Do you plan to make another one alcohol making video? I find it highly relaxing. I like to listen to your calm Clint Eastwood voice and observe how grain becomes whisky... I watched this video a few times and I kind of know the plot already :D
Thanks for the information. I'm not a drinker but I love the process and I do all kinds of different things that are homemade and then I give away at Christmas and my family and friends are always surprised as to what I make for them each year and most tell me that they look forward to my gift more than any of the other gifts they get for one they know it's from the heart and it's not another gift card which seem to be so popular nowadays. This year they are all getting moose summer sausage from a moose I harvested on a trip to Newfoundland.... again ty...
Wow! Very thorough and informative. You didn’t skip a step in showing us your end to end process! Great job and thank you so much for sharing. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥃 Would love to know how long you age it for, and would love to see a follow up tasting video.
The recipe seems good that still though not sanitary welds or equipment. Thats a rubber clamp for plumbing not for use in alcohol. Some some great places in southern Ontario that can weld for you or just purchase the correct pieces.
Hi Mark, I enjoyed your video and liked the way you made your still work. I'm old school, and this gave me memories of my Grand father building his stills as I also do. I'm 70 and I am still building them after a big break since the early '70's. I like your Burbon videos especially, because it's time for me to finally make some. I have never made any, as the commercial Burbons really don't turn my crank much. I also am not a real quantity drinker, I'm more interested in flavors and building "oddball from scratch" stills, and I only just got back into it after retiring two years ago. So thank you for these interesting videos. Regards, John.
I have been aging cocktails in 2L and 5L barrels for over 3 years now, mostly Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, and I love it. There is a small distiller in my town and I bought some Corn Whiskey from him to age. I put it in a brand new 2L charred oak barrel and kept topping it up as the angels kept tasting it along with me. After a month, it was pretty darn good, after 2 months it was amazing. I decanted it back into the original bottles and sadly, it didn't fill them all back up. So, I brought the partially full bottle back the distillery and shared it with him. His only comment, other than it was damn good, was that it was a bit one note. Your series makes me want to try distilling my own whisk(e)y. Now, I just have to figure out a way to keep it from my wife...
Thank you for the very informative video. I just finished up flavoring a batch of spirit with some oak. I was wondering if you could help me with some questions I had about the wood itself. I did an experiment with baking wood and charring wood. Whereas the baked wood gave off a good flavor, the charred left an unpleasant aftertaste. I am not sure if I did something wrong. I know there are numerous factors to calculate here, but any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Jason, glad to hear your experience! I would say that experimenting with this is a great part of the hobby. I'm no expert, just passing on what I've done.
Hi, I just watched your video and I really enjoyed it. However I have two questions: 1. You mentioned that you distill the mash not later than 72 hours after starting the fermentation process. Is it really matters if the distillation is made later? If so, how big is the difference? 2. Do you reduce the strenght od alkohol after the aging or during the aging process? Looking forward to your reply. Grestings from Poland, Greg
Hi Grzegorz, glad you liked the video. If you let the mash ferment longer than 72 hours it will affect the taste negatively. Something to do with secondary fermentation that introduces some nasty components into the mash. I've tried longer fermentations and have been disappointed with the result. As a result I have to make sure my schedule will allow me to distill right on time. After it is distilled it will be about 80% alcohol on average. Then I reduce it to 65% for aging, then down to 40-45% for drinking. All the best!
Hi Mark, many thanks for your reply. I am going to make my first homemade bourbon, so this video as well as your replies to my questions will be definitely helpful. All the best! Greg
Thanks for the great content. I greatly appreciated watching. One comment is you say your grain bill is 60% corn, 15% rye and 15% barley. This only totals 90%. I'm curious as to what your grain bill is? Also seeing the only malt was in the barley, I don't think you have enough enzymes to convert all the starch assuming 2 row. But is you used 25% youre good to go. This maybe why you didn't ferment out completely dry.
Hi Robert, my mistake, the ratios were 70% corn, 15% rye, 15% malted barley. I don't think I converted all the starch, as the iodine test didn't really pass (was still darkish) However I did get about 6% alcohol in the mash after 70 hours of fermentation.
Hey! Enjoyed this 2 part series. Curious as to the process of burning your white oak. Also, how come red oak is unsuitable? Thanks for making this walk through!
