StillSmart

Hi Everyone,

I've read where lots of people have used tried and true whiskey recipes like UJSSM, DWWG, Cornflakes wash, Allbran wash, and Sweetfeed. My question is about the taste profile of each/any of these. What do they taste like? I'm trying to get feedback from those who have tried these recipes as to how they taste. Is there a comparable commercial brand that is similar? How would you describe it?

Thanks in advance.

rhinus

Rhinus,

The recipes you quote are all "Sugarheads", this means that the Alcohol is produced by sugar added to the wash. Other items that are added to the wash are there to provide either nutrients for the yeast, flavour or sometimes both.

To the best of my knowledge there are not many commercial enterprises that use sugarheads, generally they use the natural sugar in the raw materials or convert the starches they contain into fermentable sugars giving a totally different flavour. So there are not many like for like products that you could compare.

Some members here are trying to produce a specific taste and work hard at that goal, I personally do not have a specific drink in mind and am happy to make a Weetabix and Allbran or Cornflake sugar head and enjoy them. You ask what it tastes like - well it sort of tastes like Weetabix and Allbran and I am anticpating that the Cornflake brew that I am currently making will taste totally different to anything that I have tasted before, but thats half the fun.

What Brian said. Most of the flavour in a bourbon comes from the aging on charred oak. The flavour from the grains is, my guess, about 10%. Then the amount of heads and tails included also influence taste. I prefer mine with no heads and only a small amount of early tails. The airstill also tends to push a LOT of flavour though so you are unlikely to get the "dry" aspect of commercial bourbons. Mine all have a faint sweetish taste. Though I enjoy them more than most commercial drinks. I agree with Brian: make something you like, don't try to mimic a commercial drink. You may be surprised at how good of a drink you can make. I used to drink a lot of Wild Turkey. I can't stand the stuff now!

Chuck

Thanks for the feedback guys. Since the last post, I "cut my teeth" with DWWG. I used aidanmac and mozr's guides on double distillation and the result was excellent. I had to recalibrate my cuts since my wash was only 10.5% but otherwise, the proces went smoothly. Thanks for a great guide.

DWWG had a smooth, light whiskey taste. My came out with a light boubon nose as I nuked it twice with JD oak chunks at 50%. Fantastic taste, especially for first attempt.

For my tastes, using breakfast cereal produced drinks that tastes like breakfast cereal. Not bad, but not like any commercial drink. I think you will find using things like corn (meal, polenta etc), flaked barely, rye, wheat and will give you more of a whiskey/bourbon taste. At least it does for my tastes. I can find all of these in a food store here (organic, hippy food store I grant you, but a food store all the same).

JD oak chunks work great. You can eventually get to toasting and charring your own American white oak to gain more control over the flavours.

What a great hobby!

Chuck

@Rhinus
DWWG double distilled, on toasted/charred oak is ok, for sure (though +1 Chucks comments re taste profile). From here for you, it depends on what kind of whiskey/whisky you aspire to make....and how 'fussy' you are about the finished product.
More info please.
Meanwhile......enjoy!

rhinus wrote:.....What do they taste like? I'm trying to get feedback from those who have tried these recipes as to how they taste. Is there a comparable commercial brand that is similar? How would you describe it?

Thanks in advance.

I am thankful that there is no comparison between what I make and any commercial brand.

Like others before me, I made the mistake, in the early days, of trying to copy commercial spirits but with the help of other distillers here I learned that this craft is not about making copies of commercial spirits nor is it about making just any kind of cheap alcoholic drink to get drunk on.

This craft is about having fun making unique spirits, liqueurs and schnapps, etc that are free from the impurities of commercial products and are just not available anywhere else because only you can make what you make and isn't that fantastic

AM

aidanmac wrote:This craft is about having fun making unique spirits, liqueurs and schnapps, etc that are free from the impurities of commercial products and are just not available anywhere else because only you can make what you make and isn't that fantastic

As long as you are making good product, and not just liking the smell of your own farts

Capt-Cudellez wrote:

As long as you are making good product, and not just liking the smell of your own farts

That cracked me up,what away to sum up an individuals personal taste.
This afternoons toil will now seem easier.
Robert.

Anyway, I fart airfreshener

AM

Thanks for the feedback guys! I agree with everything that you all said. I posted that before my "maiden run" and wasn't sure what I might be expecting. Now that I've got a few runs under my belt, I'm loving that variety of things that I can try. I'm not at all worried about what anyone else makes commercially. In fact, I am trying to make more things that I've never heard of!

So far, I started with DWWG. Used AM's guide and I used some JD grilling chunks and followed the nuke method. I was quite happy with myself. From there, I did a cornflakes/allbran/rye bread wash. I've been stripping this week but I think that it may turn out quite nicely.

I am also lucky to some really great Asian grocery stores around and am planning to put together a rice/koji wash. I will keep you all posted.

All in all, I'm having a load of fun just trying to make different things that I may like.

rhinus

Glad to hear you're having fun with it. Discovery of what you can produce makes all the work worthwhile

AM