Booner's Casual All Corn

Refined and tested recipes for all manner of distilled spirits.

Moderator: Site Moderator

WIski
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 726
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:39 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by WIski »

Nice.....
User avatar
ShineonCrazyDiamond
Global moderator
Posts: 3433
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 6:14 pm
Location: Look Up

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Going to be a busy weekend!. 40 gallons ready, 40 bubbling hard, and laying down another 40 more tomorrow. For a brief moment before I start stripping, I will have 120 gallons of Booners mash in different stages of the process.

Hope I like it :ebiggrin: ! Should be enough to get me my 5 gallons of keeps to fill a barrel in a couple weeks. :thumbup:
"Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond."
WIski
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 726
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:39 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by WIski »

I have done a few Booners style and have liked the results a lot. I hope you enjoy yours as well. I am still toying with the backset playing forward but the recent conversations on reactions between acids and alcohol have made thos theory much clearer for me.
User avatar
Still Life
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1545
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:24 pm
Location: Great State Of Missouri

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Still Life »

oooooooooohhhh
First keeper drops are coming out of the spout.
Sweeeet and luscious!
User avatar
flyweed
Swill Maker
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:34 am

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by flyweed »

so i am going to make this, this weekend. I picked up a 50lb bag of cracked corn..I am gonna run it through my grinder, to make it a little finer.... I also picked up a 14 gallon food grade barrel, with locking lid. Would I be able to fit 12 gallons of water and basing on 2lbs of corn per gallon of water. 24lbs of corn. Will that fit in the barrel, or is that too much water and corn for a 14 gallon barrel for fermenting out in??

Thanks
Drink tonight.....For tomorrow We Ride!
RedwoodHillBilly

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

flyweed wrote:so i am going to make this, this weekend. I picked up a 50lb bag of cracked corn..I am gonna run it through my grinder, to make it a little finer.... I also picked up a 14 gallon food grade barrel, with locking lid. Would I be able to fit 12 gallons of water and basing on 2lbs of corn per gallon of water. 24lbs of corn. Will that fit in the barrel, or is that too much water and corn for a 14 gallon barrel for fermenting out in??

Thanks
The grain and water will just barely fit, but you will have a vigorous ferment with no head space. Expect a mess to clean up. I do 50 gal ferments in a 55 gal barrel, but I use a 2" spool into a bucket of water as an airlock. Tried it once with a 1/2" tube, and spent some time getting acquainted with a mop.

You might want to do a 10 gal ferment instead.
User avatar
flyweed
Swill Maker
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:34 am

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by flyweed »

yeah, I think that's what I'll do...rather than pushing my luck...I'll do either 10 or 11 gallons of water and 20-22lbs of cracked corn. Should leave me enough head space.
Drink tonight.....For tomorrow We Ride!
Borneogoat
Novice
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:25 pm
Location: Hobart, Tasmania

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Borneogoat »

I've read all the way through this post, but it was over a month ago. Now I've got my enzymes and have a simple question ... hoping to avoid the hours it took to read the whole thread! Do I need to mash-in with the entire wash volume? For my 21gal batch, do I need to add the full 21gal with the 38lbs corn and mash the whole mess or can I add a lessor volume like in AG homebrewing? A lessor volume would be quicker to temp and less to transfer in my very manual system....
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. Therefore, whiskey is a solution despite what any tee-totaling jerk tells you.
User avatar
HDNB
Site Mod
Posts: 7360
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:04 am
Location: the f-f-fu frozen north

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by HDNB »

i cook corn with 75% of the water volume, the other 25% goes in for cooling and clean out. works for me.

if that helps your question
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
Borneogoat
Novice
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:25 pm
Location: Hobart, Tasmania

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Borneogoat »

That's good to hear! Anyone tried less, 50% or even less? The less I transfer, the easier on my back...
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. Therefore, whiskey is a solution despite what any tee-totaling jerk tells you.
User avatar
Hilltop
Swill Maker
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:48 pm
Location: South Pole

