First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

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OMEGA
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First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by OMEGA »

I'm very excited. So I'm writing about my first bourbon mash that I did on Sunday, of which I am now stripping while I type this. While I'm a fairly new distiller, I've done probably 25 strip runs and 8 spirit runs this far, all of which have been 100% barley. I've been happy with that product until I started itching for more flavor from my final product, so I decided to try out a corn heavy bourbon mash. Now as an avid homebrewer, of course I went with the LHBS flaked maize
Despite it's ridiculous price. Surprisingly, it was harder to work with than the rolled corn feed I would later use. It was a mess. I fought the entire process, even after having mashed all grain beer hundreds of times.

Recipe:

14 lb flaked maize
3 lb 6 row barley
3 lb malted rye

...despite being pre gelatinized, the ultra high price of the flaked maize is not worth it unless you're only using it in small amounts for a beer. That's when I went to my local feed store and bought 100 lbs of rolled flaked corn (uncooked) and I absolutely love it. Instead of using my beer mash run, I use my
15 gallon Boil kettle and a paint mixing drill bit to cook the corn for about an hour on high heat, then I chill it with a large copper wort chiller for 10 minutes and bring the corn slop down to 151*F, and add the 3lb barley and 3lb rye, and 2 tbsp amylase enzyme and stir the piss outta it! It's amazing how much it thins out instantly as the starches convert. I then close it up and let it rest at 150 for as long as possible and the. Unwrap the insulator and let it cool overnight. By morning it's at 75*f and I pitch a healthy amount of a highly tolerance saccaromyces strain and let her rip on the grain. I usually will do a double batch back to back days and pour one 12 gallon bath on top of the next in 25 gallon fermenters. I've found the hard part is lautering the fermented grain and separating the beer from it. Still trying to perfect that..

ANYHOW!

This corn strip tastes great already. I can't tell this is going in an awesome direction. I'm much happier with this product than the 100% barley product! Thank you to this forum and everyone on it for being such an awesome source of knowledge in this art form.
_OMEGA_
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scuba stiller
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by scuba stiller »

Ahh, the sweet smell of success. Congratulations on your early successes. :clap: Handling the cooking of corn is often discussed. Some grind cracked corn to a meal, others are content cooking it longer. Stay safe and have fun with this hobby.
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MichiganCornhusker
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Congrats! Corn makes a great drop. You just took your second step through the door and it shut behind you, you are now hooked for life. :thumbup:
Shouting and shooting, I can't let them catch me...
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jedneck
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by jedneck »

MichiganCornhusker wrote:Congrats! Corn makes a great drop. You just took your second step through the door and it shut behind you, you are now hooked for life. :thumbup:
Not only did the door shut It locked and you lost the key. There is no turning back now
welcome aboard some of us are ornery old coots but if you do a lot of
reading and don't ask stupid questions you'll be alright most are
big help
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OMEGA
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by OMEGA »

Hahaha I completely agree. The door is shut and locked and I'm stuck here with you guys... Which I am very happy about. Currently I'm waiting for 10 gallons of Cornish to cool so I can toss in tye and 2 row!

So I've already gotten sick of wringing out grains and using a bucket press method of squeezing the grains of their contents... To bad it's not as easy as brewing beer with 100% barley. So finally I just decided to try distilling on the grain with a double boiler to save time and product. I haven't worked all the kinks out yet but it worked and turned out good tasting product first try. I have several 25 gallon fermenters going I simply don't have the time or strength to wrong each out by hand, and the mop bucket idea doesn't seem like it would work to me. Anyhow, I have the everything down and setup to have some good bourbon batches running soon! Woo!
_OMEGA_
Two-Four-Bud
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by Two-Four-Bud »

Congrats!

Humm, gives me an idea... Might try some peated malt. Something bout that smoky flavor in my glass.... Mmmmmm

What size batch you running? I might just have to borrow that recipe of yours and try out a 5gal batch,

Something more
6lb Maize
2lb Peated
2lb Rye

As I think more bout your ratio I might even try
8lb Maize
1lb Peated
1lb Rye

What do you think?
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moosemilk
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by moosemilk »

Don't knock the mop bucket and nylon bag. Works fantastic. I lose very little with that method.

Congrats on your run. If you like the corn, take a good look at the booners recipe. Pure corn goodness.
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OMEGA
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by OMEGA »

Two-Four-Bud wrote:Congrats!

