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My kids and I are planning a road trip this weekend to Ole Smoky Distillery. I've got to see this steam powered "legal operation". I'd bettcha they ain't making nothing no better than I am or anyone else on this forum. Free samples too. I rekkon I should teach my 11 year old son to drive, ya know just in case.
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jap.(no pun entended) they dont make it as good as you or I but of course it is corn likker and its a cool place to see ----have fun and get a t-shirt.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
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Thanks, Not very thoughtful when I created my screename huh? since your a moderator you should fix it for me. lol
Yeah I can't image them making it any better than you and I. I would have to keep this in mind. They are in it for the money and probably run it fast and hard. I'm in it for me and i like running mine operation low and slow and get that great taste. Plus i've heard that they are paying around $19 a gallon in taxes. I should wear my popcorn sutton t-shirt.
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Sounds Nice I'd like to visit one some day and try some out.. Just can't imagine it being much better then mine I use a home made ss stockpot still but stuff tastes pretty damn good :)
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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My wife and I are going to the JackDaniels distillery tomorrow morn. (Sat.20) We are motorhomeing it through Tenn and Kentucky this week so that should be really cool. I hope they give free samples. WooHoo
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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Oh damn just remembered ---dry county --- oh well we'll get some and partake in the evening at the coach.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
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well Heeler welcome to Tennessee! They do offer free samples and yes it's a dry county one of many in TN however you can buy a souvenir bottle in the gift shop. Enjoy the tour make sure they let you smell the whiskey as it's being filtered through the charcoal. Oh and for the love of god it's not a bourbon. lol
While your in TN you could come on over to Rocky Top and watch a little football game with Alabama, Ya do know our corn comes from a jar right?
be safe in your travels.
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Smart thinking on the young man. I turned the baby boy into a designated driver by age 9..I just worked the pedals for him He tell me slow down stop go etc. Now how come Ezra can claim to be a sour mash bourbon and JD cant? It just dont seem fair. Ahhh they are discriminating against Tenn here. Or now I recall they do not follow the rules precisely. Right? Now the rage for a while was to claim Bourbon had to come from Bourbon County KY. Not sure what happened to that old rule. Originally Posted by: johnnyapplepie  My kids and I are planning a road trip this weekend to Ole Smoky Distillery. I've got to see this steam powered "legal operation". I'd bettcha they ain't making nothing no better than I am or anyone else on this forum. Free samples too. I rekkon I should teach my 11 year old son to drive, ya know just in case.
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Well I took the trip to Gatlinburg, TN today to visit the states first and only "legal" moonshine distillery.
Yup today is Sunday so no go on buying some. Don't think I would have bought some anyway.
I did taste test all twelve "flavors". lol I had to show em my ID then they gave me a thimble size test cup.
The stuff they call White Lightening is pretty much a sugar wash he did say that "corn" was used on all of it. However.... Get this, the White Lightening was produced on a Reflux Still. I have a photo of it. The still is so tall that it goes up through a hole into the ceiling.
The Original Moonshine flavor was distilled using the pot method.
All the other flavors are: Apple Pie, Grape, Blackberry, Hunch Punch, Peach, Lemonaid, Pink Lemonaid. I'm forgetting three others.
After talking to a staff member he basically told me all they distill is the Original Moonshine and the White Lightening and mix up the juices for the flavors. In other words he told me that they mixed four quarts of 50%abv of White Lightening to one gallon of fruit punch to get get the right mixture of Hunch Punch.
Now I dug a little deeper the guy i was speaking to said that he was Popcorn Suttons grandson or Great Grandson (cant remember which). He went on to tell me that he distills at home as well. that he has a Mini something and it has a 75 gallon keg. He said that his home operation runs backup to Ole Smoky's operation. He said that he was allowed to use all the corn and fixing that they use at home. He mentioned something about making his own yeast a corn yeast. Not sure what that is. But apparently that's what they use at Ole Smoky. I asked him about distilling a rye whiskey and he said that he does personally and he gets his Rye from a company out in Nebraska. I asked if Ole Smoky was ever going to produce a Brandy to which he quickly said no way.
Now here's what everyone wants to know.... Their Original Moonshine In my honest opinion taste just like my UJSM maybe not just like it but very close.