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Hilltop »

Borneogoat wrote:I've read all the way through this post, but it was over a month ago. Now I've got my enzymes and have a simple question ... hoping to avoid the hours it took to read the whole thread! Do I need to mash-in with the entire wash volume? For my 21gal batch, do I need to add the full 21gal with the 38lbs corn and mash the whole mess or can I add a lessor volume like in AG homebrewing? A lessor volume would be quicker to temp and less to transfer in my very manual system....
You steam cooking the corn? If so your boiler will add water back during the process. Most use roughly 2 pounds of grain per gallon, which would be 19 gallons of water. Here's how I do it. I grind 70 pounds of whole corn to meal using my blender. I then grind 15 pounds of oats and 15 pounds wheat. I put this and a coffee can of oyster shell in a 55 gallon blue food grade drum and dump 20 gallons of boiling water on it and stir, I then fill my barrel up and turn my steam wand on from my boiler.

Once I hit 200 I let it set, turn off heat at 190 I add my enzyme. I use whisky yeast that has the second enzyme in it, so once it cools overnight to 90 degrees, I add my yeast. Most do not cook corn long enough or get it to temp. Grinding the corn fine helps, but it's a mess to strain. Now I realize that's not Booners, but it grew from his recipe, I find the hint of oats and wheat make one hell of a fine whisky.

I have went back to adding 25 pounds of sugar per drum to boost my yield some. My still is dripping good tonight.
"Virtute et armis" By valor and arms

Let's keep our country free as God has given us.

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death."
NattyBoh
Bootlegger
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:26 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by NattyBoh »

Just had my second unsuccessful run of this recipe. The problem I imagine is more of my rig than the recipe. Made two identical mashes of 15 gallons with 30 lbs of cornmeal. Both finished in a week to 1.000 with 8%. Running through a 3 plate flute. Had coolant water diled in to 2L/min and stabilized after an hour heat up for 20 mins. Collected 250ml fores then started collecting in 400ml jars. On both runs, temp hung around 77-78 and ABV at 86-87. Then at jar 5, stream went down to a trickle but the temp wasn't rising. I opened valve a touch and tried increasing amps from 16 where I started to over 17 and still couldn't get takeoff to increase. I can't imagine I was in tails already. Anyway, just turned off deflag and collected everything as a strip run. Before it slowed down I did not taste the sweet corniness others have described. Any suggestions where I messed up?
User avatar
fizzix
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3698
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by fizzix »

Assuming one has already invested in enzymes, this Booner's must be the least expensive drink around these h'yere parts.
These last few all grains I've done have paid the light bills at the brew shop. Time for a cash output rest. My farmer's co-op sells a bushel of cracked corn for $8.

I see "sweet" being the predominant flavor description for Booner's throughout this thread. Does anyone have a better characterization? Just curious, and regardless this is next on my list anyway.
(This new guy is really getting a stockpile of barrels! Feel more like a better novice everyday!)
User avatar
Oldvine Zin
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 2414
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:16 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Hilltop wrote: I have went back to adding 25 pounds of sugar per drum to boost my yield some. My still is dripping good tonight.
:roll:
OVZ
User avatar
Due51
Swill Maker
Posts: 326
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Due51 »

Howdy-

I'm on my second mash this "season" and I'm having a hell of a time getting any kind of respectable SG.
I use 15# of cracked corn, 8# 6-row, 5# rye and SebStar enzymes.
My first mash yielded 1.028 and this weekend was 1.020
I don't know what's going on. I'm mindful of my Ph and Temps but still not getting good saccharificatiuon. Iodine tests indicate starch conversion (light yellowish? I'm color blind. But it's definitely not black or purple).

