sweetfeed whisky

[medic_tyler45]

Ran into a small problem this morning when i went to get my sweetfeed going again. I aint going to be able to ferment where i use to because they said the smell was to noticable. I use airlocks.Would a big balloon on the airlock mess with the fermentation any at all?

[DuckofDeath]

Mine also starts up quick, I am on gen three sweet feed. Hadn't been achieving the abv we wanted so I added more sugar this time.

Also, is there any danger if you we're to ferment for a few days then realize you we're not able to run your wash when it would be ready, could you add more sugar to prolong the process? This ? Came up last time we were running and thought I would throw it out there

Just let it sit it will clear and be good for quite a long time. I personally have waited 3-4 weeks without running and the result was very very good.

[Rclark12]

When doing a sour mash style with this, has any one found better results with replacing a certain amount of the spent grain/ a certain percent of it? I assume you can only go so far with out changing any at all. Ill be going to tractor supply to look for the producers pride brand this weekend and I'm very eager to give this a shot!

[Stainless dude]

Most people scrape off the top inch or so and replace with new grain every run...
SD

[Rclark12]

Thanks, Ill give that a shot didn't want to over do it. I think Ill probably aim for using a gallon and a half of backset and that one inch and see what I come up with after a few generations. Any one pour their first run in with their second or is it prefered to just keep it for an all fients run instead? Man im itching to try this

[Rivver]

Ian Smiley recommended in his book that if you were not going to replace any grain during a sour mash run, you could get about 3 generations before the grain was used up.

A lot of times when running a UJ I would strip two runs, then add all the low wines to the 3 run beer while running it. Just make sure what you put in the boiler is not above 40%.

[Rclark12]

Make sure the shine I pour back in isn't over 40 abv or make sure the abv of everything in the pot together isn't over 40 abv?
And thanks for the info

[masterKenobi]

I've let mine sit for over 5 months and it fires back up.

[jeepkidd]

I staggered my runs so I have some fermenting while some is in the cold room settling out. When I run the stuff in the cold room, I rack off the fermenter into carboys at the same time then use backset from the stuff that I ran when I mix up more mash in the fermenter. I have been fermenting at 70 degrees, so it is slow, but I put a heat belt on to finish them up in the carboys before they move to the cold room to settle out. This has been working well so far. I plan to water my next batch of low wines down to 20% before running to see if I can get better cuts though.

[The flint stones]

Dont mean to beat this to death but I repeatedly asked for sweet feed from probably 15 feed stores found a feed store that said they had an all grain but it wasn't "sweet feed" here is the ingredient list of what they had. . . looks like its the sweet feed I've beens searching for. Its "MG Horseman's Choice"
INGREDIENT STATEMENT Grain products, molasses products, soybean meal, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, choline chloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), biotin, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganous oxide, copper [...]

[jbird1992]

Dont mean to beat this to death but I repeatedly asked for sweet feed from probably 15 feed stores found a feed store that said they had an all grain but it wasn't "sweet feed" here is the ingredient list of what they had. . . looks like its the sweet feed I've beens searching for. Its "MG Horseman's Choice"
INGREDIENT STATEMENT Grain products, molasses products, soybean meal, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, choline chloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), biotin, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganous oxide, copper [...]

Sounds like that would be pellets. Try asking for horse feed or buy the ingredients separately as I found in the feed that I got had almost no corn and alot of oats. Mixing my own now with mostly corn and barley wit 15% molasses out of a gallon that I bought. WAY better flavor than the bag I bought.

[Rclark12]

(source of vitamin K activity), biotin, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganous oxide, copper [...]

Sounds like that would be pellets. Try asking for horse feed or buy the ingredients separately as I found in the feed that I got had almost no corn and alot of oats. Mixing my own now with mostly corn and barley wit 15% molasses out of a gallon that I bought. WAY better flavor than the bag I bought.

Id love to hear your results, and what your actual mix is. I have been googling around recipes for wet cob today. Im sure you could do something with malted barley or somthing else that would be even more beneficial especially if you were going to cook it for a little while

[jbird1992]

The way I look at it the sky is the limit. My first run of SF I didn't care for at all but keep in mind as you progress into further generations it smooths out. So gen2 was smoother but had a bite to it I didn't care for so it got me thinking about my grain. I got a cup out and it hit me there is almost no corn in there. So I sent my dad to tractor supply to get me some cracked corn (he pays for shine missions). I then did the normal back set but did the grain replacement with all corn. My mix looked even in the fermenter. Gen3 was WAY better in taste so for gen4 I mixed up 2/3 corn and 1/3 SF with 1 cup feed molasses. Have to get back to you on the results from this batch but I got a bag of steamed and crimped barley for the next run. No more oats as I think this is the taste I don't like.


