StillSmart

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-02-17T14:30:55+00:00

chill, you said: "I would not advise adding tails to a stripped wash. Add it to the wash before stripping. If you need more volume later, use more stripped wash, or add water and adjust what you collect"

Of course you're right, and that's what I did. I just didn't describe it clearly, but thanks for the reminder. I had filled the 5 gallon Better Bottle to the brim, so when I emptied it the "head space" that I had used instead for storage yielded up a partial, "bonus" demi-gallon" which I added saved tails to to make up the volume difference, thereby giving me a 6th run out a purportedly 5 gallon container.

An update on the 3rd generation: After a healthy and rollicking start, this one has turned meek. Not near as much krauzen as the previous 2 batches and much more sedate activity overall. Still healthy and plugging along, though; just not the beast her mother was. This one waxes her upper lip and gets manicures, whereas mama had a hairy mole on her lip and a wild light in her eye - and would no doubt tear up your back with scratches, given the chance.

EasyDrinker: I read your post and felt the buttache. You almost want to set up a big, automated, "Lazy Susan" that rotates a jarwidth every 6 or 7 minutes, don't you? Switch it on at first drips, then check back (don't go far!) every now and then until the Circumnavigation of Homemade Intoxication completes the Circination of your Current Distillation.

Hazards of having a magpie nest mind - I read your comment with a heavy, Hollywood Scottish accent going in my head (as I usually do) and it sparked a vague memory of a Scot-penned poem mentioning tedium that I had enjoyed some time back. A little noodling brought Jackie Kay back onto the stage, and into the spotlight, of my brain to read her "Divorce," and especially the part that declares with sullen outrage (and not a little tongue-in-cheek, I think):

"I cannot suffer
any longer: Mother, you never, ever said
a kind word
or a thank-you for all the tedious chores I have done;
Father, your breath
smells like a camel’s and gives me the hump;
all you ever say is:
‘Are you off in the cream puff, Lady Muck?’
In this day and age?
I would be better off in an orphanage."

That she is a mulatto lesbian-o just makes her all the more intriguing, eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiP684Ss3FI

Note to self: I must remember to read "Brendon Gallacher" to the grandkids next time they're up to visit.

Statistics: Posted by Cherry Yidaki — Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:30 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-02-15T23:22:24+00:00

Cherry Yidaki wrote:
Excellent! This looks like a good place to update my split pea enterprises:

This is good stuff!

Question: Is there a chart showing the cut ratios when processing a 2nd spirit run - and 3rd? The one I've seen deals with your initial spirit run, with the 20 little jars. What do you do (and get) that's different with subsequent runs of the same liquor?

Not to my knowledge;If you would like to blaze a trail,please do so.

Having now trialled lentil/split pea washes against a couple of different "turbos",what can I say other than they work,rather well.

For me a "turbo" still comes out on top,but split peas,sugar and yeast are available in the nearest supermarket.

Still working on any taste differential,and expect tomorrow to be a heavy evening,even with spit and rinse.
Many small bottles to deal with.
I remember a time that this would not have seemed a chore!
Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:22 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-02-15T23:12:34+00:00

Hi CY,

- I would not advise adding tails to a stripped wash. Add it to the wash before stripping. If you need more volume later, use more stripped wash, or add water and adjust what you collect

- the subsequent washes likely take off faster as there is more yeast and it is already actively digesting sugar

- if you are wondering if something is going to mellow out... it won't. It might, possibly, for something like Rum if there is a small amount. With a sugar wash, forget it. You will just regret it later. If you are unsure at all, it goes in the heads or tails (depending on which end of the run it is from. Better to recycle than to find out three months from now that it still tastes bad. It is hard to control innate human greed, but your drink will be better for it.

- you are asking about re-distilling a sprit run after making cuts? e.g. a third or fourth distillation? Volume of ABV in to volume of ABV out (e.g. 4L of 30% strip will give the same resulting volume and ABV as 4L of 30% spirit run). The difference is that the fore, head and tail cuts will get much smaller and the hearts will be cleaner.

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:12 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-02-15T22:45:49+00:00

Excellent! This looks like a good place to update my split pea enterprises:

Wash#1 fermented well, though was no speed demon (probably due to temps. It took several days to for a krausen. When it was finished it drowned the hydrometer down to the last marking on the scale. I racked a little over 5 gallons off into a Better Bottle, then added sugar, water and a little baking soda to the stuff left in the bottom of the bucket. Using tails to make up some of the volume, I was able to get enough strip to do two spirit runs. Diluted them down and did another as well. Very nice stuff, I think. I wish I could go to a cutting class to make sure what I am doing there, though. I get a little confused, even with the excellent guides and mentoring to be found on this site. The characters of the flavors change so much over time, I haven't yet learned what's going to mellow out - and what's going to turn surly and mean - over time.

Wash#2 took off and finished more quickly than it's progenitor. It was so lively that it was fun just to watch the krausen heave and ripple and spit when I looked in the bucket. It dropped the lumpy foam floater a couple days ago and the hydrometer said "Hoo, boy!" so this morning it got racked off and once again water and sugar (and baking soda) got added to that same slurry of old split peas and yeast. The 3rd generation took off even faster than the previous 2. Within hours a nice krausen can be seen forming and the bubbler is a bubbling. Aidanmac says the peas and yeast are only good for 3 generations, but I might be temped to go 4 or more just to see what happens? This is good stuff!

