Easy Street "Bourbon"

Grain bills and instruction for all manner of alcoholic beverages.

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IMALOSERSCUMBAG
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Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by IMALOSERSCUMBAG »

Well kids, a month ago I "developed" a bourbon/whiskey recipe. I'm about to make my third run, with each run tweeking a bit. By no means is this set in stone as I believe I have some work to do. I wanted to throw this out and get some opinions on what I'm doing. Always open to suggestions.

I use a 30 gallon barrel:
20 lbs of cornmeal = 50% - to provide the starch-sugar
4 lbs of malted cornmeal = 10% - sugars and flavor
6 lbs of Rye = 15% - flavor
7 lbs of 2-Row = 17% - enzymes for starch conversion
3 lbs of 6-row = 8% - enzymes for starch and some flavor
About 25 gallons of water.

Process:
Add 20 gallons of boiling water to the 20 lbs of cornmeal. I stir with an electric drill and a paint mixer. Is there any other way to stir cornmeal without killing your arms?

Cover/wrap in blankets for a few hours to let the starchies come to play. Stirring a few times. I do an iodine test to make sure we have conversion

Once I'm at 150 degrees F I add the malted cornmeal, rye, 2 & 6 row. Stir and let sit overnight.

When I drop to under 100 degrees F I pitch regular bakers yeast.

My initial SG was 1.04 and a ph of 5.5. It hit 1.00 and didn't move so I ran it.

I should note I use a 26 gallon boiler flute still with 4" diameter column and downcomers. A dephlegmator and shotgun condenser.

My yield is about 1-1.25 gallons of 75% alcohol (150 proof) Seems a bit low but hey, I got some good drink.

I think it has a good flavor coming off the still (I add water to get to 50% so I can get a good taste and not burn the buds). After a day or so of sitting in the jars it gets better. I did a quick age on oak chips and the flavor is even better. We'll see how it evolves in a barrel.

My second ferment I added 10 lbs of sugar and got the SG to 1.06. I ended up with about 1.5 gallons.

My third ferment is 10 lbs of sugar but I added a teaspoon of Sebamy GL and had a SG of 1.07. I'll let you know the yield but this one held the cap longer and looks a little different. Really, if I'm getting full conversion without the added enzyme I probably wasted it. But it was a test and I had about a TSP left in the bottle.

I'll likely try 5 gallons of backset to the next ferment. Maybe turn this more into a sour mash?
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by Setsumi »

get yourself high temprarure enzymes and ditch the sugar.... yes all the malts should convert but at 1.04 they converted poorly or you had too little corn. up your corn meal. i use 20kg in 80lt of water. roughly you can double your meal. would like to see your sg on higher corn and malts though
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by Deplorable »

I've never seen malted corn meal. Interesting.
If you increase your grain ratio to 2#/gallon you should hit 9.5% without adding sugar, and still have room in your 30 gallon fermenter.
Your yeild is in line with what I get from a 25 gallon fermenter. At 1.074 SG and a long low temperature ferment, I keep about a gallon and a half after cuts.
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by 8Ball »

IMALOSERSCUMBAG wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:37 am Well kids, a month ago I "developed" a bourbon/whiskey recipe. I'm about to make my third run, with each run tweeking a bit. By no means is this set in stone as I believe I have some work to do. I wanted to throw this out and get some opinions on what I'm doing. Always open to suggestions.

I use a 30 gallon barrel:
20 lbs of cornmeal = 50% - to provide the starch-sugar
4 lbs of malted cornmeal = 10% - sugars and flavor
6 lbs of Rye = 15% - flavor
7 lbs of 2-Row = 17% - enzymes for starch conversion
3 lbs of 6-row = 8% - enzymes for starch and some flavor
About 25 gallons of water.

Process:
Add 20 gallons of boiling water to the 20 lbs of cornmeal. I stir with an electric drill and a paint mixer. Is there any other way to stir cornmeal without killing your arms?

Cover/wrap in blankets for a few hours to let the starchies come to play. Stirring a few times. I do an iodine test to make sure we have conversionHow do you get your corn starch to convert with only boiling water & time?

