It’s like having a great neighbor who sadly moved away two years ago and suddenly moved back. Always fun to drop over and what he’s up to. Thanks, George!
Your past content has helped me so much. I am so glad to see any new content! I have started making a cherry bounce out of a neutral corn base, and love post flavoring my corn. In 10 months, I have reached several stages higher. I have mastered my 8-gallon pot, and just today fabricated and soldered a 1/2-gallon thumper with a 5-gallon bucket worm. 15 gallons of a triple grain sour mash ready Sat. and 8 gallons of Amanda Palmer will be ready Sat. I have found it easy to become a slave to the ferment. You do start having to plan your days on run days or cook days. I love the hobby and it has helped me come out of a funk. Being retired, I needed a hobby. And what a hobby this is.
Outstanding. So glad you are enjoying this hobby. This hobby keeps me young at heart and always learning. Just as you, knowing what to expect and how to control output feels so powerful and fullfilling. Happy distilling George
Having so much fun watching you do your thing, my friend!! I stopped by the Sugarland Distillery on vacation and was talking to the master distiller and everything I learned from you and applying it personally, just talking to him, he said "if you ever want a job, just stop in and ask for me, as it's obvious that you know your stuff!!" I was really blown away, and it's all thanks to you, George, my friend!!
Hi George, you have been really missed in your absence, by many!!! Thanks so much for your in-depthe knowledge!!!, and also thanks to B&B, Jessie, Highly Spirited, and Beaver for their ongoing input. Thank you guys, all and one!!!!!! You are all an inspiraton for this craft, thank you so much!
Welcome back George...all the way from Alberta, Canada! Although...I was born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. I truly enjoy your educated take on mixing a batch...especially when it reminds me so much of my grandfather who was a shiner too. I think my rubber boot is still stuck in the muskeg after granddad and I picked cranberries for a special brew he was dreaming up when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Hint - Hint. Look forward to following along. Cheers! Dan.
Yip, you're so right George. We have covered so much. Not only on this upload, but throughout the years, thanks to you big bro 🤝 👌 If I may add my 2 cents. I use a pressure cooker to gelitanize my corn. Just get to know your cooker times well. Mine turned out to soup first time. Probably have to batch do it, but saves so much time. Had to edit🧐 This is NOT for malted corn people!☝ 😉
I just tried a different way to add sugar to my mash and cool it down at the same time. I am making 8 gallons of mash (split to 2 5 gallon fermenting buckets). Start with 5 gallons of water to make the mash. Make a 3 gallon batch of basically simple sugar ( 3 gallons of water and 8#s of sugar) that I split into 4 plastic gallon jugs then freeze. When your mash is done cooking split it to the 2 buckets than add 2 of the frozen "pop-sickles" to each one. Cools it down fast and increased sugar at the same time!!
Professor George, you have my respect sir. I can't overstate how happy I am to have you back on UA-cam nor how much respect I have for your knowledge. I can't wait to see this whole process completed and see what the final product will be like. I have watched your previous series and I know what is coming but still it is great to see you do this again. I will have to watch the videos a couple of times to get all the information out of them but I don't mind in the least. Thank you very much for your time and energy on this Buddy. Peace.
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I for one appreciate that very much. As I said before I've watched all of your videos before but I want to see you do it "live".
They sent me that book with my still. I agree it is a good book. Glad to have read it. However, a book that is even better is the joy of home distilling. It is an amazing book.
Hey George, love seeing you back. Would you mind putting in the video some of the names and amounts needed of the various things you use. Helps some of us have a better understanding and reference where we can do it ourselves. I am about to start trying to do the gelatinized corn mash, also going to try some of the six row barley. Super excited to see how this all comes out. Thanks again and super glad you are back.
Here we go boys! Another installment of knowledge from our Pastor, George!!!! Thank you sir. 1 Question, Does DADY always stop with .010 left? or was my east just lazy? Good temp, PH ect.