Their White Lightening taste just like my sugar washes do when I reflux. My son who is 11 years old said "dad this smells just like yours".
So i'm very proud that i'm on the same page
The flavored stuff man the sky is the limit with that another reason this hobby is fun. Oh btw the flavors are only 20%abv or as the man said 40 proof. The Original Moonshine and White Lightening are 50%abv or 100 proof.
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Thanks for that report. Very informative. The young man seems to have a nose for good hooch.
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I've only been in this hobby for a short time now and quickly realized commercial likker is nothing special. The "Midnight Moon" moonshine they sell now is a good example. I've never tried it but a few of my buddies have tried the blue or blackberry kind not sure which one. It is bottled at 100 proof and I made my own jar of blueberry hooch. I filled half the jar or so with blueberries then scooped sugar over them until most the cracks between them were filled. Added my own 100-110 proof likker shook it up first few days then let sit in a dark place for a few weeks and a few of them have tried it and compared it to theirs. Two said mine was smoother.. And the best part about this was my likker I used was a bit stinky it was my last jar I collected before my tails. Now if my taily hooch with sugar compares to theirs it's not to damn bad :) Oh ya and my own opinion on the stuff is pretty good and smooth. Probably gonna make another one as this one is about all blueberries now and no liquid 
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
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Mkjt88, very good, I've not ever had commercial moonshine before either until yesterday. All of their flavors were 40 proof the two clears were 100 proof. It seems though that I always most my adult life had a hooch hookup and knew were and who made it. Your Blueberry sounds good, I make my apple pie with a bite too, Most of my friends and girls friends seem to like it that way. Well the good news is we are on the right track!
I wasn't able to distill this weekend due to mine 10 gallons still bubbling away plus my SG reading was still right around 1.010 (i think i wrote that right) so maybe it'll be ready by this sunday I wouldn't mind having church in the hooch shack this coming sunday.
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"  WooHoo look what I got. Some folks say ya dont even need to do it once but there it is in black and white ---- twice mellowed. Im gonna try it next run by god."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"  And there's the man himself, all 5'2"" of him, thats right five feet and two inches tall with a size 4 shoe. Not a giant of a fellow but he does make (or did) pretty good likker."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"  This is what he originally started with and of course the stills now are 75 feet tall and 46000 gallons. No pics allowed."
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"  And this is the still house - you can see it is 6 stories and has 8 stills cooking away - agaiin no pics inside. the boilers are 40 feet across and 2 stories high. They say from 46000 gallons of mash they get 8000 gallons of whiskey, but never would say how much from each cut. Oh well cant give away all the secrets."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"So into the fermenter house we go.....feels like 90F. I asked about the inside temp and they said 76F. They showed us a empty fermenter and it had a 4 inch coil going around the inside. That is a cooling coil which keeps the mash down to the afore mentioned temp. Now if JD uses that low of a temp I know now for shore I should keep mine just as low.
They also keep 500 gallons from each finished fermentation and add to the next (making generations I guess) they say flavor and yeast keep the next mashes very akin to the last. I've heard others here use this thinking."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"Oh and it turns out that JD uses the exact same recipe for each of thier likkers. Hmmmmmmmmm you say, well........
Single Barrell is just that, that bottle from a single barrell.
Then the regular Jack is a blend of 450 barrels and the master blender has the final say as to when she's ready for you and me.
Then there's the Gentleman Jack, thats the only JD thats charcoal filtered or mellowed twice and it really is smoother. And its a bunch blended also.
Oh and one barrell is 250 bottles and you can buy your own barrell for a mere.....$12,000. You cant believe how many folks do just that."
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
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looks like you had a JD of a time! I like how the entire process goes from them burning the sugar maple to make charcoal to the water gravity fed into the buildings. I'm glad you enjoyed Tennessee even if it was just for a day. Nice bottle i'm sure its probably empty by now. Let me know how your charcoal filter -Twice- works out for ya. I've been wanting to try the Tennessee Honey.
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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"Yep good times...turns out the powers to be said no more burning the maple on site so its now done at another local.
I've had the Honey version and I did'nt like it very much but thats just me.
We're sitting right outside Cades Cove having a totty, resting up the activities in the AM.
All this fun is sure tiresome."
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