My first taste of All-bran!

[Peter_Muir]

Last week I laid down two 25l batches of all-bran; the recepe as follows:

(per 25l wash)
3kg raw sugar
2kg white sugar
1tbsp of citric acid (to invert sugar)

525g box of (Aldi brand) Goldenvale Just Bran
1 Swiss Men's multi vitamin
4tbsp of yeast (to boil)
2tsp Epsom salts

Method:
I first boiled the 5 kilos of sugar (3 of raw, 2 of white. Why the mix? Left over sugar from a batch of bird watchers I made for a trial run. Awful... But drank a little any way.) with 5l of water and 1 tbsp of citric acid for 30 min to invert. I was using the wok burner on my BBQ which is much smaller than my 3 ring burner so it took about 30 minutes to come to to a boil which was a bit of a pain in the arse considering I was doing everything in 2 batches. When finished I pored it straight into the fermenter to help sterilise it.

Next I boiled the all-bran with the yeast, the multi vitamin and the epsom salts in 5 litres of water.

When it FINALY came to the boil I was carefully to stir to prevent scalding for about 10 minutes and tossed it In the fermenter.

I topped up to 25 litres and waited until it cooled to pitching temp then pitched 7 tbsp of Lowans general purpose baking yeast.

Repeat (sigh)

The summer we've had in Melbourne has been an odd one; the day I laid down the washes it was 30degC followed by 4 days of 14-20 degree days. My Airlocks had not bubbled at all for 24 hours and readi g the reviews I didn't think this was right. Just in case I pitched the yeast too early I pitched another 7tbsp of yeast in each fermenter. On day 2 I lifted the lids of the fermenters and could see it frying away and could smell plenty of alcohol.

Day 4 and the washwas still sweet, so I moved the fermenters and place them on the warming plates I got for free on freecycle (sorry Prairiepiss), and threw in another tbsp of of epsom salt and wrapped them in towels. Buy day 6, fermenter 1 had finished but the second needed more time. I moved the first to the spare outside fridge for 48 hours to clarify to run today.

I knocked up a racking cane out of some spare annealed 1/2 Inch copper tube, some 10mm clear plastic hose, a plastic 'T' and a vice grip clamp ( made of mixed designs I found online and will be happy to post my process in "Related hardware and apparatus") and racked 20l of clarified wash from the 25. There were about 2 fingers (bartending measurement) of yeast sitting on topof the all-brand trub; more than I've ever seen on any beer brew I've done.

I also threw in about 3 litres of low wines from the nasty pot stilled bird watchers that I ran as a practice run.

I topped up the fermenter with 10L of water to keep the used yeast alive.

My still took about an hour to come up to temp. I heard a gurgling coming from my worm and turned the temp on my burner to it's lowest setting and took 400 mls of foreshots to discard as a precorsion. I was surprised that even from the foreshots there was so much aroma from the first drips compared to the bird watchers. Still the nasty acetone and methanol smell and taste (don't worry, I didn't swallow) but grainy. The next 2 Litres I called heads but it smelled so good I had to take a drinking sample. After the 3 litre mark I took 300mls as a keeper.

My best description of the flavour profile is of butter or fresh croissants or Danishes. Almost brioche.
I collected 6 litres of low wines In total to save for the spirit run.

During the run I prepared 6kg of of white sugar with 6L of water and 2 tbsp of citric acid, boiling for 30 min. In addition to the 525g of all-bran I added some leftover cornflakes and special-K (1/4 cup corn flakes and 2 heaped cups of special-K) with 3 tbsp of yeast, one of epsom salts and one multi vitamin. When cooled, both were added to the old yeast bed and topped to 30 L.

4 hours later the wash is now bubbling with a thick cap of bran on top which I've stired in twice. Time to let it work off I think. I'm now enjoying the last of the all-bran middle cut I took. I'll run the second batch tomorrow and lay down a fourth batch.

[KY1792]

......

[Odin]

?

KY1792,

I don't see the OP asking any questions. What's up?

Odin.

[Prairiepiss]

Congrats. It's some good stuff isn't it?

Day 4 and the washwas still sweet, so I moved the fermenters and place them on the warming plates I got for free on freecycle (sorry Prairiepiss), and threw in another tbsp of of epsom salt and wrapped them in towels. Buy day 6, fermenter 1 had finished but the second needed more time. I moved the first to the spare outside fridge for 48 hours to clarify to run today.

What you sorry for?

And I forgot all about feecycle. I need to get back on there.

+1 on Odin.

[Peter_Muir]

My All-Bran has now had 3 days on bourbon oak chips. We've had 3 days of temperatures over 30degC his week so far and I think it's had a positive effect on likker. My shed is sweltering and the bottle I've samples is magnificent, especially served over ice with a squeeze of lemon and soda.

I can't wait to try a UJSSM once the move to Brisbane is over and I've set myself back up.

[Peter_Muir]

Congrats. It's some good stuff isn't it?

Day 4 and the washwas still sweet, so I moved the fermenters and place them on the warming plates I got for free on freecycle (sorry Prairiepiss), and threw in another tbsp of of epsom salt and wrapped them in towels. Buy day 6, fermenter 1 had finished but the second needed more time. I moved the first to the spare outside fridge for 48 hours to clarify to run today.

What you sorry for?

Sorry Prairie for having great luck at scrounging free stuff. I'm willing to share the wealth and some kegs as I'm moving interstate and need to clear some room but you're in the States which makes it difficult. I could put a note in the keg and toss it into the sea but I think think the Kiwi's or Tasmanians on the forum might get it before you do.

And I forgot all about feecycle. I need to get back on there.

+1 on Odin.

And a +1 from me to Odin too. If someone's gonna give advice I prefer it to be accurate, relevant and requested... unless it comes from a master/ moderator in which case I shut up and do as I'm told.