It happens sometimes. The hydrometer can get confused when there are soluable solids (ever so small) floating around. At 1.010 I'd be confortable with that. You are more than likely done. Happy distilling George
Hey George, If I combine 4.5 gal. of apple juice with 4 lbs. of brown sugar, heat to blend, rest it, and through some yeast. Take a gravity reading, let it work for 7-10 days. Should it work? I'd rather us fresh, unpasteurized , cider, but it's out of season. Thanks, great show
George could you please add the equipment you use in the info section? I want to move away from to propane since I cant have have any open flames were I live. Thank you very much and so glab to have you back. Go crazy and try everything, get together with the @whiskeyTribe team for a collaboration.
I think the white board would help me visualize all the options for the amylase going in, holding what temp for how long or what Temps on the way down to look for etc..
I use room temp water. Really depends on if I need to cool down the mash while sparging or warm it up. The sparge is really a rinse with not molecular activity or temperature sensitive activity going on. Warm water does disolve sugars easier but the glucose we rinse during a sparge is already liquified and rinses easy. I gues it would have been easier to say it really doesn't matter unless you are focusing on another step of your own process. Happy distilling George
Much has to do with the final goal for the fermenter and how efficient the sparge is. I don't have a real sparge gallons to strike gallons. More of a feel and experience thing. George
Hello George, Good to have you back. Question. Water to use in a mash? Spring, Filtered, Distilled. Some say not to use tap water because of Chlorine, What say you about tap water?
Tap water is differnet in every community. In some instances it is a very good source of minerals and in others not so much. If there is ever a question or concern about tap water use spring water instead. Distilled water has had many of the needed nutrients and mineral removed through distillation. My overall test for tap water is : if it tastes good it is more than likely it is a good source for a mash. By the way, chlorine will disipate very quickly so it is not a real concern. In fact chlorine wants to leave water so much just leaving an open container of water overnight would be long enough for the chlorine to escape on its own. You have to work hard to keep chlorines in water. George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I live in Florida. Our water is pumped from deep wells. The aquifer is filled with limestone. We do have iron in the water naturally. Not a lot of chemicals are introduced in the water. I did a test and did a 5 gal birdwatchers mash. Brought a gallon of tap water to 150 F to dissolve the sugar. Rest was warm water out of the tap. 3 days and the mash is working well. So I guess I answered my own question by doing a small mash experiment. I used distilled water in a rum mash. It did not go so well. So thanx for explaining distilled water. Thank you for doing what you do. I have learned so much from your channel. I always recommend the beginners guide to people just starting out. Wondering if you might review it and see if it needs updating.
George love your teaching style never gets old. I always learn new nuggets from your videos. Do you ever use High Temperature Bacterial Alpha-Amylase to keep the corn from jelling at the high temps? I use a HERMS and the first time I did this my system got stuck with the corn gelatinizing what a mess! Looking forward seeing your next video.
I normally don't have that problem. II use plenty of water to avoid clumping dusring geletanization. Sounds like you found a way in your process and if it works, keep at it. George🙂
I am trying to determine whether you could bypass all the work of mashing the corn and would love to hear your opinion. Could I get the same essences and flavors in my distillate if I simply added cracked corn into a sugar wash. It is my assumption that the wash would pick up all the same oils and flavors from the corn whether it has been mashed or not, and those essences would carry over into the distillate. If anyone has an opinion or experience doing this, I'd love to hear about it.
Very cool. I really am enjoying the still spirits air still and I've been told that I make excellent shine. By the way that Zero water filter pitcher is excellent for filtering spirits. I did a basic sugar wash not long ago and I used the zero water filter pitcher to filter it after I dilluted it down to 40% ABV and then I aged it in sugar and hard wood maple spirals and it turned out to be a big hit. All of it was gone in less than 24 hours. I'm going to be doing some grape and orange crush in addition to some more sugar maple aged whiskey.
Some of the sweetness will carry over but if the level of residual sugar is low (around 1.010 or lower) the effects are negligable. If it is too high the sugars tend to scortch and leave a burnt taste in the product.