So this is my mad science experiment but the process of back set is all the same as original recipe. Don't be afraid to mix it up and make it your own nothing ventured nothing gained. My recipe will change until I'm happy key word (I'M HAPPY)


jbird

[Cornfed50]

It has that blasted salt! Remember guys that salt will suppress the flocculation of your ferment. Very common salt throws off your final gravity projection range. It causes early attenuation in higher ratios. Yours should not be too bad, keep some Amylase enzyme on hand if your final gravity does not finnish where you want. Salt in bread dough is strickly for yeast control. Its more of a problem for mash. Cornfed

[The flint stones]

Dont mean to beat this to death but I repeatedly asked for sweet feed from probably 15 feed stores found a feed store that said they had an all grain but it wasn't "sweet feed" here is the ingredient list of what they had. . . looks like its the sweet feed I've beens searching for. Its "MG Horseman's Choice"
INGREDIENT STATEMENT Grain products, molasses products, soybean meal, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, choline chloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), biotin, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganous oxide, copper [...]

Here is what it looks like, by George I think I have it. . . finally, right? Look like all grain to me.

[jbird1992]

You got it

[distillin_n_chillin]

Ive run this recipe 2 or 3 times now and its been working wonderfully. My only complaint is that ive been reading of people being able to produce 150 to 160 prf while I have only been able to manage 130 prf at best. Is this my still as im using a simple pot still or is there something I can do to raise my alcohol content a little more?

[Woodcrafter]

Been reading and trying to "learn" for about four months......Okay, I'm a novice and am just about ready to make my first serious run. I have a MileHigh, 13 gal, 2" reflux still. My column is packed with copper mesh, I have installed a centering ring and split the water supply to the reflux condenser and 24" vapor condenser. I have completed both my vinegar run and sacrificial run of Birdwatchers. Now, I'm ready for the sweetfeed run, when the wash settles out. My first question is this: Would there be any advantage to letting the column reach equilibrium, running it in full reflux for 30 minutes to concentrate my fore-shots, pulling off about 250ml of fore-shots, then shutting off the water to the column condenser and running in the semi "Pot Still" configuration for the stripping run ? My thinking is that at that stage, I could avoid smearing the fore-shots into the heads, and therefore make trying to separate the heads, hearts and tails a little easier. If so, would I then run my stripping run as fast as I can knock down the vapors, or should I run it slowly. During my sacrificial run, I seemed to have some difficulty in condensing all of the vapors in the lieberg condenser. (maybe, I was just running my pot too hot?). I plan on running several generations of the sweetfeed and am interested in carrying forward enough flavor to make an interesting liquor. Any recommendations from those who have gone before me ? Oh yeah, I'll be running a wash of approximately 8-10 gal. Start SG was 1.064 and I will run at 1.000, or below. Thanks

[cracker 1]

Ive run this recipe 2 or 3 times now and its been working wonderfully. My only complaint is that ive been reading of people being able to produce 150 to 160 prf while I have only been able to manage 130 prf at best. Is this my still as im using a simple pot still or is there something I can do to raise my alcohol content a little more?
distillin_n_chillin
Novice

Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:11 pm
If your using bakers yeast, It can only fermit out to about 10% ABV before the yeast dies, I use bakers yeast, like the taste it gives the product and the cost is better for me. I only use 5lbs sugar to 5gal batch. My runs average 135-120. Adding the heads and tails from previous run kicks this up quite a bit. The highest proof thus far 165. You can use a more alcohol tolerant yeast 18% Lalvin EC-1118 from any wine shop/home brew shop and there are other yeasts you can also try. Increase your sugar to 7 pounds per five gallon when using the higher tolerant varieties. Compair your tastes, higher proofs some times dont equal quality, but they do make product. Cracker1

[jeepkidd]

I would avoid high % washes and instead make changes at your still if you want higher %.

It sounds like you are already in a good range for oaking, so why do you want more alcohol when you will just be watering it down more after? All I can figure is you want to have a little less taste in your final mix, try slowing down your spirit run and adding some copper packing.

You will get better results from stripping more low % washes to do a spirit run then having higher % in your wash.

Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered... don't get greedy with your wash.

[Truckinbutch]

You will get better results from stripping more low % washes to do a spirit run then having higher % in your wash.

Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered... don't get greedy with your wash.
Cheers!

jeepkidd
Swill Maker

Posts: 122
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:03 pm
About as succintly posted as I have read here .

[CabinetGuy]

I'm brand new to distilling and my first batch was a sweet feed batch. The sweet feed I got has pellets in it and after contemplating, I built a sifter and sifted all of them out for this batch. I ran my batch and everything seemed to go flawlessly. I am not however, very fond of the taste. It had very distinct odor. I filtered it a couple of times with a charcoal filter and tamed it a bit before finally turning it into apple pie at 40 proof. After chilling it, it goes down nice and smooth, so not a complete waste after all.

