Gerber

[Kidnapper2]

As I recall, I threw one box in the hot backset with sugar and adjusted to 1.09.

[Hawk_]

As I recall, I threw one box in the hot backset with sugar and adjusted to 1.09.

Did you go with all new yeast too?

[Kidnapper2]

i honestly don't remember. if i were to do it again, i would wait a day to see if anything was going. if not throw a yeast bomb at it i guess.

think i will go back to this recipe in a week or two. just too many irons in the fire at the moment

[Hawk_]

i honestly don't remember. if i were to do it again, i would wait a day to see if anything was going. if not throw a yeast bomb at it i guess.

think i will go back to this recipe in a week or two. just too many irons in the fire at the moment

Sorry, one more question. You kept the old trub of gerber as well?

[gicts]

I wish they had instant corn too. That'd make a very easy whiskey recipe. Would corn meal be an alternative?

Perhaps:
Per 4 liters (1 gallon) of water:

Ingredients
* 3.5 cups sugar
* 4 liters water
* 1/2 cup Gerber Barley flavored baby cereal
* 1/2 cup (heaping scoop) corn meal
* 2 tbsp active baking yeast

Would the sugar cause an issue, or would that simply make it a 'faux' whiskey/buorbon? Annyone try the oatmeal/banana?

[Hawk_]

I wish they had instant corn too. That'd make a very easy whiskey recipe. Would corn meal be an alternative?

Perhaps:
Per 4 liters (1 gallon) of water:

Ingredients
* 3.5 cups sugar
* 4 liters water
* 1/2 cup Gerber Barley flavored baby cereal
* 1/2 cup (heaping scoop) corn meal
* 2 tbsp active baking yeast

Would the sugar cause an issue, or would that simply make it a 'faux' whiskey/buorbon? Annyone try the oatmeal/banana?

I am doing the oatmeal banana now. Plans on sour mash are in order. The airlock smells of banana in a great way. Hoping to be able to run it wed or thurs

[rad14701]

gicts, you can mix and match grains and cereals to your hearts content if you like... That's part of the fun because once you know what you need for nutrients you can doctor recipes up to suit your individual needs... This one just happens to have everything the yeast colony needs to work its way through converting the sugar into alcohol...

[Hawk_]

gicts, you can mix and match grains and cereals to your hearts content if you like... That's part of the fun because once you know what you need for nutrients you can doctor recipes up to suit your individual needs... This one just happens to have everything the yeast colony needs to work its way through converting the sugar into alcohol...

Rad, should I add a new box of gerber each time? How many washes can one batches worth supply?

[rad14701]

gicts, you can mix and match grains and cereals to your hearts content if you like... That's part of the fun because once you know what you need for nutrients you can doctor recipes up to suit your individual needs... This one just happens to have everything the yeast colony needs to work its way through converting the sugar into alcohol...

Rad, should I add a new box of gerber each time? How many washes can one batches worth supply?

I haven't run multiple generations yet so I can't give advice from experience...

[Kidnapper2]

yes, old gerber stayed. i used about 25-30% backset and just adjusted sugar. I wish I would have written down what I did..

[Hawk_]

yes, old gerber stayed. i used about 25-30% backset and just adjusted sugar. I wish I would have written down what I did..

I may end up adding another box just in case. I have the sugar and another box. I may also start a second bucket and do multiple runs with it using only one box till I find out how many times a ferment can be made with only one box.

Smells great! cant wait!

[Pogomac]

Great site!
I'm new. Got a smart still, ran 1 triple still wash. Making another and decided to do further reading (I bought 2 wash mixes right away -so using em up)

Found this recipe - been recommended for use in the air still?
Gonna make a small 4L to try out this week. A few questions
1. Do I need to worry about the smart still? Ie- add conditioner?
Presently I just run it with the ceramic beads and it 100% fine

2. If I'm doing re-runs to get my %higher - is there a forum post talking specially about the smart still and foreshots, heads, hearts and so on?
I'm getting 80% on my 3rd run thru - clean and clear. I remove about 50ml each time and keep the rest down to 40% and re-run with more wash - always bottling up the 80% and moving on til done.
Is that good?

Seems okay, but I am finding a 'certain' taste now that I didn't at 1st that I don't care for. I'm hoping that a new wash will solve that? Maybe I also need more knowledge on parting out the run...

Thanks!

[rad14701]

Great site!
I'm new. Got a smart still, ran 1 triple still wash. Making another and decided to do further reading (I bought 2 wash mixes right away -so using em up)

Found this recipe - been recommended for use in the air still?
Gonna make a small 4L to try out this week. A few questions
1. Do I need to worry about the smart still? Ie- add conditioner?
Presently I just run it with the ceramic beads and it 100% fine

2. If I'm doing re-runs to get my %higher - is there a forum post talking specially about the smart still and foreshots, heads, hearts and so on?
I'm getting 80% on my 3rd run thru - clean and clear. I remove about 50ml each time and keep the rest down to 40% and re-run with more wash - always bottling up the 80% and moving on til done.
Is that good?

