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olddog wrote:

cannonman wrote:This sweet feed thread?? gott make sure im reading right.

Sorry my mistake, Read the Flute talk thread from the beginning.


OD

Thanks OD. Will do.
Cannonman

I am starting 2 more 5 gallon washes of this tonight.
3 inches of 10% sweetfeed in a 6 gallon bucket.
12 cups of sugar inverted in 2 gallons of water with 2 tbsp. lemon juice.
1 more gallon of boiling water to dissolve sweetfeed further and possibly convert more starches.
stir for 15 minutes and let sit for 90 minutes.
fill to 5 gallon mark and let cool to 90 degrees.
add 2 multivitamins for nutrients .
add 8 tbsp. yeast .
add 2 tbsp. brewers yeast for more nutrients.
stir gently and cap with lid and airlock.
I love this recipe and just wanted to try something a little different with it to see what the changes make in it.
At the moment i don't have a hydrometer to test sg but do have one to test proof and tralles after stillin.
Any thoughts on this let me know and I will see how she goes and keep y'all posted.

There is really no need for the extra vitamins, and nutrients. The sweet feed already has most of the nutrients needed. It wont hurt anything, it may even finish sooner. Let us know how it works for ya.
KS

Thanks KS, your opinion and knowledge is very much appreciated,I know this makes a very smooth recipe and is real easy to follow. Thank you for the advice and we'll see how she goes,she just started working good about 5 minutes ago.Looks like I'm going to have to add on to my ferment room if I keep rotating these washes out like I am.
This is about my favorite recipe so far,I am going to try the UJSSM next after 4 or 5 generations of the sweetfeed mix.This hobby really is so much fun to try new variations and keep plenty of notes and then use what you like the most.I can't wait to oak some of this and age it for a while.

it really smooths out after some time goes by. One thing I have found it is easy to over oak any of this stuff. watch it close when you put it on oak.
KS

Just tried a couple glasses of this on the rocks after only 4 days of oakin and I have to say it has a different taste allready than when white.
I have been distress aging 48 hours in the freezer then 48 hours in the dark at 75 degrees with a medium to light heavy burn of some 2 year old air dried white oak.just enough burn to pull out some of the vanilla notes but not heavy enough to be really astringent
I am going to try a light to medium burn on some of the next run and see how it tastes.

what size sticks are ya usin corncooker? i usually use the same ones over ( about 3/4"x3/4"x3ish) and over. i might hit them with a torch on the 3rd time. it takes alot more than 3 or 4 days to get that dark... also like KY said ,, "There is really no need for the extra vitamins, and nutrients. The sweet feed already has most of the nutrients needed. "
im a little lazy,, ,so on a sweetfeed batch,, ill just mix 7 lbs sugar,,, 7 lbs sweetfeed and a fistfull (2 tbl spoons) of yeast and let nature do the rest. as of now,,, iv never had any problems. BTW the fost full of yeast is only on the first time. after that,,, just add feed and sugar.
spooky

these are 1inch by 1 inch by 4 inch strips that I have burnt with a mapp gas torch on one side.
And this is only after 4 days of distress ageing .
I use 3 gallons of boiling water to try and get more of the starches converted from the feed.
I only added the brewers yeast for nutrients because I keep the heat on the sweetfeed for a good while, close to 2 hours before it has cooled down to 90 degrees after filling to the 5 gallon mark
And I only add the bakers yeast on the primary ferment,I have been using bakers yeast but I am mixing up 10 gallons tonight with distillers yeast in 2 more 5 gallon batches to see how they turn out.

that aint much more than what ive done... try using it a few times without the torch and see if you like the difference.
i recon each piece of wood is different,,, no matter how many times you bern it.
spooky

Will do Mr Spooky, I am allways trying different things to see what tastes best.
And Happy new Years to you and yours.

I have a question about different colored wash . I started 2 - 5 gallon mixing at the same time . And after 7 days i racked them off and here is what they look like now. The darker color one has a FG almost 0.999. The lighter one has a FG of 0.1000 I know for sure i used the same amout of yeast. But i think i may have used more sugar in the darker one . Could that have caused the darked color . I used the alcometer and the the darker one read 10 proof . The lighter one read around 0 . Can i use the alcometer and get a correct reading at the stage ?

