sweetfeed whisky

[midnightmaraude]

Well I think I figured out the problem with my whiskey smelling like yeast. This last run I just ran the liquid on top of the grains. Before I was straining out all the liquid from the spent sweetfeed . Some real milky liquid down there bit I was bring greedy. So this run, no yeast smell!

[J88]

Odd question but do you need to use distilled water in your mash? Or will tap water do?

[Dnderhead]

good ol tap water.as long as it does not have chlorine/ chloramines .chlorine can be evaporated off.
chloramine takes a bit more to remove.

[johnodon]

So I go to Home Depot to grab a half whiskey barrel planter to chop up for oaking my SF. Being this time of year, they had them stacked WAAAAYYYYY up on a skid at the very top of the shelving outside so they had to get the forklift to get the whole thing down. All of the barrels were wrapped in plastic except for one on the very top. I told the guy if he brigns down the pallet low enough for me to grab that one barrel, he can put the skid right back up there.

I grab the barrel and it instantly falls apart. He says "oh no" and I am thinking BONUS!!! lol I had actually bought a cut wheel to deal with the bands. I told him it will actually save me some work as I plan to dismantle it anyway. He then asks me..."are you some kind of moonshiner?" and chuckles. EGAD!!! lol I just said "nah...I use this to flavor some really tasteless commecial whiskey."

I'm guessing that I wasn't fooling anybody but oh well. I have two jars soaking on oak right now and they actually started to turn color after only about 5 hours. I took a sniff this morning (~18 hous on oak) and it smells AWESOME!!!

John

[Rotax800]

Good bonus i'd say!

Quick question on this recipe. i see alot of ppl are using distillers yeast. Per a home brew store owner here, A pretty smart guy, He says brewers yeast is "turbo yeast"?! Any validity on that?

Crap, Typo i meant to say distillers yeast. The guy thinks distillers yeast is turbo yeast. Begining to think he's wrong. But it's already too late for me on this wash. lol

[Brownegg]

Rotax,
I may be wrong but i do not agree that they are talking about "Turbo Yeast". I am new also but if you read on here much "Turbo yeast" is not spoken of highly unless you cut it back etc. Brewers yeast is just any yeast that is made for brewing. ALot of folks seem to use EC1118. I am completely new to this also so i ask for corrections if i am wrong.

[smokindave]

Well I think I figured out the problem with my whiskey smelling like yeast. This last run I just ran the liquid on top of the grains. Before I was straining out all the liquid from the spent sweetfeed . Some real milky liquid down there bit I was bring greedy. So this run, no yeast smell!

I was anticipating the same thing, and I tried this to get the most wash out of my fermenter without all the sediment and yeast.

I have several extra 5 gallon buckets laying around that are food-grade w/lids. So, I wait for the wash to start to clear, and then I rack off as much as possible with a cane. I then dump the remaining liquid through a colander with a clean cotton rag in the bottom to filter any grain or sediment. Some of the yeast slurry does make it through. Then I take this new bucket of wash out into the garage, and cold crash it there. (Not sure what I will do in the summer.) It settles all the way out in a day. I then pour the wash into the still using a funnel and some more cotton cloth for filtering.

I have run three stripping runs and a spirit run with this procedure in place, and the distillate has been very nice. As close to white dog whiskey as I think I can get without doing an all grain mash. Crystal clear with great aroma and flavor. It is so simple. I am getting excited to age some of this stuff, but it is pretty good just white. I think I probably would call it a Rumsky though, because of the molasses content.

For my next generations of wash I do this:

I return all the yeast slurry and sediment from the settling bucket back into my main fermenter with a gallon water, and a half pound of sugar, and put the airlock back on. After I still my batch (which could be a day or so), I let the backset cool overnight, and then also add a quart or two of that backset into the fermenter.

I have let that go a day or so between stilling and starting new batches (I have kids, and free time is of a minimum) before I get to adding more sugar and sweetfeed (been taking 10 cups by volume of spent stuff out, and adding back 5 cups of new dry grain mixback in).....and it has started right up for me again every time. It started bubbling last night after only an hour (after sitting "idle" for 2 days). I have done 3 batches now this way, and it seems to work well.

