What'd ya'll make today?

[Tennessee_Spirits]

After 2 years of mixed grain and sugar spirits I'm working on my first all grain whiskey that could arguably be called bourbon. The grain bill is 30 pounds of milled cracked corn, 7 pounds of light base malted barley and 3 pounds of flaked rye. Fermentation is off grain using a RIMs set up. I heat 11 gallons water with 1 tbs Burton salts to boiling then pump it into the mash tun which has 15 gallon capacity. I add SEBStar Htl 15 ml to the circulating water. I dough in the 30 lbs of grist corn and set the PID to 185 F for 3 hours. Typical gravity at the end of stage 1 mash is 1.050 and is dextrin. I then cool the mash to 150F using a heat exchanger that stays in the RIMs circuit. At 150F I reconnect the heater and set the PID to 150. Once stable at 150 I add 7 pounds of milled malt and 3 pounds flaked rye and 15 ml of SEBAmyl-GL. Not knowing the exact diastatic power of my malt I figure too much amylase is better than too little. Near the end of the mash I heat 5 gallons water for the sparge.
At 5 hours total mash time I disconnect the RIMs heater and lauter into a grant kettle and pump it from there to the boil kettle and sparge with a large pitcher 1/2 gallon at a time. The pre boil volume is usually right at 10 gallons. I boil 20 minutes and during at least 10 minutes circulate the boil through the heat exchanger and hoses and soak the valved pourer in a solution of Star-San. After the boil I turn on the cooling water and cool the mash to 100F and fill the two 5 gallon fermenters and pitch yeast from a 24 hr yeast starter. I'm using turbo 48 yeast and get 4 starters from each package. I'd be as well off with DADY but have not really tested it well after starting with the turbo yeast. Final gravity is about 60.
I just finished the mashing phase of the bourbon project. I plan to fill a 5 gallon new barrel and make a label that says Bourbon.

[NZChris]

Four stripping runs of a sugar wash made using the pomace, backset and feints from this years brandy.

[rolling]

Three runs of AG, last of it before I clean it all up and go through the moving process.

[Durhommer]

Built and raised 3 back walls of a slab house and like 40 headers then came home and started a single malt strip I'm in the middle of now. They been foamy fuckers but plenty of headspace is my friend gotta go the fores are coming over

[Beerswimmer]

Received 2 new char #3 oak barrels, dumped & rinsed and re-filled and assembled the still, stripped 25 gallons of cracked corn wash, dumped 100lbs of spent and squeezed oats and cracked corn, re-filled 2 propane tanks, cleaned the fermenters, got the still taken down and put away, got a shipping notice that my barley will be here on Friday, re-organized and tidied up the garage, took the dogs on an 8 mile walk, and ordered more Angel yeast. I also got in a killer workout this morning before I started! A GREAT quarantine day!

Tomorrow I just need to dump the boiler and thumper and rinse and put them away

[tombombadil]

I fixed the leaks in my copper to stainless connections, that was fun. Never used an oxyacetylene torch before.

Also started a bourbon mash:
8 gallons of water
16# corn meal
4# ground steel cut oats
3# distillers malt
1tbsp each alpha and gluco enzymes
11g Windsor ale yeast

Im going to ferment and strip 4 or 5 of these for a spirit run to lay down. Got a second job starting soon so I can buy my first barrel for this stuff.

Forgot to post it but this weekend I stripped this batch and started the second one. Only difference being that I used belgian abbey yeast instead of windsor. I haven't decided how much to make or what to do with it.

I was originally thinking it would be good to make 6 gallons of it and use it to fill my first barrel but I'm getting cold feet, thinking I should use a more traditional bourbon recipe with some rye in it to fill my first barrel. Tough decisions deciding what product should be committed to a year+ long aging process.

Anyways, I'll make a bunch of this one and go from there.

[SGB]

OK, I know I'm new and probably not yet allowed in this room.. But... Successfully completed my second spirit run of UJSSM. And Banana brandy all in one day.

[Saltbush Bill]

SGB after making a welcome post you can post to any thread on forum. Not so new anyway 45 posts , thats 44 more than many ever make.

[Durhommer]

Just finished the last strip of 2 row and put down 10 pounds of amber lme to add a layer of flavor to my single malt recipe

[Beerswimmer]

Started running cracked corn through my mill to break it up a bit smaller for my next 2 bourbon ferments. With only a battery powered drill it takes me all day, 3 battery charges, to get through a 50lb bag

On my upgrade shopping list is a hammermill.

[smokeybowls]

I am working on trying my first all grain mash . I have flaked corn flakes rye and some malted barley . Still working on my grain bill but i am excited to get these grains mashed in and see how it comes out .

[still_stirrin]

I am working on trying my first all grain mash . I have flaked corn flakes rye and some malted barley . Still working on my grain bill but i am excited to get these grains mashed in and see how it comes out .

Have you ever mashed an all grain recipe? If not, PLEASE go to the Tried & True Recipe forum and follow one of those “all grain” recipes exactly. If you don’t you’ll be a PITA with questions.
ss

[TDick]

FINALLY got to do a sac run with Slow Oats & Sugar after finishing an ugly ass solder job to repair a crack in my lyne arm.
Followed that up with a vinegar run.