Grain bill:
15# cracked corn into my mash tun with steam head connected to my boiler.
Added 5gallons of 160degree washback&water.
Applied steam and brought temp up to 185. Checked Ph - 6.14
Added SebStar HTL. Stirred and let set overnight.
Added 3 gallons water to bring temp to 125.
Adjusted Ph with citric acid - Ph 4.25
Added SebAmyl. Stirred and let set for 120 minutes.
Applied heat and brought temp to 158.
Added grain which brought temp to 153.
Stirred and let set for 120 minutes.
Drained.
Sparged with 5 gallons of 179degree water.
Yielded between 9-10gallons of mash.

Rinsed grain again with 4 gallons of 185degree water for washback.

I should be getting a lot better SG.
Does anyone have any suggestions or see what I'm doing wrong?
When Temp
Those who stay...
User avatar
bilgriss
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1690
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 2:28 pm
Location: Southeast-ish.

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by bilgriss »

Were all the grains after the corn ground or crushed finely?

If your iodine test says there are no starches, then the starches must not have been made available to the enzymes somehow.
Or your measurement is wrong.
User avatar
Due51
Swill Maker
Posts: 326
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Due51 »

The corn is bagged but I buy it from a local feed store and know the owner pretty well.
The grains are bought and crushed at my Homebrew shop.
The measurements are on. I weigh everything.

I'm stumped.
Those who stay...
User avatar
fizzix
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3698
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by fizzix »

Thinking out loud.
Try running the next corn through the blender and make meal flour out of it and expose that corny goodness.
I do that and haven't had any failures yet.
User avatar
HDNB
Site Mod
Posts: 7360
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:04 am
Location: the f-f-fu frozen north

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by HDNB »

Added SebAmyl. Stirred and let set for 120 minutes.
Applied heat and brought temp to 158.
Added grain which brought temp to 153.
125* and 4.25 should be ok...but the heating to 158? with steam? maybe denatured the enzyme (steam is entering at 212*)

but then what the enzyme didn't get at 125*, the six row should have caught. the rye malted? they say unmalted rye will convert itself, but i don't know that from experience...

i'd get the heat to 150 ish before the sebamylgl and then let it cool. (do the seb and malt at the same time)
4.25 is low for my protocol but within the enzyme's range...i'd be worrying more about the yeast down there.

beat's me why yer not getting 1.55-.06 with that recipe. are your measuring devices accurate and temp calibrated?
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
User avatar
Due51
Swill Maker
Posts: 326
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Due51 »

HDNB wrote: 125* and 4.25 should be ok...but the heating to 158? with steam? maybe denatured the enzyme (steam is entering at 212*)
I held it at 125 for a couple hours, to allow the enzymes to do their work. Then, I used the steam head to raise the temp to 158* so I could mash in the crushed malted grain.
i'd get the heat to 150 ish before the sebamylgl and then let it cool. (do the seb and malt at the same time)
4.25 is low for my protocol but within the enzyme's range...i'd be worrying more about the yeast down there.
I'll try that the next time. Thanks.
are your measuring devices accurate and temp calibrated?
I use two different thermometers (analog dial AND a digital probe). Both were reading the same temp.
I measure the corn out in "bowl fulls" which weigh about 1lb each. The grain was weighed at the LHBS.
Those who stay...
User avatar
Due51
Swill Maker
Posts: 326
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Due51 »

fizzix wrote:Thinking out loud.
Try running the next corn through the blender and make meal flour out of it and expose that corny goodness.
I do that and haven't had any failures yet.
Thank you. I have a mill in the lab. I'll crush it more before the next time.
Those who stay...
User avatar
Due51
Swill Maker
Posts: 326
Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:38 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Due51 »

I'm embarrassed to say, my SG issue was nothing more than a poorly calibrated hydrometer.
Ran another mash today and got 1.060.