[ron71157]

Hi,

ran generation IV today...112 ozs at 140 proof...lots of grain flavor and pretty smooth out of the box switching form bakers yeast to prestige has diminished the bread aroma and flavor (maybe just a coincidence) gonna freeze 2 gallons of back set and try a brown sugar/ molasses run next.

Some kinda fun!!

[midnightmaraude]

Well I think I figured out the problem with my whiskey smelling like yeast. This last run I just ran the liquid on top of the grains. Before I was straining out all the liquid from the spent sweetfeed . Some real milky liquid down there bit I was bring greedy. So this run, no yeast smell!

I was anticipating the same thing, and I tried this to get the most wash out of my fermenter without all the sediment and yeast.

I have several extra 5 gallon buckets laying around that are food-grade w/lids. So, I wait for the wash to start to clear, and then I rack off as much as possible with a cane. I then dump the remaining liquid through a colander with a clean cotton rag in the bottom to filter any grain or sediment. Some of the yeast slurry does make it through. Then I take this new bucket of wash out into the garage, and cold crash it there. (Not sure what I will do in the summer.) It settles all the way out in a day. I then pour the wash into the still using a funnel and some more cotton cloth for filtering.

I have run three stripping runs and a spirit run with this procedure in place, and the distillate has been very nice. As close to white dog whiskey as I think I can get without doing an all grain mash. Crystal clear with great aroma and flavor. It is so simple. I am getting excited to age some of this stuff, but it is pretty good just white. I think I probably would call it a Rumsky though, because of the molasses content.

For my next generations of wash I do this:

I return all the yeast slurry and sediment from the settling bucket back into my main fermenter with a gallon water, and a half pound of sugar, and put the airlock back on. After I still my batch (which could be a day or so), I let the backset cool overnight, and then also add a quart or two of that backset into the fermenter.

I have let that go a day or so between stilling and starting new batches (I have kids, and free time is of a minimum) before I get to adding more sugar and sweetfeed (been taking 10 cups by volume of spent stuff out, and adding back 5 cups of new dry grain mixback in).....and it has started right up for me again every time. It started bubbling last night after only an hour (after sitting "idle" for 2 days). I have done 3 batches now this way, and it seems to work well.

Yea I'm fermenting two generation 4 buckets now. I just tip the fermenter pouring it through a fine strainer then strain some of the very top sweetfeed. Then I throw out two strainer full of spent sweetfeed and replace 1-1.5. I'm not good about the amount of backseat I use. I just eyeball it.

[smokindave]

Just bottled up my last spirit run off of 2 gallons total of sweetfeed low wines. Ended up with a solid 2 quarts of 65% liquor. I put a pint on some charred oak, and am keeping the rest in a glass jug to let it air and age a little. It has a little bit of a bready/yeasty note to it, and maybe that is due to the fact I used bakers yeast. Does not taste bad, but it is not as grainy as I had hoped. It definitely has a sweet taste to it. Maybe a week or two on some oak will bring out some complexity. I thought about adding part of a vanilla bean for a few days also, just to see if that would bourbon it up a tad. Just experimenting at this point.

Going to try a little variation on a "new" batch of this recipe, and use some whiskey yeast w/ AG this time around. I figured I would also add some flaked rye to the grain mix, and I might try and mash a little 2 row barley in. I noticed when I did my initial mix and added boiling water to the 4" of sweetfeed in my first ferment, that it maintained 155-140 degrees or so for quite some time. I would think this would be sufficient to work on some of the grain, etc, and I could convert a little of the corn, oat and barley starches to sugar. I am going to read up on the all grain methods and see if I can do a partial mash type of thing with the sweetfeed.

I don't have a BOP to mash with so, I would only be able to mash part of the batch, say about 2 gallons and maybe equivelant to 2" of sweetfeed. The balance would be made up just like the original recipe.

Any opinions? Has anyone tried anything like this. I have all 106 pages of this thread, and to be honest I cannot remember whether I have read about it or not. I will try a search again, but I think I will try and emulate NCHooch's carolina bourbon recipe but using the sweetfeed grain bill.

