uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

[Scribbler]

Ah... Now I get it. Thx!

[Prairiepiss]

There are hundreds of ways to run this recipe. That's one of the great things about it. It's very versatile. Pot still reflex still plated still. Whatever still you have. This recipe will make a good drop. And you ask 10 people how they run this recipe. You will get 15 different answers.

If you don't take the time and experiment with the different methods. You are only hurting yourself. Because you never know if changing even the slightest thing would make a better drop for you.

And if someone only reads the last 4 pages and expect to get by. They are a fool.

[moosemilk]

I just have to post in this thread and say THANK YOU. I ran my first ever UJSSM and it was the best likker i have ever had in my life! My wife and close friends agree, my wife having run off with a jar right from the middle of the hearts on me. I don't know if i was lucky, have a knack for this, or just know how to follow directions properly, but wow. Words can not describe. I ran it low and slow, a few drops per second to small broken stream distillate out the worm. The forshots were easy . . . bad smell, cloudy, didn't even bother to put a drop on my tongue just to see. Then the heads . . . but even those were better than most store bought "junk" as i see it now (makes you realize what the big guys keep in just for the extra profit), and then the hearts come through . . . at first a bit of heads smeared but not much at all . . . and what a wonderful sweet smooth drink, even without any aging, no burn going down, just that wonderful warm feeling. Waiting for the second ferment to finish for my first sour mash. This is fantastic, a new wonderful experience each time. Anybody that hasn't tried this, you have no idea what you are missing. Once i get through this and the hang of making a decent likker this method, i think i'll try an AG and then perhaps a brandy in the fall when fruit is cheaper in season. There's the other wonderful thing about this hobby. Going by what is cheapest and in season at the time, you get new wonderful drinks all year round! Happy distilling to all the great friends i've made here, and all the new ones to come!

[T-Pee]

Just wait until you put it on toasted oak for a whole three months!

tp

[moosemilk]

Just wait until you put it on toasted oak for a whole three months!

tp

Three months? You mean . . . it lasts that long? Lol. I plan on doing so for sure. I want to try a variety of methods from this board i have found, and see what i like best, then tinker with it a little myself to tweak it to my likings. Best thing about this hobby. Just gotta keep my paws off it to let it age. The "new" of it right now though is too much. But i do have enough willpower to leave a little to age and the feints to toss in my next run. Has anybody tried hazelnut flavoring? I was thinking of this. I love hazelnut anything, and so have a can of hazelnut oil in my fridge i use for a lot of baking and cooking (love to bake and cook as well, will post some recipes to that section eventually).

[T-Pee]

Hazelnut? Hey. Why not? I dropped a stick of cinnamon bark in a gallon of UJ along with some oak and it was killer.

Yeah. Was...but I can make more!

tp

[One Sock]

Dunno about adding oil, but maybe there's probably a way to infuse it, like gin? How bout oaking it with toasted hazelnut shells?

[Schoobah]

Hey all,

I have had tremendous luck with this recipe. I make it in 50 gallon quantity's and have only had one batch go "bad" in three years when fruit flies managed to get into a barrel and infect it. Sad day when I had to dump 50gal of ujssm. It has been said to run it anyway but it did not finish .990 like most my others. I make mine a little different than the exact recipe. I use a 5 gal bucket half corn and half crimped oats 100 pounds of dextrose and I usually have the wife freeze any fruits that are going bad until brew day then toss them in after defrosted. The fruit doesn't add ton of flavor but makes each batch a little different.

I boil enough water to cover the fruit corn and oats the add all to the barrel and let sit covered about an hour to soften things. Then I add dextrose and more hot water and hit it all with my drill motor and mixer. I learned a trick from Tater to get a drill mixer from the hardware store and sharpen the blades to help palpate the fruit. Add water to about 49 gal. check the ph and SP adjust with baking soda and lemon juice or other acids of your choice. Then check the temp let cool to around 90 degrees and pitch yeast either hydrated or dry both work well.

I have previously used backset for the sour taste but most the time I like the first sweet run and just do it that way every time. My SP is generally around the 1.1 level and I really like EC1118 from lalvin labs.

To run the fished beer I use a 18 gal ss VM with a packed column Yup I sure do. My set up has changed so many times and this is my go to set up for ease of use and flexibility. If I run it kinda fast I can bring it down to around 75% but I usually go to around 80% I collect three gallons in quart jars labeled 1-12. I collect and entire jar of fore's and toss em got no use for it and don't want it messing around with my finished product ya its a bit over kill but I feel safe that way. Then I collect the heads typically that's two jars. Then I get into the hearts and the column temp stabilizes around 172-175 keep it there until for around six jars or when that wet dog/cabbage comes to play its into the tails. My tails always seem to come in early and I collect around three jars till its just barely dripping and you got to cut it off due to cost vs collecting another hundred drips. There's a lot more too it then that but that is a normal overview. I like to save the tails and heads to rerun in the next sweet batch in a continuous cycle.

