What'd ya'll make today?

[ron71157]

just cooked 5 gallons of sweetfeed III

after the cut 55 oz. of 138 proof
gettin better everytime

[BourbonStreet]

I just ran my first UJSSM today after a week or so of fermenting. My wash was a bit cool, so it took longer, but that gave it a good flavor. I ended up with about 2L averaging around 45%. The ABV would have probably been higher, but I had a small leak at the beginning. I put the backset and dissolved sugar in the wash, and the yeast loved it. This time, it's fermenting a lot faster.

[wfw52]

Desided to try a recipe , "killer peach shine" made a 12 gal batch . This is a great recipe thank you who ever shared it !! Ran the sripping run(pot still) as planned but holy cow had to pull a quart at the 80-90 proof ......soooooo smooth and sweet . Spirit run Ended up with 1 1/2 gal of 120 proof after the cut. realy good product put 1 gal on sliced peaches for 2 weeks the other 1/2 gal on dark oak. Was thinking I would blend that quart of first run 80 proof I pulled into the gal of peach shine when its off the peaches . This is a great recipe and easy !! just in time for Xmass !!

Also bin playing with the sweet feed recipe,to start I mash the grains add the sugar , cool with water to 152 add 3 Ibs malted barley some boiled trub nutreints, pitch it . after the spirit run reusing the grains and yeast I add 3 Ibs of fresh boil sweet feed 8 Ibs suagr cool with water+ 2 gals back set playing with the cool water to end up with 90 f before adding to the next generation 7 gal batch. I am on my 3 gen now saving to do a spirit run, but was realy impressed with the second run hearts taste and flavor !!! trying for 6 generations will give me a 12 gal spirit run all at once !!! ya baby
Happy stillen !!!.....wfw

[Jimbo]

That peach shine sounds delicious WFW. Where's that damn internet tasting invention we been talking about

Wow 12 gallon spirit run, that'l keep ya in holiday spirit(s)

[Jimbo]

Im running Batch 2 of NCHooch's Carolina Bourbon. This one stopped bubblin 3 days ago but I couldnt get to it till today. When I popped the lid, hoooo dayum, got a touch of that pukey thing going at first whif. But it dissipated pretty fast, mostly, Still a bit on the hands that didnt rinse out after squeezin out 11 gallons from the corn goo. I bucked up and took a sip after measuring the gravity. Its good. Corn. Sour. As you might expect, no pukey flavor, phew!. This one only went to 1.002. Dunno why its any different than last, same deal, which went to 0.998. Anyway she's runnin now. Straight stripping run. Its a run from 16.6 lbs cracked corn and 5 lbs 2 row. One more stripper tomorrow. Then a spirit run. Ill post up final yield tomorrow from the spirit run of 50 lbs cracked corn and 15 lbs 6 row. Cheers, Jimbo

Edit: Dunno, not convinced I dont have a problem here. I read up on pukey, panty waste, baby shit smells here on the forum and Im thinking I might have had a start of some clostridium going on. There is a touch of the same in my distillate. Its faint, but its different than the first run. Will that shit clean up in a spirit run or am I gonna fuck up the whole shootin match by mixing these 3 runs together? The last batch is still bubblin and whats coming off smells sweet and corny, no 'womans parts on a bad day' (LMAO Usge). Ill let it air out I guess and see what happens. The mash tasted ok when I closed my eyes and took a sip. But maybe I was just in denial that this batch is fucked?

Edit2: I just ran a spirit run on the above funked up panty waste and did some cuts, without blending it with the other 2 batches. Gonna keep this one seperate. Managed to pull 48 ounces of hearts out at 66% that taste really good. I put some charred oak in the jug and I'll let er sit. The rest, fores, tails, funky ass, another 48 ounces. Prolly dump it. If 7 bucks in grain can give me 48 oz at 66%, or 79 oz at 80 proof, 3 bottles, Im happy Not that it was ever about money anyway

[BourbonStreet]

I also had a lot of that funk taste on my first UJSSM run. I don't think it was quite as bad as yours, though; it just smelled kind of yeasty, not like crotch rot...
It went from 2L of 45% to 1.5L of 62%, and really cleaned up the taste. I took a sip of the heads at 75%, and my tongue was numb for quite a while! I diluted it all to 60%, and dropped some charred oak in the hearts jar.

[Richard7]

I ran out of the good stuff last Friday so I figured it was time to run my feints on Saturday and another batch of faux whiskey on Sunday. Out of 14 gallons of feints at 22% I ended up with 4 gallons of hearts and my other batch yielded 2 gallons . I think I have enough to gift some for Christmas! I also have 2 quarts of Mr P's Hot Cinnamon Schnapps that have yet to be diluted. I know it will go quick! I took some to a Christmas party last night and it was a hit . I love this hobby!

