tastes of storebought compared to homemade

[Uncle Jesse]

from the old message boards:

Anonymous
(Unregistered)
04/02/04 08:25 PM
subject: tastes of storebought compared to homemade

Now that I have made a few batches of my own stuff.....I bought a bottle of stuff that used to be one of the bottles that I bought regularly (captain morgan), and liked to drink on the rocks.......
wow...every sip tastes like headache, and for the most part, tastes PLAIN NASTY, compared to the homemade stuff. I can't believe that I used to like this crap.

A couple of older people that I know that still there own 'shine keep tellin me, " Keep buyin the stuff you have always bought." and "You don't wanna drink too much of the stuff that you make at home, you'll go blind and get stupid."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that they just say that because they don't eliminate foreshots, and they probably run old units that contain lead solder. Well, I have also been told by these "old-heads" that "the amount of lead in the finished product is so little, that it won't hurt a fly"...is that why Grandpa talks so sssllowww?lol, anyway, the comparison from homemade to storebought is amazing, and every batch that I run, i am more and more impressed with.


Blanchy
(member)
04/05/04 03:43 PM
Re: tastes of storebought compared to homemade [re: Anonymous]

Anon,

You probably would have got more responses if you had posted this in one of the other forums. Anyway, a lot of people (bad people that is) would add industrial methanol to bootleg moonshine for resale to others. It was cheap, got people buzzed fast, and would kill you or make you blind if you drank to much. This is where most of the bad press came from.

Chuck


PRNDL
(stranger)
05/02/04 08:36 AM
Re: tastes of storebought compared to homemade [re: Anonymous]

I'd like to know what your homemade setup is - the mash recipe, still, and what you do with the distillate.

I've just made another batch of simple sugar mash in a Bokabob still with a 3' column without reflux (I plan on adding it soon).

My distillate is very strong and has a very sweet taste (from the sugar?).
I got a pretty good hangover from it, so my plan is to add the reflux valve.
I'm also considering polishing activated charcoal, but don't know where to buy it locally.

I'd love to hear what you've been doing.

Thanks


Knuklehead
(journeyman)
05/02/04 09:09 PM
Re: tastes of storebought compared to homemade [re: PRNDL]

I have always had pruduct with a slight sweet smell and taste untill my last run. I tossed the first 50 ml (foreshots) and then keeped the next 250 ml (heads) seperate from the main run. They smell really sweet and taste that way to as well as having a lot of flavor from the yeast I guess. After the heads I collected my main run and it turned out much better with no sweet taste or flavor.

I am Canadian


pothead
(member)
05/04/04 08:04 AM
Re: tastes of storebought compared to homemade [re: PRNDL]

Well as for my mash....I like brandies, so...this is the same with most fruits that I use.....I take 20-30 lbs of grapes mash em real good in a bucket....then put them in a blender....then I split it evenly into two 7 gallon buckets. Next I take 20lbs of sugar and disolve it in water on the stove. Then I pour the same amount of hot liquid into each of the 2 buckets. After that, I add REAL cold water to each bucket (so that there is about 5 gallons of mash in each bucket). When it is cooled down to about 78degrees farenheit,I add 1 small can of tomatoe paste to eack bucket and stir it in VERY good. After that I add five 5gram packets of red star champagne yeast to each bucket (I activate the yeast first by stirring each 5 packets into 2 cups of water and let it sit over night). Once the yeast is added, I cover the buckets with plastic wrap and rubber bands and poke a few small holes in it with a pin. I stir it vigorously (with one of those paint mixers that you use with a drill) 3 times a day. After about a week and a half, I scoop all the stuff off the top before each time I stir it. At 2 weeks it is usually at about 15-18%abv......THAT is when I run it through my still.
My still consists of a 15 gallon stainless steel keg, with a 1" opening on the top that has a 90 degree 1" copper elbow that I reduced to 3/4"as it enters my lyne arm. my lyne arm is 7 ft long and slopes downward at a 30 degree angle to my condenser. My condenser is 3/4" copper(23 ft of it) coiled inside a 15 gallon drum, that I keep filled with water I use the base of a turkey fryer as my heat source.
After my distilate is run, I age it in the old fasioned ceramic-like jugs(somewhere that the temperature fluctuates) and I cork the tops. My grape brandy I age with about 2 cups of raisins per gallon, my apricot, I age with about 2 cups of dried apricots per gallon...etc........ I usually age half my stuff for about a month or two before I run it through coffee filters, and then bottle it/drink it/give some to family.
I havent been distilling long enough to taste the stuff that I am trying to age for about a year or more.


cartouche
(stranger)
06/28/04 01:48 PM
Re: tastes of storebought compared to homemade [re: pothead]

Boy I love this forum!
Thanks Pothead, nice recipe.