Why use cracked corn instead of flaked maize? Is it just about the money? Ever use high temperature amylase? I have some but haven't tried it yet. Supposed to be good up to boiling.
Price points are always a concern and teh extra work with cracked corn sometimes makes flaked maize a good choice for some. I have not tried the amylase you have. Give it a go and let us know how it works out. George
Yes. Lemon juice also works very well. Of course citric acid works too and is super easy to use and available in the grocery store. Check the canning supplies aisle for citric acid or cream of tater.
I normally sparge with lower temp water in an attempt to bring down the overall temp of the mash. Warmer water sparges better but I sacrafice a little efficiency ti lower the overall temp. If your devcie you use to sparge is efficiently made and works properly the difference is minimal between warm and cool water. All said and done, hot water works best ~120F but this will require additional cooling methods prior to pitching yeast. Hope this helps George
I've got a question.You said that you want to gelatinize the corn. When I think of gelatinous substances, the first thing that comes to mind is chicken fat. Do you really bring your corn to the consistency of chicken fat?
Sounds good. If the wheat and oats are flaked you may need a little amylase (additional) to ensure full conversion. I would also use 6 row barley which has the highest diastatic power of all the grains available. 2 row is good but 6 row is about 30% more powerful. Happy distilling George
I have been trying to distillFor two years now and I have one problem that I don't know how to fix over clear 120 proof spirits but I have not gotten any taste am I going to high temp and to fast please any help on this is greatfuly needed again please advise I am stuck at this point
If George ever wrote a book about distilling, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
if george held a master class with hands on lab time, i'd travel the country to take it
It’s like having a great neighbor who sadly moved away two years ago and suddenly moved back. Always fun to drop over and what he’s up to. Thanks, George!
Your past content has helped me so much. I am so glad to see any new content! I have started making a cherry bounce out of a neutral corn base, and love post flavoring my corn. In 10 months, I have reached several stages higher. I have mastered my 8-gallon pot, and just today fabricated and soldered a 1/2-gallon thumper with a 5-gallon bucket worm. 15 gallons of a triple grain sour mash ready Sat. and 8 gallons of Amanda Palmer will be ready Sat. I have found it easy to become a slave to the ferment. You do start having to plan your days on run days or cook days. I love the hobby and it has helped me come out of a funk. Being retired, I needed a hobby. And what a hobby this is.
So glad to hear this.
Happy distilling
George
Outstanding. So glad you are enjoying this hobby.
This hobby keeps me young at heart and always learning. Just as you, knowing what to expect and how to control output feels so powerful and fullfilling.
Happy distilling
George
Very nice to see you back Mr George!!
Having so much fun watching you do your thing, my friend!! I stopped by the Sugarland Distillery on vacation and was talking to the master distiller and everything I learned from you and applying it personally, just talking to him, he said "if you ever want a job, just stop in and ask for me, as it's obvious that you know your stuff!!" I was really blown away, and it's all thanks to you, George, my friend!!
That is awesome!
George your the man moonshiner
BEAUTY info. George , and thanks again.
Saw new post notice,immediately heard the song in my head!!!
Hi George, you have been really missed in your absence, by many!!! Thanks so much for your in-depthe knowledge!!!, and also thanks to B&B, Jessie, Highly Spirited, and Beaver for their ongoing input. Thank you guys, all and one!!!!!! You are all an inspiraton for this craft, thank you so much!
so glad you came back george!
So glad you’re back George.
George is back! Whoo-hoo! Fire in the distiller!
Glad to see you back. We all missed you a ton
I an a George fan! So glad you are back and still playing that hillbilly song! You are a master of the applied sciences.
Great to see you back George we missed you!!!
Thank you so much for coming back❤
Glad you're back
Welcome back. You were dearly missed.
Welcome back George good to see you
Glad to see you are back George!
So glad you are back. ❤
Thank you George May God bless you!
You have the best teaching delivery, appreciated.
I have learned things every time I watch! I will never stop learning! THANKS George!
I'm so glad to see your making videos again
so pleased to hear your voice and info ..