Hey Jason! Bourbon barrels are charred on the inside, its a rule. I just char them in the fireplace, the more charred, the faster they age the whiskey. Red oak was never used because it doesn't make good barrels, rots out to fast. Red oak is an open grain wood, and gives a different flavour to the end product. Try it if you will, but after all that work, why risk it.
Hi guys.., Mark, I am experimenting with various ways of toasting, charring and baking Red Oak, as I'm up here in Red Oak country in the North Bay area and I have 15 cord in the yard for firewood each year. I have some alcohol on the go with a 50/50 chip mix at the moment, and my reason is that I believe that I can cure a Whiskey or Burbon with a just right mix and degree of toasted, char or baked wood chips that will take the boring out of the drinks.
Hey dude, I think if you used just a little of the enzymes to boost your barley it would make a difference. Corn has a lot of starch and if your barley has lost any of its diastatic power it may not be enough.
try toasting the oak instead of char. Big difference. Plus, you can then mix those for different tastes. Char is sharper, toast is sweeter, more vanillins.
What a great series of informative videos for the Urban Hillbilly. One question, I note that you separate the tails, but do you take off the heads? and how do you know when to cut over between heads and harts?
Thanks for the question. Regarding the heads, remember that on such a small still it is very difficult to separate the heads, as the transition is very rapid from heads to hearts. I basically start collecting when the still reaches 75°C, putting what I've collected till that point aside as it's likely mostly methanol (I save that as a cleaning product). So I can't really separate the heads is what I'm saying.
Hi sir I had finished my first distiliton following ur whole process but I’m convincing about the second distiliton should I bring whole alcohol that what I already got and put them again in still pot and do another distiliton ?
Yes, after the first distillation (the stripping run) take all of the distillate you have collected and distill it again. The distillate will be much higher alcohol content. Keep collecting the distillate till it lowers to about 70° alcohol and keep that for aging etc. continue running the still till most of the alcohol is extracted and set that aside to use in your next batch. It won't taste good, but there is still considerable alcohol in it. I usually do 8 or so batches of fermenting and stripping runs, then redistill it all at one time. Thanks for the question, all the best!
hi mark, you are using reflux, is there any flavor loss? i know as reflux systems are removing flavor from spirit. usually using for made vodka or high proof alchol
You may have answered this already so I apologize, but what was your total cost of raw grains to yield the 4.5L of bourbon? And total time you took you think?
They have some good deals on Ali Express. I would get a larger still, in the 35 - 50 liter range. The small still gets a bit tedious. Think about a column still with three or four bubble plates. It's a bit of money, but you'll be glad in the long run.
Job well done Sir!👏. Had a question on when to add flavors? Could you buy white oak barrels mix whatever flavor you wanted in the barrels let it age for however long then chop the barrels up and stick in glass? Vs adding straight to bourbon? Thanks.
Not sure. Scotch makers use used bourbon and sherry barrels. Because it imparts flavors. New oak does add a particular favour though. Why not experiment!
@@marktompkins8519 You do have the volume for that as there are lots of smaller barrels available on the market. I just purchased a new 2L new, charred white oak barrel to age a couple of bottles of white dog. You just need to make sure not to age it as long as one would in a standard barrel as the whiskey can soak in deeper than the char and then bring out the bitter tannins in the un-burned wood. I was told 80-90 days is plenty for the 2L that I have.
Great 2 part video Mark, thank you for sharing. Sorry for the late question, but did you char the oak yourself? Also, do you ever feel deflated when you consider that you effectively got 4ltrs from 8 mash runs equaling 144ltrs? :D Thank you again for your time
dearest. i want to thank you for the wonderful videos. i just have one question. you put the new bourbon to aging when the bourbon is at 65 percent alcohol. why that ? we usually buy bourbon that is 40 percent alcohol. thats what the jack daniels looks like. 40 42. why is that difference ? or do you re-dillute it again with water after you age it , in order to bring it from 65 to 40 ?
I'm not sure, but I believe most of the favour from the oak comes in the first few months. However whisky thats aged in oak for many years tastes pretty good!
Hi Mark! Fantastic video. One thing I don't think you mentioned that I had a question about was the heads. Did you not pull off any of the heads? You talked a lot about the tails, so that made me curious what you did with the heads. Thanks in advance.
Hi Adam. Regarding the Heads, There is hardly any volume of product between 65-75 degrees C, and some of it would be methanol anyway, so I just dump it. At least on my still anyway.