Humm, gives me an idea... Might try some peated malt. Something bout that smoky flavor in my glass.... Mmmmmm

What size batch you running? I might just have to borrow that recipe of yours and try out a 5gal batch,

Something more
6lb Maize
2lb Peated
2lb Rye

As I think more bout your ratio I might even try
8lb Maize
1lb Peated
1lb Rye

What do you think?
I start with 10 gals of boiling water and after all the grain is added I end up with 12 gallons in the fermenter. I like both recipes you have there with the peated malt. That could add an awesome element to your final product. As for the 8-1-1 ratio, I try to err on the side of caution and have more diastatic power, with at least 15% malted grain by weight to ensure full conversion, so your 8-1-1 would be good so long as you're using malted rye. If someone else has some advice here please chime in. That's just what I'm comfortable doing. I also use amylase enzyme to keep my corn thin when cooking it. I just realized this nutrena flaked corn has propionic acid in it as a preservative, but it still manages to ferment alright. That said, I'm gonna switch to something else preservative free.
_OMEGA_
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OMEGA
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by OMEGA »

moosemilk wrote:Don't knock the mop bucket and nylon bag. Works fantastic. I lose very little with that method.

Congrats on your run. If you like the corn, take a good look at the booners recipe. Pure corn goodness.

Sorry I wasn't knocking the mop bucket idea, I guess I felt it would take A long time to squeeze it out as the mop wringers aren't too big, and when you have 20 gallons of ferment, it just seems daunting. I've strongly considered getting a mop wringer though. Better than my setup. Plus double boiling on the grain isn't easy either! No simple answers for bourbon/corn mashes huh?!
_OMEGA_
Two-Four-Bud
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by Two-Four-Bud »

OMEGA wrote:
Two-Four-Bud wrote:Congrats!

Humm, gives me an idea... Might try some peated malt. Something bout that smoky flavor in my glass.... Mmmmmm

What size batch you running? I might just have to borrow that recipe of yours and try out a 5gal batch,

Something more
6lb Maize
2lb Peated
2lb Rye

As I think more bout your ratio I might even try
8lb Maize
1lb Peated
1lb Rye

What do you think?
I start with 10 gals of boiling water and after all the grain is added I end up with 12 gallons in the fermenter. I like both recipes you have there with the peated malt. That could add an awesome element to your final product. As for the 8-1-1 ratio, I try to err on the side of caution and have more diastatic power, with at least 15% malted grain by weight to ensure full conversion, so your 8-1-1 would be good so long as you're using malted rye. If someone else has some advice here please chime in. That's just what I'm comfortable doing. I also use amylase enzyme to keep my corn thin when cooking it. I just realized this nutrena flaked corn has propionic acid in it as a preservative, but it still manages to ferment alright. That said, I'm gonna switch to something else preservative free.
I always use malted just to make sure, thought that might change soon of I can get myself a few bags of grain. But I don't know at the moment. I can always buy some amylase just to make sure. My last batch I did, turned out really good! Got bout 1l of 65% after blend. Then I mixed up half of it with an apple pie recipe I used n made better now I only have 1 out of 8 jars left :( so I need to get distilling again!
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OMEGA
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by OMEGA »

Awesome. I love having a product I'm proud of. Personally I'm a bourbon nerd and I don't drink a whole lot of variety. Pretty much just whiskey and ale... Occasional red wine drinker. Once in a blue moon I might get something out of the brown liquor realm and go for a gun based mixer but that's abnormal. I've wanted to try some classic moonshine mixed recipes like apple pie or some of the spiced sweet recipes. Time will tell. I typically have nearly a gallon and a half of hearts each spirit run that's rather flavorful, sweet and smooth and I've been carefully sampling and adding to my 8 gallon barrel. Almost done. Once it is, it will be hidden and forgotten about for a year and a half or two before I decide to check it again ;) this ones 50% all barley whiskey, 50% rye bourbon... The next barrel will be filled with 100% red winter wheated bourbon ;D
_OMEGA_
WalkingWolf
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Re: First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by WalkingWolf »

OMEGA wrote:.. The next barrel will be filled with 100% red winter wheated bourbon ;D
Sounds like you are off to a great start. Your experience in brewing has put you on the fast track for top-shelf wares.

Word of caution on the barrel -- don't "forget" about it. Please check it periodically. Some of the most disappointing posts were from guys that had worked long and hard to fill up a small barrel only to find it was over-Oakes when they pulled it out for a sample. The large 50gal barrels can go years before they are ready but the smaller barrel can be oaked up rather quickly, especially if it is the first use of the barrel.

I'm sure you are familiar with your grains but beware, wheat can be a mother to work with. It foams when you cook it, it foams in the fermenter and it'll foam when you run it. Go back and read a few wheat (germ) ferment stories for the entertainment value if nothing else. "Bourbon" by definition has to be 51% corn (minimum).

Wishing you all the best
Two-Four-Bud
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First bourbon mash... First bourbon strip

Post by Two-Four-Bud »

Awesome! Yeah I'll be the same when I get about 2 maybe 3 gallons of my previous bourbon batch. Was up in the 70's% range for corn..Then I can keep some to enjoy and make another run of apple pie Shine. It's pretty easy, I've just taken a recipe I found and tried to make it better. Less sugar, not overly sweet etc.
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