George Washington Rye Recipe

[King Of Hearts]

Has anyone tried the George Washington Rye recipe? If so could you give details on your mash method?

Washington's Whiskey Recipe

The recipe, or "mash bill," calls for 65 percent rye, 30 percent corn and 5 percent malted barley.

First, grind the grains into a coarse meal. Then, mix the rye and corn in a wood vessel called a "hog's head." Add hot and cold water. Stick your hand in the mash to make sure it isn't too hot. If it doesn't burn, the temperature is just right. Add barley and stir.

Cool the mixture down a bit more, and add yeast. Let the mixture ferment for a few days.

Pour the mixture into a copper still, and let it boil. The alcohol will vaporize and condense, flowing out of a tube, also known as a worm.

Collect the liquid and run it through the copper still one more time. Now you have finished whiskey.

Washington barreled his whiskey and sold it immediately. These days, distillers age it for a few years to improve its taste.

Source: Jim Beam master distiller Jerry Dalton / The Associated Press

[Tater]

Thats 35 percent Indian corn.

[Dnderhead]

very well could be the way it was done, but would not be efficient. pre sour mashing?

[loneswinger]

Why wouldn't it be efficient, not enough enzymes between the (malted?) rye and the barley to convert the corn?

[Dnderhead]

corn takes a lot to cook about 1 hour at 180f (83c) rye takes quite a bit less,135-147f (63-64c) then not enough enzymes, even with modern "distillers" malt
it takes 10% or more of grain bill, brewers malt use 20% or more.

[King Of Hearts]

Off topic but I can't find the answer. When you start heating the still, how much heat do you apply? Maybe this is why I burnt my wash.

[Dnderhead]

that depends on whats in the still/pot and what your heat is, if it has sugar ,starches in it your going to halve to use less.
and a soft heat or flame is the best in my opinion.you can have the same BTUs with a less "force" ,this is like comparing
a blow torch to a BBQ both mite be 100,000BTUs but the BBQ is much "softer" therefor less likely to burn .also you could use a plate
under the pot. with electric id say more or larger elements but use the same power,this is to say, one 20,000w element, at
20,000 w is more likely to burn than 2 -20,000w element's putting out 20,000 w, or a 40,000w element putting out 20,000.

[King Of Hearts]

Thanks, I'm using gas flame, so I'm trying to go easy, about double what it takes to maintain 172 degrees. It's a wash of 60% corn, 20% rye malt, 20% distillers malt. I racked off the ferment so it's pretty clear, like a weak lemonade. it's taken me 4 hrs to get to 140 degrees but now it's moving up faster.

[King Of Hearts]

very well could be the way it was done, but would not be efficient. pre sour mashing?

Maybe the rye was malted? But we could use enzymes. Here is how they made it at @ Woodford Reserve. http://distilling.com/newsletters/ameri ... ler56.html

[loneswinger]

Thanks, I'm using gas flame, so I'm trying to go easy, about double what it takes to maintain 172 degrees. It's a wash of 60% corn, 20% rye malt, 20% distillers malt. I racked off the ferment so it's pretty clear, like a weak lemonade. it's taken me 4 hrs to get to 140 degrees but now it's moving up faster.

That sounds really slow. How big is your boiler? If it was pretty clear when you racked it then you should be able to heat it more quickly as long as there are no solids. When it first starts to boil you might want to turn down the heat some. My all grains will usually foam up and puke over the still. So much so that I have pretty much given up on single distilling anything and will double distill everything now. I don't have a thumper on my pot still.

That sounds like a lovely grain mix for a good bourbon. I have a 9 month old that was 50% corn, 30% barley, 10% Rye and 10% wheat aging on charred oak cubes. It is really delicious, but the Rye didn't really come through, so more Rye would be better I am sure. Did you get good conversion? As Dnderhead mentioned, the corn might need to cook at higher temps first to get a good conversion. I always steam cook the corn, wheat, and rye first, then cool to about 170 F and add the barley and maybe a little more cool water to get it to ~ 150 F for mashing.


I was also wondering about whether or not the Rye was malted.

-Loneswinger

[King Of Hearts]

Thanks, I'm using gas flame, so I'm trying to go easy, about double what it takes to maintain 172 degrees. It's a wash of 60% corn, 20% rye malt, 20% distillers malt. I racked off the ferment so it's pretty clear, like a weak lemonade. it's taken me 4 hrs to get to 140 degrees but now it's moving up faster.

That sounds really slow. How big is your boiler? If it was pretty clear when you racked it then you should be able to heat it more quickly as long as there are no solids. When it first starts to boil you might want to turn down the heat some. My all grains will usually foam up and puke over the still. So much so that I have pretty much given up on single distilling anything and will double distill everything now. I don't have a thumper on my pot still.

That sounds like a lovely grain mix for a good bourbon. I have a 9 month old that was 50% corn, 30% barley, 10% Rye and 10% wheat aging on charred oak cubes. It is really delicious, but the Rye didn't really come through, so more Rye would be better I am sure. Did you get good conversion? As Dnderhead mentioned, the corn might need to cook at higher temps first to get a good conversion. I always steam cook the corn, wheat, and rye first, then cool to about 170 F and add the barley and maybe a little more cool water to get it to ~ 150 F for mashing.


I was also wondering about whether or not the Rye was malted.

-Loneswinger

I'm using a half barrel and Brewhaus pot still head. From reading @ homedistiller.com I now realize what I did was almost a spirit run. They say commercial distillers strip 1/3 of the volume of the wash, then do a spirit run cutting from 80% to 60%. I could get some heavy toast cubes for $15 a lb. here. I got 100% conversion cause I also used amylase and amyloglucadase enzymes. The corn was flaked. I usewd ice to cool it.

[King Of Hearts]

My all grains will usually foam up and puke over the still. So much so that I have pretty much given up on single distilling anything and will double distill everything now. I don't have a thumper on my pot still.

-Loneswinger

I'm using a half barrel and Brewhaus pot still head. From reading @ homedistiller.com I now realize what I did was almost a spirit run. They say commercial distillers strip 1/3 of the volume of the wash, then do a spirit run cutting from 80% to 60%. I could get some heavy toast cubes for $15 a lb. here. I got 100% conversion cause I also used amylase and amyloglucadase enzymes. The corn was flaked. I usewd ice to cool it.

I use antifoam agent, it works like a charm.