My Thoughts On Sugar Wash For Distilling 

I tried to do an all grain with barley I malted myself, but the gravity fell short by a lot. like 1.015 (I recon it was my mill, which I made with my dad that afternoon and it wasn't very consistent in results). I topped it up with dry malt extract and sugar until I reached a decent gravity, fermented on the grain and it was actually surprisingly good! So I agree, using sugar to assist with a mash when you just don't get there with the necessary ingredients is a great option.

Agree on hybdrid mashes for sure.

I ferment it in 50 gallon drums. Let ot settle. Filter it and just use it to make hard sodas and lemonade.

That's what people do when they make a "sugar head" whisky out of corn. Well, as I write my cornflakes whiskey is made just like that. Tried it before and I must say it makes a very nice white dog for sipping and it definitely gains flavor when aged on wood.

I have also

George Duncan is making some.

George from Barley and Hops brewing did that a few weeks ago!

What about a potato vodka. Any well made video you can recomend me. Thanks a lot

Made some a few years ago, from the field leftovers, turned out real good.

I'm literally doing that this weekend. Got a cheap bag of malt

@@bensoulsby86 all the power to you. I'm sure it will be a kickass vodka. I just much prefer whiskey

@@orbitalbreaky oh for sure, didn't mean anything like that. I just had a $20 sack off malt handy and am almost out of gin so saw the opportunity

I think this would be a good video too! I mean how do you extract the starch from potatoes efficiently? Do you boil them? It's not like a grain which has everything needed to convert the starch.

@@FoolOfATuque i think you boil and smash them, maybe strain the solids out for the most part after fermentation. I think malted grain is added to it to convert potato starch into sugars

@@FoolOfATuque but I have no idea how the recipe would go

@@starshot5172 probably would need to add enzymes for sure. No idea though either since I'm new to this.

@@starshot5172 yeah, the malted grain will contain amylase which is the enzyme that breaks down starches into simple sugars.

What's an Appletons?

@@vtbn53 Jamaican Rum

So. Much. Work. So little reward

What about potato starch. How would that work?

that would have been great! hahaha

Copyright

You can also use potatos raw ,but,it wil give you different taste because its raw

You can use turbo yeast,the trick is to have it in a cool room because its fast and make alot of heat and if its in a cool place it has almost no bad taste, and if you also Filter int and only stop destilling at 50% you wil have no bad taste.

I know of the term "sugarhead" but I think its more applied to adding grain as an adjunct in the ferment for flavour, not mashing it to extract sugars too.

In brewing this is called mini mash. Where you partially mash and then supplement with liquid malt extract (LME) or dry malt extract (DME). If you want to keep the character of the grain you may look into using DME or LME as your sugar supplement in your wash.

@@FoolOfATuque I will have to give this a try . Thanks for the advice .

@@dylanluvzcolorado4369 yeah, experiment with it and refine your process. I've been being for 10 years and it's a lot of fun. Just starting to get into distilling now so I will be trying different things and experimenting there too. Both these hobbies are awesome

@@FoolOfATuque I started this spring and right now experimenting with molasses. Yummy rummy lol

I put pineapple mash and coconut in my thumper with 1 quart of 100 proof it makes a great fruity whiskey

Totally agree with you on the pineapple, definitely makes a great brandy.

is that the sort of flowers hippy,s smoke lol ?

@@Edgunsuk yep .......west virginia merry puff flowers lol

@Jane Doe the Ozarks are a beautifull place but i think all that thin high mountain air may be clouding your judgement a lil lol

90% of sugar used in the world is derived from beets! So basically it’s been done!

It's a funny joke in my circles as I made one and messed up temps so it tasted like beets and so it came out at parties as a joke

@@voodoosnakebite Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

I just asked the same question. Would it change the flavor of the final product? Would it have less mouth feel? Would you taste the sugar? Would it dilute the flavor of the final product?

@Jane Doe Drinking and distilling do NOT mix! Trust me. Lmao

@Jane Doe BAHAHAHAHAH

@Jane Doe You get one HUGE ATTA GIRL!!

Rice over potatoes?

wheat vodka gave a mouthfeel i didnt like... tpw feels better in the mouth for me..

Anthony Ingram for me personally yes. Have a local distillery with a rice vodka that is liquid butter.