SmokinDave

[ron71157]

I switched from bakers to prestige with AG for the same reason and have noticed a definite lessening of the "bread" aroma. Think i'll stayy with the whiskey yeast for now. Only have to pitch once as long as you keep the yeast going as per the recipe's instuctions...works great!

good luck

[smokindave]

I switched from bakers to prestige with AG for the same reason and have noticed a definite lessening of the "bread" aroma. Think i'll satay with the whiskey yeast for now.

good luck

Thanks, and good to know. I think I have an idea now on how to proceed with my partial mash recipe variation. I am going to put 4" of sweetfeed into my 4 gallon mash pot, and cook it for an hour or so to soften the grains, and then let it cool to 155.....I will then add a pound of 2-row malted barley and let that work for a couple more hours. I will check my gravity, and add sugar to boost it up past 1070 or so, and then top it off up to 5.5 gallons warm water, and pitch my whiskey yeast at 100*F, and ferment as usual. MIght go with a few generations of this method, and see how my spirit run differs in flavor.

The bakers yeast version is "okay", but not what I was hoping for. I think I am probably a little neutral with it also, as my spirit run was up in the 85%-70% on the hearts cut as far as flavor preference. I am taking the advice of Usge, and diluting my low wines next time around to 30%-35%. I think my boka column, used in pot still mode is getting me too much on the neutral end of things.

I will eventually need to build a pot still head I think.

[midnightmaraude]

hey guys.... I really need some advice.

How do you guys rack your sweetfeed ferment? I'm still getting this heavy yeast smell coming through in my drink and it's ruining the great flavor for me.
I am using ec1118. Do you guys sphyon off just the cleared liquid? Do you strain the grain into pots? Do you just tip the barrel into the potstill? Any advice is appreciated.

[Fastill]

I switched from bakers to prestige with AG for the same reason and have noticed a definite lessening of the "bread" aroma. Think i'll satay with the whiskey yeast for now.

good luck

Thanks, and good to know. I think I have an idea now on how to proceed with my partial mash recipe variation. I am going to put 4" of sweetfeed into my 4 gallon mash pot, and cook it for an hour or so to soften the grains, and then let it cool to 155.....I will then add a pound of 2-row malted barley and let that work for a couple more hours. I will check my gravity, and add sugar to boost it up past 1070 or so, and then top it off up to 5.5 gallons warm water, and pitch my whiskey yeast at 100*F, and ferment as usual. MIght go with a few generations of this method, and see how my spirit run differs in flavor.

The bakers yeast version is "okay", but not what I was hoping for. I think I am probably a little neutral with it also, as my spirit run was up in the 85%-70% on the hearts cut as far as flavor preference. I am taking the advice of Usge, and diluting my low wines next time around to 30%-35%. I think my boka column, used in pot still mode is getting me too much on the neutral end of things.

I will eventually need to build a pot still head I think.

This is how I have been doing all my sweetfeed runs. All I can say is it works great!!
I take 3/4 of my sweetfeed out of the fermenter every gerneration and add back the same after I mash it in. I add 6 lbs to 3 gallons of boiling water, bring it back to a boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Shut off the heat, Let is sit covered until it hits 155 degrees and add my malted barley, stir it in and let it sit until I can pitch it back in the fermenter.
I already have my sugar and backset added to my fermenter at this time, and usually take a quart of the lees before hand to repitch as a yeast starter in case I add something back that is a little too hot.

[Redeye]

Question
What is the downfall of using 100 percent backset?

[smokindave]

Question
What is the downfall of using 100 percent backset?

I think it would lower the ph too much.

Backset is pretty acidic....appox 3.5 ph, if I recall correctly.

[Redeye]

Thank you smokindave. I have a second gen fermenting now. I just bought some new stuff they call it deer crunch. It has a lot of cracked corn and grain in it plus the molasses. It smells great. My first bag of sweetfeed I bought was a 10 percent and it had the pellets. It tasted great but was a bitch to deal with. I got about 1 quart of hearts at 140 proof from about 3 1/2 gallons of wash I was happy with that for my first run and tasted great.

[nightrider01]

So I started my 2nd Gen and being dumb I dumped several ounces of tails in my fermenter! It had a super thick head bout an hour after I mixed everything together. That was saturday, i now have no bubbles..its been two days did i harm my yeast with the tails? Or is it done fermenting? Idk the ferment time on another generation.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Could be done in less than a week if you kept the sugar levels low and kept it warm.

SG wont tell you that much if you dumped tails in - will throw the reading off.

Taste it and see if it tastes sweet, If not then run it and you should be ok to go another generation

[nightrider01]

I actually added same amount of sugar (5lbs) this is my first time for a new generation. what does Allot of sugar do to the next gens?

