Bitter shine

[archie79]

Alright, so I made some corn shine with beet sugar today, and it has a bitter aftertaste to it. (I have another post a asking y it came out bitter, but that's a question for a different thread). So, now that I have it, I'm wondering if anyone has figurerd out a good recipe to help out some bitter shine.

The shine is still over 160 proof, ( I havnt cut it Down yet), and when you first drink it, it has a slight corn flavor, it's very smooth, and it warms your tummy. Then the aftertaste hits you, and you try to scrape your tongue on the sidewalk to get rid of it!! Ok, so yeah it's not that bad, it's just that bitterness hangs with you awhile. I was thinking of maybe cutting it with lemon and sweet tea?? Any thoughts??

[NZChris]

Your tongue is telling you not to try drinking it at 160 proof.

[archie79]

Lol, yeah, True, but all my other runs came out at over 160, and they weren't very bitter. And I do plan on knocking it down to around 100 proof or so, that's why I'm asking what would mix well with bitter shine?

[NZChris]

You'll never know what it really tastes like if you sample it much over 80 proof as it stuffs up your taste buds. Knock samples down below 80 proof before you sample. You only need a teaspoon and a glass of water. If it's still bitter, your tongue is telling you not to use beet sugar and you should use it for cleaning your still and lighting fires.

[archie79]

All 3 of the runs have been over 160 proof, yet this is the only one that is bitter. I still have about half of a pint (uncut) of my other 2 runs, and they aren't bitter. I was just wondering if the mash was getting to old, but I digress. I do plan to cut it down to about 90 or 100 proof, but I want to cut it with a flavor, so I get the flavor without compromising the high proof. I started the thread to figure out what other people think is good to flavor bitter shine?

[skow69]

I doubt there is any difference in sugar made from beets or cane. Too many other variables. For instance, did you make any cuts?

[NZChris]

Downing high proof shine isn't anything to be proud of.

'Bitter' can't be buried by swamping it with other flavors. You have made a mistake. Learn from it.

[rad14701]

You should not be consuming spirits over 160 proof...!!! Actually, any spirits over 120 proof start causing permanent damage to tissue... Don't play tough guy, get those spirits diluted... It's irresponsible to be drinking spirits that strong and you definitely shouldn't let anyone else drink anything high proof... There is good reason why commercial spirits are sold in the 80 - 100 proof range... Anything higher usually has a warning label right on the bottle... Check out 151 Rum or Everclear as they have warnings, and aren't even legal for sale in many locations...

[S-Cackalacky]

After reading this and your other thread, I'm assuming no cuts were made. You may have simply gone deeper into tails with this run and that could account for the bitter after taste. As others have said, you need to slow down and do the reading that most of us here consider mandatory. Read the links in my signature, reevaluate your still build, pay particular attention to the safety information, find a decent recipe in the "Tried and True Recipes" section, and proceed with confidence that you are then doing things correctly and safely.

[MDH]

I think my favorite drinking zone is around 42-48 ABV and not too much stronger. You really need water to help release some of the subtler aspects.

[skow69]

Har! Prolly not much subtlety involved with drinking the low wines white dog. White dog low wines? Low white dog wines?

[archie79]

Ok I added a little of my last run to this run, and that helped a lot. I added alittle Apple juice concentrate with a squeeze of lemon and some cinnamon to a sample and it came out really good! To another sample I added lemon and sweet tea, and that was good enough to make me wonder about mixing that together in jars and letting it sit. The last combination I tried was adding in water to make it about 50 proof, and adding a drop of peppermint oil to it. That was alright, but I needed a much larger sample to accomodate for the really strong pepppermint flavor.

It's still alittle bitter by itself, but adding that last run made it tolerable. (My roommate thought it was good like that) so now I'm just gonna toss it in the corner and let it sit. That is if my roommate doesn't see it. He thought it was pretty good. Esp when mixed with lemon and tea.
Thanks for the suggestions.