Lukemanley89 wrote:Martian I bought the producers pride sweet feed in the purple bag it looks like there are pleats in it did I get the wrong stuff
Luke,
Does it say something like Producers Pride Sweet Feed 12% on the label? If so I believe it has pellets in it which from what I hear cause a awful mess in the bottom of the fermenter as well as a nasty aftertaste. My bag is purple and brown but all it says on it is " Producers Pride All Grain". I hope this helps you..
Been collecting stripping runs off of two fermenters of sweet feed and it was time to do a spirit run. This was my second spirit run since I have started my new hobby. Got everything set up after the kids went to bed. Had about 4 gals of low wines. Everything I have read on this site said low and slow...... I went low and slow. I had about a drop maybe two a sec and kept it that way until I was forced to stop distilling. When I say I was forced to stop, I had to stop. It was 7am in the morning and the kiddo's were about to get up for school. Problem I am having is I had to stop collecting early. My last jar had a ABV of 67%. I have read on here that basically as a rule of thumb 70% is about the end of the hearts, per noob pages. Has anyone had to stop part way through a run? Can I just turn the still on and letter rip again tonight? I would have liked to collect down to about 40% so I could have some more faints to run later. Oh, I still have a few quarts of low wines from first generations. Was thinking about maybe tossing those in with what I had left in the still and run again tonight. Wanted to keep my first generations seperate from 2-6 because everyone has been talking up how great the later generations taste. Any help would be appreciated.
Swamp Fox
Last edited by SwampFox on Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I am I doing something wrong with my slow and low run? I think that 9 hours of distilling and only collecting down to 67% is a bit ridiculous!!! Given that I only started with about 4 gallons of low wines. Is there such a thing as two low and slow? Help!
probly bit too slow. when i run ujssm low wines the thin output stream is just breakin half way to the jar. usually around 1000w power. your set-up will be different but try running a bit faster, then if your pulling early tails, back of a bit with the next run. you'll find the right tempo soon enough.
A hangover is when you open your eyes in the morning and wish you hadn't.
Like so many others, I'm new to this. This site has been such a good source of information and I am loving my new hobby. I really wish I knew others in the area to see what it's really supposed to taste like. I'm running a BOKA (I know kind of a waste with sweet feed) but the stuff I'm pulling off is sharp if that makes sense. A slight burn in the gut then goes away, even diluted down. I am unlucky in the sense that I can not smell so I have to go by taste (havnt been able to smell for several years). I'm running a small stove still (20 qts) I throw out the first 150 ml, then collect in 200 ml cuts. I then sample the individual jars and try to combine them for a desired taste. the smoother ones I let sit open for a few days (coffee filter lid) and throw a few chunks of charred white oak in it, the rest I flavor with peaches and syrup or make apple pie. I have a batch dripping out as I type and on pull #3 that I just measured and my hydro read 190 proof.... never thought that would be possible. Could I be reading this wrong?? It is a proof and traile hydro which seems pretty self explanatory but ya never know. Anyway, Thanks to everyone out there in the stillin community. Keep it clean and dont get caught!!
muttin wrote:Like so many others, I'm new to this. This site has been such a good source of information and I am loving my new hobby. I really wish I knew others in the area to see what it's really supposed to taste like. I'm running a BOKA (I know kind of a waste with sweet feed) but the stuff I'm pulling off is sharp if that makes sense. A slight burn in the gut then goes away, even diluted down. I am unlucky in the sense that I can not smell so I have to go by taste (havnt been able to smell for several years). I'm running a small stove still (20 qts) I throw out the first 150 ml, then collect in 200 ml cuts. I then sample the individual jars and try to combine them for a desired taste. the smoother ones I let sit open for a few days (coffee filter lid) and throw a few chunks of charred white oak in it, the rest I flavor with peaches and syrup or make apple pie. I have a batch dripping out as I type and on pull #3 that I just measured and my hydro read 190 proof.... never thought that would be possible. Could I be reading this wrong?? It is a proof and traile hydro which seems pretty self explanatory but ya never know. Anyway, Thanks to everyone out there in the stillin community. Keep it clean and dont get caught!!
Hi muttin, I'm thinking your cuts might be off a bit. I've run this on both a cm column and plated column. Really smooth on both. Maybe you got some heads mixed up in there? Don't give up, this is a great recipe.
SD
I by no means have the experience of 99% of the brewers on here, but personally, I sought a bag that lists as its ingredients: CORN, OATS, BARLEY, MOLASSES. The grains were steam rolled. That's it.
can you return it for all grain or are you stuck with it. if your stuck with it you might as well try to use it you might get lucky just be warned most say it gets messy with pellets and if you dont get lucky mess and garbage. good luck if you have to use it
Wow... I can't believe the problems you guys are having getting sweet feed...! All you need to do is buy a bag of cracked corn, a bag of oats, and a gallon of molasses and make your own mixture. The best thing about this is you can change up the mixture to see what taste better to you.
You want me on that wall...... You need me on that wall...
I'm stuck with it! But I am gonna by some more cracked corn , a bag of rolled oats and a bag of barley and do my own I'm not sure if I'm gonna use straight molasses or if I'm gonna use dark Brown sugar!
Well I started it anyway! Used 2.25 gallons of backset from ujssm and 2 lbs. Of brown sugar 3 lbs of white and another 2.25 gallon of spring water! Wish me luck!!!!