[frozenthunderbolt]

5 pounds in 20L (4.5 gal approx) is fine.

Lots of sugar is never a good idea - makes the yeast unhappy and shit in your drink - creates off flavors.

You could probably go to 6 pounds (3kg) in 20 L without too much problem, but i wouldn't go any higher for sure.

[MAD AL]

I started a 4th generation off on monday 4kg sugar 1/2 lt molases its now down to 1000,so it should be finished this week
alan

[Beerswimmer]

Ran a gen1 and a half last night, cut it today. Put a gallon on charred oak sticks @ 65%, and a half gallon was made into apple pie @ 55%

[Mulitpleg]

Seems like there's a bunch of unknown additives in sweet feed. I'd rather just add some oats and molasses to my UJSSM routine. Then I know what's in there.

[smokindave]

Seems like there's a bunch of unknown additives in sweet feed. I'd rather just add some oats and molasses to my UJSSM routine. Then I know what's in there.

Depends on what sweetfeed you buy. Producers Pride from Tractor Supply is all grain, with a small amount of soybean oil and propionic acid, which is a totally safe preservative, IMO. No Pellets, no other additives.... $14.49 for 50lb bag. Hard to beat that price.

Smokindave

[aceonf4i]

Question #1 Is it best to use a bucket to ferment this in or can the grain be strained off and use a carboy to ferment it?

2. I watched a video online of this recipe and he cooked the grain for an hour at 155, is this needed? He also strained the grain off to use a carboy fermenter.

3. What is best ferment with the grain or without the grain in the fermenter?

Thanks in advance...

[smokindave]

Question #1 Is it best to use a bucket to ferment this in or can the grain be strained off and use a carboy to ferment it?

2. I watched a video online of this recipe and he cooked the grain for an hour at 155, is this needed? He also strained the grain off to use a carboy fermenter.

3. What is best ferment with the grain or without the grain in the fermenter?

Thanks in advance...

If you scroll up a page or two, a couple of us that have done this recipe recently described how we did it. I personally ferment on the grain in a 6.5 gallon bucket fermenter.

No need to cook the sweetfeed grain, as you are not adding any malt in this recipe. The grain in the sweetfeed is just there for flavoring.....all the alcohol you are creating in this recipe is from the sugar that is added. (If you look in the recipe development section, there might be variations of this recipe, where you could cook the grains, and then add malted grains to convert those grain starches to sugar)

I usually strain my wash with a fine basket strainer AFTER it ferments, into a secondary bucket for final clearing. If you are going to do multiple generations of this recipe.....you would want to ferment on the grain, and then remove/replace old grain with each successive batch, possibly making use of the setback from your stripping runs, and adding that back in some reduced portion to the fermenter.

Like I said, if you read back a few pages in the thread, you will find many variations of what others do with this recipe.

Hope that helps.

SmokinDave

[Ridgerunnr]

Mixing sweet feed as per recipe.. 6 # sugar.. 4 inches of feed in bucket.
I see one recipe calls for 8 spoonsfull and the other 1pkg of yeats( 2 tsp)
I have a jar of dry Fleischmanns activated dry yeast....whats a suggestion for yeast amnt?

[Scrap dogg]

Mixing sweet feed as per recipe.. 6 # sugar.. 4 inches of feed in bucket.
I see one recipe calls for 8 spoonsfull and the other 1pkg of yeats( 2 tsp)
I have a jar of dry Fleischmanns activated dry yeast....whats a suggestion for yeast amnt?

It really depends on what yeast you are using. I use about a quarter cup of distillers yeast for 30 gallons. I start off a few hours before I get ready to pitch it with about a half gallon of 90 degree water, a few b12 tablets and about a cup of sugar. It starts bubbling almost immediately and usually finishes in a week or right at it. The point is, even if you over pitch, you'll be alright. Using too little will extend fermentation times.

[frozenthunderbolt]

No need to cook the sweetfeed grain, as you are not adding any malt in this recipe. The grain in the sweetfeed is just there for flavoring.....all the alcohol you are creating in this recipe is from the sugar that is added.

Dave is absolutely right, this said, I do cook mine in a slow-cooker using hot back-set - i like to think I get more flavour as the heat and acid breaks down the grains somewhat allowing the yeast more access to them.