After alot of reading I am planing to follow "NChooch's Carolina bourbon" thread instructions but I am a little puzzled why there is so little corn, since there is no sugar and only 10lbs of grains, will the potential alcohol be lower?....but then ....I am trying to go for quality here not quantity.
Most recipies I have looked at have had 14+ pounds of ingredients.
I have ordered some Gert Strand whisky yeast, I was going to use some Turbo 48 I had left but I read that turbo isnt a good whisky yeast.
So while I wait on the UPS man I'm trying to grab up all the "book learnin'" I can.
I have read Ian Smileys pure corn whiskey book ALOT, but it always seems that the more I look at other recipies and the such, the more I start to question if I am understanding things correctly. I have also read recipies that even as new as I am to this craft, even I can tell that they wouldnt work correctly, sooo..
Here's what I plan to do, Please add to or correct me if I am wrong somewhere. Once I get the ingredients straight, I'm gonna.....
cook corn @ +-180F for 60 min or so, adding some of the barley malt if it gets too thick,
then after 60 min @180F I'll reduce heat to 140-150F and pitch barley, after 30-45 min @ 140-150F I will put mash in cooler to keep warm and let it convert 3 hrs
while mash converts I'll get my yeast started in 1L of warm 80-90 degree water about an hour before pitching time.
once mash has cooled to below 100F I will aireate, then pitch my yeast & nutrient. and let the yeast do its thing.
then I'll run my Brewhaus PSIIHC in pot still mode and try to run it low & slow. I plan on doing a few stripping runs to get enough for a spirit run but I will experiment with the runs like they were
spirit runs. I will be working on heads, mids, and tails recognition. I think I'm starting to get it, I just need to use smaller fractions to sample
then after the first run I'll use backset for next mash and most of first run as feints on next batch....so on and so on...I think I got it? Maybe?
and Ill take some pics when I get my sweetie set back up, shame, I have to keep her locked in a tool locker like she's done somethin' bad
also looking for advice tips on using PSII in pot still mode, how much, if any, packing shound I use? Should I use tower cooling water or control heat from below
(I have triac controlled 1500w hot plate), temp is very easily controlled. Should I use a thermometer or try it "traditional style"?