What I Did Today

[YHB]

I added some vanilla extract to my Rum with raisins, after 48 hours it was cloudy with sediment, so I filtered it again and it is back to its beautiful chestnut colour.

It is the best yet, I am really pleased.

I found a dark cupboard to store the 5 Litre demijohn in where I won't be tempted to keep sampling it, I will see if I can last out until Xmas.

[Almanac]

I cleared my last two 25l batches of TPW ready for stripping this morning.

My current plan is to always have a still charge fermenting, i.e. 50l, so I decided to pitch some sugar wash with 2l of Corn Syrup I had made, from the last attempt to use flaked maize, and 250g of flaked maize added without boiling, to try to add a little flavour to the wash.

This time out I decided to use Capt C's yeast nutrient recipe instead of the Tomato Paste to see how it goes. The TPW has been OK but nothing to write home about and I've had to use Sparkolloid to get them clear for stripping - I like a good clear wash, it makes for a cleaner boiler

AM

[Almanac]

On 29 April I posted "3 X 25lt TPW started yesterday. One with Allinsons Bread Yeast, one with Vinoferm Champ Yeast and one with a French Bread Yeast I got in my local health food store."

AM

These three washes all finished at different times which is solely down to the different yeasts as all other conditions were identical in the three washes.

The Allinsons finished first and had fermented out to 0.990 in 5 days. The Vinoferm Champ took 9 days to reach 0.990 and the French yeast called Saf Levure took 12 days to finish and stopped with a FG of 0.992.

I wanted these washes as clear as possible going into the boiler and after racking off the Allinsons had cleared enough after sitting for five days. The Vinoferm Champ was still too cloudy after sitting for 5 days after it finished and the Saf Levure batch showed no signs of clearing. In the end I hit them all with a dose of Sparkolloid and they all got crystal clear overnight

For me the Allinsons yeast works best/fastest and clears sufficiently, relatively quickly, without fining.

AM

[amaark]

Finished stripping my second tpw.

Racked my first Cornflake's wash. I'm hungry off the smell already.

Anyone got any advice on cuts and blending etc.

[Almanac]

You could start here download/file.php?id=69

AM

[amaark]

Cheers AM, I'll have a read.

[edwatters]

Today I unwrapped 30 lbs of panela and have it melting in buckets so I can put an all panels wash together tomorrow.

[Almanac]

OK. I'll bite, what the hell is Panela?

AM

[edwatters]

Check out sugardaddy on MD, makes the most amazing rum:-) :-) :-)

[FullySilenced]

Its evaporated sugar cane juice.... no chemicals, no processing, all the minerals and sucrose is 20% molasses or figures out something like that i read SugarDaddy say...

you really need to read his information in the MD commercial section...

there is a video and link to his information.. his family owns the sugar plantation in Columbia nothing like keeping it all in house from growth to sales to the end users...

[amaark]

Cleaned up after a surge boil.

I think the spark's at work may be given a job tomorrow, Cut some copper earthing band into 1/2 inch squares. About 25 ought to do it with a twist to stop them laying flat.

I never knew a litre of fluid could cause such a mess.

[Frank]

After a big day helping a neighbour clear some scrub from fencelines etc, she asked if I would like a whisky, as she had bought a bottle 'dutyfree' and was waiting to share it with a fellow whisky drinker. "Yes please" said I...and back she comes; with a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label 43% and two tumblers.

So...today I drank the nicest store-bought, blended scotch I have ever tried.

[scarecrow]

waiting to share it with a fellow whisky drinker......So...today I drank the nicest store-bought, blended scotch I have ever tried.

I must have been out when the phone call came.....
And for $200 a bottle it would want to be the ants pants mate. Half ya luck.

scarecrow

[RumJohn]

Hey Amaark: If that surge happened during a spirit run, try throwing a stainless steel potscrubber in your boiler. Works better than coins and wharever else people try.

[amaark]

Thanks. I'll give it ago.