@@ThePewjumper Yes I have thought of it. When I'm stripping I just run the still to about 95 degrees C so I'm not to concerned with the ABV. However it would be useful on the spirit run, although I can pretty much tell the ABV by the temperature. I may put one on it though, just for fun!
I am having trouble understanding the quantities.. How many fermentation buckets did you have in total? My impression was that you ran the entire bucket from the first video to get 2L from the stripping run? In total you ended up with around 20L of stripping runs, so there was more that we didn't see?
Hi Shjanzey, I just showed one stripping run, at 18-20 liter volume. There was a total of 8 stripping runs using the amount of grain that I started with. Hope that clears things up for you.
You’re reading the alcometer / hydrometer incorrectly. It is supposed to be measured from the top of the meniscus, so you actually had closer to 26-27%. This is different to a graduated cylinder (volume) measurement which is read via the bottom of the meniscus. 👍
hello sir, my second (spirit) run hearts section smells like green banana. heads section smells like bourbon. is it something wrong? or i should i add heads to hearts a little bit? thank you.
Hard to say from here! Be careful with Heads, might contain methanol, especially if you have a small still. Remember that most of the whisky flavour comes from aging with toasted or charred white oak. I buy white (unaged) rye, barley and corn whisky (technically not whisky if it isn't aged) and compare the taste with my distillate just to make sure I have something worth aging.
@@marktompkins8519 thanks for your reply. i have 19lt pot still and 4 lt little pot still. stripping run in big one and spirit run in small one. i think i have to perform spirit run in my big pot still. first run always smells like more whisky than second run. but i think i am removing many flavors from my spirit while making cuts . it's taste is not bad and too easy to drink. but i cannot catch the flavors that smells sour and fruity like bourbon. when i open a bourbon bottle and smell it, there is sour fruity notes that i had never claim:( any suggestions? thank you.
Mate been watching your utube video making bourbon,I'm confused ,you have gone thru the whole tedious process of grain mash ,fermented and stripping run thru pot still setup and accumulated all the runs and NOW you convert the pot still to reflux,WHYbecause all a reflux still is strip all flavours to a neutral spirit with no taste.Why did you do that process. I thought you were trying to maintain the grain flavours
Hi Tyrone, while the reflux does strip some flavor I find that the drink tastes much better, I tried both ways. It's basically like distilling it an extra few times. Many pot still distillers use 'thumper pots' which achieve the same thing. Why not experiment both systems, have some fun!
Plus if you know what bourbon is and how it's made it's not supposed to be aged at any more than 125 proof not 65% that equates to 130 proof. I know that's splitting hairs but it's for a reason. The stronger the spirit that faster it will pull flavor from the wood.
Well done and very informative. I would double down on sugar get some volume . If i had to listen to that woman running her mouth like that all day . drinking heavily and making barrels full would be the top priority.
Yes, but technically one isn't allowed to 'sugar' the mash. It is low in volume, but if you want volume you can try rum, or better yet brandy. Just ferment a batch of wine, then run her through the still. Lots of yield, tastes good, ages well!
Hi Matt, I may not have done one! I find with the corn it never passes the test, maybe because there is so much starch present even though I mash for over 2 hours. A barley mash always passes after about 40 minutes. If anyone knows more about this please comment. Thanks for watching!
How do you get rid of the methanol during the first stage? Your viewers need to know that. Methanol is poison, ethanol is not. There are different boiling points for the two. Thank the good lord for making methanol have a lower boiling point. To all newbies, get rid of the methanol by temperature control before you even take a sip. Methanol will ruin your day, possibly kill you, at the very least give you an incredible hangover. I hate to be a buzzkill but this is pretty important. I can't believe you left this step out.
He commented that he throws everything out that comes out before 78 C, but I agree, he could have been a bit more stern about that step as it is critical.
Hey Bo, thanks for the comment. I do a spirit run because of my equipment, I can't get enough strength out of one run, too much nastiness in it. The second run cleans it up, and if I want to include tails I can. And the flavour is actually good. Nothing like a sugar run, believe me.
@@marktompkins8519 do your stripping runs sure, but when you do you spirit run keep it as a pot still and run it really low n slow. Save just a little bit of the original mash to cut the low wines with. Not much just experiment with how much. Oh and keep those backings and do a sour mash you will glad you did
Plus if you know what bourbon is and how it's made it's not supposed to be aged at any more than 125 proof not 65% that equates to 130 proof. I know that's splitting hairs but it's for a reason. The stronger the spirit that faster it will pull flavor from the wood.
