uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

[ipee7ABV]

what are your actual numbers for this mix. i have been doing this recipie for over a year and have never checked the ph. i use bakers yeast 8lbs of sugar 1 tsb 20-20-20 splash of epsom salt 1 gal backset top off with water.

[Jimbo]

Are you guys sure about this damned fertilizer. God damn, youre scaring the shit out of me. There's some crazy shit that makes up fertilizer and its plenty toxic to human folk! People worried about silicon rubber in seals and then pourin fertilizer and other oddities in their hooch. It just aint right and it aint even necessary. Never used so much as yeast nutrients (urea, cow piss) and never had a problem.

This is gonna be one I'll prolly wanna edit sober in the mornin but whatever, been wanting to say that fer months.

[rreidiii]

Actual numbers are exactly what UJ describes in the first entry of this thread. 7# cracked corn, 7# sugar (C and H, now for those old enough to remember that damn jingle I now ant get it out of my head...from Hawaii growin' in the sun) 5 gallons drinking water (not tap) and 1 vial of fresh yeast that is suppose to be enough for 5 gallons. Am I missing anything?

[StogieFarts]

Actual numbers are exactly what UJ describes in the first entry of this thread. 7# cracked corn, 7# sugar (C and H, now for those old enough to remember that damn jingle I now ant get it out of my head...from Hawaii growin' in the sun) 5 gallons drinking water (not tap) and 1 vial of fresh yeast that is suppose to be enough for 5 gallons. Am I missing anything?

Sounds about right to me. I use the same ingredients, only scaled down to a four gallon batch, and I use dry yeast.

(And yes, I totally remember that C&H jingle...."pure cane sugar, that's the one!")

[StillRunnin]

I completely agree about the water deal. Of all the research I've done here, I suppose I looked over or completely missed it with all the other info I've been taking in. I did a little search and found those answers. They were just a few questions that popped into my mind, and I just asked instead of searching first. At any rate, I hope to get some mash going soon. I keep going between this thread and the Sweet Feed, trying to decide which to do first. As childish as it may sound, I guess I just wanted someone to "hold my hand" while I venture through this. There can be infinite safety issues and I want to avoid them all. Didn't mean to offend anyone with silly questions.

[Da Yooper]

Is this your fertilizer? I think I'll stick to the original recipe
http://www.ncmissouri.edu/hea/barton_ep ... 20msds.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[StogieFarts]

As childish as it may sound, I guess I just wanted someone to "hold my hand" while I venture through this. There can be infinite safety issues and I want to avoid them all. Didn't mean to offend anyone with silly questions.

I don't know if it helps, but I created a "UJSSM for Newbies" thread. Just click the link in my signature. I haven't yet tried the Sweet Feed recipe, but the UJSSM is a piece of cake, and definitely one that I recommend for beginners. That's why I started with that one first.

[StillRunnin]

I don't know if it helps, but I created a "UJSSM for Newbies" thread. Just click the link in my signature. I haven't yet tried the Sweet Feed recipe, but the UJSSM is a piece of cake, and definitely one that I recommend for beginners. That's why I started with that one first.

Thank you so much!!!!!

[rreidiii]

As childish as it may sound, I guess I just wanted someone to "hold my hand" while I venture through this. There can be infinite safety issues and I want to avoid them all. Didn't mean to offend anyone with silly questions.

I don't know if it helps, but I created a "UJSSM for Newbies" thread. Just click the link in my signature. I haven't yet tried the Sweet Feed recipe, but the UJSSM is a piece of cake, and definitely one that I recommend for beginners. That's why I started with that one first.

Thanks! I'll check it out

[rreidiii]

Well here it is six days after I started another batch of UJSM with some new Tennessee Whiskey yeast from White Labs. 5-17 pitched a vial in the standard UJSM at 6:30pm with a sg of 10.60 and a pH of 5.9. Today the airlock looked as if it really slowed down so I opened it up to see what's going on. The sg was 10.09 and a pH of 2.9. I put some Potassium bicarbonate in and brought the pH up to 4.4 to see what happens. At this point since I have used the same(but a brand new vial) Tennessee Whiskey yeast I'm wondering if this might be the issue with this UJSM mix. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am going to do a dual calibration of my pH meter tomorrow since it may be a little off, I did stick it in a buffer solution of 10 and got a reading of 10.32 it is an expired bottle I got from the lab and a couple minutes later put it in a buffer solution of 7 and she read 7.03 and this was not as out of date. I'm very puzzled to why the pH drops so low so fast. Come on Gurus what is the answer?

