Thumper charge for a stripping run and a drinkable jar

[Smokee]

I've been searching for some help with this and haven't found anything worthwhile. I'm going to do a semi-stripping run tomorrow. Our guys fly fishing trip is next weekend and I'd like to take a mason jar full of the run with me to the mountains. I'd like to take it from the heart of the run but I'm unsure what to charge the thumper with. All I've been running is sweet feed and I have about a third of a gallon from a small run I did a few weeks ago. Should I run that in the thumper, mash, water.... I'm looking for something that will work for stripping but also give me something decent tasting.

Thanks in advance for your opinion!

[Bigbob]

It's going to be hard to make something good in just a week or so. Sweet feed needs a little time to age.

[Smokee]

It's going to be hard to make something good in just a week or so. Sweet feed needs a little time to age.

Yah, I'm learning that.

[Bigbob]

I wish I could tell you some magic.......but I've got nothing sept patience

[Truckinbutch]

Pull your hearts , dilute to drinking strength , and nuke . Will not be the best but it will be better than straight off the still . Nothing beats time raw or oaked . Nuke white . Don't try to oak within that time frame .

[bilgriss]

patience IS magic.

[Haus]

It's going to be hard to make something good in just a week or so. Sweet feed needs a little time to age.

+1 I have tried a few different ways and 5-6 months on oak is always the best for me for SF. Jar it on Memorial Day and open it on Labor Day.

[Smokee]

Thanks for the input! It's an impromptu trip. Missed last years due to my wife's cancer battle and everyone was busy this year then at the last minute they decided to go. I also have another trip planned for the end of the month, that's a little more time but not as long as suggested.

I'm almost done with this bag of sweetfeed, I think I'm going to try something a little different for the next run. I'd like to try either Rye or Corn. I'm a big fan of Jameson, I'm going to do some hunting for a good recipe. I'm realizing that sweetfeed has a pretty strong flavor but I'm willing to bottle it up with some oak and let'er age.

[Smokee]

I wasn't ready for this stage yet but found this thread and will give it a try. Thanks again, fellas!

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=38991

[still_stirrin]

Here's a thought...perhaps rerun it.

I had a rum made with 82brix deer feed molasses only, no added sugar. I ran the first run through the potstill to strip. I made 3 by 10 gallon ferments and collected the low wines. Monument-sized molly flavor and aroma...too big for me to consume. So I planned a spirit run.

Ran a second trip through the potstill and it cleaned up quite a lot. But still the molly character was too big for me. It just wasn't drinkable. Well, I did a third distillation through my gin still (a small batch potstill) and this time the product is quite nice. White yet has the flavor (and aroma) almost like "the Krakken", believe it or not. It came off still at 165 proof and that's where I aged it (in glass only, no wood).

I tempered it to 151 proof (still white) and it is great in Coke. Just a jigger over the rocks and top up with cola (a 16 oz. glass, mind you)...goes down smooth and very shortly you feel it juicing through your system.

All this to suggest that if your sweet feed doesn't have adequate age, you can rerun it to clean it up and buffer the flavors. It can be done in short order too, possibly in time to have a nice jug of your homemade liquor to take with you.

Sure, it won't be the same as an mature oaked whiskey, but "white is nice" too!
ss

[skow69]

Get an industrial power massager, the $30 variety. Strap it onto a jar, toss it into the dirty clothes hamper so the noise doesn't drive you nuts, and let it rattle for a day. It's not the same as aging, but it really takes the edge off, and you won't lose anything to evaporation. If you put some wood in the jar it will accelerate extraction also.

[Smokee]

Quick update - I ran a bottle of grain diluted to 40% in the thumper. I started at 80% in the foreshot and 9-8oz cups later it's running around 72% and dropping about 2-3% per 8 onces now. The taste and smell of this run is excellent compared to the last. Gone is the wine smell, it's a very clean run this time. Only thing odd is that it's so strong it's destroying the tall cylinder that I'm proofing with. It's literally eating the plastic material with cracks appearing and the glue at the bottom disintegrating.

This has been a great run with me having all the things I need ready to be used. From towels and paper towels to the cooling material...everything's in place and running like a well-oiled machine. This is only my third run, I have a lot yet to learn but I def got my act together over the first 2 run and I'm reaping the rewards.

[Bigbob]

Well, another thing you've learned is don't use plastic when making high proof alcahol! I used a plastic funnel when I first started, just to pour into bottles and seeing the destruction made me change quick. Only stainless steel,copper or glass in contact with alcahol.

PS: make sure you proof your product down to a drinkable proof(120 or lower proof/ 60% or lower ABV)

[RedwoodHillBilly]

Quick update - I ran a bottle of grain diluted to 40% in the thumper. I started at 80% in the foreshot and 9-8oz cups later it's running around 72% and dropping about 2-3% per 8 onces now. The taste and smell of this run is excellent compared to the last. Gone is the wine smell, it's a very clean run this time. Only thing odd is that it's so strong it's destroying the tall cylinder that I'm proofing with. It's literally eating the plastic material with cracks appearing and the glue at the bottom disintegrating.

This has been a great run with me having all the things I need ready to be used. From towels and paper towels to the cooling material...everything's in place and running like a well-oiled machine. This is only my third run, I have a lot yet to learn but I def got my act together over the first 2 run and I'm reaping the rewards.

I might suggest that you get a glass cylinder to proof in. Plastic will leach chemicals into your licker that you don't want to drink, as well as destroying the plastic as you just found out. Be safe please. Perhaps a bit more reading on this site would be in order. Start here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=52975

[rad14701]

You just turned all of those spirits into a sacrificial run... Don't drink them... Use them to clean windows or something else other than ingesting them...

[skow69]

I've got to agree. The disolving of your cylinder is evidence of god-knows-what petrolium products mixing with your liquor. I wouldn't drink anything that touched the cylinder.