Popcorn Sutton's Corn Mash Recipe (from his book)

[Dnderhead]

I dont thank your going to git much more than 25 gallon out of that original recipe.if you fill a barrel 1/2 full of grain
then add water it will be 3/4 full when it soaks up the water.sounds like way to much grain.

[Usge]

Recipe using 1/2 volume not ment to fill up the barrel half way with corn. It means take your total volume you are trying to make and divide it in half to find out how much corn to use. ie., 25lbs of meal in a 55 gal barrel isn't anywhere near half the barrel...it's more like it sits about 10-12 inches off the bottom. Saying it another way, is 1/2 lb corn to 1 gal of water. It's not too much corn.

I tried to explain the recipe so anyone could subdivide it using basic math for any amount. But, for 25 gals it would be

Corn: 1/2 volume you are making. For you, that would be 25 divided by 2= 12.5 lbs of coarse ground meal.
Sugar: 1lb sugar per gallon of total volume. For you, that would be 25lbs of sugar
Malt: 1 gallon of malt — can be corn, barley, rye or combination. A gallon container of corn is about 6.5lbs. For 25 gals use 3.25-4lbs of malt.

Dunder is right that the corn will soak up some water, and as well...you can't get all the liquid out of the bottom. So, you aren't going to get 25 gals back after fermenting this recipe — which you don't want anyway because you need to leave headroom in your still. Popcorn didn't ever say in his book whether he recycled this recipe (ie., sourmashed, or restarted it using added sugar on the same corn). But, should you do that...you'll get more volume the 2nd time around as you'd be adding water on top of what's already there. You should adjust the recipe volume as needed to end up with the amount that is right for you.

[moonshineBandit24]

hey usge and maddog! If u guys dont like the taste of the all natural mash recepie i have something for u to try that may help u with the flavor......if yall watch moonshiners on discovery u may remember this,but if u ever seen jim tom and his crew do things try this after ur malt is sprouted at least 2" of sprout,put it all in a barrel of water and hand rub off the roots and sprouts....when thats done instead of drying it out normally dry it like a rye whiskey...by smoking it with ur choice of wood like a nice maple for a sweeter flavor!! Hope this helps..

[moonshineBandit24]

Also so many people gets popcorns recipie wrong, idk what they put in his book but ive watched his bio multiple times and all his recipe is yellow sweet corn..not white,yellow corn malt,sugar and water straight from the mans mouth himself.......bye the way popcorn said "f" you lol!!!

[Usge]

Popcorn said "lots" of things that simply were not true/accurate. And certainly book and t/v editors could easily put their own spin on things...and often do..or they just plain mix things together never having understood it right the first time. Whether or not he actually does prefer white corn over yellow for the reasons he stated in his book...or he actually preferred yellow corn because he was seen using that on TV....the recipe works fine either way (white or yellow).

[McIndy]

After reading all the prior posts, I thank I am going to try this one out fer sure once my beauties built. Seems like ya should use wooden barrel and let it out side not in an apartment... Since i live by a blueberry farm i think it should work well. We will surely find out. and btw, Popcorn said f you.


Oh and one more thang. I will be doing an experiment. One run with the white corn recipie from his book and one with yellow corn from the video. Shall get back to yall when its all said and done i recon. Gonna be one hell of a test fer sure.

[Usge]

They used wooden barrels cause that's what they had. Use the blue plastic ones. They don't leak

[Dnderhead]

the color of corn has little to do with it today,it used to but both have been bread to have high protein/lower starch.
some still rise the old types but it has lower yield ,so not many do.they do have high starch/high yield corn being developed for fuel ,,but dont know as its available to the public. Iv tried the corn used as flour with good results but it is expensive and hard to obtain.

[McIndy]

They used wooden barrels cause that's what they had. Use the blue plastic ones. They don't leak

Usge,

I actually have blue plastic ones already, but figured i'd give her a go at wooden. My thought was that mashing in a wooden barrel would effect the flavor in a different way, as opposed to just plain-o-jane-o plastic. Am I incorrect in this assumption?

[Usge]

Answer is I don't know. But, my guess is that it won't have much impact on the final end result (flavor of the distillate) unless you pick up some wild yeast or bacteria stuck in the wood crannies somewhere.

[chrisc69]

ill be trying this recipe soon but will be doing it with yellow corn but ill throw it on the oaks and keep a little white lightning to try and show some friends

[Bnew17]

I too would like to try this recipe but in much smaller quantity. I also need to do quite a bit more studying to prepare myself, as i am a beginner.

[WharfRat]

"1 gallon of malt — can be corn, barley, rye or combination. A gallon container of corn is about 6.5lbs. Might be different for barley or rye. I use a gal ziplock freezer bag full."

Good morning,all. In regards to the 1 gallon of malt; is it one gallon of whole or crushed malt? Or does it even matter?
Thanks for any help.

[Usge]

Either way will work. Easier to measure it whole then crush it.

[SwampTrax]

In Regard to the corn breeders shooting for more protein and less starch, it is a true statement. Best corn for making beer or whiskey would probably be an heirloom variety such as Hickory King or Gable. They make better hominy and grits too. I grow both.

[Usge]

Thanks Swamptrax. Dnder is our Dnderpedia. I always just take whatever he says as "the word".

