sweetfeed whisky

[Dnderhead]

sweet feed can very by manufacture,the pellets can be grain (good) or things like alfalfa (not so good)
the "nutrients" can also very some are OK to some you'd rather not know about.

[spencer321]

I'll run it, starting sg of 1.07 approx 9 gallons, pitched yeast about 45 minutes ago, if it turns out bad I'll give the feed to a buddy and go back and find a true all grain

[Mr.Brown]

I just mixed up 12 gal of this on sat, also using the producers pride 12%. Someone in this thread (around page 12-15 i think) said that that worked well for them. I forget who it was.

Anyway, the stuffs workin like a mofo, sg down to 1.015 already. Smells pretty good too.
1st time trying something other than a surgar wash for neuturals & running a pot, so we'll see how it goes.

[rad14701]

Mr.Brown, just make sure you get the wash good and clear before charging your boiler... I've been pleasantly surprised by some fairly nasty washes in the past... Some minor adjustments to the overall process can make a big difference in the outcome...

Keep us posted...

[Mr.Brown]

rad, Thanks for the tip. If it's ready, i'll be running it this weekend. I just got the head soldered up today. So aside from the cleanin, this will be my 1st time running a pot.
I'm excited to be trying something new though. I'll be sure to post my results.

[Mr.Brown]

Someone in this thread (around page 12-15 i think) said that that worked well for them. I forget who it was.

ok, so it was catfish king on page 45 and it was producers pride 10 % all grain. The purple bag threw me I guess. ( it takes quite a few vodka tonics to get to page 45!!! ) i"ll try what i got & see how things go.

[Dutch41]

GEN #3 is going nicely, will finish up today and start GEN #4 with some backset. This generation I am currently running is done with the pot still head I bought from hillbillystills and boy it's much better that trying to run a reflux tower in pot still mode. After learning that a 2 litre oak barrel might be too small to oak with (over oaking), I took one apart and used two of the barrel staves after charring them a bit more and placed them with SF in a large pickle jar to oak it slowly. After 10 days or so it appears she is oaking slow considering the SF is getting color very slow. Keep on stillin...

[jbabb]

I just started my 2nd Generation of Producers Pride 12%. I am very happy with the first run and if it only gets better with generations, I can't wait to see what I'll get. That sweet feed seems to work fine for me. I didn't see anything on the list of ingredients that threw up a red flag so I went ahead with my plans.

mluvs2fish- what size potstill head did you get? I am thinking of doing the same thing, either building or buying a 3" potstill head. Right now I am running through my 1.5" boka in potstill mode. I Would like to get a little more speed out of my runs and still keep flavor.

[Odin]

I made my SF from like 60% oats, 20% barley and 20% corn. Distilled it twice, diluted to 50%, put it on JD Oaking Chips for 4 weeks, came out at some 46% after that. Was pretty "hot" at first. I put it away. Saw "sludge" developping. Filtered, let it rest. More sludge development, more filtering. Some time ago I put it in 1 liter bottles that I stored in the fridge (- 17 C) for some time. Then I filtered it again. No more sludgies developing. Chrystal clear. Took some of the colour out too. From a nice warm brown back towards a nice copper like tan. But after some more rest, the stuff tastes amazing! Oats is not a taste everyone likes from the beginning, but like this ... it is the best I made so far! Love it, like it, even my friends do (and they are so suspicious)!

Odin.

[Dutch41]

JB, I started off with the 8 gallon boiler and the 2" reflux tower, I bought the 2" simple pot still head from hillbillystills and I'm very impressed with it. Each generation I do consists of a double batch, #2 six gallon buckets with the original recipe. Next weekend will be generation #4. I already have some oaking and can't wait for the end product. I have found that the new pot still head is quicker. Good luck...

[lownslow]

So i am halfway through my second stripping run of this stuff and I think I messed up. I made two 5 gallon batches or 4 inches of feed, 5 pounds sugar and yeast. After the first day one smelled sour. terribly sour. re-pitched yeast and it bubbled right up and the sour smell wasnt as bad. The problem is, the distillate smells sour too. It smells and tastes like Sake. Great for some of you, but not my choice of flavors. I guess I should strip the rest, dilute to 40% and let'er buck?

[jbabb]

I put some of my first run on oak that I charred myself just a couple of days ago. I charred one jar with my torch and toasted one the oak wrapped in tinfoil. After just one or two days, it has a much darker color and a strong vanilla smell in the charred jars. The toasted jars have a little darker color and a little vanilla smell but not as much as the charred. I am very excited about my results so far and can't wait for generation two to finish so I can run it.

