# Sorghum



## JohnT (Apr 9, 2015)

OK, it's a long story, but I have recently come in possession of 4 quarts of sorghum syrup. 

I understand that this is a "southern thing" and being a yankee myself, I have no idea what to use it for. To be perfectly honest, I have not even tasted it yet. 

So, out to the kind southern members of this forum I go.. 

What would you do with 4 quarts of sorghum syrup???


----------



## Boatboy24 (Apr 9, 2015)

Um, ferment it?


----------



## cmason1957 (Apr 9, 2015)

One thought I had, make gluten free beer out of it.


----------



## BernardSmith (Apr 9, 2015)

A gluten free beer or perhaps an indigenous North African beer - T'ella made with sorghum , teff, honey (and gesho in place of European/US hops)


----------



## the_rayway (Apr 9, 2015)

I would go sorghum beer (gluten free). But you will definitely need other flavours mixed in because of the metallic 'twang' it has. Try for citrus zest, and something a bit sweet and earthy. Stay away from really grassy hops too


----------



## jswordy (Apr 9, 2015)

Make pancakes. Top with butter, syrup. Eat.

Make waffles. Top with butter, syrup. Eat.

Make biscuits. Top with butter, syrup. Eat.

Get vanilla ice cream. Top with syrup. Eat.

Make toast. Top with butter, syrup. Eat.

Make oatmeal. Top with syrup. Eat.

Make grits. "Ruin" grits by topping with syrup. Eat.

Get the idea?

Too simple? How about...
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/bx8v58dl/yummy-sorghum-cookies.html

Or maybe candy?
http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe/sorghum-sponge-candy

You can get the nieces, nephews and grandkids involved in that!


----------



## Bergmann (Apr 9, 2015)

I think I would put it on top the corm and chopped alfalfa in the silage pit. Them feed it to the Springers come freshening.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 9, 2015)

Bergmann said:


> I think I would put it on top the corm and chopped alfalfa in the silage pit. Them feed it to the Springers come freshening.



Then you are missing one of the great pleasures in life. Whatever a Yankee uses maple syrup on, good sorghum syrup will be delightful on.

Let me be very clear: JohnT, if you don't want them, I do!


----------



## dralarms (Apr 9, 2015)

Me too, I'll pay shipping.


----------



## JohnT (Apr 9, 2015)

well, from what i understand, it IS mostly sugar, and i do have yeast.


----------



## Bergmann (Apr 9, 2015)

jswordy said:


> Then you are missing one of the great pleasures in life. Whatever a Yankee uses maple syrup on, good sorghum syrup will be delightful on.
> 
> Let me be very clear: JohnT, if you don't want them, I do!



Guess you would have to be a dairy farmer to get that one! We grow tons upon tons of sorghum annually! It's high sugar content make it the top choice to ferment silage.


----------



## Jimyson (Apr 9, 2015)

I second...or third, the gluten free beer route


----------



## Arne (Apr 9, 2015)

JohnT said:


> well, from what i understand, it IS mostly sugar, and i do have yeast.




Think I would throw some kind of fruit in with it. Maybe cherry (go figure) I have a little bit of cherry, some elderberry and not much else in the freezer. Pick a fruit you like, throw it all together and go for it, just stay away from the Welches. LOL, Arne.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 9, 2015)

Bergmann said:


> Guess you would have to be a dairy farmer to get that one! We grow tons upon tons of sorghum annually! It's high sugar content make it the top choice to ferment silage.



Please, let's not make assumptions! LOL. I am a beef farmer. My father in law spent his entire life as a full-time (no side job) dairy farmer. He had the first pit silo in the state of Connecticut. But, as he put it, he "threw away my plow" in 1959. Whereupon, he bought the first hay conditioner ever in the state of Connecticut and went all-grass silage. He knew how to make a profit by controlling costs. Quite a guy. I am honored to have known him and learned from him. He "retired" down South to beef cattle in 1968. 

Sorghum is a damn fine syrup on pancakes. If JohnT doesn't like it, I got first dibs!


