Making mash

Rebel-
If this is your first mash I would start simple-

Cracked Corn, Sugar and Yeast

I would use two 6.5 gallon buckets for fermentation:

add this to each of the 6.5 gallon buckets
5 gallons 75 degree water
7 pounds cracked corn
7 pounds cane sugar
2 packets bread yeast

Add 7 pounds of cane sugar, 7 pounds of cracked corn, and 5 gallons of 75 degree water to a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket fermenter. Once the ingredients have been added to the fermenter add the yeast and an airlock and let it ferment for 7-10 days.

you will be fine.
Just leave it

Okay so I have a five gallon still I know the more sugar the more alcohol but the harder the yeast works what is the most amount of sugar I can use been using 5 lbs been getting about 3 quarts of 120 proof but I want to get closer to a gallon any help would be grateful thanks

What kind of yeast are you using?

currently you are using 5 pounds of sugar in a 5 gallon wash will give you a starting gravity around 1.046
if you ferment that down to 1.000 or below you are looking at around a 6% ABV wash

If you use 10 pounds of sugar you will get a starting gravity around 1.092
If you ferment that down to 1.000 or below you are looking at around a 12% ABV wash

That is a pretty high starting gravity and you will need a yeast which can handle a high alcohol mash-

I don’t do much with sugar shine- but hopefully that helps

It is called Fleischmann active dry yeast availible at publix or walmart

What yeast do u recommend for that high volume

Fleishmann might work for 12% but it is pushing it….

I suggest using a distillers yeast:

Ok thank u and when I’m running do I want a slow drip about 2 per sec or I heard people say strip run as hot as I can and if I do that does it bring my proof down at all

If you are doing a spirit run you want to run it slow- 5-7 drips a second (less than a full stream)

If you are doing a stripping run you want to run it hot and fast- but you only want to do this for a stripping run.
The alcohol from multiple stripping runs are saved – add all that to a still and do a spirit run.

Don’t run a spirit run hot and fast- you can’t make good cuts and you will waste a lot of good booze.

Ok thanks one more question 5 gallon batch I should get a gallon of juice why is my first quart 1110 proof and right after I start dropping to high 80 that quick

If you are using 5 pounds of sugar currently in your mash- the starting alcohol is only around 6% which is a bit low-

Remember that distilling concentrates the alcohol in the wash– it does not create alcohol.

You will get a gallon total out of a 5 gallon run with starting ABV around 15%- that includes the heads,hearts,and tails- so that includes the entire run- assuming you are going to run your tails down to 20% or so.

A 5 gallon run with a starting alcohol of 10%, a final proof of 100, and a collection efficiency of 85% will yield .85 gallons.
A 5 gallon run with a starting alcohol of 20%, a final proof of 100, and a collection efficiency of 85% will yield 1.7 gallons.

Ok so add more sugar bring up starting proof got ya I will try that thanks for info I will be leaning as much as I can

iv been fermenting some honey shine for about 2 weeks now its still bubbling so I know it needs a bit longer and is down to 1.010 …. its says to let it stand for 5-7 days when finished fermenting what does this mean ?? at the same temp or in a cool place ??? please advise … thanks in advance

please help !!

That “let it stand for 5-7 days” after fermentation is finished is only to let it “drop clear”, where all the suspended solids fall out of suspension leaving a clear wash. If your still setup is sensitive to scorching, as with a high-density immersed electric element, then that clearing is a good idea. If, on the other hand, you are heating with external propane or electric, you can forget about the clearing part.

Thanks .. When letting stand is it better in the cold like beer as yeast drops down better when cooler …??? Many thanks

Cold Crashing the mash will help speed up the drop out process-

you should not have too much stuff settle besides the yeast with the honey shine recipe-

Also what should my FG be for the honey shine ??? It’s been 3 weeks now and still bubbling away is this ok as kept it at 22″C thought it should of been done in 2 weeks ..???!!

I like to try and get my FG around 1.000 or below if possible.

What are you sitting at currently?

Sitting at jus below 1.010

just done it again its bang on 1.000….!!! its still got a bit of activity on bubbles what does this mean do I still jus leave it ferment ????????????

I usually like to wait until the gravity has not changed in 3 days. Take another reading in 2 days if it has not changed it is done. It it drops wait until it has not changed for 3 days. 1.000 is pretty done regardless but you can ferment below 1.000z

Cool will do thanks a lot.. If it remains the same @ 1.000 shall I take it out the fermenting room and let it sit for a few days in a cooler room to let stand..?? It appears very clear anyway but for the sake of a few more days to let it drop out any sediment I don’t want to ruin it as so expensive to do with honey..? Or can I distill straight away once it’s been at a steady gravity for several days..???