have to start a Gen1 again to get some backset. Or, maybe you have a friend in the area making his own UJSM that will donate a gallon to get you back on track?

I'm probably going to keep a gallon frozen and put away for my own disasters to come.

[sizzlnchef 1]

Can you elaborate on what the disaster was and how you ended up with no backset?

The worst case is you have to start a Gen1 again to get some backset. Or, maybe you have a friend in the area making his own UJSM that will donate a gallon to get you back on track?

I'm probably going to keep a gallon frozen and put away for my own disasters to come.

I used clay instead of flour and water and a good bit got into my pot.

[Odin]

Why don't you redistill it as a vodka?

Should be some mouthfeel left ...

And you will get rid of the nasties.

Odin.

[waylyn]

Cheers

Well it has taken until this week for my last batch to ferment, it was Tuesday 15th Nov 2011, did what walking wolfe said added (I use 2 tablespoons Calcium Carbonate on every batch. I ferment in a 7.5 gallon fermenter and this yields right at 5 gallons of wash each time. With the cal/carb I also add 2 tablespoons of DAP, a pinch of epsom salt and 1 crushed B-complex vitamin.) and by god what a difference the fermenters are going to town, so any luck I should have a quicker turn around of 4-5 days, fngers crossed.

[WalkingWolf]

Good to hear Waylyn -- it should cut down some on the time.

[waylyn]

It did come down, started on Tuesday ready on Sunday, thanks for the heads up

[waylyn]

Did my two batches today came in at 42ltrs which I distill in one hit, the question I have is if I keep the temp @ 78c I get about a drop per second, (takes forever) so is this correct and what sort of quantity should I get from that sort of yeild (42 ltrs) I also stop @ 65% and all I had was just shy of 4ltrs in total. Is this correct or is something amis.

[rad14701]

Did my two batches today came in at 42ltrs which I distill in one hit, the question I have is if I keep the temp @ 78c I get about a drop per second, (takes forever) so is this correct and what sort of quantity should I get from that sort of yeild (42 ltrs) I also stop @ 65% and all I had was just shy of 4ltrs in total. Is this correct or is something amis.

waylyn, what type of still are you using...??? You don't control the temperature when running a pot still and with a reflux column you should be able to take off at a rate greater than 1 drop per second... I run at 4+ drips per second for most of my reflux runs using my 1.25" LM rig, for as long as the reflux holds the temperature at 78C/172F... As the temperature rises I slow my take off rate to increase reflux and the temperature goes back down... And in pot still mode I can strip 2 gallons (8 liters) in roughly 40 - 60 minutes depending on whether it's a stripping or spirit run...

You should be getting more out of your wash than you are unless it's a very low %ABV wash... Have you played with any of the calculators on the parent site...???

[blind drunk]

I was gonna post the same thing, just not as eloquently ...

[waylyn]

Thanks for the replise guys, my stil is the copper one on this link
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 17&t=21415
I use a phase angle controller, so the temp is not a prob to regulate just slow on ujssmm

[rad14701]

Thanks for the replise guys, my stil is the copper one on this link
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 17&t=21415" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
I use a phase angle controller, so the temp is not a prob to regulate just slow on ujssmm

So you've read the operation instructions for running it as a reflux column then, right...??? You control that rig by pushing heat and then adjusting the coolant... There is no reason why you should be running as slowly as you are...

That rig can run in either pot or reflux mode... Bypass the reflux condenser on the column and run only through the product condenser for pot still mode, using as much coolant as needed to adequately knock down all of the vapor... It should be capable of pissing a constant or broken stream... Don't use the thermometer when running in pot still mode as it's relatively useless... We say that for a reason - because people keep getting confused by looking at it and waste perfectly good alcohol... Take all you can get, down to well under 40%, into the 20% - 35% range or until is smells bad and/or contains fusel oils... Remember, you're pot stilling...

[waylyn]

Thanks Rad will do it on next run but first need to read up on pot and Bypass the reflux condenser

[waylyn]

How do I run this unit as a pot still, I don't quite get it? sorry for being dumb. If any one could explain it or give me a link to read I have tried to find the answer but it all seems a bit of a mytery to me.