What'd ya'll make today?

[midwest shinner]

5% Is s wee bit low for my liking in this case Jimbo. If i was doing an all fruit batch or something id take 1.040 . Honestly i had planned on partial mashing it, but if i do another cereal batch like this ill try it with just the cereal and malt and see how i like it.

[Jimbo]

Thats ok, youre still a young whipper snapper going for quantity, we'll forgive you. BAHAHAHA

[Black Eye]

Shit... Forgot my harvest goods and that place is a mad house. Guess it's just rum.

I'll make it up to you next time Jimbo.

[midwest shinner]

I really shoot for quality over quantity for sure but i want to at least make it worth the effort especially when its just a 6 gal batch. Plus i was modeling it mostly after Odins cornflake whisky, i just added the malt and mashing to get more grain flavor. His recipe called for sugar, so i used some. If this were a 10 or 15 gal batch i probably would have been fine with a 5% wash.I understand what you're saying Jim, but i don't think 10% is being greedy. But like i said i will try the next one that i do like this without sugar and see how it goes

[Jimbo]

Its all good Mike, just giving you shit. LOL Nothing wrong with anything you make that Ive had the pleasure of tasting so far.

[midwest shinner]

I know you're just busting my chops and can definitely take it. I was just explaining why i did it that way. But you got me wondering what the no sugar version of this would be like, and how much it would differ from the sugar added version

[NZChris]

Doing two stripping runs of Gen#5 UJSSM today.

There'll be enough spare backset to put down a mixed grain in the secondhand 60l fermenter I picked up at a charity auction a couple of weeks ago.

[Jimbo]

Canned a shit load of peaches today. Of course had to make some jars of Peach Pantydropper Dumbass peach tree committed suicide under the load of the peaches. Damn.

[midwest shinner]

I'm sorry that sucks Jim, but i gotta say, its pretty f-ing hilarious at the same time. Especially your phrasing

[S-Cackalacky]

Jimbo, give that tree its due respect - peach wood aging maybe.

Just sayin',
S-C

[Jimbo]

Good idear cack. Thanks. Building up a collection of nice fruit woods. Got some apple, pear, cherry, and now peach But havent aged any thing with them yet.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Good idear cack. Thanks. Building up a collection of nice fruit woods. Got some apple, pear, cherry, and now peach But havent aged any thing with them yet.

From the look of the photo Jim you should be able to cut the branch flush with the stem then paint the cut with pruning paste and the tree will be fine.
Don't leave it exposed like that too long though or it will likely allow fungal disease into the tree and affect future crops.

[Black Eye]

thats what I was thinking.... Peach wood aging. And if you get ambitious, some ginger peach brandy would be mighty fine as well.

[frozenthunderbolt]

It's pissing rain outside so i'm having a happy booze-day

Running another strip run of BW ATM another two next weekend and then i'll have enough stripped for a whole weekend of spirit runs (one run per day) for more neutral to play with.
Might triple distill some, just for shits and giggles.

Bottled some Sweetfeed that's been on oak for a year at 65, 55 and 45% (progressively broken) I've bottled it at 40% and will give it another 6 months before i decide whether or not to put in a wee bit of heavy char oak for some more flavour and colour.

Bottled my first batch of Odin's easy gin - very happy with it - cloudiness gone and flavors mellowing nicely. 2 bottles white and one with a few extra juniper berries for some extra flavour and colour (a nod to the golden genevers)

Next up is to dilute and sweeten the malibu-ish (coconut liqueur) I have had steeping.
After that i might look at bottling some of the malardized barley sugar head whiskey with some more peat reek.

[Theo]

Jimbo, give that tree its due respect - peach wood aging maybe.

Just sayin',
S-C

Or use some of the chips in your smoker. Ribs & chicken go good with peach.

[red dirt shiner]

Apple fig brandy half fermented with natural yeast from the figs but the natural yeast will only ferment to around 6% (low alc tolerance) so I had to finish the ferment with bread yeast.its worlds better than brandys iv had that other have made but so far I'm not totally happy with it I'm getting oil on jar #7 on whisky I don't usually get oil until jar 12 I know brandy is supposed to have a lot of tails so mabe I'm comparing apple's to oranges so to speak.

Edit:not natural yeast I ment wild yeast.I'm now on jar 9 still has oil but isn't cloudy so it may simply be a byproduct from the wild yeast as it got stressed when it reached its alc tolerance.

