My first attempt - DP questions

[TimmyK]

Hello All, I'm new to distilling but not new to brewing. I've been reading, watching, and researching (slowly acquiring equipment) for over a year and am now ready to have a crack at my first run. I bought 7 lbs of Flake Rye, 2 lbs of Weyermann Beech Smoked Barley Malt, and 1 lbs of Weyermann Pale Rye yesterday and have worked out that this grain bill will have an expected total Gravity Points of 358 (adding 2 lbs of cane sugar should take me to 450PPG) which translates into 1.090 SG - expected. Researching some more though, I believe that I'm only going to have a DP of 19 and I understand I'm supposed to have at least 30. Am I missing something? Should I be adding different malts or Amylase? Trying to keep is simple for the first run but I do like the idea of all grain rather than just doing a sugar wash. Any thoughts or ADVICE would be GREATLY appreciated.

[StillerBoy]

Any thoughts or ADVICE would be GREATLY appreciated.

If you have to ask for advice, then it indicate lack of understanding and information..

You are putting the cart in front of the horse right now.. no disrespect.. but not having experience making a sugar wash and what's all involve, your're asking for lots of problems..

Starting with an AG is not the place to start as a beginner... not discounting having no experience in operating a still..

Mars

[MichiganCornhusker]

Couple things:

Sg 1.090 is too high. Don’t add the sugar and aim for 1.060.

Rye gets sticky, I’d substitute at least half with regular barley malt. That will up your DP as well.

If you are worried about a low DP, just be careful not to denature the enzymes with high temps. Mash at around 145F and they’ll get it done in time.

You say you brew, just treat it like a rye beer that you would want to drink. No hops though.

[TimmyK]

Thank you Michigan - I appreciate the advice. I'll swap out a few pounds of the Flake Rye with a malted 6-row to get help get the DP up. Hadn't thought about the stickiness factor. I'll let you know how it goes. I think I'll do a separate corn/sugar wash as well to try to dial in my still skills.

I'll update after I've cleared this first hurdle.

[The Baker]

Stillerboy, I still need advice from time to time.

Geoff

[TimmyK]

So...two months later, I just had my first taste of my first run and it actually came out quite well!

I did take MichiganCornhusker's advice and subbed out just under 2 pounds of the Rye with barley (wanted to keep >51% Rye). Mashed at 150°F for an hour and a half with a reading of 148°F when done. Hydrated the yeast with some nutrient and pitched at 75°F (SG was 1.065). Fermented for nearly 15 days.

Distilled then stored in glass mason jars each with oak chips which were differently charred. still settling out a bit but I couldn't wait any longer so I pulled some off last night, proofed it down to 100, let settle for an hour, then sipped...

The smoke really came through in the undertones from the Beech Smoked Barley (and the chips) and the overall first taste is a pleasent spiciness that I'm not sure what provided. Nonetheless, for my first run, I'm happy and looking forward to dialing in the different charring levels and working out other kinks.

Thanks for the help.

[Brew bama]

Another trick to ‘sticky’ mashes is to add rice hulls. I add rice hulls to wheat, rye, etc.

One cautionary note: get the rice hulls wet before adding them to the mash. They are thirsty and will drink a lot of your strike water unless you soak them in water first. If you don’t you’ll have to add more water.

[TimmyK]

Another trick to ‘sticky’ mashes is to add rice hulls. I add rice hulls to wheat, rye, etc.

One cautionary note: get the rice hulls wet before adding them to the mash. They are thirsty and will drink a lot of your strike water unless you soak them in water first. If you don’t you’ll have to add more water.

Thanks! I'm really learning a lot through this forum!