[StogieFarts]

Well here it is six days after I started another batch of UJSM with some new Tennessee Whiskey yeast from White Labs. 5-17 pitched a vial in the standard UJSM at 6:30pm with a sg of 10.60 and a pH of 5.9. Today the airlock looked as if it really slowed down so I opened it up to see what's going on. The sg was 10.09 and a pH of 2.9. I put some Potassium bicarbonate in and brought the pH up to 4.4 to see what happens. At this point since I have used the same(but a brand new vial) Tennessee Whiskey yeast I'm wondering if this might be the issue with this UJSM mix. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am going to do a dual calibration of my pH meter tomorrow since it may be a little off, I did stick it in a buffer solution of 10 and got a reading of 10.32 it is an expired bottle I got from the lab and a couple minutes later put it in a buffer solution of 7 and she read 7.03 and this was not as out of date. I'm very puzzled to why the pH drops so low so fast. Come on Gurus what is the answer?

I am certainly no guru, but you didn't specify if you were using any backset from previous generations in here. I know from my reading that the more you recycle the backset (going further generations into the recipe), the higher the acidity will become, thus lowering your pH. So I was going to say, if you are using backset from your previous UJSSM fermentations, then this could be why your pH is so low.

If you are starting fresh (using no previous backset), then I don't know why the pH would be low (assuming that you're using the same water source that you've always used (and that the water isn't low in pH). Just my thoughts as a newbie trying to help.

[rreidiii]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that as I do have two ferments going on right now. This one that I am referring to is a first time ferment the other one has had backset added to it per the recipe. This morning I checked on the bucket and there is no activity in there at all it really has appeared to havestalled. should I just rack it off with the sg at 1010? I' rather puzzled and I think I am going to try another yeast next time, I do have white Labs San Diego Super Yeast in the refer and also what they call SUPER HIGH GRAVITY ALE YEAST that can ferment up to 25% etoh although I don't think this would be a good choice for this stuff. What do you think?

[Fastill]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that as I do have two ferments going on right now. This one that I am referring to is a first time ferment the other one has had backset added to it per the recipe. This morning I checked on the bucket and there is no activity in there at all it really has appeared to havestalled. should I just rack it off with the sg at 1010? I' rather puzzled and I think I am going to try another yeast next time, I do have white Labs San Diego Super Yeast in the refer and also what they call SUPER HIGH GRAVITY ALE YEAST that can ferment up to 25% etoh although I don't think this would be a good choice for this stuff. What do you think?

I'd stop using all that exotic crap and just use bakers yeast. Don't cost much and works everytime, as long as PH is kept in check.

[maka]

I just keep using the trub at the bottom of the barrel to start my next batch. Even if i am starting a brand new gemeration I still use some scraping out of the bottom of the old fermenter. Has worked for me so far and it keeps going. I started all my ferments with Bakers yeast originally. When I started doing this several months ago I learned very quickly to keep it simple and relax.

[WalkingWolf]

Well here it is six days after I started another batch of UJSM with some new Tennessee Whiskey yeast from White Labs. 5-17 pitched a vial in the standard UJSM at 6:30pm with a sg of 10.60 and a pH of 5.9. Today the airlock looked as if it really slowed down so I opened it up to see what's going on. The sg was 10.09 and a pH of 2.9. I put some Potassium bicarbonate in and brought the pH up to 4.4 to see what happens. At this point since I have used the same(but a brand new vial) Tennessee Whiskey yeast I'm wondering if this might be the issue with this UJSM mix. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am going to do a dual calibration of my pH meter tomorrow since it may be a little off, I did stick it in a buffer solution of 10 and got a reading of 10.32 it is an expired bottle I got from the lab and a couple minutes later put it in a buffer solution of 7 and she read 7.03 and this was not as out of date. I'm very puzzled to why the pH drops so low so fast. Come on Gurus what is the answer?

PLEASE GENTLEMEN. Do not turn this into a chit chat thread. If you do not understand what is writem by page 185, Please start over, or start a new thread in the novice section.
The only subject not covered early but is covered often is the addition of calcium carbonate to adjust ph after ferment slows due to high acid.

If you are asking if you can use walmart water or what the backset does, go to the back of the class and start over.

This is the best damn stuff ever made. Please respect it.