I guess if you have your own farm ..that's certainly an option to consider! I've only seen those available for sale as "seed". Do you know retail sources for such corn varietals to be bought in bulk?

[DevilDog]

I gave this a try over the weekend and made two separate batches. Just as advertised, batch #1 took off without any added yeast. But, it petered out after 24 hours so I added some DADY and it is back to work. Batch #2 was made with DADY from the start and it took off like a rocket in just a couple of hours and is still going strong. Both batches had a OG of 1.070. I was able to find the wheat germ at a health food store for 51 cents/pound so I capped both batches with it to see what would happen. Looking forward to the results!

Thanks for sharing!

[islandgreen1971]

How did malt your corn trying to perfect this, eBay is too high S & H! On ebay"

[ausguy]

in one of popcorns video's,at the end of the run he does state that it was ashame to tip the beer in the still out
cause in the day he would put more sugar in and run it again.

ausguy

[newbie1982]

This recipe says one gallon of malt? What is malt I can find a lot of malt extracts for google search and I've used malted barley when tryed a recipe without sugar (won't do that again without a mash tun) but concussed as to what you mean by malt. And what it's purpose is, if it's to convert the starch in the corn to sugar why add sugar?

[still_stirrin]

This recipe says one gallon of malt? What is malt?

Malt is......"malted grain".

You could use malted corn, malted barley, malted wheat, or whatever. But I'm assuming malted barley would be the best suited because of its diastatic power...the enzymatic ability to convert other grains' starches to sugars.
ss

p.s. - But I've got to add, that if you don't know what "malt" is, then this recipe is probably too advanced for you yet. You better practice your brewing skills a while before tackling corn meal mashes (just meant as an advisory, not an admonishment).

[rad14701]

A gallon of malt could also be LME (Liquid Malt Extract) although I don't think the ever-illustrious Popcorn Sutton ever used LME...

[newbie1982]

I do understand the concept of malted grain but with there being malted extracts I wasn't sure what it was referring to. And from my understanding extacts are not very effective at converting starches to sugar. But even that discussion seems to be a debate.

[thecroweater]

No converting needed for this one. Any malt is mainly for flavour this is just a fairly basic sugar head. If ya want to discuss diastatic power of malts yaz are in the wrong thread

[Deerhunter]

I'm sure Popcorn wasn't in his kitchen or woods cooking up an all grain. He was busted with 800 gallons of shine in his barn. that would have taken months to make using an all grain. These guys made liquor the fastest way possible. They were in it for the money.

[craftsman]

This thread might be a little dated but is current enough that other novice stillers might stumble across it.
Even though I've been doin this a long time, I think new folks to the discovery of making spirits put too much emphasis on Popcorn Sutton and goofballs like those on "moonshiners TV program". Entertaining and almost lifelike it highlights failure and mistakes. Pay attention to that fact. The need to produce for money and greed is a prime example of what not to do.

The decision to use yellow corn or white corn or corn meal requires practice, practice, practice and experience. Not understanding the jargon of "stillin" is something that hinders a new guys development. Things like what is malt? is a no brainer. But someone trying to pick up the craft needs development time and should be practicin with simple mashes. Please refer to the basic pages the masters direct you to read!!!
I think the basic realization of 'how much" corn or malt to use per gallon of mash has guidelines of 1-2 pounds per gallon for grain and maybe 1-2 pounds of malt for the batch. Where an individual needs to be only comes with trial and error and taking advice from others that have failed. Knowing which malt to use and how much depends on the volume of mash being made. Also, learning how to fix a problem before it does become a total loss of good grain and sugar. Wild yeasts are a killer to good grain mixes and a good yeast for mashing should be used unless you know for sure what a wild yeast needs to survive and do a good job. If that is not learned then one might have to get used to the smell of vomit or rotten eggs and spoiled mashes.

I think after a beginning stillers learn from others by reading this forum since they don't have a "Popcorn" lookin over your shoulder and callin ya a dumb-ass every time you make a mistake. The main point I wanted to make is in time a practical corn mash recipe or any other type of recipe; when practiced and perfected, you make your own way in makin superior spirits. I'm convinced that there are hundreds of ways to make corn liker mash; cold, boiled, scalded, step-cooked ect....
Ultimately an individual milestone and a good recipe gets imprinted in a storage vault called memory. It also means never being unable to try new things as ingredient availability presents itself. Almost all food items can be used as an ingredient if it has a predominate carbon/carbohydrate level. Knowing that corn is a carbohydrate tied up as starch should make one try to separate it so you have more sugar to work with. I think back to over 40-years ago my first mash made from carrots and all that I experimented with over the years, and not having a forum or computer to gain insight from the many masters that is available today. Following their advice and accepting their criticism comes from their personal screw-ups when they began this journey.
So much for Popcorn's corn mash recipe. He might have shared that with the author of the book, but all the little things he did from experience to master his craft is going to be needed to learn on your own as a reader. Happy stillin'

[Usge]

Pouring boiling water in the barrel and steeping the corn before adding malt does produce "some" conversion...but as surmised the sugar is what ultimately makes it tick.. In that regard, it's technically a form of thin-mash...albeit more thin..than mash . I found this type method to work well..particularly if you don't have a large boiler for mashing....but do have a large barrel/vessel to ferment in (ie., a 30-50 gal barrel).