[frozenthunderbolt]

Plum Brandy yesterday, tasty tasty tails i'm going to mix in!
Uzeo the day before -tasty but no louche

[Jimbo]

Stripped the last batch of NCHooch Carolina Bourbon, 50 lbs cracked corn and 15 lbs 6 row in total. Also ran the spirit run on 2 of 3 batches (2nd was funky, see below, kept it seperate). And added a stripped all barley run. Total charge was 5+ gallons at close to 40%, Ill do the cuts when Im not so damn tired but Ive got a gallon of straight hearts at 75%, and 6 other quarts to sift through and see whats worth keepin. Goodnight.

[TimJ]

I started 2 - 5 gal. batches of UJSM. They are just starting to bubble......coat closet smells wonderful!

[Odin]

I have some maltwine tests going on. 2.5 liters is sitting with herbs and berries. To be distilled soon. The other 2.5 liters I "de-tuned" to 50 liters at 31%. I just collected a hearts cut of around 1.85 liters at 70%. I will dilute it to 60%, add some wood bullets from Hungary (will take 'm back from our holiday / Xmass trip to Hungary. The medium + toast bullet. 30% endgrain, 70% non-endgrain. Should give of some delicious tastes and change my maltwine into a rye whiskey. Grain bill: 10% corn, 30% malted barley, 60% rye. I took small cuts on the run. Not sure that was needed. Maybe the original maltwine cuts were enough? Even the dilution and re-distillation might have been enough. That said: the product I collected now tastes/smells less of malt and more of rye. LOTS of rye. The maltwine with berries & herbs (genever) will give a very nice "korenwijn". I will let that one sit on medium toast bullits. Thinking 4 months on the rye whiskey and then 4 months rest without wood. Same for the geneva only with a shorter period on/of the wood: 3 months.

Wheat vodka is awesome. Will take 3.5 liters with me to please the family in law. Some FirePiss and 43% strong oaked rum as well. And a amaretto style liquere.

Guess we won't be thirsty during the holidays!

Single malt and AG wheat are ageing fine. I will give it like 6 months before I will try again. Hope I can leave it alone that long.

Odin.

[ron71157]

Greetings all,

Today i cooked generation IV sweetfeed with 96oz feints from the previous generations...very nice result; collected 116 oz at 140 proof ..gonna take a break from the sweetfeed. I used winoes recipe (thanks) but threw in 1# molasses, 6# brown sugar, 2# white sugar with an SG of 1.075 and pitched lavlin K1-V1116 in an attempt to get a rumlike flavor. I'll see what happens.

Think i'll be having some white dog tonight

Again thanks to everybody for the wealth of information here. Some kinda fun!!

[Jimbo]

I did the final cuts of the runs posted 4 posts down.

50 lbs cracked corn, 20 lbs 6 row and 15 lbs rolled barley yielded 2 gallons diluted to 57% dumped in an oak barrel, and 48 ounces at 66% aging on some charred sticks in a jug. The rest is solvent for the workshop.
My yield is lower than reported by some distilleries (2 gal 60% per 50lbs grain), but I dont have a plate to drop and clean up the spirit run, and the tails outta my crude potstill just didnt tickle me. I did go slightly wide into the heads tho. I like that bite.

Now I start in on a 50lb bag of wheat malt.

Cheers, and thanks for all your inputs along the way!

[njscofflaw]

I'm running two batches at the same time at the moment. Both are my first attempts at fermentation ever. I'm just finishing up the 8th day of the persimmon brandy fermentation. One bucket had the cap fall through and it smells absolutely wonderful, almost has a slight banana aroma to it. The other bucket has a considerably larger cap, due to an emergency transfer that stemmed from an exploded bucket. I checked it today and it looks like it's about to fall any day now.

The above I actually pushed the cap down once a day for the first 6 days and then decided to not tempt fate and learn the masterful art of "hand sitting".

I'll probably rack the persimmon wash to a carboy this weekend after doing a measurement. It tastes pretty strong thus far. Once it's racked / filtered through a brewing bag, I'll let it settle for a few days before transferring to the boiler. Then comes the stress of my first run, and even more so, cutting and blending .



I'm on day three of a Rye Whiskey fermentation. I've not opened up the buckets (I'm at one with my hand-sitting-fu) , and the airlock activity, while consistent and frequent is not as active / aggressive as the persimmons were. SG for that batch was 1.060.

I'm a bit excited to see the final outcome from all of this.

[Beerswimmer]

Stripping a gen 1 sweetfeed whiskey. The sample I took from the middle tastes better than a gen 1 UJSSM to me. Can't wait to get to sample gen 2!!!

[stinkypete]

found about 20 odd kg of pears boiled to a pulp , wizzed up a bit more with the stick mixer , split into two 20l fermenters added 3kg white sugar each topped up with cool ro water and pitched yeast , put in the corner on the tiles in dining room didnt realise id put the lid on a bit tight while moving one of them the fermenter was bulging slowly tried to let out a bit of pressure ended up with pear sauce all over me and the tiles and the missus in my ear very pleased smells great and bubblin along real good plan to double pot still ,put a bit on light toast oak , and drink a bit with my serbian mate , merry christmas guys

[ron71157]

Made a refreshing beverage (don't know anyone who doesn't like one) using 6 oz of 55% sweetfeed IV, 3tbs. limejuice concentrate, a handfull of sliced strawberries and topped off the tumbler with sparkling seltzer water.