Three & a half gallon sac run took about 2 1/2 hours.
No triclamp on my cap and I wrapped it in wet cloth instead of going to the trouble of "pasting it up" for a sac run.
A LOT of vapor escaping at the cap.
Even though it was a sac run, I was checking it with my proofing meter.
Foreshots & first heads were at 60% and I ran it down to 20 % just to check proof and compare to the "fingertip test".

My $7.00 aquarium pump circulated water from a 5 gallon bucket & kept everything cool, even as it came out of the worm.
I was surprised with how clear it ran, all the way through the tails.
Planning for the first strip run tomorrow with about 4 gallons in the pot & a quart in the thumper

[Durhommer]

Smoking brisket with my offset and hickory/mesquite.baked beans cheezy corn brats n burgers.with a homemade Jameson and cheese cake

[seabass]

Making some Odin's gin. Had some butterscotch flavors that made their way into my last vodka because of a screw up in cuts. Figured I'd make gin with it and hopefully leave the butterscotch behind in the first cuts of the gin. It seems to have worked. That flavor is only in the first 50ml that came out.

[Beerswimmer]

Pitched yeast onto two 30 gallon bourbon ferments.

[Bushman]

Doing a corn and rye run tomorrow setting up for it this afternoon.

[Beerswimmer]

I'm about to get setup for a bourbon spirit run today using my thumper, 6.5 gallons of low wines and 6 gallons of backset in each and an extra 6 gallons of backset for topping off. I'll be checking the abv output on this spirit run, if it's too high(stripping flavor) I will change my methods on the next spirit run to have a lower abv output.

[Durhommer]

Ran off 1 gallon lme low wines spirit running tonight 5gallon barley wines with 2 gallon original mash

[dieselduo]

Kegged up a chinook smash

[tombombadil]

Busy day for me today!

Started the third bourbon mash. I've been storing my low wines in a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. It's looking like I'll need to do this one and 2 more to get about 7 gallons of low wines for a spirit run. After that I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Had originally planning on using it to fill my first barrel but this will not be enough so I might just have to keep going and work through a second spirit run.

8 gallons of water
16# corn meal
4# ground steel cut oats
3# distillers malt
1tbsp each alpha and gluco enzymes
11g Mangrove Jack M47 (Abbey Yeast)

Started macerating a batch of "Christmas Absinthe"
3l 150p neutral
150g wormwood
300g anise seed
300g fennel seed
25g clove
25g cinnamon
25g nutmeg
25g allspice

My first batch was just the wormwood, anise seed and fennel seed. It was pretty good! Thought it might be fun to try something a little different.

Made some apple pie moonshine:
800ml 105p neutral (will use korn likker next time, was just trying to get the flavor right on this one)
80ml spiced apple juice concentrate
15ml lemon juice
1/4tsp powedered malic acid
1/4tsp clove
1/2tsp ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice

Originally it was just the apple juice concentrate and lemon juice but it just did not really make me think "apple" when I was sipping on it. It tasted like apple but it was just a little off. I remembered that apple juice acid is mostly malic acid, and that the likker was not tart at all, so I ordered some powdered malic acid from amazon and started adding a little bit at a time, settled on 1/4tsp. total. Now it's obviously apple flavored moonshine. Very cool! I added the spices because I already had them out and was not picking up any spice from the concentrate.

And lastly, made a sugarhead from the last bourbon mashes spent grains:
23#? thoroughly pressed, nearly dry spent grains
10# sugar
7 gallons water
worked out to 1.057sg.
I didn't add any yeast thinking the spent grains had plenty of it and I was right, started bubbling within a few hours.

[seabass]

Working on the first mash for an all barley vodka. Using NW pale malt and kveik yeast. Hoping the tropical fruit yeast flavor isn't all in heads.

[tombombadil]

Working on the first mash for an all barley vodka. Using NW pale malt and kveik yeast. Hoping the tropical fruit yeast flavor isn't all in heads.

Please report back on that I was thinking about using it in a rum.

[Beerswimmer]

^^^^ Me too!

Finally doing 1 of 2 spirit runs on this batch of Christams Caramel bourbon. I sliced my foot open getting ready the other day and decided to just take it easy and I got everything ready for today and tomorrow. I got the boiler and thumpers filled 50/50 with low wines and backset, set aside backset for topping up the boiler halfway through the run to avoid scorching, got my next wash strained & grains squeezed and transferred to another fermenter to clear, tossed the squeezed grains, cleaned up the used fermenter and Starsaned, and everything assembled and ready to roll. I just had to light the fire and turn on the water.

[seabass]

Pushing the limits on the fermenter... Hasn't overflowed yet!

[Honest_Liberty]

UJSSM, spirit run of 6 gallons low wine, 2nd plus 3rd gen combo.
Smells incredible.

Then I'm going to run my Concorde hey now with my underwhelming mead. That'll also be about 6 gallons but only at 15% abv

[Beerswimmer]

Last strip of this batch of Christmas Caramel bourbon. I can't wait to be done with this batch.

[pope]

I can't wait to be done with this batch.

Ah the emotional roller-coaster of recipe batches... can't wait to get started but I'm all to familiar with that 'can't wait to be done' sentiment.

[Durhommer]

Just oaked 2 gallon single malt i made off 50 pound 2row and 10 pound amber. Oak chips home toasted #390 degrees for 2.5 hours.all after setting ridge, hips,and valleys at work today

[seabass]

Also made a badmo barrel