It looks like to me you got allot of the yeast bed in the second and it is still working... It should finish dry like the one on the right. Mine always looks like the one on the right. this is kind of puzzling.. Have you tasted both of them?.. I bet the one on the left is sweet and the one on the right is bitter.

KS your right the darker one taste bitter. I just went and checked and the lighter one is still working the air lock a little . KS how much longer do you think i will have to work ? I hope to run it this weekend . Wow i love the smell of the wash .

I am thinking it must be close to being finished if the sg is 1.000, it wont clear until your yeast stop working, right now there keeping everything moving and it will stay cloudy.I would say if you keep the temp around 75-80f it should be ready and cleared by the weekend easy.

I bet the one on the left has more sugar and that is why it is working longer... when its bitter its ready.. it does not have to clear to run it. I have run it both ways.. if you run it and it is not clear though, heat up very slow as not to burn any of the floaties.

you also need to make sure you have some grain in the one on the left so your yeast have some nutrients. add you about a half of a large coffee can of sweetfeed to it.

KS did your wash get that dark when you where using just bakers yeast? Mine never got that dark . I did also pre start my distillers yeast this time in a bowl.

yes mine is normally that dark. It really depends on how much molasses they have mixed in your sweetfeed. I always use bakers yeast for mine now... sometimes on my second generation it is not as dark, but that is simply because I did not add the same amount of sweetfeed. The more sweetfeed you use the darker it will be because of the molasses content.

ok KS thanks for the info

anytime cm.. let me know how it goes for ya.

i use bakers yeast,, and mines that dark as well.
spooky

Kentucky Shiner,

At one time you mentioned you thought distillers yeast may be the way to go, do you no longer feel that way?

Sippin on my green first batch right now..... yummmmmmm!

stilly

I think the distillers yeast works fine.. I have just found that for me it is just easier to got the my local sams club and buy a 2lb block of backers yeast and it is much cheaper. The sweetfeed has pleanty of nutrients for the bakers yeast to work.
Hey distillers yeast works great too. I just got tired of having to order it and pay a pretty penny for it compared to the bakers yeast.

Mrspooky and corncooker-- where do you get your oak?
Have you used mohogany or hickery that you would use for a bbq?

cannonman wrote:Mrspooky and corncooker-- where do you get your oak?
Have you used mohogany or hickery that you would use for a bbq?

i was in lowes gardening section one day and spotted some barrels cut in half. when i got to them they were upside down,,, on the botton it said "wild turkey" i fliped it over,,and it smelt like heaven.
spooky

Mine came from some old white oak trees that I cut on my property and I have a friend that has a portable sawmill who cuts lumber for me,it is best to stack it and let it air dry for about 1 to 2 years.
And I used the pieces on the 2nd or 3rd row down that have been covered and protected from the elements as much as possible.
But like Mr Spooky and Kentucky Shiner have told me, go light on the amount of oak you use,cause it is easy to over oak.
And one thing I am learning the more i do this is patience and time are keys to good end results,as well as keeping notes on everything you do,temperatures,quantities,ferment times and especially taste results and learning to make good cuts and blends.

Hickory can be used in place of oak but, personally, I don't think I'd try using Mahogany... Perhaps someone else will have some input on Mahogany... I know it has been used but it sounds like a pricey way to age spirits...

cannonman wrote,

Mrspooky and corncooker-- where do you get your oak?
Have you used mohogany or hickery that you would use for a bbq?

cannonman, you can use apple wood as well to make a totally different tasting end product,
same theory applies though just as those with alot more experience than myself have said, a little for a long time is better than alot for a little time.

Well I got sweetfeed they said had no pellets but well it did. So I bought it and I've got 20 gallons fermenting just like KS's recipe. So I'll let you know in a week or so. If nothing else I'll reflux the crape out of it and make neutral run out of it. I used a littel more yeast it help eat the pellets. Has anyone else made it this way. Wish I could blame it on being drunk but I can't.

When I decieded to add some chicken scratch to my sweetfeed. I grabed some hen layer also out of the chicken feed barrel. Had some pellet mixed in. Thru it all into the backwash then to the ferementer. It tasted different. Won't say good or bad, just different. I am drinking it any typing here. I hope that says I am still alive.
ArkyJ