I tried something new this time:
I put 5# cracked corn into my pressure cooker with 1.5 gallons of washback.
Pressure cooked for 30 minutes at 15psi.
It wasn't that much work, and I felt like I got better results.
Those who stay...
User avatar
fizzix
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3698
Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by fizzix »

ah good news, Due. Glad to hear you're on your way.
User avatar
Hilltop
Swill Maker
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:48 pm
Location: South Pole

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Hilltop »

fizzix wrote:Thinking out loud.
Try running the next corn through the blender and make meal flour out of it and expose that corny goodness.
I do that and haven't had any failures yet.
I second that. The best whisky is not made from feed corn, it's made from sweet corn, or super sweet. It has double the sugar feed corn does, but alas, we can only get it in season
"Virtute et armis" By valor and arms

Let's keep our country free as God has given us.

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death."
CatCrap
Swill Maker
Posts: 189
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:56 pm

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by CatCrap »

Thanks, woodshed, great recipe. I've got my 'zymes and a couple bags of crack, so this will be my next go.
Sounds like evevryone who's tried this recipe has had success, at least eventually, after a couple tries and some troubleshooting. Alway's great to have another recipe in the repetoir, another variety in jars/barrels, and another protocol under your belt. I think one of the absolute gems of this thread is when Woodshed talks about protocol. Do everything the same, every time. Spoken like a true master distiller.

Hey, Due, the thought that popped into my head, is this.. don't rely ONLY on a hydrometer/refractometer. Taste the mash!! Just like Sherman/POS does at the very end of his video.. taste the strained mash. He says "It's quite sweet" (he's very funny in that video BTW.. can tell he's nervous at the start when he stutters a bit and has to compose himself). I'd recommend the Pintoshine video as required viewing to anyone doing an Enzyme based mash.(no offense to Woodshed, you've done an outstanding job explaining a 100% corn mash with enzymes here)
Anywho... just like (tater or cranky's can't remember) advice with likker off the still... taste your mash, smell it, rub it 'tween your fingers, pour it on your head, get acquainted with it. In this case, Due, if you taste your mash and it's quite sweet, you'll know "This can't possibly be .02" and know your hydrometer must be off. OR, it's not very sweet at all.. and it may well be 1.020. Imagine if we get enough practice that we can not only read the bead, and tell proof by look, but also by taste and feel between our fingers, but get a good read on Og/SG/Brix by taste as well. So, for me, i plan to make sure i'm tasting every mash before the ferment and after. Seems like an important step and part of protocol to build taste/scent memory, so you know without even taking a reading if your SG came out right, if your Ph is in the right area.

HIlltop: Can you please explain what you mean by Sweet corn makes better whiskey than feed corn? Because i'm fairly sure that most pro craft distillers, and 90% of folks here, are using feed corn, aka #2 yellow dent corn. The sugars are locked up in starches, but that's why we mash. Dent corn also has a fairly low protein content, which of course is good for us mashers/distillers, as protein does nothing for us but make our lives harder. I've no clue about the protein content of Sweet Corn, perhaps it's higher, and that's why it's avoided?

So, i'm just curious why you said sweet corn will make a better whiskey? In this day and age, you can get ANY produce any time of year. the top whiskey makers could get sweet corn and use it year round, if it was a better product. To my knowledge, which aint that much, none are, they all use #2 Dent Corn (i know some use red or blue corn. That's more about the earthier flavor they provide VS white/yellow corn). I'd venture a guess, that while sweet corn, of course, may contain more SUGAR overall (even after conversion of "feed" corn) it's probably fairly one dimensional and flat. After all, we are not ONLY after sweetness/brix therefore ABV here... we're after flavor. If we just wanted max sweetness, hell we'd use sugar! Uh.. although.. i did read that you do add a bunch of sugar to your "AG"? I dunno.. to me.. sugarhead is a sugarhead.. i'm doing these AG (booner's NChooch Carolina, Honey Bear) recipes to do them ALL GRAIN. From my research, can't say first hand.. AG provides a superior, or at least different, product from sugarheads. SO, you go through all the work of making an all grain mash.. get to the very end, and decide to add 25# of sugar to it? Why not just do UJSM? That, i can say from experience, does make a damn fine drink. Nothing wrong with it at all. But.. AG.. is.. well... All G. A Grain. AG. All grain. Put sugar in it..and it aint AG, and it aint Booners. I reiterate... sweetness, AKA brix therefore ABV isn't everything.. it's just yield. Yes, you have to make more to get more without sugar.. but that's the entire point of all grain. It's hard work for hard won returns. As a side note.. pro distilleries don't use sugar to make whiskey.. or vodka for that matter. They use grains. It's more work.. and maybe cheaper to use grain overall.. but they don't add sugar. And they very easily could boost yield with sugar.

