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Is a 50% width cut feasible for UJSSM?
Hello wise sages!I have a NICE bunch of jars from a spirit run. It is basically a UJSSM/Jimbo’s gumball head mash up that I made with leftovers from Jimbo’s all grain malt whisky and some 3rd generation sour mash bourbon backset I had saved. After each 6 gallon ferment of malt whiskey I scooped the floating spent grain and used the leftover grain bed to do a gumbail head, but I added fresh grains as well, like one does for UJSSM. I added cornmeal each time but also flax meal, oatmeal, basically whatever tasty grains I had sitting in the pantry. (The 3rd gen bourbon backset went in to the first gumballhead ferment). So this project was 3 to 6 generations depending on how you look at it with all kinds of varied tasty stuff thrown in!From a 6 gallon spirit run (42% low wines) I have about 16 quart jars plus gallon of tails. First heads jar after fores is 87%. I collected down to 50%, then cranked up the heat and in the gallon jug collected from 50% down to 10% for taily feints. These tails are a bit green/bitter and watery, but honestly I never got cardboard/wet dog – a super clean run!I am getting ready to blend. I have read all the threads here I can find about cuts, starting with the big one in the novice section. I have watched many StillIt videos about UJSSM, Bourbon, Malt Whisky, and cuts. I will dilute samples down to 35%, smell, taste, spit, make notes. I will first combine the obvious hearts (they are very obvious from 80% – 60%) and then consider how early/late I can add to that. The resulting blend will go into 1 gallon carboys with oak spirals. Exactly what kind of oak remains to be decided, So far I am thinking 55% on medium toast or maybe char but that is a question for after I blend. So far this stuff is all VERY smooth and sweet! I think I’ll have something I can drink pretty soon but will also age well, and I’ll separate out bottles in batches to taste only after 6, 12, 18 months.SO FAR I have jars starting as high as 83% that smell and taste great. I recently had a bottle of BruichLaddich Classic Laddie (unpeated Islay). I can taste floral, fruity late heads in it. The 83% – 80% jars have some of this perfume floral flavor but not like nail polish remover. 80% down to 60% jars very clean, some very neutral but some like butterscotch. The jars from 60% down to 50% taste a bit vegetal, very slightly bitter, but the aroma is unmistakable toffee/butterscotch that I have read one can expect after a few generations of UJSSM. Like walking into an ice-cream shop where they are making waffle cones! In these late jars I get more grain also – like cheerios – but no cardboard/wet dog. The cardboard/wet dog never really showed up, even in the late tails below 50%. It just faded into watery blandness.SO before I sit down to do my cuts, my question is this. I feel like I might end up blending everything from the floral 83% jars all the way down to the caramel 50% jar. I’ll taste and spit, think carefully, and do my best. QUESTION: is 83% down to 50% unusual? Is this wide of a cut something that others have experienced with UJSSM/Guballhead? I know, I know, I need to smell, taste, try different combinations, but right now I can dilute and taste from ANY of these jars and it’s all good. I just want to know if that wide a cut is in the ballpark or if there is something wrong with my senses…Thank you! I am VERY optimistic about this batch! I’ll end up with at least 16 – 20 750’s at 40% I’m pretty sure!
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6 Replies
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Here’s where I’m at on choosing a blend. viewtopic.php?p=7788862#p7788862
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BTW, 83% off the spout of a simple pot still is high for any flavored product. It’s usually the result of shutting down the stripping runs early too and throwing out good flavors and alcohol with the backset.
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Thanks Chris! My strips went low, stopped at 10%. The strip bottles were 26%-30%. The 42% still charge here was because I had a gallon of higher proof bourbon feints that also got tossed in.
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Building your cuts from the middle-out, rather than the margins-in, is definitely the way to go. Some undesirable components have a cumulative effect that don’t present themselves in individual jars, but turn nasty once they are combined in high enough concentration. Blending from the middle-out helps to avoid that problem.
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That explains it. I don’t watch ABV at the spout, so I only have a vague idea what I stop at, but I’m sure it’s usually lower than 10%. Tasting sample blends from the middle-out works for pretty much anything.Whatever method I use, I do a recheck the next day before committing my cuts to their designated containers. I have changed my choice the next day, but not very often.
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If it’s good, keep it. Otherwise don’t. I don’t know how to predict what you’ll get any more than that. If you have a very healthy fermentation with a good nutrient balance and yeast ferments at optimal quantities, temperature, and condition, you can get a pretty clean product with a lot of keeper. I’m glad things are going well!
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