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)I gotta say great post Jimbo. Your post makes me think. Beers mash at a higher temp that liquors because of unfermentable sugars that are not wasted in the beer because they are drank. I could be wrong but I think that I remember a video on those low temp enzymes convert the unfermentable sugars to fermentable sugars. If that is true would it be worth the cost of the enzymes for a better conversion?Jimbo wrote:Hey Notta,
If you mashed in the 140's to favor beta amylase it will go very dry since beta makes fermentable sugars. So it will should taste crisp, dry and slightly tangy from the low pH. Basically taste like a very plain flat beer. But it should taste good too. Nothin funky or pukey. If you mashed in the 150's, it will have the attributes above but taste sweeter from the alpha amylase enzymes making unfermentable sugars. So more beer like, but still a very plain boring beer.
The distillate, after cuts, but before aging will taste different depending on your particular tastes and cuts, but Ill give you mine and how mine tastes. Remember youre not making vodka, it wont, and shouldnt taste clean off the still. Whiskey needs a little bit of late heads to add a little punch, character. Trust me a whiskey can be too smooth after aging if only the middle hearts are kept. After aging on oak middle hearts cut whiskey will seem insipid, lacking character or backbone. So anyway, I keep a little of the heads. Same with tails. Tails off the still taste like wet cardboard. Terrible. But unlike heads which really dont change much with age, tails change completely. Wet cardboard turns into a smooth grain flavor. Adds depth, complexity and dimension. So, I keep some early tails as well. Mix it all up, age it for 6+ months (4 minimum! no touchy before 4 months) and youll have a smooth complex drop with enough kick and depth to balance and compliment the caramel and vanilla from the toasted and charred oak.
This is the world according to Jim, your mileage (and preferences) may vary.
Good luck,
Jimbo
Warm that wash up to between 75F - 85F and you'll have faster ferments with less chance of infection...Notta Number wrote:I'm fermenting between 74 and 72, with one excursion to 75 for a short time, maybe a couple of hours. In the forum's opinion, am I safe to continue till the weekend, 9 days fermenting?
Well I certainly can understand the knowledge being here, and not always in the books. I have 4 or 5 books and I've read almost all of them, on the last one now, but they don't always jive with each other, nor the comments here. I thought I've read here (or in a book somewhere) that higher ferment temps will change the flavor profile...is that good or bad?rad14701 wrote: We usually tell new members to forget what they thought they had learned elsewhere and just go by what is documented here in these forums and on the parent site... This is compendium of knowledge, complete with checks and balances, not simply the opinions of a single author or a series of single authors...
Awesome post, thanks! Yes I'm using the US-05, or California Ale Yeast is what my local brew shop calls it, they have a 01 and 05 version, and the 01 is higher attenuating (73-80% vs. 70-75), that's what I'm using. They list ideal ferment temps for the 01 of 68-73 vs 66-70 for the 05.Jimbo wrote:Rads comment on warming it up to 75-85 only works for Bakers yeast. DONT do that with US-05 or other ale yeasts, or EC1118 and other wine yeasts. You wont like the result. US-05 is a great yeast, and best at 68F. Bakers likes heat, 80F.
What is the telltale sign it was burnt? Does it smell/taste like any other burnt food? Is it obvious? I'm still trying to nail down the root cause of my last failure, and have narrowed it down to either burnt wash, or bacterial infection. I'm leaning toward an infection being the problem, but would like to prove it. If burnt, the solution is easy. If bacteria, do I just add Lactobacillus early in the wash? Or just reduce pH of the wash? I did sanitize everything very carefully this time (next time I'll use bleach). And I'm running earlier than last time hoping this will catch it before any bacteria can grab hold.Jimbo wrote:Ive done pretty cloudy washes and never had an issue. I do strips at 4000 watts. The only time I had one burn was a wheat flour wash that was very thick with the flour still in there (cant strain or filter flour based washes)
Unfortunately it is very obvious, and as far as I know could not be mistaken for anything else.Notta Number wrote: What is the telltale sign it was burnt? Does it smell/taste like any other burnt food? Is it obvious?
Jimbo and Dan P: Hilarious and relevant, thanks a lot. My crappy tasting failure had nothing burnt on the element, and did not taste like burnt toast. It tasted sickening, not like vomit, but a sickening sweet rich type aroma that makes you just want to get some fresh air. I am almost certain now that this was a result of a bacterial infection. So back to the suggestion I've been reading about.....adding lactobacillus to discourage other bacterias to take over. Does anybody do this?Jimbo wrote:As a rule I run cleared and settled washes. But I have squeezed and ran in the same day, and it went fine. Im hard pressed to tell a difference
The burnt flour wash run was acrid, bitter and like eating black burnt toast. The element had a 1/4" thick buildup of black burnt toast looking shit taht I spent an hour scraping off with tools and small wire brush taped to the end of a dowel rod, wtih a flashlight and my eyeball stuck to the flange. Royal pain in the balls.
That's kinda what I thought, thanks. I'll let you know how it goes.Jimbo wrote:No, I dont do that or recommend that.
Its madness to intentionally infect your mash and equipment.
I made sure I only allowed 3 drops per second max, collected 12-8oz jars. I'll let them air out a bit, then start on my cuts.