Just my $0.02. Love to hear your thoughts on the Sweet vs "feed" corn. (i don't feed shit with my corn, except my likker making habit haha :ewink: )
butterpants
Swill Maker
Posts: 334
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:22 pm
Location: CO

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by butterpants »

CatCrap wrote:Thanks, woodshed, great recipe. I've got my 'zymes and a couple bags of crack, so this will be my next go.
Sounds like evevryone who's tried this recipe has had success, at least eventually, after a couple tries and some troubleshooting. Alway's great to have another recipe in the repetoir, another variety in jars/barrels, and another protocol under your belt. I think one of the absolute gems of this thread is when Woodshed talks about protocol. Do everything the same, every time. Spoken like a true master distiller.

Hey, Due, the thought that popped into my head, is this.. don't rely ONLY on a hydrometer/refractometer. Taste the mash!! Just like Sherman/POS does at the very end of his video.. taste the strained mash. He says "It's quite sweet" (he's very funny in that video BTW.. can tell he's nervous at the start when he stutters a bit and has to compose himself). I'd recommend the Pintoshine video as required viewing to anyone doing an Enzyme based mash.(no offense to Woodshed, you've done an outstanding job explaining a 100% corn mash with enzymes here)
Anywho... just like (tater or cranky's can't remember) advice with likker off the still... taste your mash, smell it, rub it 'tween your fingers, pour it on your head, get acquainted with it. In this case, Due, if you taste your mash and it's quite sweet, you'll know "This can't possibly be .02" and know your hydrometer must be off. OR, it's not very sweet at all.. and it may well be 1.020. Imagine if we get enough practice that we can not only read the bead, and tell proof by look, but also by taste and feel between our fingers, but get a good read on Og/SG/Brix by taste as well. So, for me, i plan to make sure i'm tasting every mash before the ferment and after. Seems like an important step and part of protocol to build taste/scent memory, so you know without even taking a reading if your SG came out right, if your Ph is in the right area.

HIlltop: Can you please explain what you mean by Sweet corn makes better whiskey than feed corn? Because i'm fairly sure that most pro craft distillers, and 90% of folks here, are using feed corn, aka #2 yellow dent corn. The sugars are locked up in starches, but that's why we mash. Dent corn also has a fairly low protein content, which of course is good for us mashers/distillers, as protein does nothing for us but make our lives harder. I've no clue about the protein content of Sweet Corn, perhaps it's higher, and that's why it's avoided?

So, i'm just curious why you said sweet corn will make a better whiskey? In this day and age, you can get ANY produce any time of year. the top whiskey makers could get sweet corn and use it year round, if it was a better product. To my knowledge, which aint that much, none are, they all use #2 Dent Corn (i know some use red or blue corn. That's more about the earthier flavor they provide VS white/yellow corn). I'd venture a guess, that while sweet corn, of course, may contain more SUGAR overall (even after conversion of "feed" corn) it's probably fairly one dimensional and flat. After all, we are not ONLY after sweetness/brix therefore ABV here... we're after flavor. If we just wanted max sweetness, hell we'd use sugar! Uh.. although.. i did read that you do add a bunch of sugar to your "AG"? I dunno.. to me.. sugarhead is a sugarhead.. i'm doing these AG (booner's NChooch Carolina, Honey Bear) recipes to do them ALL GRAIN. From my research, can't say first hand.. AG provides a superior, or at least different, product from sugarheads. SO, you go through all the work of making an all grain mash.. get to the very end, and decide to add 25# of sugar to it? Why not just do UJSM? That, i can say from experience, does make a damn fine drink. Nothing wrong with it at all. But.. AG.. is.. well... All G. A Grain. AG. All grain. Put sugar in it..and it aint AG, and it aint Booners. I reiterate... sweetness, AKA brix therefore ABV isn't everything.. it's just yield. Yes, you have to make more to get more without sugar.. but that's the entire point of all grain. It's hard work for hard won returns. As a side note.. pro distilleries don't use sugar to make whiskey.. or vodka for that matter. They use grains. It's more work.. and maybe cheaper to use grain overall.. but they don't add sugar. And they very easily could boost yield with sugar.

