NChooch's Carolina Bourbon

[Large Sarge]

Mashing in a bag is tough man. You can really sacrifice sugar extraction (unless the bag is big and loose enough). However, to answer you question, I doubt at 1.045 you would have anything in there that would affect your hydro that much. Most everything will settle out or float to the top, either of which are not suspended in the middle there. At least not in a heavy enough volume to swing the reading that much.

[Usge]

Bag works great for me...1.065. But, it's 18x24 that just sits as a liner inside my 8 gal mashtun (sits on false bottom, and just lines the outer edges of the pot) The corn is floating free inside that...so it doesn't have any impact on cooking/mashing. The only time it really comes into play is after mashing and chilling...I just pick up the edges and then squeeze it against the bottom to get the juice out.

[janitorjerm]

What's your process for charring your oak? Is it a light char or a more agressive one?

[NcHooch]

I char it with map gas until the grain raises and it's uniform black
looks like this after 4 weeks
...

bourbon 002sm.JPG.jpg (6.37 KiB) Viewed 5184 times

[dripdripdrip]

NC Hooch, I have a couple questions about the actual distilling.

Are you doing two runs through a pot still? Is the first just a stripping run? Are you pulling heads and tails on this run? How many stripping runs at 20L wash do you need before doing a second, final run?

drip

[NcHooch]

that last run was a single rug through my flute.
If you cant make 60% in a slow single run, you'll need to do a spirit after you collect enough low wines...2-3 runs should be enough

[dripdripdrip]

Hooch,

Thanks for the quick reply. We were excited to utilize your recipe, we tweaked it somewhat to make it a wheater. Our mashbill is as follows:

65% - Flaked Corn
20% - Winter Wheat
10% - Malted Barley
5% - Malted Rye

Any tips for how to produce 60% on a slow run? And if we do reach this threshold, is it possible that we could run the low wines through the pot on its own without a second run?

[NcHooch]

Looks like a tasty variation to the recipe ....is the winter wheat malted as well?

Slow and steady for single run on a pot still ....that's all I know.
if you reach 60%, you're good....air it out for 24 hours and oak it.
I suspect if you got up to 50% abv, you could call it good and air it out and oak it like that .
40% and lower and you'd prolly need to distill again. (most whiskeys are aged at 120-125 proof) I think you'll find your best results there.

Hope that helps,

[new3901]

I just read this whole thread and thought this might be a good place to ask this question. Ive always used malted corn and wheat, but I'm trying to change things around a bit. Fermenting second run of 73% corn, 15% rye, 12% 2 row malt barley. Getting a thick cap...1 st question- does the nchooch bourbon get the cap and second question- should I break it occasionally or let it stay as is.

[Dnderhead]

The "cap" comes from husk they tend carried to the top along with the co2.so anything with husk/skins will have a "cap". when it stops fermenting then it does not produce co2 and the "cap" tends to sink.

[NcHooch]

Agreed, also if you're using an ale yeast, it'll send to rise to the top as well.
I'd recommend you just keep it covered and after it stops bubbling (or after 1 week), strain it an run it.

[NcHooch]

Wanted to post this here after an excellent corn mashing session using BigR's no-boil corn method.

I poured 8 pounds of cracked corn in a cooler and covered it with 2 gallons of boiling backset ....then let it set in the cooler for 24 hours.
the next day, the corn was a thick starchy cake, so evidently the acidic backset was doin somethin to the corn.
I started 2 more gallons of water heating and tossed that stiff corn mix in .
....brought it up to 130, then rest for 30 mins (cutting the heat)
...brought it up tp 165,then rest for 30 mins (cutting the heat)
...brought it up to 200 and cut the heat, getting really thick now ....added 1/2 pound malted 6-row to thin it out some. ...added another gallon of water & let it cool to 150.
dumped back in the cooler added 2.5 pounds 6-row ...power-stirred every 15-20 mins for an hour.
let it mash n cool overnight...
the next moning, twas as sweet as creamed corn !
transferred to the fermenter and topped up to 7 gallons total.
Once it reached 95 degrees, I tossed a yeast bomb in from a batch of Rad's all-bran. Took off in 2 -3 hours.
Didn't measure SG, but I'll let ya know what I get when I run it...I'm thinking about 7-8%
...what I liked about this was. the backset seemed to give me a big headstart on the cookin, and since you're only heating for 15 minutes at a time, it's easy to keep up with the stirring and not burn it.

