bad cuts funky smell

[ww0473]

This is the first time i have distilled anything. trying to make bourbon. 75% corn, 15 rye, 10 barley. Used briess flaked corn. After fermentation was at 8% alcohol. Did a stripping run. I have read a lot about tails having a wet dog/cardboard smell. But when i did the stripping run, I could smell that from the very beginning. I have no experience, so I dont know if what i was smelling is normal smell of corn or something off. the middle section of the run had a very pure alcohol smell and then the end was very off smell again. Is there a normal funky smell to corn? I have read/seen shows where people talked about being able to smell people making moonshine in the hills etc. is there a normal smell to making bourbon?

Anyway, I then took all of the stripping run and combined it and did a spirit run. The heads had the same off smell to a lesser degree, the middle was very pure alcohol smell and the tails was very off.

I threw away a bit of the head and all the tails that smelled bad, but I think i included a bit too much of the heads. I put it in a jar to age with oak.

I tasted some of it and can def taste that funky smell. is there a possibility it ages out. Should i redistill what a kept again to try and get rid of it?

I wish we had smell-o-vision so you could understand what i am smelling, just looking for any general advice, that there is a normal smell that goes away over time, or that i probably screwed up something and should start over. the smell that i smell is def not in any bourbon i have ever bought at a store

[NZChris]

Smell your ingredients. Does one of them have the smell you describe?

[Saltbush Bill]

Don't rely only on smell, you need to taste as well.
Making cuts is something we all have to learn, for some it doesn't come easy. Try having a friend, wife or girlfriend help smell and give an opinion.
Don't forget to dilute small samples 50/50 with water before smelling or tasting as this can help bring out the different smells and tastes.

[Twisted Brick]

Don't immediately blame your cuts. 'Off smells' frequently originate much earlier in the process.

Describe your mash and ferment regimes (time, temps, gravities and pH). Both of these processes have a direct impact on the quality of your product. If you aren't tracking these, you should, for no other reason other than to troubleshoot problems.

[subbrew]

I suspect you are just smelling the corn. Corn has a smell that you might be calling funky. Being raised on a farm and handling a lot of corn, it smells great to me. But it does have a farm, earth smell. And it is common for it to get more earthy as you get into tails.

To me the heads have some corn smell but it is almost artificial. Heads also have a nail cleaner smell to them. The artificial corn and nail cleaner combined might be what you are smelling there.

The rye will also give some earthy aromas which you might be calling funky.

I would put it on oak, give it some air every month or so and evaluate in 10 months to see if it is heading in the correct direction.

[ww0473]

mash - 6 gallons water, 12 lbs briess flaked corn, 2 lb viking malt rye, 1lb viking malt barley
heat to 165 for the corn, i only held at 165 for a while, under the impression flaked corn is already gelatinzed so i dont need to boil extended time
lowered temp to 155 added rye and barley. left it several hours until it was watery enough for me to drain it and get the corn out. I think a small spot of it burned on bottom of the pot.
ended with 4.5 gallons, topped up to 6 gallons in fermenter. took initial abv reading. fermented 4 days with spirit distiller yeast, which i think is a turbo yeast.
measured abv at 7.5%
I have 13 gallon vevor pot still with thumper on a propane burner. I put all of the liquid from fermenter into the pot including most of the yeast trub, i wasnt sure if i should leave that out.
I heated it fairly slowly. the thermometer on top of pot said 180 by the time the thumper got hot. that is when i started to get distilling going.
i kept it in separate jars as i went along. the first few hundred ml measured 65% abv with distill hydrometer. I ran it until the last jar was 15% abv.

I took all that liquid and put it in another 3 gallon vevor still that i ran on indoor stove. it took 4.5 hours to still the 3 gallons. I threw away the first 200 ml. then i had about 600ml that smelled bad i was calling heads. 2000 ml that i thought might be hearts because it didnt stink and 600 ml at the end that started smelling bad again. THe abv was 75% from the start until the last 600ml dropped to 45% and then to 15% and i stopped.

[NZChris]

Not all corn is equal. I bought some local corn that had a funky smell to it and that smell came through in the UJSSM I made out of it. Aging it on oak for several years didn't get rid of the funk. The only cure was to not buy that variety again.

[6 Row Joe]

mash - 6 gallons water, 12 lbs briess flaked corn, 2 lb viking malt rye, 1lb viking malt barley
heat to 165 for the corn, i only held at 165 for a while, under the impression flaked corn is already gelatinzed so i dont need to boil extended time
lowered temp to 155 added rye and barley. left it several hours until it was watery enough for me to drain it and get the corn out. I think a small spot of it burned on bottom of the pot.
ended with 4.5 gallons, topped up to 6 gallons in fermenter. took initial abv reading. fermented 4 days with spirit distiller yeast, which i think is a turbo yeast.
measured abv at 7.5%
I have 13 gallon vevor pot still with thumper on a propane burner. I put all of the liquid from fermenter into the pot including most of the yeast trub, i wasnt sure if i should leave that out.
I heated it fairly slowly. the thermometer on top of pot said 180 by the time the thumper got hot. that is when i started to get distilling going.
i kept it in separate jars as i went along. the first few hundred ml measured 65% abv with distill hydrometer. I ran it until the last jar was 15% abv.

I took all that liquid and put it in another 3 gallon vevor still that i ran on indoor stove. it took 4.5 hours to still the 3 gallons. I threw away the first 200 ml. then i had about 600ml that smelled bad i was calling heads. 2000 ml that i thought might be hearts because it didnt stink and 600 ml at the end that started smelling bad again. THe abv was 75% from the start until the last 600ml dropped to 45% and then to 15% and i stopped.

Funky smells from the trub I bet. I always clear mine, siphon off the top or drain out of my ferment buckets by the spigot which is an inch or so off the bottom, leaving the trub at the bottom. I drain into another bucket and I set it in a cool place for a day or so. It's a "cold crash" an old beer making procedure. It is prettyclear when it goes in the still.

[still_stirrin]

What is a “funky smell, or taste”? You need to be more descriptive.

Does it smell like a wet dog’s hair, or possibly dirty sweat socks? Does it smell like rotten eggs, or vinegar? Does it smell like bananas or cabbage? And remember, your sense of smell is closely related to your sense of taste. So, the linkage between smell and taste will be pronounced.

If you give us better information, it will help with troubleshooting your spirits, if there is anything wrong at all.
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