Just my $0.02. Love to hear your thoughts on the Sweet vs "feed" corn. (i don't feed shit with my corn, except my likker making habit haha :ewink: )
Mostly it comes down to oxidative reactions having a deleterious effect on flavor positive compounds.....but that's a long winded answer for:

Fresher, better tasting ingredients always make better products.
User avatar
Tater
Admin
Posts: 9677
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:19 am
Location: occupied south

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Tater »

back to topic please.
I use a pot still.Sometimes with a thumper
User avatar
Hilltop
Swill Maker
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:48 pm
Location: South Pole

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Hilltop »

butterpants wrote:
CatCrap wrote:Thanks, woodshed, great recipe. I've got my 'zymes and a couple bags of crack, so this will be my next go.
Sounds like evevryone who's tried this recipe has had success, at least eventually, after a couple tries and some troubleshooting. Alway's great to have another recipe in the repetoir, another variety in jars/barrels, and another protocol under your belt. I think one of the absolute gems of this thread is when Woodshed talks about protocol. Do everything the same, every time. Spoken like a true master distiller.

Hey, Due, the thought that popped into my head, is this.. don't rely ONLY on a hydrometer/refractometer. Taste the mash!! Just like Sherman/POS does at the very end of his video.. taste the strained mash. He says "It's quite sweet" (he's very funny in that video BTW.. can tell he's nervous at the start when he stutters a bit and has to compose himself). I'd recommend the Pintoshine video as required viewing to anyone doing an Enzyme based mash.(no offense to Woodshed, you've done an outstanding job explaining a 100% corn mash with enzymes here)
Anywho... just like (tater or cranky's can't remember) advice with likker off the still... taste your mash, smell it, rub it 'tween your fingers, pour it on your head, get acquainted with it. In this case, Due, if you taste your mash and it's quite sweet, you'll know "This can't possibly be .02" and know your hydrometer must be off. OR, it's not very sweet at all.. and it may well be 1.020. Imagine if we get enough practice that we can not only read the bead, and tell proof by look, but also by taste and feel between our fingers, but get a good read on Og/SG/Brix by taste as well. So, for me, i plan to make sure i'm tasting every mash before the ferment and after. Seems like an important step and part of protocol to build taste/scent memory, so you know without even taking a reading if your SG came out right, if your Ph is in the right area.

HIlltop: Can you please explain what you mean by Sweet corn makes better whiskey than feed corn? Because i'm fairly sure that most pro craft distillers, and 90% of folks here, are using feed corn, aka #2 yellow dent corn. The sugars are locked up in starches, but that's why we mash. Dent corn also has a fairly low protein content, which of course is good for us mashers/distillers, as protein does nothing for us but make our lives harder. I've no clue about the protein content of Sweet Corn, perhaps it's higher, and that's why it's avoided?

