I have a question im hoping you can answer. I recently ordered a new copper reflux column to improve very basic pot still. However it seems like the delivery time will be between 10-17 days according to Ebay.
I have just started my largest ever batch of corn mash yesterday which is now bubbling away. I used a whiskey distillers yeast which actually takes between 5-7 days to fully ferment at room temperature.
Im wondering if by placing the fermenting vessel in a colder place - an out house to be precise (current outdoor temps are about 6-9 degrees on average this time of year) whether i might be able to strech out the fermentation long enough for my reflux column to arrive in time so that i might run this batch using it !
If not, does any one know how long a fermented corn mash will keep ? does it have to be run through a still pretty much straight away (within a day or two) or will it keep a week or two without going off or ruining the flavour ?
keep it long as you want. Keep in mind, the yeast drops to a neutral role, if it chockes itself on alcohol. You'll restart some activity if you allow oxygen into the mash, but if you don't, it'll freeze in place.
Best output is that the beer will settle and you'll be able to syphon off the beer and distill it when you're ready. Worst output... you have to syphon off the beer and distill it when you're ready.
Ferment the mash at the temp the yeast likes.
After it's completely done, then cold crash.
After it's settled, Rack into another container.
With low temperatures and a little bit of sanitation the mash is good for a long time.
Trying to slow down a ferment with low temps, that uses distillers or bakers yeast
Might lead to a stalled fermentation.
I'll add I have racked a fermentation to a air locked container and distilled it about 2 months after it was fine tasted almost as good as any of my other ones of that recipe
I just did one that's been sitting 5 months. Since I knew this one was going to sit a long time I sanitized it well and racked it and airlocked it and it was fine. I have no problem letting anything sit as long as a year under airlock.
I have mash that has been sitting in air locked wine type buckets since about November. It's a corn and sugar grain bill... I have racked it its just been sitting as is. What should I do? If I can salvage it I would like to. Any help is much appreciated.
When did you rack to secondary, and what is abv? I leave my Russian imperial stout beer at 10% abv in secondary for up to 6 months. Higher abv mashes actually really meld and mellow with bulk aging. Probably good to get mash off yeast bed before 6-8 weeks though. Either way if it doesn’t taste foul, I would run it.
Living life one drop at a time
I ain’t here for a long time, I am here for a good time
Wild Bill wrote:When did you rack to secondary, and what is abv? I leave my Russian imperial stout beer at 10% abv in secondary for up to 6 months. Higher abv mashes actually really meld and mellow with bulk aging. Probably good to get mash off yeast bed before 6-8 weeks though. Either way if it doesn’t taste foul, I would run it.
What does leaving the yeast bed in the fermenter do to the rest of the mash?
The yeast will eventually succumb to autolysis and basically self destruct, releasing flavors described as meaty. It is a flavor definitely not wanted in beer but some wines actually purposely include this flavor. I am not sure how it would play out in a spirit though. Anybody ever try it on purpose?
Living life one drop at a time
I ain’t here for a long time, I am here for a good time
I just had a batch that I had xferred to carboys for 5-6 months. It was three carboys worth which sat in the glass on a 2-3” yeast trub bed for 5-6 months. I just ran it last week and it’s very good. I didn’t stir the yeasties back i to suspension relularly like you normally do with a chardonnay wine bulk aged “sur lie” or on the lees bit I did ‘t rack it off either. This was a barley / mead / cider blend so I feel like a sur lie protocol would not necessarily have been innappropriate. I have wanted to experiment with sur lie and the impact on the spirits. Not conclusive yet for me so will take further tests. This has definitely not produced anything offensive in this case. I wouldn’t necessarily describe sur lie chardonnays as “meaty” but it’s easy enough to research and purchase several chardonnays to compare. I would describe it as richer rounder and more full, more mouth feel, can enhance butter profile depending on some other factors. This was under airlock in carboys for 5-6 months. 9-10% abv. I’ll do it again and experiment further with stirring up the lee’s for a more involved sur lie protocol. I feel that ultimately this will have a subtle effect on the product and aging and resting will also better spotlight some of those elements.