[Andy Capp]

keyboard broken Mr Wolf?

[rreidiii]

Thank Mr. Capp! I bought Dr. Whites book on yeast and currently have my head buried in it. I'll bring back any pertinent information if I find any that might be related to a recipe similar to this especially when using specialty strains.

[FearTheLight]

Hey all, I've been reading through this thread for quite some time now, but haven't quite seen an answer to my question. I had a fourth generation run stall half way through ferment ~1.04 from ~1.09. I was able to revive the ferment using a small amount of baking soda which after a day left the airlocks burping every 6-8 seconds, I added just a bit more and they're burping every 4 seconds or so. Should I be very conservative with adding baking soda to my mashes, will too much potentially kill the yeast or harm the mash in some way, or will it be safe to add a bit more to try and speed things up to their normal pace.

[120proof]

FearTheLight,

I remember reading something on the forum that to much baking soda can turn your distillate a bluish color when distilled. I used it for one of my stalled ferments but quickly bought some calcium carbonate. For $10 you'll have enough for quite some time.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-lb-Food-Grade ... 5196ca792c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

120proof

[rad14701]

Hey all, I've been reading through this thread for quite some time now, but haven't quite seen an answer to my question. I had a fourth generation run stall half way through ferment ~1.04 from ~1.09. I was able to revive the ferment using a small amount of baking soda which after a day left the airlocks burping every 6-8 seconds, I added just a bit more and they're burping every 4 seconds or so. Should I be very conservative with adding baking soda to my mashes, will too much potentially kill the yeast or harm the mash in some way, or will it be safe to add a bit more to try and speed things up to their normal pace.

If you haven't checked the pH, you should... For all of my sugar washes I add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per gallon for more than just pH buffering... It helps the yeast colony multiply and get healthy before the pH has a chance to drop during fermentation... I do it because it works well, for me at least...

[Sabatour]

Hey guys - hope someone can help with this...


So I have had two failed tries at the wash (my first two tries ever). First try I let sit too long and it turned into vinegar.

This is what I have done step by step with the second wash.

Picked up some California Ale Yeast.
Mixed up a half a gallon of water and a half a pound of sugar at about 78 degrees. Stirred the hell out of it to make sure it got some oxygen. Shook the vial the yest was in a good bit to mix it all up and added it to the mix and let it sit overnight, this was after I took the yeast out of the fridge and it let it sit for 3-4 hours.
Next day i mixed 3 and half gallons of water with 7 pounds of sugar and mixed it a ton for over 5 minutes to add more oxygen. Added another gallon of water and mixed for another five minutes. Added 7 pounds of corn and mixed some more. Finally i added the yeast mixture and measured it out at 1.060 s.g put the lid on and let it sit - this was Tuesday.

The first batch I made I expected the airlock to be going nuts once the yeast got rockin and rolling but it never did - it was constant at about 5-10 seconds between bubbles, that is why I let the yeast go for almost two weeks. So the second attempt I figured I would try to give the yeast a head start before just dumping it in.

Now I am 4 days later and looking at the same type of thing - airlock is about 5-10 seconds between bubbles, I am starting to smell vinegar again and my s.g has only come down 1.050 or so... So for some reason it seems like the yeast is never really kicking off.. OR - Hell I dont know.

Also realized that Ale yeast is a top working yeast and I think that might be an issue later on down the road if I am trying to keep it alive and do multiple generations of the wash.

So does anyone see any glaring issues with my steps listed above and what are some specific brands and types of yeast you all have used that work well...??


Thanks a ton for the responses and help in advance.

[StogieFarts]

1. What is the ambient temperature where you are storing your fermentation bucket? Is it too cold? Assuming the yeast is GOOD, the only thing that I know of which would effect fermentation is:

- Temperature
- pH level of the wash

So make sure your temps are not too hot/cold, and you may need to check pH level if you're using tap water.

2. You may want to give the yeast a jump start PRIOR to throwing it into your bucket. Make a starter mixture of warm water, sugar, and yeast. I usually do this an hour or more before mixing my recipe together. That will give allow the yeast to activate, and it will also be a nice indicator to see how active the yeast is. I then pour the activated yeast into my mixed bucket and I get vigorous airlock action within 6-12 hours later.

Just my thoughts from a newbie himself.

[rad14701]

So does anyone see any glaring issues with my steps listed above and what are some specific brands and types of yeast you all have used that work well...??