Do you plan to make another one alcohol making video? I find it highly relaxing.
I like to listen to your calm Clint Eastwood voice and observe how grain becomes whisky...
I watched this video a few times and I kind of know the plot already :D
Thanks for the information. I'm not a drinker but I love the process and I do all kinds of different things that are homemade and then I give away at Christmas and my family and friends are always surprised as to what I make for them each year and most tell me that they look forward to my gift more than any of the other gifts they get for one they know it's from the heart and it's not another gift card which seem to be so popular nowadays. This year they are all getting moose summer sausage from a moose I harvested on a trip to Newfoundland.... again ty...
One of the best video series I've seen. Thank you
Wow! Very thorough and informative. You didn’t skip a step in showing us your end to end process! Great job and thank you so much for sharing. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥃
Would love to know how long you age it for, and would love to see a follow up tasting video.
Definitely interested in the tasting notes from this and/or previous batches that may have aged longer. Thanx for sharing!
Well done! You got a subscription. Thanks!
The recipe seems good that still though not sanitary welds or equipment. Thats a rubber clamp for plumbing not for use in alcohol. Some some great places in southern Ontario that can weld for you or just purchase the correct pieces.
Hi Mark, I enjoyed your video and liked the way you made your still work. I'm old school, and this gave me memories of my Grand father building his stills as I also do.
I'm 70 and I am still building them after a big break since the early '70's.
I like your Burbon videos especially, because it's time for me to finally make some. I have never made any, as the commercial Burbons really don't turn my crank much.
I also am not a real quantity drinker, I'm more interested in flavors and building "oddball from scratch" stills, and I only just got back into it after retiring two years ago.
So thank you for these interesting videos. Regards, John.
Thanks John, enjoy the hobby!
I have been aging cocktails in 2L and 5L barrels for over 3 years now, mostly Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, and I love it.
There is a small distiller in my town and I bought some Corn Whiskey from him to age. I put it in a brand new 2L charred oak barrel and kept topping it up as the angels kept tasting it along with me. After a month, it was pretty darn good, after 2 months it was amazing. I decanted it back into the original bottles and sadly, it didn't fill them all back up. So, I brought the partially full bottle back the distillery and shared it with him. His only comment, other than it was damn good, was that it was a bit one note.
Your series makes me want to try distilling my own whisk(e)y. Now, I just have to figure out a way to keep it from my wife...
Go for it
I just wanted to say thank you so much. You have taught me so much! 🤓
Good informative video. Many thanks for sharing your wisdom. ++++++
Really enjoyed both parts. Thank you.
Thank you very much for the informative video. It is so helpful
Great video, very informative.
Thank you for the very informative video. I just finished up flavoring a batch of spirit with some oak. I was wondering if you could help me with some questions I had about the wood itself. I did an experiment with baking wood and charring wood. Whereas the baked wood gave off a good flavor, the charred left an unpleasant aftertaste. I am not sure if I did something wrong. I know there are numerous factors to calculate here, but any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Jason, glad to hear your experience! I would say that experimenting with this is a great part of the hobby. I'm no expert, just passing on what I've done.
i know that JD wash's their barrels after they char them, it removes hard chems that occur during the burn. maybe thats the prob
Excellent explanation. Thanks for posting.
Your welcome.
thanks, if you don't have the best bourbon, you certainly have the best video about making it...
Great videos Mark! I wanted to give this a try & your video gives me a little more courage.
Hi, I just watched your video and I really enjoyed it. However I have two questions:
1. You mentioned that you distill the mash not later than 72 hours after starting the fermentation process. Is it really matters if the distillation is made later? If so, how big is the difference?
2. Do you reduce the strenght od alkohol after the aging or during the aging process?
Looking forward to your reply.
Grestings from Poland, Greg
Hi Grzegorz, glad you liked the video. If you let the mash ferment longer than 72 hours it will affect the taste negatively. Something to do with secondary fermentation that introduces some nasty components into the mash. I've tried longer fermentations and have been disappointed with the result. As a result I have to make sure my schedule will allow me to distill right on time. After it is distilled it will be about 80% alcohol on average. Then I reduce it to 65% for aging, then down to 40-45% for drinking.
All the best!
Hi Mark, many thanks for your reply. I am going to make my first homemade bourbon, so this video as well as your replies to my questions will be definitely helpful.