So, i'm just curious why you said sweet corn will make a better whiskey? In this day and age, you can get ANY produce any time of year. the top whiskey makers could get sweet corn and use it year round, if it was a better product. To my knowledge, which aint that much, none are, they all use #2 Dent Corn (i know some use red or blue corn. That's more about the earthier flavor they provide VS white/yellow corn). I'd venture a guess, that while sweet corn, of course, may contain more SUGAR overall (even after conversion of "feed" corn) it's probably fairly one dimensional and flat. After all, we are not ONLY after sweetness/brix therefore ABV here... we're after flavor. If we just wanted max sweetness, hell we'd use sugar! Uh.. although.. i did read that you do add a bunch of sugar to your "AG"? I dunno.. to me.. sugarhead is a sugarhead.. i'm doing these AG (booner's NChooch Carolina, Honey Bear) recipes to do them ALL GRAIN. From my research, can't say first hand.. AG provides a superior, or at least different, product from sugarheads. SO, you go through all the work of making an all grain mash.. get to the very end, and decide to add 25# of sugar to it? Why not just do UJSM? That, i can say from experience, does make a damn fine drink. Nothing wrong with it at all. But.. AG.. is.. well... All G. A Grain. AG. All grain. Put sugar in it..and it aint AG, and it aint Booners. I reiterate... sweetness, AKA brix therefore ABV isn't everything.. it's just yield. Yes, you have to make more to get more without sugar.. but that's the entire point of all grain. It's hard work for hard won returns. As a side note.. pro distilleries don't use sugar to make whiskey.. or vodka for that matter. They use grains. It's more work.. and maybe cheaper to use grain overall.. but they don't add sugar. And they very easily could boost yield with sugar.

Just my $0.02. Love to hear your thoughts on the Sweet vs "feed" corn. (i don't feed shit with my corn, except my likker making habit haha :ewink: )
Mostly it comes down to oxidative reactions having a deleterious effect on flavor positive compounds.....but that's a long winded answer for:

Fresher, better tasting ingredients always make better products.
Sweet corn is bred to have plump, juicy kernels that include a high level of natural sugar when compared to field corn. It's that sugar that gives sweet corn the flavor we all love.

Next go buy some sweet corn and some field corn cook them and you will instantly taste the difference We have super sweet varietys now that contain twice the sugar or more that field corn does.

Anybody who does this for profit thinks with his wallet, Including large outfits. Feed corn is low grade stuff we feed to our animals.

We pick our corn and cream a lot of it each summer, Whisky made from that super sweet creamed corn is way better than field corn. Try it and see for yourself.

Distillerys must used dried corn as they make so much and fresh corn is only in season for a short time. I love my barrel of fresh corn each summer over field corn by a long margin. Many varietys of corn , especially this animal corn from the feed store is gas not air dried. Gas drying the corn is rumored to take some of the goodies out, but that's above my pay grade.
"Virtute et armis" By valor and arms

Let's keep our country free as God has given us.

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death."
User avatar
Hilltop
Swill Maker
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:48 pm
Location: South Pole

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by Hilltop »

Butterpants, 10 times more sugar would be a big difference. Read this from wiki

Supersweet or shrunken-2 types have four to ten times the sugar content of normal sugar (su) types and with proper handling is able to be stored for up to 10 days.[14] Less hardy than even se types, requiring higher germination temperatures, precise planting depth and isolation from all other corn pollen for optimum results. The name derives from the shrunken, shriveled appearance of the dried kernel which is low in starch.

Keep in mind wiki is judging between sweet and super sweet. Field corn has half the sugar regular sweet corn has. So it is a substantial increase.

I added sugar as before I learned to oven cook the corn I was getting poor yields. Now I don't even grind cracked corn anymore. My oven will hold two 5 gallon pots. I fill each pot to 1/3 with cracked corn and then water to 2/3 . Once my corn is swollen to the 2/3 mark shes done and literally slids out of the pot, no mess to clean and easy to strain. I set my oven on 250. takes about 2 hours. No more stirring and messy cleanups for me.
"Virtute et armis" By valor and arms

Let's keep our country free as God has given us.

"Give me Liberty or Give me Death."
butterpants
Swill Maker
Posts: 334
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:22 pm
Location: CO

Re: Booner's Casual All Corn

Post by butterpants »

I am back on topic and have nothing to add.
Post Reply