american scotch

[homemade12]

i have a good bit of exp distilling but never all malt . a local brew shop has 2 row domestic pail malt on sale 42 bucks cracked .thinking of making some all malt wiskey but no idea how much malt to use in mash. thankfull for any help or ideas.

[homemade12]

i was going to try a few things just needed idea of how much malt per gal . ty ,i said american scotch low temp smoking in my smoke house about 125-130. have hickory,oak, apple and orange wood. hell its just an experiment. im leaning on the apple wood mixed with hickory. and ty again

[Halfbaked]

Today is your lucky day http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 0#p7069009. It has detailed instructions. I am not sure of flavors you are after but this has details you are after.

[homemade12]

not what i was looking for but like it, wish wheat was ez to get down here in the south. i think some of the best vodkas in the world are made with wheat. and no im not talking about that grey duck vodka that uses some off the wall glycerine concoction... btw has it ever been proven that grey goose does use glycerine? i know they use some type of additive , you can tell by the oil or slick texture only time i get that is with oats.

[AAIndigo]

i have a good bit of exp distilling but never all malt . a local brew shop has 2 row domestic pail malt on sale 42 bucks cracked .thinking of making some all malt wiskey but no idea how much malt to use in mash. thankfull for any help or ideas.

I have made this recipe before and I'm starting a new batch today. Its from Ian Smileys, Making pure whiskey, second edition. You will need a mash tun or mesh type bag. I started brewing beer so I have the set up for mashing grain. You will need to mash the grain for 90 minutes around 150F.I bring the water in around 160 and let it settle to 150. Its for a 6 gallon batch
25L of soft water
2 tsp of gypsum (CaSO4)
citric or tartaric acid, or backset (I used 1 gallon per batch)
14.5lbs of crushed 2 row pale barley malt
1 packet of fleischmans yeast

Your first distill will be a stripping run. The second or third (never had the patience for a 3rd run) run will be your spirits run

[plaztikjezuz]

Are you trying for a Scotch flavor? If so you need to smoke your malt with peat. If your just shooting for a barley whiskey a general rule of thumb is 2 lbs of grain per gal of water.

Not all Scotch has a smoky flavor.
I generally find the Scotches from the Islay's are very peaty.

[Brendan]

Not all Scotch has a smoky flavor.

No it doesn't, but I think most Scotch producers use at least some peat smoked malt, even to a light degree.

The Japanese Single Malt Whiskies are un-peated, and some are downright spectacular.

You also wouldn't have to malt all the grain if you were chasing a light Scotch. We buy peated distilling malt here, and I just use it at 5% of the grain bill with the other 95% un-peated malted barley...

Also, if you are after something a little unique in terms of an 'American scotch', Tuthilltown Spirits do their malt whisky and age it in a brand new charred oak barrel as they would for bourbon...sure to give an American touch and slightly different taste profile

[plaztikjezuz]

No it doesn't, but I think most Scotch producers use at least some peat smoked malt, even to a light degree.

I am not an expert. I have read a little.
My take away was that producers like the Glen Levit use only one malt. Single malt scotch.
Producers like Drambuie get whiskey from many producers and blend it.

[plaztikjezuz]

You also wouldn't have to malt all the grain if you were chasing a light Scotch. We buy peated distilling malt here, and I just use it at 5% of the grain bill with the other 95% un-peated malted barley...

Also, if you are after something a little unique in terms of an 'American scotch', Tuthilltown Spirits do their malt whisky and age it in a brand new charred oak barrel as they would for bourbon...sure to give an American touch and slightly different taste profile

I have only done one all grain wash and I used German smoked malt. I had it already and it was to old to brew beer with because it lacked the right amount of smoke. But in the Bourbon you can taste it. Ever want to make bacon bourbon just use German Rauch malt.

10# corn
3# smoked malt
1# rye

[Brendan]

No it doesn't, but I think most Scotch producers use at least some peat smoked malt, even to a light degree.

I am not an expert. I have read a little.
My take away was that producers like the Glen Levit use only one malt. Single malt scotch.
Producers like Drambuie get whiskey from many producers and blend it.

This is a fairly common misconception...the term 'Single Malt' actually just means that it is a malt whisky made by one single distillery, as opposed to the many blended whiskies which can be a blend of MANY different whiskies from different distilleries

Usually the big Scotch producers (to the best of my knowledge, could be wrong here) will peat all of their malt as part of the kilning process to whatever degree they desire (this could be fairly light)...in our case, we only have a couple of variations of peated malt which may be too heavy, so the option to use part peated malt and part un-peated is there for the hobby distiller

Also, Drambuie is a liqueur which has some form of a sugar syrup added to make it thick and syrupy...it is a whisky flavoured liqueur.

[plaztikjezuz]

Also, Drambuie is a liqueur which has some form of a sugar syrup added to make it thick and syrupy...it is a whisky flavoured liqueur.

I misquoted myself.
I meant Chivas Regal, not Drambuie.
I could not think of the name, Hunter S Thompson kept popping in to my head, not sure how I got Drambuie out of that; maybe because I used to bartend and rusty nails were popular there??

[Jimbo]

Homemade, that recipe of mine that Halfbaked linked you too works equally well for any all malt recipe, wheat, barley malt etc.