Dang, it's good to have you back, George!
Glad to be here.
George
So glad your back.
George, Just as other's have stated, You were missed...
Thanks for sharing, As I have a " Thirst for Knowledge" , You and this hobby help's both....
Great to see George is still around! Nice to see you back in action brother!
So good to have you back
Thanks George!
Welcome back from wales, UK. It’s great to experience your enthusiasm and knowledge “live”. Thanks for the videos
Love the vids bud im glad your back I watch your stuff all the time
So stoked that you're back!
Welcome back George...all the way from Alberta, Canada! Although...I was born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. I truly enjoy your educated take on mixing a batch...especially when it reminds me so much of my grandfather who was a shiner too. I think my rubber boot is still stuck in the muskeg after granddad and I picked cranberries for a special brew he was dreaming up when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Hint - Hint. Look forward to following along. Cheers! Dan.
Great to see you back George 👊👍,
Awesome information 👍
Missed you George very 😊happy your back😎
Always great to see your videos. I never could have succeeded in this hobby without them.
Glad you like them!
Great to have you back George. Thank you for all your hard work and inspiration.
I don't have time to watch this now but I know it's gonna be good so it gets a like, comment and saved for later! Welcome back old friend!
Thank you George!!
Good to see you back bro
welcome back George!!!!!!! From north of the 49TH Alberta Canada. You are a great teacher in guiding us along the distilling trail. THANK YOU
Welcome back!!! I missed you!
You always maken it simple George, Thankyou
This is such a great video full of great tips and information! Thanks George!
Yip, you're so right George. We have covered so much. Not only on this upload, but throughout the years, thanks to you big bro 🤝 👌 If I may add my 2 cents. I use a pressure cooker to gelitanize my corn. Just get to know your cooker times well. Mine turned out to soup first time. Probably have to batch do it, but saves so much time. Had to edit🧐 This is NOT for malted corn people!☝ 😉
I love your videos very informative
Always awesome, thank you sir
Thanks George
Great to see you back at it. Going to get my stuff out.
It's great to see you back george , I stated my distilling travel watching your videos.
I just tried a different way to add sugar to my mash and cool it down at the same time.
I am making 8 gallons of mash (split to 2 5 gallon fermenting buckets).
Start with 5 gallons of water to make the mash.
Make a 3 gallon batch of basically simple sugar ( 3 gallons of water and 8#s of sugar) that I split into 4 plastic gallon jugs then freeze. When your mash is done cooking split it to the 2 buckets than add 2 of the frozen "pop-sickles" to each one. Cools it down fast and increased sugar at the same time!!
Good stuff. To the point and informational.
Glad your back bud!
I just love your videos! So glad you're back! 💕
You do cover a lot of information and you cover it good. I appreciate it you have helped me learn a lot. THANK YOU
I started a 6 gallon run of corn today, and heres a fresh George upload!! Always great to see ya Sir. Thanks so much for all you have taught me 👍👍
good to see you back ;)
Thanks, George
I hope you're having a good day George. Stop and see me if you're ever in WV
Can't wait to see this cooking off George!
Very soon. We have a few more videos to get there.
I made a run with fermenting on the grain , turned out great. A little messy transferring to the pot, but I ended up with a great product 😀
Outstanding
Great to see you again.
your videos started me on the journey years ago and i haven't looked back
Happy distilling
George
Professor George, you have my respect sir. I can't overstate how happy I am to have you back on UA-cam nor how much respect I have for your knowledge. I can't wait to see this whole process completed and see what the final product will be like. I have watched your previous series and I know what is coming but still it is great to see you do this again. I will have to watch the videos a couple of times to get all the information out of them but I don't mind in the least. Thank you very much for your time and energy on this Buddy. Peace.
Thanks.
I figured it would be best to kind of start from the beginning in order to help/bring along new distillers.
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I for one appreciate that very much. As I said before I've watched all of your videos before but I want to see you do it "live".
They sent me that book with my still. I agree it is a good book. Glad to have read it. However, a book that is even better is the joy of home distilling. It is an amazing book.