I'd lean towards bad yeast... Just toss in some good old fashioned bakers yeast and quit dicking around with fancy expensive yeast... And keep the wash between 75F and 85F for best results...

[Dnderhead]

" half a gallon of water and a half a pound of sugar at about 78 degrees"
not a grate way to make a starter.either.

[Sabatour]

Thanks for the info guys - will change to some bakers yeast and give it a shot.

I might have spoke too soon on this second batch tho - I got the hydrometer out gave it a good stir on top to get rid of the scum on the top and she is still going.

Start (5/28) 1.060
First Check (6/2) 1.040 (first time I opened it up and stirred it)
Second Check (6/3) 1.015

Seems like it really kicked off after that first stir - a few days into the ferment.

Things are still churning, guess I don't know how it is supposed to smell - to me it has a slight vinegar smell or a warm beer that has been out overnight is that normal for this mix?

[Da Yooper]

Well my first attempt at this recipe is going as planned. Basement has been cool since I shut down the wood stove,so I set my fermenter on a milk create and placed a 100w light bulb inside the create and put a blanket around the fermenter. Adjusted the blanket a little bit till I got the temp around 78*-80*, ferment took 3 1/2 days. Today turned the light bulb off and removed the blanket. I will run this in 2 days on my long weekend. I plan on running 4 or 5 gens with this and use 2 gals. backset each time.

[chopper35nj]

Hey, guys. I just finished running my first batch of the season of UJSSM. As was suggested and I did last year after the first run I split the grains and yeast bed into two fermenters and added 3.5 lbs of new grain to each. I did this last year and it worked out great but I wanted to try something different, so for one of the fermenters I added my 7lbs. of sugar to the 5 lit. of backset from the first run, put my 3.5lbs. corn in two gal. of 180 deg. water and brought back up to 160 and held it for an hour (mashed?) then added it to the backset and sugar and let it mash in the bucket wrapped in a sleeping bag overnight. The next morning the temp was 120 deg. so I added it to the old grain and yeast bed, aerated it and covered. It took off within two hours and is bubbling like mad, in fact it has a foam over the top that I have never seen but you can actually hear it "cookin'". Any ideas what I might get from this or how I might treat it differently from the original recipe? Really looking forward to this.

Cheers
Chopper

[Doogie]

So does anyone see any glaring issues with my steps listed above and what are some specific brands and types of yeast you all have used that work well...??

I'd lean towards bad yeast... Just toss in some good old fashioned bakers yeast and quit dicking around with fancy expensive yeast... And keep the wash between 75F and 85F for best results...

What he said ...

I just went up to Gen 7 UJSSM - never an issue, never added more yeast from Gen 1 onwards. Really good taste, good production with 40L yielding 5.5L of tightly cut product at 50% ABV.

[chopper35nj]

Well my first attempt at this recipe is going as planned. Basement has been cool since I shut down the wood stove,so I set my fermenter on a milk create and placed a 100w light bulb inside the create and put a blanket around the fermenter. Adjusted the blanket a little bit till I got the temp around 78*-80*, ferment took 3 1/2 days. Today turned the light bulb off and removed the blanket. I will run this in 2 days on my long weekend. I plan on running 4 or 5 gens with this and use 2 gals. backset each time.

I made a bunch of UJSSM last season and had the best luck doing exactly what Uncle Jesse suggested in regards to the amount of backset to use for the next generation 5 liters for a 5 gallon batch. I am sure that the more experienced distillers here can tell you why too much backset is too much, I just know that that amount worked best for me. 4 or 5 generations is kind of wasteful and the best spirit that I got was the last run (8th Generation) The beer was actually really bitter but the finished product was amazing especially after aging on toasted oak sticks for just a few months. Oh, one other thing that I found that makes this a really great spirit is the fact that I have a small pot still and have to make two runs for a 5 gallon batch ( will be remedying this shortly) when I run the first half of the batch (making cuts only to remove the heads) distilling to 30% I dump all of it into the other half of the batch and distill the whole mess. The finished product is smooth and drinkable right from the still, I am in fact having some now.

[Doogie]

ya, I did as indicated in the initial recipe and everything was fine. I used very little corn, and always had successful restarts to fermentation (ran dual 25L fermenters for this project) - got to Gen 7 before quitting. Don't reinvent the wheel, do as indicated, and enjoy. I now have about 10L of product for keeps - ditched the first 2 generations of likker, kept and, after nuking, drank the rest.