----------



## dralarms (Apr 9, 2015)

Jim, I'll toss you for it. 


















How much do you weigh?


----------



## ceeaton (Apr 9, 2015)

I'll take them off your hands and send up some Welches concentrate?

Seriously, I can make you 4 quarts of barley syrup and use yours for my son who has Celiac. I'm thinking a type of malted milkshake without the malt!


----------



## JohnT (Apr 10, 2015)

JS, 

Even I know that you do not put syrup on grits. I prefer butter and cheese mix in.. YUM!

The sorghum was purchased by my brother-in-law, a born and bred Georgia boy and a really nice guy. He asked that I convert into something for him like, as he put it, a sorghum wine. After a lot of begging and eye rolling, he made me promise to try. Other than 2 batches of skeeter pee, this is the first thing I made that was not either grape or grain. 

To he honest, A little voice was telling me to not divulge this to the forum. I have, after all, the reputation of the resident "wine snob" to think about.. 

Still, I owe it to the BIL to try and make the best stuff possible. Like I said earlier, sorghum is alien to this poor yankee.

In short.. Hands off the sorghum, it really does not belong to me. 

Seems like the gluten free beer is the most suggested, but has anybody come up with other "killer" recipies? posting a link or the actual recipe would be most helpful!!!!


----------



## cmason1957 (Apr 10, 2015)

The ones I have made are from a "kit" beer, where all ingredients are laid out for you. There is a site I have looked at and may try to make something from, they have LOTS or glutenfree recipes, I can't vouch for goodness of any of them, but they seem reasonable.

http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/


----------



## wineforfun (Apr 10, 2015)

JohnT said:


> JS,
> but has anybody come up with other "killer" recipies?



Always remember, EVERYTHING goes great with Welchs.


----------



## JohnT (Apr 10, 2015)

wineforfun said:


> Always remember, EVERYTHING goes great with Welchs.


 
Oh sure, Kick a man while he's down... for shame.


----------



## the_rayway (Apr 10, 2015)

Hey @JohnT I've been checking out this site: http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/findrecipe.php the recipes seem decent, but I really haven't done much with them yet.

Also, I did a Gluten Free beer kits a little while back. Included sorghum syrup, orange and lemon peel, and cascade hops. Pretty basic. I would recommend swapping the hops for something a bit less bright, and double the peels for sure.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 10, 2015)

JohnT said:


> JS,
> 
> Even I know that you do not put syrup on grits. I prefer butter and cheese mix in.. YUM!
> 
> ...



JohnT, you are wrong on the grits. The only thing a Southerner puts on grits is pepper and maybe some salt. Anything else is "ruined grits."

If you want "ruined grits," then you can add a lot of stuff. I like them with butter, milk, syrup - many ways, just as you can eat oatmeal in many ways. But they are then "ruined" and not being eaten in the Southern fashion.

I'm not native but 32 years of living in the South and Deep South has taught me some things...

Also, every gluten-free beer I have ever had sucks. And I am gluten sensitive (which is why I started making wine.). I actually make myself hurt when I drink beer, simply because I detest every gluten-free beer I've had so far. It's like you with Welch's wine.

Wine?

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33569&sid=b7cf1ad7c506900948e8fff1b0666dcb


----------



## JohnT (Apr 10, 2015)

OK, 

I found this...

The Ten commandments of grits...

Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
Thou shalt not eat thy Grits with a spoon unless thy grits are swimming in butter.
Thou shalt not eat Cream of Wheat and call it Grits, for this is blasphemy.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s Grits.
Thou shalt only use Salt, Butter, Bacon and Cheese as toppings for thy Grits, or thou shall mix thy Grits with thy eggs.
Thou shalt not eat Instant Grits.
Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits.
Thou shalt not put sugar on thy Grits , either.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 10, 2015)

JohnT said:


> OK,
> 
> I found this...
> 
> ...



Not where I've lived (Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama). Grits and black pepper is it. Salt is acceptable. Anything else is "ruined." I don't care if they are ruined or not, I like them best with sugar, butter and milk. That's cuz I'm a born Yankee, and so I ain't right, bless my heart.