Quick question for mluvs2fish again: What percent alcohol are you pulling off with the 2" potstill head. I am running my 1.5 boka right now in potstill mode and start pulling off at about 70%. I am wanting to build a 3" potstill based on the design of hillbillystills to increase my takeoff speed and was just wondering how it would perform. Since you bought the 2" version I thought you would know.

[jbabb]

Oops forgot to post the picture.....

[Ghost]

lownslow - this happened to one of my SF batches as well, I ran it anyways and the smell carried over into the final product as well, taste is fine but still somewhat of a sour smell. I aired it out for a few days and it has eased up a little more. after sitting on the self for a few weeks I hardly notice it at all. Might be a lacto infection - I say run it anyways and see what happens. All of my other SF runs have had a pleasent smell, so no this is not typical.

[Dutch41]

JB, with the new pot still head, the ABV started at about 75% ABV, I actually thought it would have been higher but it smells and tastes great, as usual the end of the run is not so desirable. With all the reading I've done, I was under the impression that the SF Whisky would come out with a higher ABV ??? Maybe generation four will, we'll see.

[Odin]

Guess that depends on your still, no?

[Mr.Brown]

had 2- 6 gal ferments going, using the producers pride 12% (with the pellets, avoid this) one finnished in about 6 days. the other took a couple more days. i racked them both last night. The pellets swelled up to at least 1/2 the volume of the buckets. I had to strain through a cloth & got about 5 1/2 gal. total. I hope to run this tomorrow night.

I checked tractor suply for the 10% whole grain tonight & didn't see any. I figure i'll toss 1/2 the trub or so then ad a couple cups of fresh feed and a bit more yeast with the next batch. May as well try to use it up i guess. If that doesn't work, i'll feed it to the deer while i look for the whole grain..

[troublestylist]

had 2- 6 gal ferments going, using the producers pride 12% (with the pellets, avoid this) one finnished in about 6 days. the other took a couple more days. i racked them both last night. The pellets swelled up to at least 1/2 the volume of the buckets. I had to strain through a cloth & got about 5 1/2 gal. total. I hope to run this tomorrow night.

I checked tractor suply for the 10% whole grain tonight & didn't see any. I figure i'll toss 1/2 the trub or so then ad a couple cups of fresh feed and a bit more yeast with the next batch. May as well try to use it up i guess. If that doesn't work, i'll feed it to the deer while i look for the whole grain..

Hmmm...I thought PP 12% was recommended. Did I miss the page where they said it was pelletized? Or are there two variants?

I'm running Wagon Train pellets right now...it's probably going to be a mess. No ingredients listed and "Made in Honduras" is a bad sign, no? But it's the only stuff Walmart would ship (and for 97 cents no less....probably cost them triple the cost of the bag). It's too far a drive to Tractor Supply...but I'll have to get there some time.

In the meantime, the pellets turned right to mush...no swelling. It's a porridge...but it is fermenting robustly. Probably about 50% faster on new yeast than my UJSM ever did on any generation. Smells better too.

I put in two gallons dry of feed, and lost track of how much water I added...probably 4 gallons and 5lbs sugar. It'll be interesting to see how much I squeeze out, and at what ABV.

Fingers crossed.

[lownslow]

Thanks Ghost. I figured I will run it and try another batch tomorrow. I think I'm going to pitch double the yeast. I'll let you know how it works.

[beowoulfe]

had 2- 6 gal ferments going, using the producers pride 12% (with the pellets, avoid this) one finnished in about 6 days. the other took a couple more days. i racked them both last night. The pellets swelled up to at least 1/2 the volume of the buckets. I had to strain through a cloth & got about 5 1/2 gal. total. I hope to run this tomorrow night.

I checked tractor suply for the 10% whole grain tonight & didn't see any. I figure i'll toss 1/2 the trub or so then ad a couple cups of fresh feed and a bit more yeast with the next batch. May as well try to use it up i guess. If that doesn't work, i'll feed it to the deer while i look for the whole grain..

Hmmm. I'm using PP and there are NO pellets. It's listed as "All Grain". Got it from Tractor Supply.

From the site: http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5021132" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Producer's Pride® All Grain Feed is a wholesome mixture of corn, oats and barley with just a touch of molasses for that sweet "granola" flavor. It is designed as an energy source for mature maintenance or lightly-worked horses, cattle, goats, and sheep on good quality forage and a vitamin/mineral supplement.

Low in protein
Non-fortified

$13.99 for 50# bag

[rad14701]

Producer's Pride® All Grain Feed is a wholesome mixture of corn, oats and barley with just a touch of molasses for that sweet "granola" flavor. It is designed as an energy source for mature maintenance or lightly-worked horses, cattle, goats, and sheep on good quality forage and a vitamin/mineral supplement.

My mouth is watering... That's the one I keep walking by and admiring...