I am a beginner distiller as well, but have been making wines for the past years, learning a lot about primary fermentation. Three things spring to mind. First bakers yeast is not ideal as it has a limited alcohol tolerance and leaves hints of raw dough flavor in you wine or wash. In primary ferment the majority of alcohol gets produced in the first week to 10 days. Most yeast strains will be killed at an alcohol content around 13%. Hence the specially cultured yeast strains for wines (up to14-16% ABV) and distilling (18-24% ABV). It sounds your wash reached its max alcohol and went in secondary fermentation (which is important for the flavor of wine). For distilling the goal is to separate the alcohol from water so you don't need a secondary ferment. Second, your SG seemed slightly on the high side as most commercial distillers aim for 1.0639-1.0836 Specific Gravity. Too high SG can actually inhibit a good fermentation. Adding sugar/simple syrup over the course of a couple of days instead of all at once can help the yeast. Third, it sounds you placed your wash under an airlock from day one. The first 2-3 days the yeast needs a lot of oxygen to do its work. I usually do an open fermentation, with cheesecloth/dishtowel + loose lid over the bucket so bugs can't get in. Give it a good stir or swirl twice a day so oxygen can get into the wash. You did nothing wrong. Just a combination of high SG with a very limited yeast. Look for a distillers yeast or high alcohol wine yeast. These are just some tweaks to optimize your fermentation the next time. It is all part of the learning process. Since the response is a month late, you probably distilled your wash by now. Curious about the outcome and if the residual unfermented sugars carried over in your distillate.

Thanks for the information. I ended up double distilling with a bit of sodium carbonate as it had a bit of odor. Not bad but it was there. It turned out fair in the end. I did a second batch. This time using a turbo yeast. Much much better. The yield was higher and the flavor was good. Just added some oak and started the age yesterday. My next will do as you suggest, open ferment for a couple day. I also will avoid using bakers yeast. I home brewed ale for many years before trying the distillation. It has been fun learning something new like distilling. Thanks again for your input. It is appreciated.

@@charleswyatt180 Yeah, I figured the bakers yeast was the main culprit here and possibly an anaerobic fermentation. Bad flavor/odor. Glad you salvaged your batch and it might make a good base for strong flavored infusions, like apple pie moonshine or spices. I appreciate the exchange, so we can all learn from each others tries on the road to the ultimate beverage. It's pure Alchemy. Happy distilling ventures!

@@UgTheViking1I did exactly that. I infused spices. Thank. Great minds think alike. Take care and be safe.

I believe a pot still is the best way to go if you're looking for lots of flavor .

pot still straight into a worm gives most flavor cary over. i run a thumper with same wash in my pot n does good. i dont do sugar washes tho only grain mashes

True a pot still will yield the most flavor carry over, but don't expect it to taste much like you might expect. Pretty much all flavors are added post distillation or through aging with wood or barrels.

@@rocketsroc i agree completly. my son and i both have small barrels but those are for personal lol. i grew up drinkin plain white dog corn and rye likker if its made right it doesnt need anything added

How long did you age it?

When did you add the vanilla and spice?

Really? How's that work out? Could you make some suggestions, ide really like to try that.

How high is the og in your mash

I'm not familiar with Angel yeast ,what is it

@@deweydewey the brand Angel so quite a few different yeasts for different purposes, but the one you'll find referred to is a product which includes yeast, as well as enzymes for starch conversion. You can use it for no-cook mashing. in theory, you should be able to run a 10kg sack of potatoes through a cheese grater, make up to 30L volume in your vermenter (of cold water) pitch the yeast, and away you go. Works with raw rice and other grains too.

*do quite a few

I think Jesse is just using the word vodka as more of a descriptor, instead of saying a high proof neutral spirit. Which is kind of what vodka is.

Apparently most commercial vodka these days is made largely from sugar, as it is cheaper. And many rums are distilled several times at high abv... "European" friends introduced me to potato vodka many years ago and I am tempted to make my own, but it seems too hard and tending towards expensive.

I’m on it, just started gen 2 sour mash with a fruit cake in it. Be interesting!

Lol just don't put too much cinnamon sticks in. I did 5 and it was effing hot. Fireball hot. Added simple syrup and had a tasty cinnamon schnapps.

You came to a video called "my thoughts on..." .....

Did you manage to perfect your sugar wash recipe ?

Potatos are a pain in the ass compared to malt cod you ned to and the enzime to the potatos and i get my malt for less than £20 for 25kg

Yep... Disappointing video. I have done sugar washes - fast and not messy.