BeverageCommander
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I would not worry about an airlock on such a small batch- it is going to age quickly. I always use spirals- I get them at my homebrew shop. I break them in half and toss in a full spiral into each quart jar. I take a sample on the 5th day and then every day after that. I don’t take a large sample- just enough to see where it is at. I sample every day for 2 reasons- to make sure it is not overaged and also to release anything that needs it. It can take between 5 days and a few weeks- depending on what you are looking for.
Once I am happy with is usually around day 10 for the stuff I age- I run it through a charcoal filter.They should all carry it- it is used for brewing cream ale beers.
1500 watts will take a bit of time to heatup on a 10 gallon still: normally it takes my 10 gallon about 2 hours to start producing. I use this time to work on other projects in the area. I don’t have access to 240v power or I would use a 5500 watt element. 1500 watts is the max you can use on a standard 15amp 120v circuit.
It works great- just know it is going to take time to heatup.was wondering if I could just get some help/clarification on what some stuff is. For just a simple corn/sugar/malted barley/yeast mash, what would be the best corn to use? I’ve heard some many things like just use the 6 dollar bag of 40lb deer feed you can get at Walmart, as well as the 100 dollar bag of cracked corn for horses at tractor supply.
I personally used flaked corn and malted barley.
I didn’t have any luck finding “crushed” corn (or flaked maize); is this the same thing as cracked corn?
flaked corn is not the same as cracked corn. The benefit of flaked corn is it has been processed in a way that you can easily extract the sugars during the mashing process. If you use cracked corn you will pull flavor from the corn but you won’t extract the sugars- if you use cracked corn you will have to add sugar.
Flaked corn is more expensive- but I usually make 10 gallon mashes and it works well for me. The product is amazing. I’ve been using the recipe on clawhammers site for the last few years with great results. Double the ingredients for 10 gallon batches.http://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/11454449-corn-whiskey-recipe
also, what’s a good malted barley for this recipe as well?
Any 2 row or 6 row crushed malted barley will work fine.
http://www.biyhomebrewsupply.com/products/br2row1lb
http://www.biyhomebrewsupply.com/products/flkmaize1lbThat is an interesting question….
When I age I usually do it in pretty small quantities…and I find it is very easy to over-oak the whiskey.
What size container are you planning on aging in? What are you going to use to age- chips? spirals?
So you made cuts when you distilled? After distillation you then mixed everything together before you proofed it?
I am guessing that there is quite a bit of heads and tails in the pint jar- it is most likely some sort of fusel oils.
I only proof down my hearts- I save the tails and add them to my next batch.
Did you ditch the foreshots?
Rick-
1.035 is a pretty low starting gravity- if this ferments down to 1.000 it will yield around 4.59% ABV. I usually like to start around 8% so I shoot for around 1.065This does not mean this is bad- you will just get a lower yield. I bet the majority of fermentation is finished. Let is sit 5-7 more days and then take another gravity reading. I bet the yeast tore though that low ABV wash – let it work a while longer and clean everything up. Letting it sit will also let the yeast settle to the bottom.
Take another reading in 5-7 days- it will most likely be finished at the point. Run it as is- it will make good product – it just won’t yield as much as an 8-10% abv wash. I’ve had low ABV washes taste amazing after distilling.
what yeast did you use? what did the recipe state as a starting gravity?
Don’t add more yeast or anything else- just let it hangout and run it in a week or so
Do you make 3 separate 5 gallon mashes ?
I run a 10 gallon clawhammer still- I often run it with 5 gallons of wash. I can run a 5 gallon wash in around 6-8 hours depending on fast (how hot I run it) I run my still with a 1500 watt hot water heater element- I installed a copper bung that the element screws into and control it with an electric controller. A 1500 watt electric hot plate or propane will also work. It sounds like your heating method is not going to work very well- unless you can control the heat of the water that is in the bucket.
This is how I run my still- Set the controller to manual mode- 100% power until it starts producing. Once it starts producing I turn the power down to around 70% (or whatever amount of power is need to get 4-8 drips a second) I run my still pretty slow- I like to see individual drips. I recommend buying a hot plate or element and heating the still that way. A propane turkey fryer will also work- but I don’t like a flame near my still incase there is a vapor leak or some other crazy accident.
I never re-run a still as I’ve never found myself in a situation where I did not finish the run. I have no idea how it would taste.. if you ran it that long most of the alcohol should have been removed- what is left should mostly be water.
The easiest way to learn to make cuts is to use the smallest jars you can find- label them starting at 1- and go up from there. Dip your finger in and taste each jar— the hottest should be the first and the last should be the least strong. As you do more runs you can do cuts by taste and feel–I often find myself putting my finger under the output to feel the product as well as take a taste. I still use mason jars and label them- but I always start a new jar when the hearts start and remove whatever jar the hearts finish in. I collect all of the tails in a new jar. It is part art part science- the only way to make good cuts is to practice- but small jars really help in the beginning- then let your taste buds and fingers do the rest.
I proof my product with distilled water- I’ve found tap water has too many minerals and can cause some haze. Get a proofing hydrometer so you know the proof you are starting at.
I only keep the hearts and re-run the heads and tails.
This is a good writeup as well: http://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/12206385-making-moonshine-the-dummies-guide
How many gallons of water?
How much corn? How much water? how much sugar? How much yeast? What yeast?
What was your mash process / and ingredients list?
I run a simple column still- I don’t run a thumper- so I can’t help too much on that.
Usually when my run gets oily it is during the later portion of the runs- the tails.Where are you measuring your temperatures for the thumpers?
Did you make cuts during the run or just collect everything together?
I use Adhesive thermometers on all of my carboys- they are cheap and work well.
You can get fancy and build a temperature controlled chest freezer fermentation chamber which holds ferments at a set point- but a simple stick on thermometer works well to let you know the temp of the fermenter.
I have a fuel alcohol permit but I’m not located in MD.
It was a simple process- I used the online form and submitted it through their online system. There was an issue with my original application and someone ( actually it was a super helpful and nice lady) from the TTB called me and helped me re-submit that portion of the form.I feel it is worth the time and effort to be in compliance with the law. It is free and it took about 3 months for approval. I follow their rules to a T and file all of my reports at the end of the year.
No random visits- and I doubt that will ever happen. The TTB is so slammed with new legal distilleries and breweries and they are completely understaffed- I doubt they are going to waste their resources looking at your 10 gallon still.