[Schoobah]

I have treated it every way possible on wood (toasted cherry, oak, pecan and maple) I even had one aged wood batch come out tasting like bacon! But my favorite is most definitely smoked cherry wood. I get a good hot fire going and get a a metal container with holes drilled in its bottom and fill it about half way with cherry wood smoking chips. Put it in the fire until it starts smoldering and smoking then before it starts to burn pull it off and set it on the ground then put the lid on it so no air source gets to it. Let it sit for a while the wood should be real dark bu not burnt all the way through. If its burned all the way through then you made charcoal. The wood smoke that was rolling out gets trapped in the container partially absorbed into the wood and imparts a unique smokey taste!

Put some chips into a glass container with your clear proofed at around 60% let sit for a while and check on it time to time then after a month or so enjoy!!!

All other methods work well with this too. Apple pie, peach cobbler, There is not much you cant do with UJ.

Have Fun and be safe.
Schoobah

[oilguy]

Can anyone tell me if this looks right, The
white things look like maggots I have my fermenter in the garage it is roughly 65 deg f in there

[One Sock]

First, 65 is too cold, and it looks like yeast does when just added to a wash.

[moosemilk]

Looks fine to me, same as mine does. One Sock is probably right about the yeast. I had never done a mash with corn before and wondered the same thing, so figured yeast, looked on Google at various pics and found similar. But 65 is a bit cold. Get it up into the mid-high 70s. It's not far off so maybe a heavy blanket or form of insulating will keep your ferment warm enough (fermentation will create heat a bit).

[rad14701]

Can anyone tell me if this looks right, The
white things look like maggots I have my fermenter in the garage it is roughly 65 deg f in there

What temperature did you pitch your yeast at...???

Definitely looks like dry pitched yeast in a wash too cool to reactivate... Some yeasts require water temperatures up to 115F/46C to reactivate... I had one brick of Fleischmann's that wouldn't do anything at all unless reactivated with water warmer than 110F - 115F... Dry pitching simply wasn't an option...

Maggots would be squirming around quite actively even at a miniscule size...

[HDNB]

i'm no corn expert, so i don't know the name of what you see. It is part of the corn kernel that is able to float free cause it's crushed. same as mine, doesn't matter the temp or the yeast. every one of my UJSSM washes that has corn in it has had this in it.
but the others are right, a (higher) consistent temp will provide faster more predictable responses.

[T-Pee]

Corn germ.



tp

[oilguy]

Thanks for all the info, outside temps are suppose to warm up , so with that and blanket it will help with mash temp, It has been fermenting for 8 days now, I am at 1.010, Glad it is not maggots and don't have to throw it away, I used the yeast bed from a previous birdwatchers, thanks again all.

[moosemilk]

Corn germ.



tp

Thanks T-Pee! I stand corrected. I thought yeast Cuz it does look like it. Always learning something new! I love this place

[One Sock]

Ahh, I assumed from the clarity of the wash it was freshly pitched yeast in a new batch! I've never seen those floaters in my UJSSM washes, but it could vary depending on the corn used.

[Fastill]

I get those in my corn and usually they are the last thing to sink when the cap drops.

[chevydad83]

Running the second gen of my UJSSM on Thursday. Can't wait. The plan is to save a gallon of 120 proof from each run after blending until I have enough to fill a 5gal toasted barrel. Have a great place in the attic to add a few of those of different varieties. The gallon I've been sampling of this first soured run has been a big hit. After a week it sat a bit longer I decided to add a bit more hearts into it. Sure glad I did. Damn its good. Can't wait to get home tonight and have a glass. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. This will be the last run before getting off the gas and on to 220v. It'll be great to move production inside.

[One Sock]

LMAO! I just added the last of my bag of corn to my latest ferment (Gen 16!) and there they were!

[chevydad83]

Had a clear afternoon so ran the second gen off today. Used the detuned short boka set-up this time. I forgot to throw the tails from the previous run in too so they will have to wait until next run. Tossed my foreshots and started collected heads at 80%. Again the heads had an interesting fresh apple flavor to them. Might have to do something fun with them. The hearts came in early and with some pretty intense flavors. Reminded me of roasted peanuts for some reason. Really looking forward to tasting them again after they air a few days. Ended up with with a gallon of hearts that will go up in the attic after blending to sit on some oak, and about a 1/3 of the hearts left over for sippin on. Ran it down to 30% and ran out of gas so that was it. Looking forward to running this inside on the power and out of the wind. Its blowing like crazy in my area right now. temps where all over the place.

