Newbie's first bourbon run

All styles of whiskey. This is for all-grain mashes.

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ThomasBarleycorn
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Newbie's first bourbon run

Post by ThomasBarleycorn »

Hi all.

Please be gentle, have done runs of gin, brandy and rum but trying now a Bourbon run. For info I've a 10L still so nothing major.

My recipe;
1.4kg of corn malt (71%)
400g of roasted rye malt (20%)
150g of medium roasted barley malt (8%)
20g of maple syrup (1%)

I'm going to add 6L of water for 1.96kg of mash. Is this right, I think so but want to check. Using Bourbon yeast, not turbo as recommended.

Any help and tips or anything really appreciated. Many thanks all.
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silverbean
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Re: Newbie's first bourbon run

Post by silverbean »

If it was me I would go higher on the barley and lower on the rye, I'm not sure but the quantities seem a little bit low. Even the water, for a 10l still you want 8l of wash so if you are straining you will need to start with 10l of water. Generally for a whiskey you would do a strip and spirit run so would need 3 strips for a spirit run so would be good to ferment 3 at once. Of course if this is just a trial you could do a 1 and done run but I'm of the mind of go the whole hog. From a single run in a 10 Litre still the cuts will be really hard and only end up with 750ml of drinkable bourbon if your lucky.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Newbie's first bourbon run

Post by still_stirrin »

Increase diastatic power. Either use malted barley in place of the “roasted” barley, or use gluco-amylase enzymes. The malted corn (if it truly is malted) will have enzymes, but not enough for the other grains. As suggested, I would increase the barley malt proportion to 15% and bring the corn down as a result (70% is more than you’ll need for a bourbon flavor).

The maple syrup is “give or take” as it won’t add much to the flavor (at such a low proportion). But it will add fermentable material, and probably a “touch of sulfur” note to the ferment.

As for the quantity of grains, unless you’re an experienced all-grain brewer and have a very efficient “brewhouse”, I would start with a grain to water ratio of 2-1/2 lb./gallon (0.3kg/liter). That should get you close to a 1.070 OG, which is where you want it for a good, not stressed, ferment.
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