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Inaugural experience with corn whiskey
Hey guys i have a question for you with more experience than me.I made an all corn whiskey mash from a recipe i found online.i used
- 50l of water
- around 10kg of cracked corn (i was not perfectly cracked since i bought whole kernels and tried to crack it at home, am not doing that again)
- around 2 kg of malted barley
my steps were like this
- Heated water to 165°F ≈ 74°C.
- Added the corn (in a nylon strainer bag or in a steel mesh basket) and cooked for 20 minutes.
- Dropped the temperature to 148°F ≈ 64°C.
- Stirred in the malted barley and allowed to sit for 60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
- Removed the grains, allowing them to drain into the kettle.
- Pasteurized by heating to at least 170°F ≈ 77°C for 10 minutes.
- Cooled the mash to 75°F ≈ 24°C and add yeast.
And i made 3 batches so at the end i had around 100l of mash in the barrel and i added zero sugar.I extended the cooking steps for corn to about 30-40min since it was not properly cracked and the malted barley to 80min.The coversion got made the mash was sweet after i was done so some starches got coverted to sugar.Once we got to distilling i ran i twice thru a pot still. threw about 3/4l of head away. i know it was a bit much but i wanted to be safe since this was the first time im doing anything with corn. I got about 8l at 40%ABV after spirit run. now is that good or bad? And what can i change to make it better.Does the water/grain ratio match since i scaled up the OG recipe i found. im guessing i got some losses from badly cracked corn but overall im happy with the outcome since it was my first time doing it. I am already aging the product in a glass container whit toasted and untoasted oak chunks. Cant wait to see how it turns out.
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10 Replies
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Fair play for going AG, it’s daunting for some, corn in particular.Few pointers.Corn needs to be brought up to a higher temp that barley to get the most out of it.Look up booners in the tried and true section for a better way to work with corn, i can’t remember the temps off the cuff.Age your whiskey at 55-63%abv.Lower end of it gets sweeter results.40% is drinking strength, not ageing strength, it does not extract the flavors you are after at 40%.If you can get a hold of high temp liquid enzymes where you live I would recommend them, it make AG in general and corn in particular much easier to work with.Don’t be a dick
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Yeah i was cooking that corn like a mad man before it got thic and gelatinized. I can get aplha-amylase but dry not liquid 12g packs and it says its for up to 25L and it would also be cheaper to buy then malted barley that i bought.I took a quick look and that looks simpler and better im defenitly trying his way next time.Well better that its only 8L then since its too weak to get proper infusion. What would happend if i run it thru the still again since its been infusing for 4 days so that i get to 55%?
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That isn’t necessary.________________I drank fifty pounds of feed-store corn’till my clothes were ratty and torn
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You can add a small portion (maybe 500g) of malted barley when you cook the corn to reduce viscosity instead of high temp alpha. I’ve never tried it, but adding powdered AA may work too. I’d cook at a higher temp (near boiling) and longer (1-2 hours). Use this in addition to your 2kg of malt that you use for starch conversion.That would work fine, but you’d have to start over with aging.HigginsFlute buildSteamer build4 methods experimentAging proof experimentNext batch: Malt Whiskey (60 barley/30 corn/10 wheat)
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That isn’t necessary. i figured as much but since i wasnt sure i did it anyways. thanks.
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You can add a small portion (maybe 500g) of malted barley when you cook the corn to reduce viscosity instead of high temp alpha. I’ve never tried it, but adding powdered AA may work too. I’d cook at a higher temp (near boiling) and longer (1-2 hours). Use this in addition to your 2kg of malt that you use for starch conversion.That would work fine, but you’d have to start over with aging.I’ll try adding AA and malt in the next run to see what happens and how much do i get out of it. 4 days isnt a lot of aging so i’ll see if i’ll have time this weekend to distill it again.Thanks for the tips.
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That isn’t necessary. i figured as much but since i wasnt sure i did it anyways. thanks.Any idea why it isn’t necessary? And what negative effects are created by doing so? Discontinuing a ‘beer mash out’ is but one of the differences between brewing and distilling and is important in allowing the malt’s (or exogenous) enzymes to continue to work throughout the ferment, especially in attacking larger, improperly milled corn ‘chunks’. Also, since you are not making beer and setting ‘wort sweetness’ levels, you are limiting the potential alcohol at the same time.Kudos on your first all-grain, your batches will certainly improve with experience. Keeping up your reading will help you understand the ‘why’s’ of what you are doing.“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”- W.C. Fields My EZ Solder Shotgun My Steam Rig and Manometer
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My guesse is becaus it turn to alcohol and you distill it so even if there are any bad things in they get killed and distilled out. But idont knoelw im guessing.
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You don’t have to be as careful with sanitation as you would with beer; some kinds of infections are harmless or even beneficial to the taste of the distilled product, but an acetobacter infection, for instance, will turn your alcohol into vinegar. I just try to keep my equipment clean, and don’t worry about sanitizing. If I had a nasty local wild yeast or bacteria population, i would have to be more aggressive with sanitation.Everyone has to believe in something. Me? I believe I’ll have another drink……
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Thank you for the explanation
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