Many people, myself included believe straight barley malt, and nothing else is a little bland, from experience. With a few pounds of peated malt for some smoke its adds flavor, a few pounds of anything will add some flavors. But setting a baseline for yourself with straight barley malt is good too. I did. In future you can blend with it if youre not nuts about it. I did. haha,

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[KDS111]

This past weekend I put together 50% peat smoked barley and 50% 6 row malted barley.
Total bill about 18 lbs for 5 gallon mash.
It finished about 8%. Fermenting off grain, first time. It went in the tun with 5 gallons of water. Sparged and added an additional gallon to make up for what the grain absorbed.
The smoked barley smelled amazing, it should for what it cost.
Anyone ever do a recipe like this? How smokey will the spirit be?

[Jimbo]

KDS, yes, they turn out nice. How smokey it will be depends on the phenol level in the peat smoked barley you bought. They come in all levels. If its too strong you can blend it down with some unsmoked hooch.

[buflowing]

Also consider how far into tails you go. You'll find smoke/peat down there. Age a jar or two of tails you aren't sure about separately and see how it matures.

[KDS111]

Would you put this on alligator charred oak or toasted?

[Jimbo]

Traditionally Scottish Scotch (isint that the only kind really) is aged in used bourbon barrels and sherry butts, for a very very long time. But youre not making a traditional scottish scotch, and you probably dont want to wait 10-18 years to enjoy it?. Scotch isint as oaky as bourbons and others so whatever you age it on go light. Dark char (alligator char) will bring over lots of dark caramels (more like a bourbon than a scotch). Light char brings nice flavors with a mix of flavors since all the sugars and wood compounds arent burnt to a crisp. I generally do a light char at 1 ea 1x1x5" stick per quart for 6 months-year before drinking it. Turns out very nice. Toasted only is for wine.

[DuckofDeath]

Watched a great docu on islay scotch. Whiskey the Islay edition it was called. They said that they age the scotch in rum, burbon, and sherry barrels and blend to get the flavor profile. They even mentioned that each barrel gave a unique color. They also said that the barley has changed over the years but it is 100% the same malting and all peat smoked.

[homemade12]

have not checked this thread for a long time ty for all the good info.. byw damn jimbo your still around? i have not been on distilling sites for years and not seen that name in years.. how ya been ? also is mason still around?... i spent 2 years working in bahamas and had no time for hobby.. good to still see the name

[Winger]

Scotch is basically beer distilled, but to make beer you boil the wort 60 to 90 min. to eliminate most of the sulfur compounds, and add hops. Of course you don't want hops in a scotch wort. Why not boil the wort to make scotch thereby eliminating the sulfurs before distillation?

[Jimbo]

Sulfers do not originate from the mash but from the yeast during fermentation (post wort phase). And are rarely a problem with whiskey mashes fermented with ale or distillers yeasts. Lager yeasts make sulpher compounds but these are never used to make a whiskey, and even in lager beers dissipate with the extended cold lagering process.

Any sulpher compounds that may be produced are knocked down in copper columns and condensers in your still, copper reacts with sulpher.

Ive never read that boiling beer is to remove sulpher compounds. Its to extract alpha acids from the hops and coagulate proteins (hot break) so they fall out during chilling (cold break) and create a clear beer.

There is no need to boil a whiskey wort.

[Winger]

Thanks Jimbo, below is where I got the Idea.

Once you achieve a boil, only partially cover the pot, if at all. Why? Because in wort there are sulfur compounds that evolve and boil off. If they aren't removed during the boil, the can form dimethyl sulfide which contributes a cooked cabbage or corn-like flavor to the beer. If the cover is left on the pot, or left on such that the condensate from the lid can drip back in, then these flavors will have a much greater chance of showing up in the finished beer.
From, John Palmer, How To Brew

[Jimbo]

ah yes! the reason not to boil with the cover on. wow, that was a long time ago (too many beers ago) learning that one.

So alas we are both correct LOL the best outcome.

Is still true boiling of whiskey wort, for whatever sets of reasons, including copper in the still, is not necessary. Ive never had sulpher anything in any all grain whiskey run, too many to count.

[homemade12]

sulpher prob but im guessin its the grain type and water type.. between the 2 they can. but as far as boiling i would do ,, may have to airate but have had had 2 bad batches cuz malt and everything was washed with san star except grain,,, im boiling from now on,,, lot of wasted time plus about 25 bucks

[plaztikjezuz]

Scotch is basically beer distilled, but to make beer you boil the wort 60 to 90 min. to eliminate most of the sulfur compounds, and add hops. Of course you don't want hops in a scotch wort. Why not boil the wort to make scotch thereby eliminating the sulfurs before distillation?

One nice thing a boil is it break down proteins that would make your wash volume reduced by about a gallon if your system cannot handle solids in the boiler.

Getting a hot break while boiling and a cold break while chilling will make a much clearer wash.

Although you do not need to boil 60 to 90; only 20 to 30 minutes.

The proteins after a boil sink more easily and do not make the fluff in the bottom of the fermenter.

[homemade12]

plaz if never played with beer i would be lost with what you said but got it,, and ty. reason i dont play with beer can buy good beer nearly same price and ya dont waste 30/40 or more trying small batch... plus if i screw up i can dump it all in 1 pot and make vodka or apple pie.. mess up a beer ,, to much hops ect dump it in drain