"Aged" backset whiskey?
Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:51 pm
Apparently, rum dunder isn't the only thing we can save up and "age" with bacteria/fungus and what-not.
Earlier this year, like, in June, I ran two generations from a 50/50 malt barley/corn wash, the second re-using all the backset from the first run, but with sugar added back, along with water to make up what was taken from stillin', over the grains in the second wash. I saved the backset, after the second run, in a clean bucket as I wanted to do my usual 5-6 generations, but one thing lead to another, and it became obvious I wouldn't have time to get back to it, so I screened out the grains, tossed them(and fattened up the birds), but kept the backset, thinking I'd see if it was usable when I did find time for it.
Well, I found time last week, and carefully, gingerly(I was fully prepared for an ugly sight and uglier smell!) pried the air-locked lid off the bucket. Whoa! There was a solid, white layer of "something" covering the backset, but no foul odor at all. Carefully, I gave it a light stir, and under this funky layer was very clear backset, slightly sour in aroma, but not "garbage-like" nor "puke-like", either of which would have had me tossing both backset and bucket. This had promise! So I poured it into my boiler, and took it to a hard boil, and held it there for a while(using my reflux column to knock-back the vapor and odor so to not lose anything), and added one pound of wheat germ after shutting her down. Next morning, it all went back into a clean pail, along with 5lbs sugar and roughly a cup of trubs(yeast cake) from an ale I made a while back.
SG at 1.050
Damn! Within a few hours, I had a thick cap, and now a few days later, she's done, and smells good enough to pass for beer. HA! It'll be 5-6 days before I can run it, but I'm so impressed that a "dead" backset could be revived so nicely and easily I had to post this. For everyone who tosses their backsets/dunder/grains or are overly concerned with infections, or think "I have to run the wash as soon as it's done", I say re-think it all. Don't waste the flavors you've worked hard to acquire. Save them, re-use. This isn't beer-making; we can boil the old/infected/backset and use it to start a new wash, successfully, not matter how deeply infected it became. As long as it doesn't smell like puke or garbage(I* think whatever it is that creates those odors can't be good!, but something that creates a pleasant odor can't be bad), I think it's good to go.
I'll definitely report what she's like when I run 'er, but I fully expect a rather nice, full flavored "sugarhead whiskey", if not an exceptional one.
Earlier this year, like, in June, I ran two generations from a 50/50 malt barley/corn wash, the second re-using all the backset from the first run, but with sugar added back, along with water to make up what was taken from stillin', over the grains in the second wash. I saved the backset, after the second run, in a clean bucket as I wanted to do my usual 5-6 generations, but one thing lead to another, and it became obvious I wouldn't have time to get back to it, so I screened out the grains, tossed them(and fattened up the birds), but kept the backset, thinking I'd see if it was usable when I did find time for it.
Well, I found time last week, and carefully, gingerly(I was fully prepared for an ugly sight and uglier smell!) pried the air-locked lid off the bucket. Whoa! There was a solid, white layer of "something" covering the backset, but no foul odor at all. Carefully, I gave it a light stir, and under this funky layer was very clear backset, slightly sour in aroma, but not "garbage-like" nor "puke-like", either of which would have had me tossing both backset and bucket. This had promise! So I poured it into my boiler, and took it to a hard boil, and held it there for a while(using my reflux column to knock-back the vapor and odor so to not lose anything), and added one pound of wheat germ after shutting her down. Next morning, it all went back into a clean pail, along with 5lbs sugar and roughly a cup of trubs(yeast cake) from an ale I made a while back.
SG at 1.050
Damn! Within a few hours, I had a thick cap, and now a few days later, she's done, and smells good enough to pass for beer. HA! It'll be 5-6 days before I can run it, but I'm so impressed that a "dead" backset could be revived so nicely and easily I had to post this. For everyone who tosses their backsets/dunder/grains or are overly concerned with infections, or think "I have to run the wash as soon as it's done", I say re-think it all. Don't waste the flavors you've worked hard to acquire. Save them, re-use. This isn't beer-making; we can boil the old/infected/backset and use it to start a new wash, successfully, not matter how deeply infected it became. As long as it doesn't smell like puke or garbage(I* think whatever it is that creates those odors can't be good!, but something that creates a pleasant odor can't be bad), I think it's good to go.
I'll definitely report what she's like when I run 'er, but I fully expect a rather nice, full flavored "sugarhead whiskey", if not an exceptional one.