Question: Is there a chart showing the cut ratios when processing a 2nd spirit run - and 3rd? The one I've seen deals with your initial spirit run, with the 20 little jars. What do you do (and get) that's different with subsequent runs of the same liquor?

Statistics: Posted by Cherry Yidaki — Sat Feb 15, 2014 10:45 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-02-15T22:22:36+00:00

My washes also take about 2 weeks to finish, regardless of what I am using. Maybe it is something in the Canadian water? My water is about ph 5.5 so it does not take much to make it acidic enough to retard fermentation. I find that using a ph buffer prevents slower ferments and stalling, but 2 weeks is about as good as it gets.

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Sat Feb 15, 2014 10:22 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-02-15T19:44:18+00:00

Hi all,

So my lentils wash went as we all expected. Great!

I used a heating belt to keep temps proper. Took longer to ferment than others have reported but when it finished it was dry, dry, dry! Perfect for the still. The lentils worked like a charm to feed the yeast till the very end. I didn't get a very aggressive fermentation at all, barely any kroisin.

I've been traveling for work and since I did this wash over a month ago, I can't remember exactly how long it took to finish but I think it was 2 weeks from start to clear.

The wash cleared out to crystal clear by the end of it.

I think if I had temps higher it would have finished faster but I didn't want it to ferment too warm to avoid off flavors.

All in all this will now be my goto wash. Cheap, almost drinkable even in wash form and clears out to practicaly water with just a hint of orange from the lentils.

I've purchased another huge fermenting bucket so I can do 2 washes at once. This will enable me to strip enough liquor so I can do a spirits run right away without waiting for for the second batch to ferment in the same fermenting vessel.

I'm so happy with this recipe that I'm not interested in trying anything else for my everyday neutral wash in the near future. Ingredients are cheap/easy to get, and its simple to execute.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get this recipe going and aidanmac, once again you are the man!!!

I should be around the forums more for the next while as travel with work shouldn't be to crazy.

Cheers!

Drewzy

Statistics: Posted by Drewzy — Sat Feb 15, 2014 7:44 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-01-17T17:26:22+00:00

Just a nice, clean result. Third one is fermenting now.

Statistics: Posted by chill — Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:26 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2014-01-17T05:29:44+00:00

How did these turn out? Anything interesting to report?

Statistics: Posted by Cherry Yidaki — Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:29 am

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-30T22:53:49+00:00

I put my second on last night, using the whole lentils this time instead of the orange ones. The first is ready to strip. There is something in legumes that the yeast sure likes!

Statistics: Posted by chill — Mon Dec 30, 2013 10:53 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-30T20:56:13+00:00

Your should be about 10days into your lentil wash now Dewzy, how's it going??.
As I've only ever done sugar wash's since starting this hobby (18 months) I'm thinking of giving this recipe a go.

Statistics: Posted by Icefever — Mon Dec 30, 2013 8:56 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-19T22:49:46+00:00

that's an easy way to look at it John51.

I'm going to try and stick to this lentils wash for a bit and see it through to a sprits runs, then work out the cost per bottle (which I already know is wayyyy cheaper than what I was doing before). I have all the faith in Mac's recipe that it will produce a very clean neutral so I'm sure I will stick with this one for a long time.

cant wait until I get in a grain wash and the rest.

Cheers!

Drewzy

Statistics: Posted by Drewzy — Thu Dec 19, 2013 10:49 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-17T13:54:00+00:00

As with all of my hobbies, I work to a simple budget. For distilling my budget is £2 per litre of near enough 40% booze. As long as it comes in under budget I don't care what it costs.

6Kg of sugar from Aldi = £5.10

Vodka Star yeast = £2.75 (bought in bulk)

leccy for still = £2.20 (long run time)

Total £10.05, result 7.5L of 45% spirit = £1.34 per litre. Under budget, no worries. That's without keeping/recycling the heads.

Statistics: Posted by John51 — Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:54 pm

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-17T08:43:45+00:00

+1 what YHB posted. this is a very clean recipe and while the output doesn't require carbon filtering I take 4lt of the very centre of the Heart from the spirit run for my wife's vodka and this I do carbon filter that element. The rest I put on Oak and that definitely doesn't need to be messed with.

AM

Statistics: Posted by Almanac — Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:43 am

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-17T01:28:43+00:00

YHB,

thanks very much for your answers. I will use your recommendation as I've been reading a lot over the last week trying to cram my brain full of knowledge and everything I read about washes points to the lower the alcohol ABV of the wash the cleaner it will be with less off tastes...yeast doesn't get stressed out and such.

is 1kg per 4L your magic spot for clean neutral wash?

Cheers!

Drewzy

Statistics: Posted by Drewzy — Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:28 am

Re: lentils wash...first timer

2013-12-17T00:25:58+00:00

I do have a couple questions before I go ahead and start the lentils wash.

1. I am looking to do a 42L wash (double what Big Mac's original recipe is)...is it as simple as doubling all ingredients?

2. will this wash double distilled through my reflux still be clean enough to not have to carbon filter?

If you interested in the opinion of someone who has never made this wash

1) Yes double everything but if I was making it I would stick to 5 kg per 21 litre at the most. My rule of thumb is now 1 kg per 4 litres, so 21 litres is 4.2 kg. or for your batch 8.4 kg

2) From what I have read, I am sure it will and be even more sure if you go with my answer to question 1)

Statistics: Posted by YHB — Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:25 am