Home Distiller

Howdy.
I've run 3 batches of beer through my still. Each batch has been better than the previous .
On this last run the shine has a hot or spicey taste to it.
Mash recipe : 50 lbs corn,50 lbs sugar, approx 1gal (6lbs) malted corn
This has been my recipe from the start , only in smaller quantities , 10 gal at a time .
My friends and family have been enjoying my shine. But this hot or spicy taste is unpleasant even after proofing it still has the same hotness only muted a little.
I've learned a lot from this forum, just by reading . Then trial and error. This problem has me stumped .
If anyone has a direction to point me in. I would greatly appreciate it. I started making shine to learn the art ( also to power my tuned 1978 vespa). Thank you for any response

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=46 Not exactly sure why they got better. Hit the link and start your learnin. Hit the welcome center and tell us a little about yourself and what you like to drink. Not trying to rain on your parade but there is a learning curve and its not good to skip any steps so start at the begninning. I would wait untill you understand what you are reading before starting again. I feel like you are jumping in the middle of the curve and forgetting about all the rest of it. I might be wrong. There will be others that give you their honest opinions. Don't be discouraged by them but take them as trying to help you as most will .

I had a run like that and I didn't like it at all.... even my trusted I'll take that off your hands friends didn't want it I had planned to just save it for a sacrificial run one day and stuck it in the back. Well 6 months later popped open the top and OH MY had it changed not bad at all it still had a little kick to it but smooth.


So moral of the story put it back awhile you might be glad you did or rerun it and see if it helps

Half baked : your condescending attitude is likely to cause you trouble in life. I didn't give you enough info about myself for you to come at me like that. Rather than making assumptions about my knowledge you could have added to the thread in a positive way.
Your choice was to not add at all. Next time don't answer is you don't have anything positive to say.
Your assumptions made you look like a jackass.
Btw each run got better because I learned and became more knowledgable on each run.

Hawgsmith, what you've got is a sugar head, they are hot bottom line. Give it some age on charred oak or by itself in an aging vessel. You may have run it too fast. Btw what you take as condescending is a whole lot of knowledge going over your head. Read up some more these guys know their stuff and are here to help you if you do the work to help your self. My advice add it back to your other feints or next run and run it slow and easy. It's always recycle able in a future run. Good luck read,read, read. Melloman

+1 on the welcome center fill in the gaps, what still you have, how you run, what you want...etc

You are gona have to get some tougher skin. To fit in around here.

50# of sugar in what size ferment?

First thing that pops out at me is your percentage of malt to unmalted. No way to get complete conversion with those numbers. With 50 lbs. of corn I would use at least 10 lbs. of malted corn. My all corn is a 70/30 of unmalted to malted. Most shoot for at least 20% malted in any AG.

Lack of conversion and all that sugar lends itself to the hot you are getting.
In future posts please include more info. You know, yeast type, protocol, etc...

That allows us to lend a more informed answer. On halfbakeds behalf it is quite apparent to those of us who have been around here awhile when research has been done. You have missed a lot which leads to responses such as his. if I was not in such a great mood this morning you would have received the same from me and may still from others. Good luck and dive back into the site for a better understanding of what it takes to make fine spirits.

I really don't see a problem with half baked's post. What he said is exactly how I took it. But I have been called a prick many times.

Maybe try leaning away from the heads a little more. That is the only time I get hot drink when watered down. As mentioned before maybe running to fast and got smearing.

Good luck man

A email from my fan club:

Hello halfbaked,

The following is an e-mail sent to you by Hawgsmith via your account on
"Home Distiller". If this message is spam, contains abusive or other
comments you find offensive please contact the webmaster of the board at
the following address:

unclejesse@homedistiller.org

Include this full e-mail (particularly the headers). Please note that the
reply address to this e-mail has been set to that of Hawgsmith.

Message sent to you follows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did not give you enough info about myself for you to approach me like
that.
I have refrained from joining this forum because of people like yourself.
Rather than be helpful , you had a smarter than thou attitude. I do
understand the science of what I'm doing. I also understand there is an art
side which I don't understand fully.
Someone should help you with that condescending attitude of yours .
Btw my runs got better ,because I got better ! Rather than be inviting and
helpful you've been a jackass . And run yet another person off. I will
never even attempt to ask another question because of close Minded people
like yourself. Good luck to you and your small mind

You broke his feelings

Words to live by...

"Measure twice, cut once... heck, when on homedistiller.org measure 4x!" ie. do your research

To Halfbaked & all well-aged forum members -

Thank you for keeping this rookie on his toes!