Seems okay, but I am finding a 'certain' taste now that I didn't at 1st that I don't care for. I'm hoping that a new wash will solve that? Maybe I also need more knowledge on parting out the run...

Thanks!

Gerber is a good choice for your needs...

Air Stills (a.k.a. Easy Still, Mr. Distiller)

Plenty of useful information in the New Distiller Reading Lounge as well...

Please stop by the Welcome Center for an introduction...

[Pogomac]

Cool, got my 1st batch of 10L just made. I'll keep posted on the results.

I had to use Weetabix Ready Brek Super Smooth Porridge. In the UK I couldn't find Gerber.

Question: can other sugars be substituted in these pot still ez recipes? And if so, what and what are the results?
Molasses
Brown sugar
Honey
Etc

[WalkingWolf]

Cool, got my 1st batch of 10L just made. I'll keep posted on the results.

I had to use Weetabix Ready Brek Super Smooth Porridge. In the UK I couldn't find Gerber.

Question: can other sugars be substituted in these pot still ez recipes? And if so, what and what are the results?
Molasses
Brown sugar
Honey
Etc

E -- All The Above.

Use whatever sugar you can get your hands on at the best price. Those that have color will typically add something to the flavor profile (more so in a pot still than reflux)

[canandbrew]

my take on an easy tried and true...
Process
* Simmer equal amounts of water and sugar for 30 minutes or longer to invert sugar. (I’m not sure why the 30 minutes is necessary since we are filling to our end volume. Once the sugar is a syrup it should be ready to rock)
* Combine boiled components with cold water and cereal to bring up to 4 gallons total volume and added the bag of ice.
* Aerate for one hour. (I beat the tar out of it with a whisk off and on then remembered my stick blender) (DUH!!)
* Let cool to 95F. (After adding the bag of ice I was at 90)
* Pitch yeast.
* Cap and insert air lock.

• 10# sugar
• 4 G water TOTAL
• 1 8# bag of ice
• 5 C Gerber cereal (16oz box was slightly over, your mileage may vary)
• 10 TBS active baking yeast (works out to be 1TBL and a smidgen less than a 4oz jar so I tossed in in for good measure)
• ¼ TSP Epsom Salt

In no time at all the the air lock is putting like a Volkswagen. I am glad I made this in a 6 gallon fermentation bucket, but I only have the one so the next batch goes in the the carboy. I am crossing my fingers that I avoid a blow out.

[rad14701]

canandbrew, just a couple pointers regarding preparing a wash in general...

Don't cool your sugar laden wash with ice as you stand the chance of messing up your inverted sugar... In fact, just forget about ice with regard to this hobby altogether...

When inverting sugar you need to add an acid unless you want to simmer for hours... The purpose of inverting sugar is to separate the various chains for easier processing by the yeast... The sugar and water mixture will start to have a light straw color once the process has taken place... This will happen even at a very low simmer...

Also, don't push beyond 2 pounds of sugar per gallon (~14% ABV)... Using 10 pounds in 4 gallons give a potential yield of ~17.6% ABV which is too high... A high gravity wash could potentially stall or cause off tastes or smells than will require additional effirts to clean up later... Don't be greedy... You should consider adding more water to drop the SG/potential %ABV to a more reasonable level once the initial foaming up has subsided...

These bits of advice go for any wash, not just Gerber...

[CH3CH2OH]

DID MY BATCHES GO BAD?????

They didnt smell bad in the carboys so i decided to run them

I had done 2 batches of gerber, fermented out the mash and racked it off to carboys and let it clear.

after a week, both cleared ok semi clear, but not cloudy. racked it off into another carboy

Ended up moving and put the carboys into room temperature storage for about 6 months. got them out on the other day and there was about 1/4 inch of sediment in the one and still not perfectly clear, the other was very clear and about 3/4 inch of sediment.

Racked them off into the boiler for my boka (running one batch at a time) leaving all of the solids behind

did the first one as a cleaning run but ran it like a regular reflux to make sure everything was running good and play with the rig to get a feel for the condenser temp water flow take off rate etc

played with it for a few hours it till temp spiked and threw out everything

ran second batch through collecting in SMALL 125ml jars

everything went well, took off fores, about 100 ml, temp rose .2 degrees switched to heads jars

took off about 250 mls temp rose .2 or .3 degrees, switched to heads collection and collected at constant temp for about 5 hours at a 2-3 drops per second

distilate had a bit of an odor all the way through, you could still smell the difference between fores heads hearts and tails but they all still had the same underlying odor.

Once the temp started to rise, i just shut the rig down and didnt collect any tails

heads measured 97% out of the boka, 93% after airing out for about 12 hours

when I took apart the boka the boiler really stunk and i had to give everything a good scrub to get rid of it.