All the best!
Greg
Love the colour of your bourbon. Cheers 🥃
Nice video.. You need to more. Very informative.
Great video! I loved it and learned somethings. Can you describe how you disposed and calculated the amount of Methanol?
For the methanol, I basically toss the distillate that is produced up to 78°C, then keep the rest. It's usually not much more than a few tablespoons.
Thanks for the great content. I greatly appreciated watching. One comment is you say your grain bill is 60% corn, 15% rye and 15% barley. This only totals 90%. I'm curious as to what your grain bill is? Also seeing the only malt was in the barley, I don't think you have enough enzymes to convert all the starch assuming 2 row. But is you used 25% youre good to go. This maybe why you didn't ferment out completely dry.
Hi Robert, my mistake, the ratios were 70% corn, 15% rye, 15% malted barley. I don't think I converted all the starch, as the iodine test didn't really pass (was still darkish) However I did get about 6% alcohol in the mash after 70 hours of fermentation.
It was bottled on April 10th!!! That's my birthday
Hey! Enjoyed this 2 part series. Curious as to the process of burning your white oak. Also, how come red oak is unsuitable?
Thanks for making this walk through!
Hey Jason! Bourbon barrels are charred on the inside, its a rule. I just char them in the fireplace, the more charred, the faster they age the whiskey. Red oak was never used because it doesn't make good barrels, rots out to fast. Red oak is an open grain wood, and gives a different flavour to the end product. Try it if you will, but after all that work, why risk it.
i tried it, red oak gives too much cinnamon and clove flavors to spirit.
Hi guys.., Mark,
I am experimenting with various ways of toasting, charring and baking Red Oak, as I'm up here in Red Oak country in the
North Bay area and I have 15 cord in the yard for firewood each year. I have some alcohol on the go with a 50/50 chip mix at the moment, and my reason is that I believe that I can cure a Whiskey or Burbon with a just right mix and degree of toasted, char or baked wood chips that will take the boring out of the drinks.
Hey dude, I think if you used just a little of the enzymes to boost your barley it would make a difference. Corn has a lot of starch and if your barley has lost any of its diastatic power it may not be enough.
try toasting the oak instead of char. Big difference. Plus, you can then mix those for different tastes. Char is sharper, toast is sweeter, more vanillins.
I agree. Charting makes things happen faster though, which is something.
What a great series of informative videos for the Urban Hillbilly. One question, I note that you separate the tails, but do you take off the heads? and how do you know when to cut over between heads and harts?
Thanks for the question. Regarding the heads, remember that on such a small still it is very difficult to separate the heads, as the transition is very rapid from heads to hearts. I basically start collecting when the still reaches 75°C, putting what I've collected till that point aside as it's likely mostly methanol (I save that as a cleaning product). So I can't really separate the heads is what I'm saying.
@@marktompkins8519 Thank you Mark. That's clear now.
Just as a suggestion. I now use an alcohol refractometer. It’s so much more accurate and temperature does not effect it. Good job overall. 😊
Hi sir I had finished my first distiliton following ur whole process but I’m convincing about the second distiliton should I bring whole alcohol that what I already got and put them again in still pot and do another distiliton ?
Yes, after the first distillation (the stripping run) take all of the distillate you have collected and distill it again. The distillate will be much higher alcohol content. Keep collecting the distillate till it lowers to about 70° alcohol and keep that for aging etc. continue running the still till most of the alcohol is extracted and set that aside to use in your next batch. It won't taste good, but there is still considerable alcohol in it. I usually do 8 or so batches of fermenting and stripping runs, then redistill it all at one time. Thanks for the question, all the best!
Good video. I wish we could sample our whiskies together friend
The big bottle...that you put away...have you still got it lol ?
This is why I don’t do All grains anymore, too much work.
Out of All your runs, u came out with over 1 gal.?
hi mark, you are using reflux, is there any flavor loss? i know as reflux systems are removing flavor from spirit. usually using for made vodka or high proof alchol
You may have answered this already so I apologize, but what was your total cost of raw grains to yield the 4.5L of bourbon? And total time you took you think?
great video, I am about to buy my first stil , any recamondations
They have some good deals on Ali Express. I would get a larger still, in the 35 - 50 liter range. The small still gets a bit tedious. Think about a column still with three or four bubble plates. It's a bit of money, but you'll be glad in the long run.