I cannot tell you how many mistakes the hours of reading here has prevented.

Thanks again.

Honestly I was not trying to piss him off. I thought i was helping the guy. He had lots of looks and had been no responces. There is good reading here and very smart people but there are some bad advice people here and everywhere also. The reading lounge is a good read no matter how many times you read it. When I said don't be discouraged believe it or not I actually meant it. I was not trying to put him in his place one bit. I guess he is in for a suprise. I am on almost all of the forums.

It's amazing how people can't take good advice. And think someone is just trying to bash them. I suppose we will see him pop up on another forum. Saying how bad he was treated here at HD. It's so horrible the way people are treated here.

Hi my name is ?????. I found this place because I was treated badly on another forum. They told me to read. When all I wanted was an answer to my information lacking question. That made me look like I didn't know what I was doing. So can you guys answer that question?

LOL you know you will see it halfbaked.

you didn't use enough smileys

I will
never even attempt to ask another question because of close Minded people
like yourself.

Is this because of closed minded people or because you found the google search and can find the answers by reading the forum?

As a newbie here myself - I will say this is not the type of forum where every kid gets a trophy. It takes some getting used to the style of feedback, but I've read much more direct responses than you gave, Half-baked. A thick skin definitely helps, but there's a lot of good stuff here. Definitely worth participating!

This is the place where every kid gets a trophy or 2 if you hang around long enough. It can be golden or brown or clear and I have even seen them green. Sometimes the first trophy is not great but the more trophys you get the better they are.

halfbaked I bet he got most of his information off moonshiners or youtube, he didn't want good info or he would still be around he should suck it up buttercup, I think I might have heard rad say that one time

Hate to think about what kind of melt down the ole boy might have had if Rad had got to him first.

Just sayin',
S-C

cack I LMAO thinking about that, probably would have scarred him for life.

S-Cackalacky wrote:Hate to think about what kind of melt down the ole boy might have had if Rad had got to him first.

Just sayin',
S-C

So true.

Has anyone found out why glucose moonshine is "Hot"? I have noticed this as well. The only thing I can think is that the yeast produce something in the process of breaking the sugars down before metabolising them.

I got an official warning that if I was brutaly honest again I would be put on 'Read Only' status . I just don't respond to a poster that potentially is going to be a dick .

I read , and read but only so much can be learned in theory after a point there's only one thing to left and that is to go do it . (You know , don't talk about it be about it )
After my initial post I received some unhelpful comments . But in between the negative I received name great ideas
Those of you who helped thank you. I now have several things to look at. And then go back to lean how to apply those ideas
There were a lot of poeple who again added nothing positive . A lot of useless comments with assumptions to my character and knowledge. If those poeple had such great character they would not berate somebody like that and with such ease
I actually learned a lot by asking my question the went out to the shop to apply that new knowledge. Hence the lapse in postings. To those who participated in my question thanks Again.
I believe the prob with "hot" taste WAS tied to an improper malt to corn ratio . And no so much running too much heat.
My still is a copper pot style. 17 gal capacity . I fabricated my still by hand . ( I am a mechanic and fabricator by trade )
Heat I use is via a repurposed turkey fryer burner. I have a in ground pool wich works great as a reusable water supply for cooling

thats the problem hawgsmith, you didn't receive any negative input from half-baked, he sent you to the place that has all the answers you were looking for. He even furnished the link.

First post on HD is about having problems how are we not to assume you as a newbie. Hot and spicy tends to mean heads being smeared into your product, an easy solution.

The fun banter afterwards is just that, at your expense. You had said you were gone.

+1 BellyBuster

Hawgsmith, are you keeping the corn and adding back to it like a ujssm, keeping generations?

Hawgsmith wrote: I actually learned a lot by asking my question the went out to the shop to apply that new knowledge. Hence the lapse in postings. To those who participated in my question thanks Again.
I believe the prob with "hot" taste WAS tied to an improper malt to corn ratio . And no so much running too much heat.
My still is a copper pot style. 17 gal capacity . I fabricated my still by hand . ( I am a mechanic and fabricator by trade )
Heat I use is via a repurposed turkey fryer burner. I have a in ground pool wich works great as a reusable water supply for cooling

I don't really know how the incorrect malt to unmalted ratio in a sugarhead is going to cause a hot taste? It's truly a sugarhead not a mash. Maybe a partial mash or thin mash. But with that small amount of malt. It's really just a sugarhead.

You never said the total volume of this ferment was? Or what ABV it fermented to?