----------



## wineforfun (Apr 10, 2015)

jswordy said:


> so I ain't right, bless my heart.



haha
That is an awesome line. Made me laugh.


----------



## wineforfun (Apr 10, 2015)

JohnT said:


> Oh sure, Kick a man while he's down... for shame.



I know, I apologize John. I am really, really trying harder to play nice with my fellow humankind.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 10, 2015)

Hey, did you look at that link I put up there for you on the sorghum wine, JohnT? There's some good stuff in there, even some descriptions of taste. You're welcome.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 10, 2015)

wineforfun said:


> haha
> That is an awesome line. Made me laugh.



Straight out of the South. Ask olusteebus.


----------



## dwhill40 (Apr 10, 2015)

Southern boys use to grow sorghum so revenuers couldn't track their sugar purchases. Throw in a little corn and fruit and make some nasty "beer" and cook it off at around 183F. And btw don't call em' boy.

And...it's called sorghum molasses down south and it's a southern thang'.


----------



## jpike01 (Apr 10, 2015)

Make a pan of biscuits. If you don't you will be missing out. There are plenty of other things to ferment.
One tradition of my youth was bacon, sausage, eggs, and sweet potato biscuits smothered with butter and drug through sorghum syrup. All prepared by my grandmother on Christmas morning. I keep a quart in the pantry.


----------



## Rodnboro (Apr 12, 2015)

It's similar to cane syrup which is made from sugar cane. I've made several hundred gallons of cane syrup from planting to bottling. We used to have a "cane grinding" ( syrup making party) every Saturday before Thanksgiving. To me, it's best on biscuits and fresh sausage. My grandfather ate biscuits and syrup at every meal. I don't make it anymore and miss the hard work and good times.


----------



## JohnT (Apr 13, 2015)

jswordy said:


> Hey, did you look at that link I put up there for you on the sorghum wine, JohnT? There's some good stuff in there, even some descriptions of taste. You're welcome.


 

Yes, thanks for the link Jim!!!!


----------



## Angelina (Apr 19, 2015)

I have to admit, curiosity got the best of me today, while passing through NC we stopped at a country store and I spotted quart jars of Surghum and I had remembered this thread. My hubby started laughing at mebecause I was thinking out loud. Good on biscuits...waffles, pancakes....ect..., he was like yeah right, your gonna ferment it! LOL so now I have 5.5 lbs of it, and 5.5 lbs of some of their good local honey. I'm thinking of blending the two and making a mead. Is there any reason I shouldn't mix the two?


----------



## BernardSmith (Apr 20, 2015)

I wonder if that would make a sort of braggot - in which case blending the two would make for a very interesting and lovely experiment.


----------



## jswordy (Apr 20, 2015)

Angelina said:


> I have to admit, curiosity got the best of me today, while passing through NC we stopped at a country store and I spotted quart jars of Surghum and I had remembered this thread. My hubby started laughing at mebecause I was thinking out loud. Good on biscuits...waffles, pancakes....ect..., he was like yeah right, your gonna ferment it! LOL so now I have 5.5 lbs of it, and 5.5 lbs of some of their good local honey. I'm thinking of blending the two and making a mead. Is there any reason I shouldn't mix the two?



Look at that link I posted for JohnT here first. It really does give you a lot of insights. I agree with Bernard on the braggot. You'd be close.


----------



## Angelina (Apr 20, 2015)

jswordy said:


> Look at that link I posted for JohnT here first. It really does give you a lot of insights. I agree with Bernard on the braggot. You'd be close.



Thank you Jim and Bernard!! 
Bernard...I had to look up the meaning of braggot... lol that was a new word for me, and a good call on it.
Jim..I took a look at the link you posted, it's a good one!

I think after I open a jar and take a taste, if I still like what I have I'm going to make a strawberry braggot mead of some sort. I also came home with 60 lbs of Strawberries, so it seems logical. I'm thinking I am only going to need 30 lbs for this, and use the other 30 lbs for a dessert wine.


----------