Job well done Sir!👏. Had a question on when to add flavors? Could you buy white oak barrels mix whatever flavor you wanted in the barrels let it age for however long then chop the barrels up and stick in glass? Vs adding straight to bourbon? Thanks.
Not sure. Scotch makers use used bourbon and sherry barrels. Because it imparts flavors. New oak does add a particular favour though. Why not experiment!
@@marktompkins8519 have you ever aged in a barrel vs wood in glass?
@@u.s.marine766 no, don't have volume for that😢
@@marktompkins8519 You do have the volume for that as there are lots of smaller barrels available on the market. I just purchased a new 2L new, charred white oak barrel to age a couple of bottles of white dog. You just need to make sure not to age it as long as one would in a standard barrel as the whiskey can soak in deeper than the char and then bring out the bitter tannins in the un-burned wood. I was told 80-90 days is plenty for the 2L that I have.
Great 2 part video Mark, thank you for sharing. Sorry for the late question, but did you char the oak yourself? Also, do you ever feel deflated when you consider that you effectively got 4ltrs from 8 mash runs equaling 144ltrs? :D Thank you again for your time
Yes I char the oak, either in the fireplace or with a propane torch. And yes, the small yield can be discouraging!
dearest. i want to thank you for the wonderful videos. i just have one question. you put the new bourbon to aging when the bourbon is at 65 percent alcohol. why that ? we usually buy bourbon that is 40 percent alcohol. thats what the jack daniels looks like. 40 42. why is that difference ? or do you re-dillute it again with water after you age it , in order to bring it from 65 to 40 ?
Hi it ages at 60 %, then gets diluted.
Do you have another video for how you made your rum?
No I don't, sorry. Making Rum and Brandy is easy compared to Whiskey. Let me see what I can do with that!
@@marktompkins8519 Thanks
GREAT video . Thx. Not that its about cost, but I wonder if you've tracked how much the products cost vs. just "buying a bottle".
IN Canadian $ it costs about $6 a bottle. So it is cheaper, but does involve a bit of time.
How often do you have to make new charred wood to use , or I guess how long can you use the charred wood before it's no good?
I'm not sure, but I believe most of the favour from the oak comes in the first few months. However whisky thats aged in oak for many years tastes pretty good!
so cool
Mark, I did not see any references to removing foreshots, do you not discard any foreshots from your spirit run?
Yes I did, I don't start collecting untill the temperature reaches close to 78c
Hi Mark! Fantastic video. One thing I don't think you mentioned that I had a question about was the heads. Did you not pull off any of the heads? You talked a lot about the tails, so that made me curious what you did with the heads. Thanks in advance.
Hi Adam. Regarding the Heads, There is hardly any volume of product between 65-75 degrees C, and some of it would be methanol anyway, so I just dump it. At least on my still anyway.
@@marktompkins8519 Have you ever used or thought about using a parrot? Or is it not really worth it to you to use?
@@ThePewjumper Yes I have thought of it. When I'm stripping I just run the still to about 95 degrees C so I'm not to concerned with the ABV. However it would be useful on the spirit run, although I can pretty much tell the ABV by the temperature. I may put one on it though, just for fun!
Great video! Why not use red oak chips for aging? I thought they used white oak because that’s what they had… I have red oak… Thank you!
Toastwd/charred white oak is used, it has sugars and vanilans which get released and giveth whisky its flavor.
i tried toasted red oak pieces (finger size) gives too much cinnamon and clove flavors to spirit.
Thank you sir for your information.
What about the heads?
Well done mate.
I am having trouble understanding the quantities.. How many fermentation buckets did you have in total? My impression was that you ran the entire bucket from the first video to get 2L from the stripping run? In total you ended up with around 20L of stripping runs, so there was more that we didn't see?
Hi Shjanzey, I just showed one stripping run, at 18-20 liter volume. There was a total of 8 stripping runs using the amount of grain that I started with. Hope that clears things up for you.
@@marktompkins8519 thanks for the clarification Mark, that helps a lot
For all those who want to know the technical term, the spirit run is fractional distillation.
You’re reading the alcometer / hydrometer incorrectly. It is supposed to be measured from the top of the meniscus, so you actually had closer to 26-27%. This is different to a graduated cylinder (volume) measurement which is read via the bottom of the meniscus. 👍
Thanks for that info, glad to know I had more alcohol that I initially thought! Good News!
hello sir, my second (spirit) run hearts section smells like green banana. heads section smells like bourbon. is it something wrong? or i should i add heads to hearts a little bit? thank you.