Only thing missing is a beach to lie on.......very smooth

[stinkypete]

sounds bloody nice Ron

[Beerswimmer]

Started gen 2 of sweetfeed with 40% dunder and it was bubbing in 10 minutes!

[bellybuster]

Well my still isn't up and running yet so I shall "release the Kraken"

[frozenthunderbolt]

stripped 2 20L runs of sweet-feed 2nd gen. two more to go tomorrow and then combine with the last 20L for a 1.5 spirit run after xmass - some real 'holy spirit'!

[Fastill]

Took 8 lbs of rye and mashed it with 2 lbs malted barley in 5 gallons of water. Added 7 more gallons of water after conversion with 10 lbs sugar and added redstar yeast. This will be my base alcohol for my gin. I will strip this and copy the recepie 2 more times, pack my column with my gin botanicals and run a spirit run to see how my idea works. Hoping for a gin with lots of grain and juniper flavoring. I will keep all posted.

[wfw52]

Seems alot of us are making sweet feed latley, just ran my 3rd gen this morning (4:00 am) I like it when its quit all through the house , nothing sturring not even a mouse !! when all you can hear is the sweet loping stream of a spirit falling to its destiny !! ...........my "Liquor cabnet" ....... anyway I have to agree with Beerswimmer comment about it just betting better each gen on the swet feed and that ujssm didnt compare , I got into my 2nd gen ujssm and canned it, didnt compare to what I was getting either in taste from sweet feed , but thats just my 2 bits on what I like.

Cant wait to try my 4 th gen sweet feed soon. I pull any where from a pint to a almost a quart out of my spirit run @ 80- 95 Proof to sip on it so dam good !! after my 4th gen strippping run I will have about 5 gals to do a spirit run. Like to wait and run a few more batches , think I would get a better over all product if a had the latter generation combined in one big spirit run , dont think I can wait though realy want to run this soon and get a sip!! ........ merry Xmas to you all !! wfw

[Jimbo]

Mashing 40 lbs of Red Wheat Malt in 14 gallons of water, 4 qts backset and 4 tsp gypsum. After a couple hours I'll top up with 11 more gallons cold water and ferment on the grain with US-04/US-05 blend. I was considering doing a beta gluconase protein rest at 120 to tackle the higher protein content in wheat, but said screw it since I could do the whole shooting match by filling the keggle with 15 gallons strike water, I hope I dont regret it. Also doing on the grain fermentation, after reading Odin's adventures in Belgium. I have two 20 gallon fermenters that are perfect for this kind of deal. After the bubblin stops I should have two 6.5% 10 gallon wash'es to strain and strip back to back, then do a spirit run. Cheers.

[wfw52]

After reading some of the rice wine distillent endevores on here thought I would give it a go. Had a bag of Koda farms Sho-chiku premium sweet rice I bought not knowing its not regular rice. (good way to get rid of it) So 17 Ibs into the boiling 6 gals of water , stirred 10 minutes, turn the heat down so not to burn , let simmer 20 more minutes stirring , whipped the Piss out of it with a drill and mixing paddle, let it sit another 30 minutes more whipping , had a major gue going on ...drill motor reaching over load. added cool water and mixed until reach 152 F , added 5 tables spoons alpha Amylase went Liquid on me in a couple minutes, let stand for 45 more minutes, mix up 14 Ibs white sugar in water added that . the remander water to fill my 15 gal fermentor . pitch 6 tables spoons of pre-started distillers yeast @ 90 f...took off in a couple hours by morning was working hard. hope to reflux it into first try at vodka when ready! wfw

[Stillfarmin]

I burned 50 lbs of persimmons when i was cooking them down today. Good news tho, there are still hundreds more pounds to pick. I reckon I'm going to ferment this burned mash anyway, and see what a couple runs and and a couple years aging cant do.

[Dnderhead]

why you cooking fruit???
or maybe your making jam?

[Stillfarmin]

Haha. I guess that wasn't a very clear description. Yes, i was making some jam! But now, it is going to be fermented into some sort of smoky substance. It's a toss up how it's going to turn out, but I'm in it for the thrill.

[ron71157]

set up another fermenter with 5 gallons WPOSW waiting for my rum project to finish and settle..this way i should have one batch ready while the other is bubbling...cut back on the dead time

The more the merrier

[Jimbo]

No XMAS brews?

I smoked 5lbs of 6 row with cherry wood to make a Scotch style-ish single malt. Il mix it with 10 lbs of 2 row and do 2 runs. Got 40lbs of Wheat Malt bubblin furiously now and made a knock off of Old Speckled Hen I call Young Speckled Hen... OK, I know this isint a brewing site, just needed an excuse to say Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas Friends.