[chevydad83]

Did my blending last night and put a second gallon of 120 proof on oak and in the attic. The first gallon looks like cola already. Took what was left over from my blending pot and diluted it down to 45% and added it to the sippin jug and through some oak chips in there too. Woke up this morning to a beautiful ice tea looking color. Gave it a sip and WOW. Tastes just like Gentleman's Jack. Every time I touch that stuff it tastes better then the last time.

[Corps012588]

I'm just starting on my ujssm adventure and my 2nd generation is just about ready to rack for clearing.
I'm running it through my airstill and just wondered if anyone here uses the same still.
I'm aiming for 12% with my wash.
I'm just trying to get an idea of cuts for ujssm with this still.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[NZChris]

I'm just starting on my ujssm adventure and my 2nd generation is just about ready to rack for clearing.
I'm running it through my airstill and just wondered if anyone here uses the same still.
I'm aiming for 12% with my wash.
I'm just trying to get an idea of cuts for ujssm with this still.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

I've never run one of these, but this is what I would do with such a small still ....
Ferment enough for three runs.
For each run:
Dump about the first 10ml as foreshot. (Use your tastebuds to fine tune this)
Keep all the rest till the jar gets to about 30-35%, or is so obviously skanky you don't want it going in your jar.

Put it all back into the still and do a spirit run, running into small jars. Cover the jars and leave to air overnight. Make your cuts the next day, using a teaspoon to dilute samples to tasting strength.

Put the rejected jars into a feints collection and save them until you have enough for a spirit run.

[moosemilk]

I am wondering about my ferment. I'm on my 6th gen and it normally takes four or five days to ferment out so far. This one has been over seven days now. OG was 1.05 and after 7 days 1.03. There is no sign of infection, and is still bubbling, just very slow. I have 2 five gallon buckets, and the other is fine, same backset, same sugar added back in, finished dry in four days, and ran it and it's now almost ready to run again. They have always finished within a day of each other until now. Both at same temperature. I haven't checked the acidity of the one running well, but the slower one is 0.60%. Is this OK for acidity? I was thinking of adding some DAP To maybe help the yeast, but figured I would ask here for input first. Thanks all!

[Fastill]

I am wondering about my ferment. I'm on my 6th gen and it normally takes four or five days to ferment out so far. This one has been over seven days now. OG was 1.05 and after 7 days 1.03. There is no sign of infection, and is still bubbling, just very slow. I have 2 five gallon buckets, and the other is fine, same backset, same sugar added back in, finished dry in four days, and ran it and it's now almost ready to run again. They have always finished within a day of each other until now. Both at same temperature. I haven't checked the acidity of the one running well, but the slower one is 0.60%. Is this OK for acidity? I was thinking of adding some DAP To maybe help the yeast, but figured I would ask here for input first. Thanks all!

Can you convert the % acidity to accual PH? EVERY UJSSM I have seen stalled was either due to PH or the nutrients in the corn were used up. 90% of the time it was PH.
Add calcium carbonate to the wash if PH is the issue, I'd add it about every 4th or5th gen.
If not a ph issue then add more cracked corn to the next batch, taking some of the used out. This will give it fresh nutrients.

[moosemilk]

Unfortunately TA Can't be converted to pH. Acidity is total acid which doesn't take into account the strength of acid. I don't have a pH meter, being a beer maker in the past it wasn't as much a concern as it is with wine. Only had access to chems for TA So that is why posted as a rough idea. Don't think it's the corn, as I do remove and replenish but could be. I'll try adding some DAP anyways and I'd it works, then obviously need to replace more corn, never thought of that so thanks, gives me a general point. At least it's still working off albeit slowly.

*Edit* I added a bit more corn just in case. Also added few top DAP To give it some instant nutrients. A few hours later and it's bubbling happily away like it should be. Thank you, Fastill, seems you hit it on the nose with the nutrients. I'll have to make sure to swap out more corn than I have been. Appreciate the help!

[rpt124]

So on this recipe how do I make it larger for exame if I'm using a 15 or 20 gallons how do I convert the recipe

[HDNB]

So on this recipe how do I make it larger for exame if I'm using a 15 or 20 gallons how do I convert the recipe

you have to use the exponential coefficient of the square root of Pi.