BeverageCommander
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If you have PBW – use the PWB to clean the still. Vinegar works well but you do have to rinse it pretty well after you run it though. I use PWB 90% of the time as I find it easier.
For sure. Sometimes air just gets trapped inside of airlocks. I’d pickup a brewing hydrometer at a local homebrew shop or online. They are under $10 and will let you know for sure when fermentation is finished.
I personally only run column stills- I don’t have any experience with thumper/worm stills.
It depends on if you want to run a column still or a traditional thumper setup. -or if you want to go DIY or pre-built.
What kind of spirit are you trying to make?
Have you taken a hydrometer reading? It is possible they are finished.
That is fine– just let it do its thing! Leave it be for another week and then take a reading.
It sounds like it is working slowly but surely.
I only use Gelatin in my beers- I don’t clarify my mash as there really is no reason to.
but 48 hours and crash cooling does the trickI always ferment 1.010 or below.
Let it keep going and take another reading in a few days.
Anti-Foam: Fermcap-s : http://www.northernbrewer.com/fermcap-s-1-oz
Clearing agents: Gelatin: unflavored clear gelatin the stuff from the local grocery store. Add 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin to a cup of hot, but not boiling water and gently mix it into your fermenter after fermentation is finished.
I don’t shake – just because it is not bubbling does not mean it is doing its job. Just let it sit for a week or so and you should be good to go. The yeast will do its thing
I would just let it sit in the fermenter and strain it before you use it. Letting it sit for a few weeks in the fermenter will let a lot of the yeast settle to the bottom.
If you use the enzymes you won’t need the malted barley. Just follow the directions on the enzymes..different enzymes convert at different temperatures.
I use two packs of bread yeast in my corn mashes.
I would not do that:
Save the backset and make a sourmash.
This is the process I follow:
Sour Mash Recipe
5 gallons water
7 pounds cracked corn
7 pounds cane sugar
2 packets bread yeast
Making the Starter Mash
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 starter and an airlock and let it ferment. It will take between 7-10 days for fermentation to finish. See our articles on fermentation for more information on how to tell when fermentation is finished.Distilling the 1st Wash- 2nd Fermentation
After the 1st fermentation is finished use an auto-siphon to transfer the liquid into the still. Don’t dump the bucket into the still- leave behind the yeast and grain- only transfer the liquid. Add 3-3/4 gallons of 75 degree water into the fermenter as this will keep the yeast alive and happy while distilling. Only add 3 ¾ gallons of water because the rest of the liquid will come from the still after the run is finished (backset). Leave the fermentation bucket off to the side and start the distilling. The first run is not a sour mash as it did not have any backset added to it. Always do a stripping run on the first sour mash wash. Run the still hot and fast with no packing material, collect everything that comes out of the still. Run the still down until 20 proof or 10% ABV. Save this stripping run as we will add it to the next wash we distill.After the 3 ¾ gallons of water has been added to the fermentation bucket the old corn will float to the top. Remove half of the floating corn and add it to the compost or feed it to the chickens. Add another 3.5 pounds of cracked corn to the fermenter.
Once done distilling collect 1 ¼ gallons of the left over backset (wash that is left in the still after at the end of distillation). Add the hot backset and 7 pounds of sugar to a bucket (not the fermenter) and use an immersion chiller or an ice bath and cool it to 75 degrees. Once the backset and sugar mixture has been cooled, add it to the fermenter. Add another yeast starter, a new airlock, and let it ferment for another 7-10 days- or until fermentation is finished.
Distilling the 2nd wash – 3rd Fermentation
Once the 2nd fermentation is finished use an auto-siphon to transfer the liquid into your copper moonshine still. Don’t dump the bucket into the still- you want to leave behind the yeast in grain- only transfer the liquid. Once the wash liquid has been added to the still add the stripping run from the first run into the still. After the wash has been transferred into the still- the fermentation bucket will have the spent corn and yeast left behind. Add 3-3/4 gallons of 75 degree water into the fermenter- this will keep the yeast happy while you distill. Distill the sour mash whiskey making sure to discard the foreshots. Make cuts like normal and collect the tails down to 10 proof or 20% ABV. Save the tails as we will add them to the next run. I personally don’t re-run my heads I have been using them as a cleaner and solvent.After the 3 ¾ gallons of water has been added to the fermentation bucket the old corn will float to the top. Remove half of the floating corn and add it to the compost or feed it to the chickens. Add another 3.5 pounds of cracked corn to the fermenter.
Once done distilling collect 1 ¼ gallons of the left over backset (wash that is left in the still after at the end of distillation). Add the hot backset and 7 pounds of sugar to a bucket (not the fermenter) and use an immersion chiller or an ice bath and cool it to 75 degrees. Once the backset and sugar mixture has been cooled add it to the fermenter. Add another yeast starter, a new airlock, and let it ferment for another 7-10 days- or until fermentation is finished.
Distilling the 3rd wash- 4th Fermentation
Repeat the same process you can continue this process for as long as you want to keep it going-Age the sour mash with un-charred oak chips.I would heat the cornmeal up to 170 or so- Add the sugar and stir- Let it cool back down to 150 and add some malted barley and let it mash at 150 for 60-90 minutes.
This way the enzymes in the malted barely can help convert the starches in the cornmeal into fermentable sugar. I would think without using enzymes you are going to have a mess of grits!
I’m glad it is finally going! Let it for for a week or so and then take another gravity reading.
I always use flaked maize- it is processed in such a way that it will easily convert the starches into sugar during the mash process:
you can get flaked maize from any homebrew shop— not to be confused with cracked corn or anything else.
http://www.biyhomebrewsupply.com/products/flkmaize1lb
You will need enzymes for cracked corn- I’ve never used cornmeal as that just sounds like a mess