I have a couple questions and after reading the first 20 pages or so of this section and not seeing the answer, I figured I would introduce myself and ask them.

I found a few references on here about the pellets in sweet feed but no definitive answers as to the pellets and what they are and if I should keep them in or continue to sift them out. I'm using Central States Southern Blend. The ingredients are: Cotton Seed Hull Pellets, Molasses, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Corn & Oats. I'm thinking that they're vitamins, but again, not sure if I should leave them or not.

This feed doesn't have much corn in it so I'm wondering if I should substitute some for cracked corn, which I got in order to try NCHooch's recipe.

Also, I saw a couple of posts about champagne yeast, which I used for my first batch, but am taking a trip to my local brew supply place today to get some Prestige WD. Thoughts on different yeasts? The Champagne yeast is cheap and works well, but after the last batch and the funky odor and taste, I'm wondering if that could have had something to do with it.

My setup is not ideal, yet... 32Q aluminum pot - I know, I know... 8" hole cut in the lid and stainless bowl mounted with the 3/4" plumbing running out of the top as well as a 3/4" hole with a cork and a long thermometer. Up a foot then over about 4' before it dumps into my 20' chiller that I installed in one of those big yellow jobsite coolers so I can drain the water off easy enough while I'm cooking. I'm cooking on my stove and it heats up nice and fast and is able to be controlled very easily, so I like this basic setup, I just need to get a stainless pot with some sort of tapered lid I think.

[Stainless dude]

Hi cabinet guy, while it is always fun to experiement, if you mess with the recipe what you end up with might not be ideal. Starting with your sweet feed. Ditch the pellet stuff and use all grain.
Second thing is the yeast you used. Use regular old bakers yeast or distillers yeast. If you follow the recpie you will have great results I am sure...
SD

[DuckofDeath]

Sweet feed should be 30% corn, 30% oats, 30% barley,10% molasses

If yours is soybean or rice hulls etc then ditch it.

[cubanredneck]

New to the forum gonna give this one a try

[Beerswimmer]

Stripping some now that has been sitting since the Superbowl. Tasting it it has way more corn flavor.than the previous gens. I want that corn flavor!! I'll do one more gen of this and then.mix it up a bit and do maybe 50% sweetfeed 50% corn.

[jbird1992]

Hi cabinet guy, while it is always fun to experiement, if you mess with the recipe what you end up with might not be ideal. Starting with your sweet feed. Ditch the pellet stuff and use all grain.
Second thing is the yeast you used. Use regular old bakers yeast or distillers yeast. If you follow the recpie you will have great results I am sure...
SD

+1 Don't mess with that stuff ALL GRAIN is the key word and the bakers yeast is great for this recipe. I pitched once and on my 4th gen with NO added yeast since my first pitch

[jbird1992]

Stripping some now that has been sitting since the Superbowl. Tasting it it has way more corn flavor.than the previous gens. I want that corn flavor!! I'll do one more gen of this and then.mix it up a bit and do maybe 50% sweetfeed 50% corn.

That's where I'm at my sweet feed didn't have hardly any corn in it. So I got some cracked corn and crimped barley with my own molasses and gonna make my own. Left out the oats because that's the flavor I don't care for I think. I will know in a few more gens I guess

[southern traditions]

Ive run this recipe 2 or 3 times now and its been working wonderfully. My only complaint is that ive been reading of people being able to produce 150 to 160 prf while I have only been able to manage 130 prf at best. Is this my still as im using a simple pot still or is there something I can do to raise my alcohol content a little more?

Hiya Distillin,
130 proof out of a pot still on a single run is actually pretty damn good, alot depends on your starting wash percentage. I aim for a 10-11% starting wash. If you check the wash calculator on the Mother site a 10% wash run thru a pot still ONCE should get you in the 55% range or about 110 proof and then drop from there as the run progresses. With that being said if your getting 65%ABV then your run is above average.

I run thru a thumper and average 70%ABV (140 proof) on a single run which is normal for me. If I want a higher ABV I make several single (3,4,5 etc) strippping runs saving everything but the foreshots.. Then I run a single spirit run that has been diluted to 35-40% ABV. My average ABV% on this "spirit" run brings me up into the 80% ABV . To me its not worth it, specially since I'm gonna dilute it down anyway.
My preferred taste falls in the 60-65% ABV range. I don't have to dilute to get there, the spirit is more mellow, the flavor is noticeably different and the high proof burn is almost non existent..

Just my .02 worth

[medic_tyler45]

My mash it just about done. Its pretty bitter. Bubbling once every 20 sec. I know it sure does smell good, I just hope i can cook it off good and not mess it up