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Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2019 8:54 pm
by Chocko6969
bluc wrote:Chocko thats a very nice still you have there :handgestures-thumbupleft: gotta pull my finger out and polish mine up :oops:


Thanks bluc, it's not so shiny in some parts now, all I can say is don't use the high temp clear from the supa not so cheap, it's rubbish and discolours and becomes tacky with a little heat. White Knight clear high temp is excellent.

Chocko

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 3:04 pm
by Bigtrev
Im having trouble getting barley in my area at the moment. Can i put in extra wheat or corn, or am i wasting my time without barley?

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 8:16 am
by woodduck
You can but it will change the flavour, whether that bothers you or not?
You could try rye for a Tennessee whiskey. Just remember rye needs time on oak to mellow.

If it's say 3rd generation you may get away with just leaving the barley out?

Good luck

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 11:12 am
by Bigtrev
What flavour difference does the barley make? Could i do 1st generation with corn and wheat and add barley in subsequent generations.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:02 am
by Beerswimmer
Just lit the fire on a spirit run of 3 gens of this. Only difference was I mashed Vienna malt, the backset from the strips smelled like caramel candy! I added 4 gallons of it to the thumper.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 1:34 pm
by Chocko6969
Hi fellas and however you identify, I'm on my 4th gen of this and loving what I'm getting out of it so far, I just have a question on the speed of the ferment.

OP says 3-4 days, but mine have been probably 5 days gen 1 and getting progressively longer. The ferment itself appears to bolt along nicely but just drags out, gen 4 will be 7 days tomorrow? Temp has been good, never under about 22c, SG is showing about .995 and airlock is pushing a bubble about every 8 seconds.

Is it possible I've not been taking enough grains after siphoning and/or replacing with too many, grain bed looks to be about 7ltrs (standard 30ltr fermenter). As I said the yeast seems to be healthy and doing it's job just fine. I'm getting expected yields but my last wash was a bit cloudier than usual, maybe I'm just moving too quick and it's just the way it is. Original grains and replacements to date are 50% cracked maize, 25% wheat and 25% malted barley. pH has been good from day one, between about 3.9 - 4.4

Any thoughts appreciated.

Cheers,

Chocko

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 2:46 pm
by RC Al
What yeast?

If you started in winter/spring I can only speculate that as your yeast needs some time to adjust/evolve to the higher average temps that most of us have been getting, you only mentioned min temps...

Have you added more vitamin tab at all? swapping grain dosent add any of those goodies back

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 3:37 pm
by Chocko6969
RC Al wrote:What yeast? Lowans bakers yeast

If you started in winter/spring I can only speculate that as your yeast needs some time to adjust/evolve to the higher average temps that most of us have been getting, you only mentioned min temps... Yep started for to five weeks ago while it was still 'coolish' I guess. We've had some decent temps here especially over the last week

Have you added more vitamin tab at all? swapping grain dosent add any of those goodies back
Yes I've been adding a MV tab each generation, is this correct or leave it out after gen 01?


Cheers,

Chocko

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 5:59 pm
by RC Al
1 Tablet is fine, maybe wasting it a bit

You may need to let it settle for a bit longer, much of the cloudiness is yeast

How are you aerating it? Boiled water and backset have very low oxygen levels. Before adding the dunder, I usually give my generational mashes some warm water and then a good stir, ensuring that all of it gets unstuck from the bottom. This usually makes the used grain husks float up more as it's swirling aroud, I then use a kitchen sieve to grab out however much grain I want to swap out. I usually add a tiny amount of sugar and wait an hour or so. This can be done while you're boiling up if your space suits - giving the beasties ample time to multiply before adding the bulk of the sugar and dunder from the run.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:55 pm
by Chocko6969
RC Al wrote:1 Tablet is fine, maybe wasting it a bit

You may need to let it settle for a bit longer, much of the cloudiness is yeast

How are you aerating it? Boiled water and backset have very low oxygen levels. Before adding the dunder, I usually give my generational mashes some warm water and then a good stir, ensuring that all of it gets unstuck from the bottom. This usually makes the used grain husks float up more as it's swirling aroud, I then use a kitchen sieve to grab out however much grain I want to swap out. I usually add a tiny amount of sugar and wait an hour or so. This can be done while you're boiling up if your space suits - giving the beasties ample time to multiply before adding the bulk of the sugar and dunder from the run.


Thanks Al, but all of what you said sounds very similar to what I'm doing, and I think it's simply a matter of time and patience on my part!

Cheers,

Chocko

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:10 pm
by Bigtrev
I have finished 5 generations using this recipe. I've got around 30 litres of 50% from my stripping runs. This will be the first time doing a spirit run. Should i dilute this or run at 50%. Using a 50 litre pot still with an electric element. how many litres of hearts should i expect to get and what size containers to make cuts. Thankyou any advice appreciated.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:42 pm
by bluc
Never put above 40% in your still.
Fair while since I used a pot think i used to keep
1.8-2l 65% per 5l low wines at 40% that was with rum.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:01 pm
by db1979
Bigtrev wrote:I have finished 5 generations using this recipe. I've got around 30 litres of 50% from my stripping runs. This will be the first time doing a spirit run. Should i dilute this or run at 50%. Using a 50 litre pot still with an electric element. how many litres of hearts should i expect to get and what size containers to make cuts. Thankyou any advice appreciated.

I'd probably use 300 to 400 mL cuts, and the jars either side of hearts that don't make it in the final hearts cut can be kept for a feints run later.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 1:39 pm
by Bigtrev
So i ran it last night and got around 18litres of 75%. I hit tails at 65% and stopped distilling. The product left over in the still is around 10-12%. Should i discard this or keep it for a feints run in the future.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 3:47 pm
by Birdman85
Just a stupid question for a Saturday.

The recipe calls for the grains in Litre amounts. Is that just filling a liquid measuring glass to the litre line or is there some mass to volume ratio thing for it?

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:13 pm
by bluc
Yep just fill to litre line in measuring jug :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sun May 10, 2020 9:18 pm
by Birdman85
Just ran my first gen. Had it sitting a bit long and was worried it might sour or something but it came off a treat. Didn't read the instructions properly and was expecting 8-9 litres. Dipped a finger at 4L and noticed we were really low in the alco levels so I pulled her up shortly after at about 4.5L.

Got the 2nd gen on now, just waiting for her to come to life. Might need to throw the heat belt around it tomorrow.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 7:17 am
by Lesgold
Run it down to about 20% abv. Don’t want to waste any of the good stuff.

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2020 2:00 pm
by Birdman85
Just washed out my 2nd gen. All the way down to 20% I got 4.5L.

Used the slops to melt the sugar and got 2 batches on the go now. The fresh batch started bubbling away within seconds.

Dont know if I'm reading it right but this is the hydrometer readings.
Snapchat-62933074.jpg


Snapchat-1246243305.jpg


Do these readings look right?

Re: Mac's Bourbon Whiskey Knock Off (BWKO) Discussion

PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2020 6:40 pm
by dans.brew
Look pretty good to me... about what i used to get anyway.
Ideally you don't want floaties in your sample when trying to get an accurate gravity reading.