I agree. It is also a great source of information.
George
Great video....be well and safe
Thank you sir
Love your videos George, top man!
Welcome back to UA-cam ❤
Its great to see you making videos again. Thank you for all you do.
Hey George, love seeing you back. Would you mind putting in the video some of the names and amounts needed of the various things you use. Helps some of us have a better understanding and reference where we can do it ourselves. I am about to start trying to do the gelatinized corn mash, also going to try some of the six row barley. Super excited to see how this all comes out. Thanks again and super glad you are back.
Will do. I will also add a recap in the next video about all of that.
Here we go boys! Another installment of knowledge from our Pastor, George!!!! Thank you sir. 1 Question, Does DADY always stop with .010 left? or was my east just lazy? Good temp, PH ect.
It happens sometimes. The hydrometer can get confused when there are soluable solids (ever so small) floating around. At 1.010 I'd be confortable with that. You are more than likely done.
Happy distilling
George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing Thank you sir.
You were in my neck of the woods. Hope you got to try copper run.
Great video, enjoyed. You mentioned you grew up in VA, what part? I'm from southwest VA myself and still hanging here.
Hey George, If I combine 4.5 gal. of apple juice with 4 lbs. of brown sugar, heat to blend, rest it, and through some yeast. Take a gravity reading, let it work for 7-10 days. Should it work? I'd rather us fresh, unpasteurized , cider, but it's out of season. Thanks, great show
Loving the bite size videos!
George could you please add the equipment you use in the info section? I want to move away from to propane since I cant have have any open flames were I live. Thank you very much and so glab to have you back. Go crazy and try everything, get together with the @whiskeyTribe team for a collaboration.
I think the white board would help me visualize all the options for the amylase going in, holding what temp for how long or what Temps on the way down to look for etc..
I may bring out the white board. Was thinking about that myself.
George, when you sparge, do you use hot water?
I do
I use room temp water. Really depends on if I need to cool down the mash while sparging or warm it up. The sparge is really a rinse with not molecular activity or temperature sensitive activity going on. Warm water does disolve sugars easier but the glucose we rinse during a sparge is already liquified and rinses easy.
I gues it would have been easier to say it really doesn't matter unless you are focusing on another step of your own process.
Happy distilling
George
What's your recommended sparge to gallons of strike water mate
Much has to do with the final goal for the fermenter and how efficient the sparge is. I don't have a real sparge gallons to strike gallons. More of a feel and experience thing.
George
I'll be in Branson next weekend. I'll be visiting Missouri Ridge distillery to discuss tips and tricks and processes...
Enjoy. Great place to visit and enjoy
Could you use a rolled oats or a porridge as a mash?
Hello George, Good to have you back. Question. Water to use in a mash? Spring, Filtered, Distilled. Some say not to use tap water because of Chlorine, What say you about tap water?
Tap water is differnet in every community. In some instances it is a very good source of minerals and in others not so much. If there is ever a question or concern about tap water use spring water instead. Distilled water has had many of the needed nutrients and mineral removed through distillation. My overall test for tap water is : if it tastes good it is more than likely it is a good source for a mash.
By the way, chlorine will disipate very quickly so it is not a real concern. In fact chlorine wants to leave water so much just leaving an open container of water overnight would be long enough for the chlorine to escape on its own. You have to work hard to keep chlorines in water.
George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I live in Florida. Our water is pumped from deep wells. The aquifer is filled with limestone. We do have iron in the water naturally. Not a lot of chemicals are introduced in the water.
I did a test and did a 5 gal birdwatchers mash. Brought a gallon of tap water to 150 F to dissolve the sugar. Rest was warm water out of the tap.
3 days and the mash is working well. So I guess I answered my own question by doing a small mash experiment.
I used distilled water in a rum mash. It did not go so well. So thanx for explaining distilled water.
Thank you for doing what you do. I have learned so much from your channel.
I always recommend the beginners guide to people just starting out. Wondering if you might review it and see if it needs updating.
