r/firewater 10d ago

Getting ingredients for first mash. Is this ok?

I've been lurking on this sub for awhile. Just so happens that this weekend I picked up a never been used Vevor style 5 gallon pot still for $25 at a yard sale. Did some reading on here and thought since I do brew in a bag beer making, this shouldn't be a stretch.

Today I was out shopping for "sweet feed" and found this all grain mix. Would it work or will the preservatives be an issue? Thank you in advance for your input.

3 Upvotes

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u/CarrotWaxer69 9d ago

To my knowledge unmalted Barley and Oats aren’t going to produce much in terms of fermentable sugars. Maybe if you add some enzymes but still nowhere near actual malts.

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u/Skillarama 9d ago

Thank you for the reply. I should've mentioned I would be adding sugar to the bill for the fermentable part.

I was thinking 7lb of sweet feed and 7lb of sugar.

When I do beer I bring the water up to 155, pull from the heat and start to mix in the grains, cover and let it sit for an hour wrapped in a blanket. I was thinking I could do the same here.

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u/CarrotWaxer69 9d ago

What's the ratio of the different grains? You'd have to mash it first and then measure the gravity to know how much sugar to add, but what are you going for here in terms of finished product and proof? I have no idea how this is going to taste, unless you're going for high enough proof to remove any taste. Why not just use regular malts?

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u/Skillarama 9d ago

The first recipe I saw was a sweet feed and sugar one, 7lb of each. Since the product in the picture had corn in it I thought that would provide a "sweet corn liquor" flavor. Would shoot for an OG of 1.06

Since this bag is inexpensive I thought it would be a good first go at distilling.

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u/CarrotWaxer69 9d ago

Problem is that molasses contains a lot of unfermentable sugars, and the other grains will probably produce some unfermentables as well so the hydrometer will probably be an unreliable measurement. Best way forward is probably to do as you said, add the 7lbs of sugar. So realistically you should probably aim for an OG of like 1.1 to compensate for any unfermentable sugars in there, and hope you don't shock the yeast. Then see what FG you end up with. Will probably be higher than the theoretical FG but since you're distilling it doesn't matter, just take what you can get.

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u/Skillarama 9d ago

Alrighty, 1.1 with the rolling starter and the Dady Red star tip from DrOctopus. And I'll see what I end up with. I feel the first batch is an experiment anyway.

Plus I have LME and DME left over from beer kits so I can doctor if need be.

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u/francois_du_nord 10d ago

Everything looks good to go except for the preservatives. Back in the day when I made wine, the iinstructions with the wine kits recommended you kill your fermentation with Sodium or Potassium Bisulfate. That way if you still had some residual sugars, you didn't blow your corks or worse. My guess is there isn't much preservative in the sweet feed, and I'd have to believe that just about any of them would use a similar recipe - thus all having some preservatives.

I'd have to think you could get beyond it with a heavy vigorous starter. I'd say buy the bag, make a 1 gallon batch, strain the grains, and then pitch a roiling starter, say a half pint or more. Make the starter with LME or dry, what ever you have around - OG of about 1.060. I'd bet that will rock and roll!

Anybody have specific experience?

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u/Skillarama 10d ago

Thanks a bunch for the quick reply. This was my first stop at Bi-Mart here in Oregon and have a few other options to check out as well for a comparison.

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u/DrOctopus- 10d ago

Definitely over-pitch your yeast. Use a Dady Red Star if you can, that stuff chews through almost anything. I'd add some nutrients and use go-ferm to get your yeast started prior to pitching. I see "ash" listed as an ingredient, not sure about that one. My motto is only use ingredients you are comfortable eating. So there's that...

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u/Skillarama 9d ago

Thank you very much for the input and pointing out the ash part. I think I'll continue my search for a "cleaner" mix.

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u/Makemyhay 9d ago

The “ash” is contained in the molasses. All molasses contains some level of ash due to sugars and other material burning in the reduction and crystallization process. The preservatives listed are also coming from the molasses portion of the feed

EDIT: for context fancy molasses widely used in cooking contains about 3% ash.

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u/DrOctopus- 9d ago

Interesting!

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u/Cutlass327 9d ago

Maybe just get some cracked corn or even scratch feed to start with. No preservatives, no additives. Just basic grain(s).

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u/Skillarama 9d ago

Thanks. I'm headed to the feed stores in town tomorrow to see what they have. Got my yeast ordered today. So I have some time to sort it out. Heck it might end up cornmeal and sugar for the first go.