[lownslow]

Ghost I did a spirit run. Had to dilute with nearly 1 gal of distilled water to get it below 40, so I must've done something right! The spirit run is awesome. Crystal clear distillate, nice flavor, slight hint of the "sour" smell, but nothing nearly as bad. Made up 24 fresh gallons of this stuff. Started fresh due to off scent of last batch. Pitched 2 packets of EC-118 in each 6 gal bucket. Can't wait to run them now that I have finally completed a full batch-start to finish!

[troublestylist]

Has anyone tried Manna-Pro C.O.B with Molasses? It's also available (sort of) in my area, but I'm guessing it's pellets too.

[Mr.Brown]

Hmmm. I'm using PP and there are NO pellets. It's listed as "All Grain". Got it from Tractor Supply.

Thats the 10 % All Grain that i was looking for. The TS closest to me didn't have it in the store. The bag that I have is just labled 12% sweet feed. It fermented out just fine. Just a bit of a pain in the ass to rack it. The stuff is like a 2 1/2 gallon sponge. But i have it so i might as well make use of it.

I ran it last night. Ran it as slow as i could (1st time with the pot still & was trying to learn how it acts). I would have liked to go a bit slower even but i was at the mercy of my burner. Maybe i can put the boiler on blocks or something to get it up off the flame a little next time if i need to.

I collected everything in 200 ml increments except for the late tails. I'll probably save a jar or 2 from the middle & rerun the rest after i strip a couple more batches. The flavor and smell are both pleasent. Quite a difference from the smell of the tails from my wineos washes through the reflux.

i added sugar to the backset last night & threw it back in the buckets with a couple cups of fresh feed this morning. Probably took an hour or two & it was off and running. I need more buckets !

[spencer321]

little update on the producers pride 12% with pellets, the bottom of my fermenter was mush, however i waited for it to clear out nicely, siphoned it into 2 5 gallon buckets and let it sit for another day, then i poured it into my keg thru a filter to keep solids out of my boiler. Ran fine, using a boka wide open, it still equalled itself out, but at a much higher temp then when i ran it for neutrals. Collected 15 10oz jars before the tails smell was just overwhelming. Let them all sit for 2 days with coffee filters rubberbanded, i'm still working on my cuts, i think i'm fairly good at telling hearts from tails, its just in your face difference, now heads and hearts i just go conservative because its tough for me to tell the difference. Kept the middle 7 jars and ended up with 2 liters at 140 proof. Smells very good, have 2 2l mason jars with jd chips sitting now, color is good. Added 3 gallons of backset to 7 gallons of fresh water and sugar and batch 2 is going fast. Started at 1.07 again, that was monday night, 48 hours later its at 1.01, looking forward to my first sour mash.

[beowoulfe]

Producer's Pride® All Grain Feed is a wholesome mixture of corn, oats and barley with just a touch of molasses for that sweet "granola" flavor. It is designed as an energy source for mature maintenance or lightly-worked horses, cattle, goats, and sheep on good quality forage and a vitamin/mineral supplement.

My mouth is watering... That's the one I keep walking by and admiring...

LOL. You don't have the room. A 50 lb bag of SF is a lot larger than a box of All Bran.

[Mr.Brown]

just cooked a couple shots of this into my wing sauce. couldn't taste it real well but it was still delish. i'll have to step it up a bit next time.. looking forward to getting some stock of this built up

[troublestylist]

Hmmm. I'm using PP and there are NO pellets. It's listed as "All Grain". Got it from Tractor Supply.

Thats the 10 % All Grain that i was looking for. The TS closest to me didn't have it in the store. The bag that I have is just labled 12% sweet feed. It fermented out just fine. Just a bit of a pain in the ass to rack it. The stuff is like a 2 1/2 gallon sponge. But i have it so i might as well make use of it.

So you added a couple cups without taking any off? That's my concern with the pellet-sponge-trubcake...there's no way to tell what to scrape off the top, and eventually I'll have a 6 gallon bucket full of feed.

[Mr.Brown]

So you added a couple cups without taking any off? That's my concern with the pellet-sponge-trubcake...there's no way to tell what to scrape off the top, and eventually I'll have a 6 gallon bucket full of feed.

I pulled a bunch out of the bucket. probably a gallon and a half or more by volume. Just had to make some room in the bucket. I'll probably pull off even more on the 3rd gen. Being new at this, i worry about tossing nutrients that the future generations may need ? Thats why i added a bit more feed back into it. But yea, 4 inches of feed ended up about 1/2 to 2/3's trub. out of 12 gal, i ended up with 5 gal's to run. Be nice to do better than that.

[spencer321]

Out of 9 gallons I ended up with between 6 and 7 to run, closer to 7