Home Distiller

everytime i go to make whiskey my wash always turns sour. i boiled the wash without the yeast in and let sit till around 130 degress then poured it into my fermenter and then let sit till 85 degrees then added the yeast. i tryed this method 3 times but it always seems to go sour like vinegar. does anyone know why the wash turns sour instead of into alcohol. i know its not the ingredients that make it sour because i tasted them first and the more sugar you get the more sour it gets. i read that bacteria causes it but i sanitized everything alot more then what i did for my sucessful washes. any thoughts on whats going on???

don't ever boil a whisky mash. you never want to do that, unlike beer. cook it at about 148F-154F, depending on your taste. after it's converted for an hour or long enough to pass the iodine starch test, you want to let it cool and pitch the yeast. you can ferment grain-in or strain it off like a beer mash.

it'll ferment for 2-4 days usually. when it's done with primary ferment (ie, when the crust falls and ebullition slows) you want to distill very soon. don't let it get into secondary fermentations as with beers or it will turn your mash to low-grade vinegar.

yeah what uncle jesse said ..plus
85 degrees is a little worm to be pitching yer yeast dont ya think

i didnt actually malt the whiskey and all that i just added the cornmeal and wheat and then added alot of sugar. kind of a dumb idea but im new and lack the info on malting and all that.

forgot username wrote:i didnt actually malt the whiskey and all that i just added the cornmeal and wheat and then added alot of sugar. kind of a dumb idea but im new and lack the info on malting and all that.

ahhh...
it all becomes clear (and all that)

imagine for a moment that someone joins the grilled cheese sandwich making conference on the great big grilled cheese sandwich information web site with everything you'd ever need to know about making grilled cheese sandwiches right there for the reading... and posts "every time I go to make a grilled cheese sandwich the house fills with smoke and I just get a blackened mess of inedible glop." and folks say things like "Did you make sure to use a low to medium flame?" and "are you using a cast iron skillet or a silverstone pan?" and "what type of bread and cheese are you using? maybe you need to start simple." and the guy having the problem posts back "Oh I didn't actually use a pan and all that i just put the sandwiich right on the stove burner, and I just used peanut butter and nothing else because I didn't have any cheese or bread because I'm new and lack the info on getting bread and all that."

fourway were would we all be without you? i never knew that you use a pan while making grilled cheese or even cheese AND ALL THAT.

what i was trying to get across is that there must be bacteria in my wash that is turning the sugar to acid instead of alcohol. and what the results i was hoping for were to get info on how to stop this problem since alot of you on here have experience and might of had this problem before. i just wish fourway you wouldnt answer my questions anymore because there a waste of my time and i get absolutly no were with your advice. but alot of other people have given good info and helpful advice to me in the past that always worked........... and then theres fourways advice

Anonymous wrote:what i was trying to get across is that there must be bacteria in my wash that is turning the sugar to acid instead of alcohol. and what the results i was hoping for were to get info on how to stop this problem since alot of you on here have experience and might of had this problem before. i just wish fourway you wouldnt answer my questions anymore because there a waste of my time and i get absolutly no were with your advice. but alot of other people have given good info and helpful advice to me in the past that always worked........... and then theres fourways advice

I'm sorry really. I try very hard to only give bad answers to bad questions

its ok just keep trying and you will get there

Anonymous wrote: i just wish fourway you wouldnt answer my questions anymore because there a waste of my time and i get absolutly no were with your advice.

I'd gladly honor a request not to respond directly to your questions... but you'll need to choose a user name and log into the forum... I'm not going to stop answering everyone called guest.

i would have a username if i found this site to be a good experience but really from your comments and post i dont thinks it worth going through all that pain and hardwork to become a user. i did have a username a while ago when you never responded to my post but i forgot it.

Anonymous wrote:i would have a username if i found this site to be a good experience but really from your comments and post i dont thinks it worth going through all that pain and hardwork to become a user. i did have a username a while ago when you never responded to my post but i forgot it.

If you could ignore some of the somewhat smart-a$$ comments here and there, you would find this site and the people here very helpful. Maybe if you just took the good advice out of the sarcastic posts, and simply said thanks, maybe the sarcastic remarks in the posts would slow down a bit. I though some of the people here wer a$$holes when I first started coming here, then when I realized how much knowledge I have gained, all I could do is keep asking questions, and thanking everyone for the answers.

already tryed that and nothing stops the comments. fourway obiously doesnt like geust and thats why i like not having a username. and really i dont care anymore about the comments or fourway i realised hes proably had a rough child hood being little and now he can say what ever he wants without geting beat up by hiding behind a computer. im not gona take away his wonderful times so im just gona shut up because i have always had a great life and im thankful for it.

Firstly, why don't Guests take 30 sec to get a name so we know which messages belong to which posters? It is pretty rude, in my opinion.

Secondly, how is it that Fourway is wrong? A half hour reading the sections on Wash/Grains etc would work wonders. Don't forget, Guests, that people here have taken years to learn their craft and they can go to great lengths to help people but you have to do a bit yourself. You might have only heard the completely knowledgeless question once but regular helpers here may have heard it many times.

Thirdly, to get the maximum from this (and similar) sites, I suggest you read the relevant sections of homedistiller.org then ask about the bits you don't understand. But it is courteous, and good for your education, to show you have at least done something to help yourself first.

it's not so hard to register just put some madeup username and any password you would remember, but if you really feel this site is not worth this little effort, then just don't come here,

i know this people work really hard to make this site fast and helpfull for all of us, so please don't make us go through the pain and hardwork of reading your nameless posts, if you dont take the time to read before you get into this hobbie then don't expect them to answer in a nice way

I typed this message:
If you could ignore some of the somewhat smart-a$$ comments here and there, you would find this site and the people here very helpful. Maybe if you just took the good advice out of the sarcastic posts, and simply said thanks, maybe the sarcastic remarks in the posts would slow down a bit. I though some of the people here wer a$$holes when I first started coming here, then when I realized how much knowledge I have gained, all I could do is keep asking questions, and thanking everyone for the answers.

I am a "guest" the majority of the times that I am here. I am a member however, and do not mind responding to "guest" messages as long as they are not negative, pointless messages that do nothing but irritate people.
If I am going to be on the site for a while, I will take the time to sign on, however if I just want to check it out real quick, or from another computer besides my own, then I usually don't bother. I do sometimes type "Pothead here" in for my username so that people know it is me. [/quote]

Can't we all just get along. HA HA ! My advice to the first question is READ READ READ! I to am new to distilling and have asked my share of newbie questions but I have realized that most of the questions I have are in black and white if I look around. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was a good batch of whiskey. Just my 2 cents.

white dog thanks for being mature and not an ass unlike some people

Guest:
Would you please quit referring to people as ASS??? This hobby offers a lot of leagh way in how things are done but there are some things you MUST do and some things you should NEVER do. If you read homedistiller.org your questions will be answered.

AkCoyote

i just get mad when i get a bad comments like fourway gives instead of my question answered. im sure everyone would get mad in the same situation.

ill answer your question! i used to have the same problem. i tryed so many things and nothing seemed to work until i moved the fermenter across the room. im geussing there was alot of the bad bacteria that turns sugar or alcohol to acid in the area. give that a try

USarmy21 wrote:ill answer your question! i used to have the same problem. i tryed so many things and nothing seemed to work until i moved the fermenter across the room. im geussing there was alot of the bad bacteria that turns sugar or alcohol to acid in the area. give that a try

That is absolutly true. When you buy a vinegar making kit, it says not to make vinegar in the same building as wine. my mom used to make vinegar, and when i tried to ferment wine in her basement it always went sour.