Wheat and Corn Mash

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Wino2Distill
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Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

Friends,

I purchased Ian's Smiley's "Making Pure Corn Whiskey" a while back and am ready to do my first batch of whiskey. I have a 50lbs bag of flaked corn and another of malted wheat. I chose wheat instead of barley or rye because I figured I would attempt a wheat vodka with the leftover wheat. Re-reading through Ian's book I am realizing that there is no pure corn and wheat recipe, but it is mentioned. A friend of mine told me that malted wheat doesn't have enough diastatic power to do the starch conversion. Is this true?

Should be noted that I will be mashing with a friend who is fully equipped to brew beer (the pro way) so we should be good equipment wise.

Thanks,

Wino
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HDNB
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by HDNB »

wheat malt is 60-90 according to my chart

you need 30, so 1:1 would be the safe bet.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by shadylane »

Wino2Distill wrote:A friend of mine told me that malted wheat doesn't have enough diastatic power to do the starch conversion. Is this true?
No or maybe
Depends on malted wheat :lol:
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

shadylane wrote:
Wino2Distill wrote:A friend of mine told me that malted wheat doesn't have enough diastatic power to do the starch conversion. Is this true?
No or maybe
Depends on malted wheat :lol:
It is OiO Canadian Malted Wheat. I found this information:

Color °L 1.5 - 2.5
Protein Total 12.0 - 13.0
Moisture % Max 4.5
Extract FG Min 80.0

I'm confused by the "Color°L". Something a brewer could clarify for me pretty quickly I think...
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by HDNB »

or dr. google. try this:

http://nomodachi.weebly.com/grains.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Allow me to interject, here. I am a big fan of wheat as the primary conversion malt. Can't remember last time I did one without it :oops: . I say it all the time. Wheat malt has more conversion power than even barley! I use it at about 30% of a grain bill, and even that is overcompensating.

http://www.brewunited.com/grain_database.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Nice data base that even list by brand :thumbup:
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by HDNB »

Thanks for the link SCD that is a much more comprehensive list than mine. nice!
it shows wheat from 50-130 with lots at 130 that makes it a 3:1 cereal to malt if you have the right brand.

that bestmaltz pilsen is crasy shit... it shows 329.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

Thanks guys, going to give it a try this weekend. I'm thinking 30/70.


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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

Should I boil a portion of the wheat malt to make the starches more available to the enzyme work (which would be brought by more malt that was not boiled)? Or should I simply mix everything and keep at strike temperature (63C) for the prescribed 90 minutes?
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by still_stirrin »

Wino2Distill wrote:Should I boil a portion of the wheat malt to make the starches more available to the enzyme work?...Or should I simply mix everything and keep at strike temperature (63C) for the prescribed 90 minutes?
According to this gelatinization chart: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p6850398
boiling the malt is not necessary. In fact, it'll do more harm than good.
Mash temperatures are good for both wheat and barley malt.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

So if I understand gelatinization and this chart correctly, all I need to do to get all of the available starch available from my ground malted wheat is bring the mash to about 66C for a certain period of time. Right?
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Wino2Distill wrote:So if I understand gelatinization and this chart correctly, all I need to do to get all of the available starch available from my ground malted wheat is bring the mash to about 66C for a certain period of time. Right?
Beware, as a wise man once said, that chart is Horked! Do not believe it for one second about corn!
Otherwise, yes, you are fine just adding wheat, barley, rye, etc. at mash temps without cooking at higher temps.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

MichiganCornhusker wrote:Beware, as a wise man once said, that chart is Horked! Do not believe it for one second about corn!
Otherwise, yes, you are fine just adding wheat, barley, rye, etc. at mash temps without cooking at higher temps.
My corn is pre-gelatinized so I should be fine.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Wino2Distill wrote:Should be noted that I will be mashing with a friend who is fully equipped to brew beer (the pro way) so we should be good equipment wise.
Just a heads up, if you haven't worked with corn before know that the mash will behave much different than a barley mash for beer. The corn will make it much thicker. But corn and wheat will sure make a good whiskey though.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

MichiganCornhusker wrote:
Wino2Distill wrote:Should be noted that I will be mashing with a friend who is fully equipped to brew beer (the pro way) so we should be good equipment wise.
Just a heads up, if you haven't worked with corn before know that the mash will behave much different than a barley mash for beer. The corn will make it much thicker. But corn and wheat will sure make a good whiskey though.

Yup we smashed a 54L damejane this morning while trying to declump the corn cake that had formed in the bottom. Luckily it was inside a leak proof basket so we'll just have to ferment with a bit of broken glass.
Working on batch two and three this afternoon. Wish us luck!
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

Only ended up doing batch 2. All wen't well. Ended up with a slightly lower SG than Ian's recipe but I'm thinking wheat simply yields less starch per pound than corn.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

Just to let you know that I reduced the wheat to 30% and got full conversion in less than 1hr. I'm fermenting this batch cooler than the others and so far it smells much more like beer as opposed to funk!
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by zapata »

But funk is (often) good!
I'm a fan of Smiley's work, though never a faithful practioner. Did you build his still too or go with something different? You say you recently bought it, so I guess 2nd (or later?) edition? There were a lot of differences in distilling protocol between 1st and 2nd, but I think mashing was the same.
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Re: Wheat and Corn Mash

Post by Wino2Distill »

zapata wrote:But funk is (often) good!
I'm a fan of Smiley's work, though never a faithful practioner. Did you build his still too or go with something different? You say you recently bought it, so I guess 2nd (or later?) edition? There were a lot of differences in distilling protocol between 1st and 2nd, but I think mashing was the same.
No, I purchased the gin reflux still that's on his website. I have the second edition of the book.
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