[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Sounds good to me.

Just let it keep going.

Take another reading in another week or so– there is no need to rush it. Just let it do its thing.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

I use a 1500 watt electric hot plate made by BroilKing. It takes some time to heat up- but I don’t like to use propane.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

That should yield about an 8% abv mash- The heads should not seem thick or feel oily.
If you run the tails pretty low (I always do) they can start to feel feel pretty oily and be more viscous.

If you are not happy with the final product and it does not look right or feel right I would re-run it in the still. Proof the product down with distilled water if you do re-run it. I run my low wines or anyhting I’m re-doing at 40% max.

Have you had this issue with any other runs?

Always run your still on distillate output and not by temp- a temp gauge can be a good tool- but always adjust the heat by the flow coming out of the still. I run mine slow- about 10 drips a second- I like to see the individual drips- I keep it right below a slow stream.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

I use PWB-
As soon as I’m done with the run I out on a pair of oven gloves and break the flour seal on the still. I’ve found the rye flour is the best to use- way easier to clean at the end of the day.
Break the seal- put the column and condenser on the ground.

Pickup the still – it will be extremely hot – and tilt it over. I dump it where I distill and have not noticed any issues with my grass- but my backyard is mostly trees. so my grass is not great looking.. Rinse the still really well with clean water. I also use a toilet scrubbing brush I only use on my stills to lightly scrub the still. I also use PBW (pro brewery wash) you can buy it at any homebrew shop or amazon- follow the directions on the container- it is a great cleaner. I use a carboy brush on the column- it is a perfect fit in the column- rinse it well and scrub. Any homebrew shop or amazon sells those as well- they are cheap.

I am sure there is a formula or calculator— I just pour everything into a large glass container- (I think it was originally for iced tea) it is 1 gallon- I fill it with my hearts from the run- drop in my hydrometer and add distilled water until I’m happy with the proof. It is simple- but will only work if you have enough liquid to make the hydrometer float- If you don’t have enough liquid just use a small glass jar.

You can also boil a gallon of vinegar in the still for an hour or so and rinse it off well.

Always dry the still and store it in a dry safe location

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

But what do i do with the other 3 jars? would jar #2 be the heads and jars #3 & #4 be the hearts? and the tails were left in the still?

Jar 1 is the going to be heads – if the other jars taste good I’d keep em. You can mix them together and then proof them as needed.

I recommend the broil king 1500 watt hot plate ($99 bucks online)

What size jars do you recommend i get for making cuts?

I use 8 ounce jars

Do you know approx how much product i should get off a normal 5 gal run?

on a full run- going deep into the tails. I run until the proof drops to about 10% ABV (20 proof) I collect around 1.5 gallons . I usually start with a mash around 8-10% abv

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Eaudevie,
Fermenting with wild yeast can be a really tricky thing- especially when trying to replicate a family recipe. If you live on the same property and are using the fruit from the same trees it is possible you could get the same strain of yeast. If you are in a different location using different fruit there it is going to be extremely hard to replicate the recipe exactly as you are going to be using a different wild yeast.
I have not had much luck with wild yeast- and I always use a good healthy dose of known yeast. Using a known yeast will give you consistent results which should no deviate too much from the family recipe. I have noticed that yeast does play an important role in distilling but the yeast flavor comes though much more in beer than distilled spirits. I would suggest using a well known yeast that will ferment everything all the way- and then once you have that dialed in start playing with wild yeast on smaller batches until you can culture a yeast you are happy with.
I would hate to waste 60ls of good fruit with a bad wild bacteria/yeast.

this is a great book on yeast: http://www.amazon.com/Yeast-Practical-Fermentation-Brewing-Elements/dp/0937381969/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444233699&sr=1-1&keywords=yeast

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Towards the end of the run it was coming out a tad thick.

A lot of times if you run deep into your tails it will start to turn cloudy – that is because you are picking up quite a bit of water and lower boiling point alcohols. I suggest using small collection jars and collecting in those as you do the run (number them as you go) That way you can determine the parts of the run when you are done. You can save the tails and add those to the next batch- or save all of your heads and tails and do a sprit run on those once you collect enough.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Q) is one to assume that crushed barley is a malted barley?
A) If you are buying crushed barley from a homebrew shop it will be malted barley.

Q)is this really important that it has been sprouted?
A) Yes- If you want to pull sugars from the malted barley it must be malted.

Just buy 2 row from any homebrew shop and it will be malted barley.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Rick-
The most noticeable visual difference between 2-row barley and 6-row barley is the number kernels on the head of the barley- 2 vs 6

Most brewers feel 2-row malt produces a fuller, maltier flavor.
Most brewers feel 6-row malt produces a grainier flavor in the finished produc- 6-row barley is only grown in North America.

Either 2 row or 6 row will work fine.

Any home-brew shop will have malted barely.here is an example: http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/brewers-malt-briess/4,12362.html

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Mash pH is important in all grain mashes, however you can make good mash without worrying about pH- you can make a better mash by adjusting the PH.
Try and keep the pH of the mash between 5.2-5.5. I try and keep it on the lower end at around 5.2.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

I have made this quite a few time with great results using moonshine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5vzWR62IQc

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Fresh corn can work really well. You will need quite a bit of it.

10 pounds sweet corn: I would cut the corn off of the cob and add it to a large mesh bag. Mash the corn with a potato masher inside a large kettle.
Add water to reach 5 gallons of total liquid
Heat liquid to 155 degrees
Add 2 pounds of malted barley (malted and ground in a mesh bag)
the temperature should drop to around 149- let it rest here for an hour
Take a hydrometer reading
Add sugar if needed to reach 1.065 starting gravity
Remove the mesh bags and strain the liquid
cool the mash to 165 ish
add yeast

ferment

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

You can try something like this:

3 pounds corn meal
5 pounds of sugar
2 packs of bread yeast or wine yeast
5 gallons of water

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

Nothing wrong with that- you might want to try making some apple pie or something for her as well. That will reduce the proof but it has a really nice flavor that my lady loves.

[Richard Coleman, Jr]

I always apply the flour paste when the boiler is at 130f
I always turn the condensing water on around 150f
Just crank the heat on the higest setting until it starts producing , and then dial it back until you have 1-3 drips a second. I like to have less than a full stream- I like to see the individual drips.

what temp are you fermenting? are you open fermenting? did you add yeast or are you trying natural fermentation?

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