Hard to say from here! Be careful with Heads, might contain methanol, especially if you have a small still. Remember that most of the whisky flavour comes from aging with toasted or charred white oak. I buy white (unaged) rye, barley and corn whisky (technically not whisky if it isn't aged) and compare the taste with my distillate just to make sure I have something worth aging.
@@marktompkins8519 thanks for your reply. i have 19lt pot still and 4 lt little pot still. stripping run in big one and spirit run in small one. i think i have to perform spirit run in my big pot still. first run always smells like more whisky than second run. but i think i am removing many flavors from my spirit while making cuts . it's taste is not bad and too easy to drink. but i cannot catch the flavors that smells sour and fruity like bourbon. when i open a bourbon bottle and smell it, there is sour fruity notes that i had never claim:( any suggestions? thank you.
What piece of wood is added for colour? Please
White oak, slightly charred in the fire
How long do you age it for
@@Truckeronabudget they say 3 years or 3 months. Which ever comes first🤪
Mate been watching your utube video making bourbon,I'm confused ,you have gone thru the whole tedious process of grain mash ,fermented and stripping run thru pot still setup and accumulated all the runs and NOW you convert the pot still to reflux,WHYbecause all a reflux still is strip all flavours to a neutral spirit with no taste.Why did you do that process. I thought you were trying to maintain the grain flavours
Hi Tyrone, while the reflux does strip some flavor I find that the drink tastes much better, I tried both ways. It's basically like distilling it an extra few times. Many pot still distillers use 'thumper pots' which achieve the same thing. Why not experiment both systems, have some fun!
Plus if you know what bourbon is and how it's made it's not supposed to be aged at any more than 125 proof not 65% that equates to 130 proof. I know that's splitting hairs but it's for a reason. The stronger the spirit that faster it will pull flavor from the wood.
You're so right about that. I was aging at 75% for a while, really taste 'woody' in a hurry.
You didn't get rid of the foreshots.They are poisonous.
Well done and very informative. I would double down on sugar get some volume . If i had to listen to that woman running her mouth like that all day . drinking heavily and making barrels full would be the top priority.
Yes, but technically one isn't allowed to 'sugar' the mash. It is low in volume, but if you want volume you can try rum, or better yet brandy. Just ferment a batch of wine, then run her through the still. Lots of yield, tastes good, ages well!
Did I miss the iodine test?
Hi Matt, I may not have done one! I find with the corn it never passes the test, maybe because there is so much starch present even though I mash for over 2 hours. A barley mash always passes after about 40 minutes. If anyone knows more about this please comment. Thanks for watching!
How do you get rid of the methanol during the first stage? Your viewers need to know that. Methanol is poison, ethanol is not. There are different boiling points for the two. Thank the good lord for making methanol have a lower boiling point. To all newbies, get rid of the methanol by temperature control before you even take a sip. Methanol will ruin your day, possibly kill you, at the very least give you an incredible hangover. I hate to be a buzzkill but this is pretty important. I can't believe you left this step out.
He commented that he throws everything out that comes out before 78 C, but I agree, he could have been a bit more stern about that step as it is critical.
Will you be my friend
Why would you run it reflux? That kinda defeats the whole purpose. You want that flavor from the grains otherwise just make a sugar wash.
Hey Bo, thanks for the comment. I do a spirit run because of my equipment, I can't get enough strength out of one run, too much nastiness in it. The second run cleans it up, and if I want to include tails I can. And the flavour is actually good. Nothing like a sugar run, believe me.
@@marktompkins8519 do your stripping runs sure, but when you do you spirit run keep it as a pot still and run it really low n slow. Save just a little bit of the original mash to cut the low wines with. Not much just experiment with how much. Oh and keep those backings and do a sour mash you will glad you did
Virgin project ha ha ha 😂👍🏻🏆 Funny!
That is not a beverage good sir 😂
You are correct, but it is the basis for making a beverage!
Jimmy cracked corn and I still don't care...lol...
Straight alcohol
Plus if you know what bourbon is and how it's made it's not supposed to be aged at any more than 125 proof not 65% that equates to 130 proof. I know that's splitting hairs but it's for a reason. The stronger the spirit that faster it will pull flavor from the wood.