I ferment in 15.5 gallon kegs and having just finished a thumper build, I plan on putting the fermented out keg of wash in the thumper position, yeast and all. I will then siphon off the clear out of another fermenter with the same wash into the boiler and make a run. It is on a recipe I have done several times with just a straight pot still, so it will be interesting to see how much the flavor profile changes with the yeast left in. If it is favorable I may at some point, leave the same wash in the keg/fermenter for an extended time and run it the same way to see if I can perceive any flavor difference from planned autolysis of the yeast.
Living life one drop at a time
I ain’t here for a long time, I am here for a good time
jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:56 am
… I’ll do it again and experiment further with stirring up the lee’s for a more involved sur lie protocol. I feel that ultimately this will have a subtle effect on the product and aging and resting will also better spotlight some of those elements.
Jonny, did you ever experiment further with this? Any opinions on whether an extended rest sur lie would be a useful addition to a whiskey recipe?
Learn from the past, live in the present, change the future.
cranky wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:01 pm
I just did one that's been sitting 5 months. Since I knew this one was going to sit a long time I sanitized it well and racked it and airlocked it and it was fine. I have no problem letting anything sit as long as a year under airlock.
when you say you sanitized it, do you mean the vessel you put it in, or the actual mash?
cranky wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:01 pm
I just did one that's been sitting 5 months. Since I knew this one was going to sit a long time I sanitized it well and racked it and airlocked it and it was fine. I have no problem letting anything sit as long as a year under airlock.
when you say you sanitized it, do you mean the vessel you put it in, or the actual mash?
I had an UJSSM fermented, let is sit on the corn for almost 4 months....... life got in the way of distilling.
I just made sure that the air lock was full, it was fine. i feel that it was the best UJSSM i have made. had a real corn forward flavor.
when I racked it off the grain it had a little more "grey" corn than usual.
I just threw more sugar in & added water to keep going.
Evillemon wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2014 3:08 pm
Evening gents,
I have a question im hoping you can answer. I recently ordered a new copper reflux column to improve very basic pot still. However it seems like the delivery time will be between 10-17 days according to Ebay.
I have just started my largest ever batch of corn mash yesterday which is now bubbling away. I used a whiskey distillers yeast which actually takes between 5-7 days to fully ferment at room temperature.
Im wondering if by placing the fermenting vessel in a colder place - an out house to be precise (current outdoor temps are about 6-9 degrees on average this time of year) whether i might be able to strech out the fermentation long enough for my reflux column to arrive in time so that i might run this batch using it !
If not, does any one know how long a fermented corn mash will keep ? does it have to be run through a still pretty much straight away (within a day or two) or will it keep a week or two without going off or ruining the flavour ?
any help much appreciated !
Evil Lemon
I've kept covered corn and uj for like, months. I've kept uncovered brutes or loosely covered for weeks. They will get a lacto infection anyway usually. Keep the flies away and that generally avoids vinegar. If you aren't gonna use the backset you can likely add potassium sorbate and it'll keep for a long ass time.
There's a thread around about an igloo with mash in it that was fine after some long ass time. Something like 2 years iirc.
<no stopping to corner anytime [] no parking passenger zone>
When people tell me I'll regret that in the morning, I sleep till noon.
Hoosier Shine9 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 12:59 pm
I had an UJSSM fermented, let is sit on the corn for almost 4 months.......
Same experience , but a couple of times it went 6 months or longer, under airlock.
Also the same result after draining the fermenter ......just throw in some sugar and water and away it goes ,though it might take a day to start up again at times.
Longest stored ferment I remember hearing of was one by Myles......a rum wash left under airlock or lid for 4-5 years from memory......ran fine and made a nice Rum I think he said.
sorry, newbie