Since this was my first run on this boka, do you think these batches were bad?? I'm positive that I did everything else right

[sizzlnchef 1]

I was wondering can I reuse the gerber mash like you do with the UJSM or is it a 1 time wash and dump the mash?

[canandbrew]

Thanks again Rad for the heads up on the inverting I never put the caramelization in to perspective. I know yeast do similar things to glucose, sucrose or fructose mainly eat them, but I assumed it was a matter of out put taste.

I am a bit of a germ-a-phobe; hot wart/wash is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria. I'm too cheep to buy a wort chiller, but thanks to the ideas here there are plans to build one. The ice works well to bring the wort down to pitch-able temperature range quickly and safely. If you say no ice, then no ice. . I added the "instant" grains at 150F, I assumed the enzymes and starches were released when the water is added, thus no need to steep and extract. The yeasts are munching away nicely now. I'll taste the wash later this week to see it it matches the descriptions everyone else says.

I don't think I am being greedy, I may have my math wrong. I believe that the sugar is in line with a 5 Gallon recipe. The 8# of ice is my 5th gallon of water. I used the " Essentially, 1 liter water, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cereal, 1/2 tablespoon yeast, scaled to desired batch size..." target.

I have to say I love the KISS approach to the recipe. It is a great looking base to start with and experiment with. Thanks again.

[Hawk_]

I was wondering can I reuse the gerber mash like you do with the UJSM or is it a 1 time wash and dump the mash?

Yes. I'm into my third generation of my Oatmeal Banana. The second generation is night and day from the first.

[Pogomac]

Interesting, what does this exactly mean "reuse the mash" ? I just racked and dumped all the mush from my 1st ever Gerber. Should I have kept it? What is the process and details on reusing it?

[Hawk_]

Interesting, what does this exactly mean "reuse the mash" ? I just racked and dumped all the mush from my 1st ever Gerber. Should I have kept it? What is the process and details on reusing it?

I kept the trub and added backset and sugar water to sour mash the wash. Third generation is almost ready to run.

Flavors are evolving and strengthening. I also add 1 cup of more gerber to each new generation. I have not added any more yeast. The yeast seems strong.

[rad14701]

Interesting, what does this exactly mean "reuse the mash" ? I just racked and dumped all the mush from my 1st ever Gerber. Should I have kept it? What is the process and details on reusing it?

If you are shooting for neutral spirits then you may not want to reuse trub and/or backset in subsequent washes but if you are striving for some flavor then experimenting with their reuse might be worth pursuing... It's a personal preference thing...

[Pogomac]

I see. I am a flavor seeker, so this is yet another thing to have fun with.

I was just at The Laphroaig Distillery yesterday and Saturday, and I almost ask them if I could take a few liters of there wash! We were the only ones doing a tour and that place is so friendly and open that it feels like 'home'. I wonder what a Laphroaig wash would taste thru my pot still!?

They did give me 2 bricks of the peat they use to smoke the grains! Don't know what I'll do with them just yet, but somehow it's pretty cool just to have theses 2 bricks of dirt up on my shelf from Laphroaig.

[Kidnapper2]

Ok, I have 20 gallons of this bubbling away and it's gonna go into the new still and boiler, (offset nixon with a 15.5). I used the original recipe posted. Worked for me the first time.

Only thing I do that 's not listed is I use the 5.2 ph stabilizer.

This time I am going to take notes on the use of my backset.

Can't wait, of the "Tried and True's" I have done, this by far was my favorite. Hope I mess it up trying to learn the reflux process.

[Hawk_]

seems the third generation was a bit of a flop. I didnt get much. My temps rose quickly. I ended up with a good 900ML of 89% before I hit my tails. Guess I should have checked the FG but it stopped bubbling after 2 weeks. Im guessing that it ran out of nutrients. Oh well, I have something to play with. Maybe backset into a new box of gerber. That may just be the trick!

[Hawk_]

Just started my Rice and apple gerber. 1 box and 10 pounds of sugar. Added water to 6 gallons and 122g of yeast. This is by far with exception to my turbo cleaning wash, the most aggressive wash I've had. 30 minutes and bubbling relentlessly. I love watching this in a glass carboy. Seeing the bubbles and current produced beats having an aquarium any day.

[Kidnapper2]

Update.

Ran 10 gals of the barley yesterday. I kept the lees in the bottom of the fermenters (5gal). I am using 1 gallon of backset, 15 cups of sugar and a 1/2 box of barley back on top of the lees (and my 5.2 stabalizer) and water to 5 gallons. Aerate as per original recipe. I am gonna wait a day and see what kind of action I get out of the existing yeast.

[Hawk_]

Update.

Ran 10 gals of the barley yesterday. I kept the lees in the bottom of the fermenters (5gal). I am using 1 gallon of backset, 15 cups of sugar and a 1/2 box of barley back on top of the lees (and my 5.2 stabalizer) and water to 5 gallons. Aerate as per original recipe. I am gonna wait a day and see what kind of action I get out of the existing yeast.

You shouldn't have to add yeast. I didn't anyhow.