[Windy City]

Finally got a free day to brew & still
Brewed up 30 gal of my favorite Belgian Wit. Did a stripping run on 6th gen Pugi rum & started 7th gen
Hoping to do some spirit runs tomorrow
Jimbo almost had same problem with one of my apple trees . Branches/apples were on the ground but nothing snapped, I fixed it with a bunch of twine for support

[Jimbo]

Nice windy! My turn today. Did up a nice Imperial IPA (8+%) with my own hops side by side with a big batch of rye'd bourbon. Beat tired now, but life is good.

I forgot where we were posting the chatter about the corn grinder, Black Eye and I I believe, but here's my rig today, utilitarian, 1/2" drill powered corn grinder. Had that drill too hot to hold and smokin on 50lb sack of cracked corn, but it did a nice grind. Should get much better conversion this time.

[Black Eye]

Wow Jimbo, 50lbs.... That's a lot to run thru that grinder at one time, how much you makin.... Just sayin.

[ga flatwoods]

Mmmmmm ryed bourbon!
Today I finished my Blackbeard's Treasure-Whiskey recipe I posted yesterday. I expect it will turn out well.
GA Flatwoods

[Halfbaked]

Jimbo now that's a huge diff in the corn crack. Its a shame you can't fit that electric motor (in the background )with some gears or pulleys on that cracker to crack that corn.

[Jimbo]

I will motorize it. Was just under the gun, water heating and staring at a bag of barely cracked corn. I think I killed that drill haha

[Windy City]

Hey Jimbo +1 on that beat feeling after a long brew day but the satisfaction of making it your self and making it good sure makes it worth it
Question for you if the drill and mill gets hot enough will that help gelitinize the corn

[NZChris]

Thanks Jimbo. You just gave me a great idea for what to do with the spare roller door opener I've been hanging onto since my garage door got replaced. Easy too. The coupling of the door opener could drive a grinder handle no problem. All I have to do is build a mount to line up the two axes.

[Jimbo]

Thanks Jimbo. You just gave me great idea for what to do with the spare roller door opener I've been hanging onto since my garage door got replaced. Easy too. The coupling of the door opener could drive a grinder handle no problem. All I have to do is build a mount to line up the two axes.

Sounds perfect. Post a picture when you put it together. I need to dig through my crap heaps for something similar.

Windy, I dunno about the corn but the hot drill definitely gelatinized my hand.

[Grappa-Gringo]

just got a chance to drop by and say I put together about a 80/20 ratio of cracked corn and barley....9 pounds of sugar and some water and yeast....got a submersible heater in it an it's bubbling nicely....smells great... Let's see what it turns out like next week after I get off my graveyard shifts,,,

[Jimbo]

Squeezed out 70 lbs of corn, barley malt and rye malt, BY FU*KIN HAND. Tried something new, sterilized my hands, then reached in the barrel hand full at a time and squeezed out my rye'd bourbon. Ran 2 12g strippers today, while pickin some guitar with my keyboard player and pennin some new tunes over bourbon, beers and some nice cigars. Been burnin propane for 8 hours. I be freakin spent. Be midnight+ before Im cleaned up and done. Turned the dry grain bed into another sugarhead. In another week, Ill be squeezin 70 damn lbs again. Where's the damn couch.....

[midwest shinner]

Jesus Jim... if you're gonna do something , do it right eh? By the way, I've decided i love rye, my new favorite grain i think

[Jimbo]

I dunno Mike, remember what you said about some wheat single malt? haha. Hard to beat after 6+ months on oak and a couple cubes. I think its still my favorite. Sweet fruity caramel goodness.....

[corene1]

Squeezed out 70 lbs of corn, barley malt and rye malt, BY FU*KIN HAND. Tried something new, sterilized my hands, then reached in the barrel hand full at a time and squeezed out my rye'd bourbon. Ran 2 12g strippers today, while pickin some guitar with my keyboard player and pennin some new tunes over bourbon, beers and some nice cigars. Been burnin propane for 8 hours. I be freakin spent. Be midnight+ before Im cleaned up and done. Turned the dry grain bed into another sugarhead. In another week, Ill be squeezin 70 damn lbs again. Where's the damn couch.....

Sounds like you are giving your hands a good workout! Did you ever try using a mop squeezer like the janitors have. Put my grains in a paint filter bag then stick it in the squeezer and pull the lever. No muss no fuss. I can do 20 pounds in less than 15 minuets. That would let your hands do a lot more pickin!