[NcHooch]

So I ran this last mash today, and got a quart of 90% hearts , so seems like the yield was a little higher than usual.
somethin I noticed about this whitedawg, it tastes spicey compared to a no-backset mash. This may make an excellent bourbon, but we'll hafta wait n see.
Cheers

[mbz250sl]

reading a thread here and and thread there - mixing it with lessons learned and coming up with questions -- so wondering if this recipe would benefit from presoaking the corn for a day or two first - preferably on backset, but water as a starting point? As for cooling from mashing to pitching temp -- I don't have a chiller so just going for off temp and sitting overnight -- thoughts??

[rad14701]

reading a thread here and and thread there - mixing it with lessons learned and coming up with questions -- so wondering if this recipe would benefit from presoaking the corn for a day or two first - preferably on backset, but water as a starting point? As for cooling from mashing to pitching temp -- I don't have a chiller so just going for off temp and sitting overnight -- thoughts??

Presoaking in backset for 24 - 48 hours sounds like a good plan of action to me...

If you're in no hurry then just letting the mash cool naturally should be fine...

[NcHooch]

reading a thread here and and thread there - mixing it with lessons learned and coming up with questions -- so wondering if this recipe would benefit from presoaking the corn for a day or two first - preferably on backset, but water as a starting point? As for cooling from mashing to pitching temp -- I don't have a chiller so just going for off temp and sitting overnight -- thoughts??

My latest run (look up there ^ a few posts) was done using a 24 hour hot backset soak ...I'll use it again next time for sure.

[Dutch41]

Need advice on yeast, I have distillers yeast and want to know if anybody suggests a different yeast and also how much yeast should I use. I am using a #6 gallon fermenter. Thanks and Merry Christmas...

[NcHooch]

Shouldn't take more than a heapin tablespoon. as long as it's well aerated the yeast will multiply real quick and before you know it, your airlock'll be hummin.

You can also make a yeast bomb from a previous run's yeast cake ...this should be refrigerated between the ferments .
when you're ready to pitch, warm up the trub (about 10 oz in a 16oz mason jar) in a warm bath of water ...don't shock it, just gently warm it up . Once it's warm, I usually toss a heaping teaspoon of table sugar in , cover it and shake it. It should start bubblin almost immediately. Once you have some good activity, pour it into the mash, and cap it.
hope that helps

[ArchitectJS]

Cooked my grains on monday after x-mas, made recipe and a half to ferment 10-11 gallons of wash.

Thought it went well. Had my dad help me. He is a homebrewer and has made worts before. I let the first batch scorch ever so slightly. No so much that i think it'll be a problem, enough that it had a smoky flavor. Cooked the half recipe with extra water and used a burner i knew would be a little cooler. This mellowed the scorch to where it was barely noticeable, extra water kept everything a little looser. I didnt even add barley to the second cook.

I let it mash for 2 1/2hours. I really worried about the temps thru this section, still not sure i got it right. Nevertheless, everything was as sweet as candy when i added to the fermenters. Never checked SG. I'm not that sophisticated yet. This is my second ferment. Tied UJSM in my first go round and was proud of the product.

Ferment started quickly-within an hour or two. I used the prestige wd. Really rolled for first 24hrs. Buckets were warm to the touch. Had to transport the on a 7 hour car ride after that. Not a lot of bubbler action after that. Seemed done after 4days. Tasted one, nice and dry.

Hope to run it tomorrow.

[NcHooch]

Nice,
You'll prolly be able to detect the scorch if it's gonna be a problem when you run it.
Let us know how it turns out

[Texas Jim]

You can also make a yeast bomb from a previous run's yeast cake ...

Is there an advantage to this taste wise?

