Making mash
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I am the biggest rookie. Need assistance on making mash. I am thinking of using sugar or corn for my mash. I have a 10 gallon still. So I need 10 gallons of mash. Help!! Thanks
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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 yeastAdd 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.
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Rebel, do you take gravity readings? You should take a specific gravity as you put the beer in the fermenter. When your air lock begins to slow down in activity, you should take readings a couple of days apart. When it no longer changes, it’s ready to distill.p
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Richard, how does this no cook method work out for you? I usually cook my corn like I was making beer. Cool it down, add malted barley, rest for 90 min. Allowing conversion of starches, bring to a boil, cool, pitch yeast etc. Takes forever, but I’m usually distilling at the same time, and that’s usually an 8 hrs. Job too.
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you will be fine.
Just leave it -
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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
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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 washIf 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 washThat 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
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It is called Fleischmann active dry yeast availible at publix or walmart
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What yeast do u recommend for that high volume
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Fleishmann might work for 12% but it is pushing it….
I suggest using a distillers yeast:
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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please help !!
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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.
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Thanks .. When letting stand is it better in the cold like beer as yeast drops down better when cooler …??? Many thanks
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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-
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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 ..???!!
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I like to try and get my FG around 1.000 or below if possible.
What are you sitting at currently?
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Sitting at jus below 1.010
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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 ????????????
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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
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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..???
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