Once I'm at 150 degrees F I add the malted cornmeal, rye, 2 & 6 row. Stir and let sit overnight.

When I drop to under 100 degrees F I pitch regular bakers yeast.

My initial SG was 1.04 and a ph of 5.5. It hit 1.00 and didn't move so I ran it.

I should note I use a 26 gallon boiler flute still with 4" diameter column and downcomers. A dephlegmator and shotgun condenser.

My yield is about 1-1.25 gallons of 75% alcohol (150 proof) Seems a bit low but hey, I got some good drink.

I think it has a good flavor coming off the still (I add water to get to 50% so I can get a good taste and not burn the buds). After a day or so of sitting in the jars it gets better. I did a quick age on oak chips and the flavor is even better. We'll see how it evolves in a barrel.

My second ferment I added 10 lbs of sugar and got the SG to 1.06. I ended up with about 1.5 gallons.

My third ferment is 10 lbs of sugar but I added a teaspoon of Sebamy GL and had a SG of 1.07. I'll let you know the yield but this one held the cap longer and looks a little different. Really, if I'm getting full conversion without the added enzyme I probably wasted it. But it was a test and I had about a TSP left in the bottle.

I'll likely try 5 gallons of backset to the next ferment. Maybe turn this more into a sour mash?
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IMALOSERSCUMBAG
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by IMALOSERSCUMBAG »

I've been malting and grinding my own corn. I buy feed corn, malt it and then grind in a grinder. I can't 100% confirm how "malted" it is. I am getting better at that as well. I guess I could buy malted corn and grind it, but I can also buy a bottle of Knob Creek. Where's the fun in that?

When you say grain, are you saying increase the regular cornmeal only or does that include the barley and rye?
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by Zeotropic »

Op is there sugar in the recipe? I see some comments mentioned ditching the sugar but I don't see any sugar in the list.
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by Deplorable »

IMALOSERSCUMBAG wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:14 am I've been malting and grinding my own corn. I buy feed corn, malt it and then grind in a grinder. I can't 100% confirm how "malted" it is. I am getting better at that as well. I guess I could buy malted corn and grind it, but I can also buy a bottle of Knob Creek. Where's the fun in that?

When you say grain, are you saying increase the regular cornmeal only or does that include the barley and rye?
Knob Creek is 75/13/12 as I've seen reported on mash bill spreadsheets posted here. For a 25 gallon mash, at 2# per gallon that would be around 37.5# corn meal, 6.5# rye, and 6# barley. This is actually a mash I'm fermenting right now. 1.074 SG.
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IMALOSERSCUMBAG
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Re: Easy Street

Post by IMALOSERSCUMBAG »

Zeotropic wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:29 am Op is there sugar in the recipe? I see some comments mentioned ditching the sugar but I don't see any sugar in the list.
This is my recipe that I am developing. I added the sugar to see if it boosted alcohol output. I'm in the testing phase.
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IMALOSERSCUMBAG
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Re: Easy Street "Bourbon"

Post by IMALOSERSCUMBAG »

Setsumi wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:53 am get yourself high temprarure enzymes and ditch the sugar.... yes all the malts should convert but at 1.04 they converted poorly or you had too little corn. up your corn meal. i use 20kg in 80lt of water. roughly you can double your meal. would like to see your sg on higher corn and malts though
Some of the rational behind this recipe comes from ShineonCrazyDiamond's Sundae Chocolate Bourbon. I have 5 gallons in a barrel just waiting for Christmas to bottle. Which is where the 2 & 6 row come from.

I have some experience with enzymes. As I have about 10 gallons of Booner's Casual All Corn in barrels now. I suppose I could use that as and example for enzymes. Would that then make the need for barley flavor only? My understanding of the barley is that it's mainly for the enzymes.
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Re: Easy Street

Post by Zeotropic »

IMALOSERSCUMBAG wrote:
Zeotropic wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:29 am Op is there sugar in the recipe? I see some comments mentioned ditching the sugar but I don't see any sugar in the list.
This is my recipe that I am developing. I added the sugar to see if it boosted alcohol output. I'm in the testing phase.
Ok I guess missed that part. I better reread it.
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