[ArchitectJS]

Follow up;

Finished my spirit run. I'm a little disappointed in the yield. Maybe some of this is due to my inexperience (third run overall) I think I ran a little too hot / fast in the beginning. Maybe this cost me some of my higher percentage yields up front. I run a bok with 42" column on a 40 liter pot over propane. I worked the reflux valve about half way thru to try and raise my proof as i realized things were deteriorating.

That said- I discarded almost nothing. After the first 250 ml tossed as foreshots I kept everyhting but the final 400 ml. I ended up with about 3/4 of a gallon right at 86 proof. I added no water, just tossed everything i decided was worth keeping into my jug and blended.

Taste is much cleaner than my UJSSM. If i really look for it, there is little flavor of the scorch in the aftertaste. I'm sure this will get smoothed out during aging.

Back at it. 14.2 more gallons to fill a barrell!

[rad14701]

ArchitectJS, are you running the Bokakob in pot still mode, or reflux mode...??? 86 proof (43% ABV) sounds quite low as an overall average...

[ArchitectJS]

So I ran this last mash today, and got a quart of 90% hearts
Cheers

Perhaps my expectations are out of line.

[ArchitectJS]

ArchitectJS, are you running the Bokakob in pot still mode, or reflux mode...??? 86 proof (43% ABV) sounds quite low as an overall average...

My previous runs, ive run it wide open, trying to control things via flame. Thought it went well previously. I did collect at 55-60% and cut to 43%

This time i started out the same way, but everything seemed too hot. (i got a new burner, instead of borrowing one). Lots of vapor in my collection beakers. Dialed back my valve to try and create a little more reflux and raise my proofage.

[rad14701]

ArchitectJS, are you running the Bokakob in pot still mode, or reflux mode...??? 86 proof (43% ABV) sounds quite low as an overall average...

My previous runs, ive run it wide open, trying to control things via flame. Thought it went well previously. I did collect at 55-60% and cut to 43%

This time i started out the same way, but everything seemed too hot. (i got a new burner, instead of borrowing one). Lots of vapor in my collection beakers. Dialed back my valve to try and create a little more reflux and raise my proofage.

If the resulting %ABV of your fermented wash was lower then the temperatures throughout the distillation run would be higher and %ABV of the spirits lower in pot still mode...

[ArchitectJS]

If the resulting %ABV of your fermented wash was lower then the temperatures throughout the distillation run would be higher and %ABV of the spirits lower in pot still mode...

Ah, yes. Good point! Guess i understand better the value of SG and the hydrometer.

[NcHooch]

So I ran this last mash today, and got a quart of 90% hearts
Cheers

Perhaps my expectations are out of line.

well, that was somewhat unusual . Most of the time, a 5 gallon run won't get you a quart of hearts. That run's mash was very efficient, and I had a pint and a half of heads n tails from a previous run to add to the boiler as well.

Keep this in mind, a 5 gallon wash at 5% is exactly 1 quart of alcohol (total) . take out the fores, heads and tails ....that doesn't leave much hearts, does it? In the end, you're shootin for quality, not quantity, so don't get discouraged with you only collect a pint or so of hearts....plus, your quantity will increase when you dilute to aging strenth, and again when you dilute to drinkin strength.

Hope that helps

[Lawrenceburg Native]

Heads up fellas, mind the pH of your mash when adding backset or soaking the corn before mashing. I have learned the hard way about using too much backset and soaking corn before mashing and fermenting. It caused the mash pH to drop too much, below 4.6, for good fermentations. my water from the tap is about pH of 5.6, so acidifying the liquid even more has caused low yield. Ideal mash pH for fermentation is approximately 5.2 - 5.4.

Anyone have experience with slow or stuck ferments due to low pH?

[Fastill]

Heads up fellas, mind the pH of your mash when adding backset or soaking the corn before mashing. I have learned the hard way about using too much backset and soaking corn before mashing and fermenting. It caused the mash pH to drop too much, below 4.6, for good fermentations. my water from the tap is about pH of 5.6, so acidifying the liquid even more has caused low yield. Ideal mash pH for fermentation is approximately 5.2 - 5.4.

Anyone have experience with slow or stuck ferments due to low pH?

Lots of people have had slow ferments due to pH.. Tons of info here on the subject.