George love your teaching style never gets old. I always learn new nuggets from your videos.
Do you ever use High Temperature Bacterial Alpha-Amylase to keep the corn from jelling at the high temps? I use a HERMS and the first time I did this my system got stuck with the corn gelatinizing what a mess! Looking forward seeing your next video.
I normally don't have that problem. II use plenty of water to avoid clumping dusring geletanization. Sounds like you found a way in your process and if it works, keep at it.
George🙂
I am trying to determine whether you could bypass all the work of mashing the corn and would love to hear your opinion. Could I get the same essences and flavors in my distillate if I simply added cracked corn into a sugar wash. It is my assumption that the wash would pick up all the same oils and flavors from the corn whether it has been mashed or not, and those essences would carry over into the distillate. If anyone has an opinion or experience doing this, I'd love to hear about it.
Very cool. I really am enjoying the still spirits air still and I've been told that I make excellent shine. By the way that Zero water filter pitcher is excellent for filtering spirits. I did a basic sugar wash not long ago and I used the zero water filter pitcher to filter it after I dilluted it down to 40% ABV and then I aged it in sugar and hard wood maple spirals and it turned out to be a big hit. All of it was gone in less than 24 hours. I'm going to be doing some grape and orange crush in addition to some more sugar maple aged whiskey.
WOW! great job. I really like the zero water filter. It is one of my all time favorites for polishing shine.
Im a long time wine maker, never distilled anything. What effect does having some residual sugar in your mash or wash have on distilling?
Some of the sweetness will carry over but if the level of residual sugar is low (around 1.010 or lower) the effects are negligable. If it is too high the sugars tend to scortch and leave a burnt taste in the product.
can you make a full video of a process for single molt barley whisky?
Will add this to the list of upcoming videos
Thanks
George
Why use cracked corn instead of flaked maize? Is it just about the money? Ever use high temperature amylase? I have some but haven't tried it yet. Supposed to be good up to boiling.
Price points are always a concern and teh extra work with cracked corn sometimes makes flaked maize a good choice for some.
I have not tried the amylase you have. Give it a go and let us know how it works out.
George
Hey George, What do you use to lower PH? Does cream of tarter work?
Yes. Lemon juice also works very well. Of course citric acid works too and is super easy to use and available in the grocery store. Check the canning supplies aisle for citric acid or cream of tater.
George - at what temperature do you sparge at?
I normally sparge with lower temp water in an attempt to bring down the overall temp of the mash. Warmer water sparges better but I sacrafice a little efficiency ti lower the overall temp. If your devcie you use to sparge is efficiently made and works properly the difference is minimal between warm and cool water.
All said and done, hot water works best ~120F but this will require additional cooling methods prior to pitching yeast.
Hope this helps
George
Hey George, so what was your job in the AF, where you enlisted or officer?
I was Army, enlisted and retired after 35 years. Great experience and proud to have served.
I've got a question.You said that you want to gelatinize the corn. When I think of gelatinous substances, the first thing that comes to mind is chicken fat. Do you really bring your corn to the consistency of chicken fat?
Not sure I can make the same connection with chicken fat.
Oh happy days 😊
how much corn did u put in the 7 gallon water
I used 6lb of crushed corn and 5lb of malted barley. It was around 6 gallons of water to start with.
George, are you still making and selling PID controllers? I need a dual controller able to handle 2 4500W elements.
Hi George,
Your opinion please
Straight crown Royal clone
Maybe 75 corn, 15 malt barley, 5 wheat, 5 oat
Sounds good. If the wheat and oats are flaked you may need a little amylase (additional) to ensure full conversion. I would also use 6 row barley which has the highest diastatic power of all the grains available. 2 row is good but 6 row is about 30% more powerful.
Happy distilling
George
I have been trying to distillFor two years now and I have one problem that I don't know how to fix over clear 120 proof spirits but I have not gotten any taste am I going to high temp and to fast please any help on this is greatfuly needed again please advise I am stuck at this point
Wow, PH 5.2 I never had a problem.