A quick question for the more experienced. Im on my third ferment of this lovely stuff I tweaked the receipe a tad to compensate for a 9 gallon ferment. Im using 8.5 lbs of sweetfeed, 10.5 lbs of sugar half cup of bakers ueast. My first 2 the Sg was 1.050 and finished at .990. This time I decided to add 4 lbs of brn sugar thinking it might be and interesting flavor. My SG was still 1.050. Now for the question how much sugar do I need to add to bump up my SG to raise the final ABV of my wash? Also im only getting 120 proof out of my still in the first two pints of heads and dropping from there is this what I should expect from my still?
My copper mistress pot still = 15.5 gal keg boiler 24"x2" column 31" 1/2" inside 3/4" leibeg condenser heated by propane burner
Aim for an abv of 10%. More is possible, but 10% gives you a good taste concentration. Think of it like this: turning a 10% beer into a 40% final drink will concentrate flavour by factor 4. If you go higher, say 13%, the concentration factor is only times 3.
If you run a potstill it makes sense the abv drops. My advice: do 3 stripping runs, collecting 1/3rd of the boiler contents each time. Then perform a spirit run, making cuts.
And maybe do some more reading on cuts and abv and potstills and how they work?
Odin.
"Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself." by Buddhist filosofer Daisaku Ikeda.
Odin thanks for the reply I understand how they work I was just wondering if 120 proof as the highest is about right also u say shoot for 10% and I understand that and that is what im shooting for but for 3 times now the numbers come up the same how do I bump it up
My copper mistress pot still = 15.5 gal keg boiler 24"x2" column 31" 1/2" inside 3/4" leibeg condenser heated by propane burner
bassassassin772 wrote:Odin thanks for the reply I understand how they work I was just wondering if 120 proof as the highest is about right also u say shoot for 10% and I understand that and that is what im shooting for but for 3 times now the numbers come up the same how do I bump it up
120-126 proof (60-63%) is pretty typical for a pot still running a wash/mash.
Are you sure all the sugar you are adding has completely dissolved? If it is not, the SG will not go up as much as you think it should.
bassassassin772 wrote:Odin thanks for the reply I understand how they work I was just wondering if 120 proof as the highest is about right also u say shoot for 10% and I understand that and that is what im shooting for but for 3 times now the numbers come up the same how do I bump it up
120-126 proof (60-63%) is pretty typical for a pot still running a wash/mash.
Are you sure all the sugar you are adding has completely dissolved? If it is not, the SG will not go up as much as you think it should.
HUH?
My first run was 160 proof... got 3 160 quarts at first, got 12 jars all the way to 75, took the first 2 and last 2 and added them to the thumper for second gen run, ended up with 16 jars drinkable proofed down to 90, second gen was 160 for the first 5 jars, got 16 jars all the way down to 50, took the first 2 and last 3 and added them to the thumper for the third gen run, ended up with 16 jars drinkable 2 proofed down to 110 and14 proofed down to 90, third gen I got 170 proof for the first 2 jars down to 40, taking the first 2 and last 3 to add to the pot for the 4th gen, got to proof the rest tonight... gonna take two at full proof and make some apple pie and get two out at 110 and the rest to 90 again.
I can't wait to see how the 4th gen comes out. This time I didn't add sweetfeed.... I used oats and pearled barley leaving out the molasses etc to make the flavor more mild.
Are you running a reflux or pot still? Don't see how you could get 80% alcohol with a normal wash on a pot still. That would indicate your wash was around 54% starting out. Sounds like some reflux is going on?
bassassassin772 wrote:Odin thanks for the reply I understand how they work I was just wondering if 120 proof as the highest is about right also u say shoot for 10% and I understand that and that is what im shooting for but for 3 times now the numbers come up the same how do I bump it up
120-126 proof (60-63%) is pretty typical for a pot still running a wash/mash.
Are you sure all the sugar you are adding has completely dissolved? If it is not, the SG will not go up as much as you think it should.
HUH?
My first run was 160 proof... got 3 160 quarts at first, got 12 jars all the way to 75, took the first 2 and last 2 and added them to the thumper for second gen run, ended up with 16 jars drinkable proofed down to 90, second gen was 160 for the first 5 jars, got 16 jars all the way down to 50, took the first 2 and last 3 and added them to the thumper for the third gen run, ended up with 16 jars drinkable 2 proofed down to 110 and14 proofed down to 90, third gen I got 170 proof for the first 2 jars down to 40, taking the first 2 and last 3 to add to the pot for the 4th gen, got to proof the rest tonight... gonna take two at full proof and make some apple pie and get two out at 110 and the rest to 90 again.
I can't wait to see how the 4th gen comes out. This time I didn't add sweetfeed.... I used oats and pearled barley leaving out the molasses etc to make the flavor more mild.
I've never run a thumper so I can't speak to your numbers. I was referring to a simple pot still.
i finally got my replacement Hydrometer so i can check SG on my wash. i noticed it is slowly dropping, at day 11 i measured it and still at 1.014 at 79f. my question is:
does the added generations effect the finish SG?
i am wondering this because i am guessing there are more non fermentable solids in the solution with each run. Or does it ferment to .9XX every generation?
Are you running a reflux or pot still? Don't see how you could get 80% alcohol with a normal wash on a pot still. That would indicate your wash was around 54% starting out. Sounds like some reflux is going on?
