Cornflakes whiskey

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RaymieDubbs
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by RaymieDubbs »

Took a little sip of my CFW I've had on Hungarian oak cubes for two weeks and it's getting exciting. Some of the off flavors I didn't like are going away and the oak is coming through. Thanks for a killer recipe.
Lucazzu
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

Just made that wash!
Waited till now for the mash to cool down and just added the yeast, mixed baking (30gr) and bread yeast(5gr) for 20lt wash!

I'm so excited since this is my second wash after the birdwatching sugar wash!

I'll update you asap!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Ajax79 »

Od1tspyd3r wrote: Recap.
8 lbs sugar
4 cups crushed (by hand) flakes I prefer Kellogg over store brand clears better and ferments quicker
8 table spoons fleich and ADY
5 gals h2o

At a 2 to 1 sugar to water heat water and dissolve/ invert sugar
In 2 qts hot water dump crushed flakes helps em dissolve b4 mixing it all let stand about 10 mins
In 5 gal ferment bucket 2 gals cold water
Then corm flake mush
After sugar and water have ""cleared"" on the heat and almost boil
Dump that in bucket and top off
Let cool to 100
Pitch ADY and whisk throughtly till all yeasties are dissolved.
Cap and airlock
Shaazzam 7 days and ready to go.
Hi!

I know this is a pretty old thread, but I saw this variation for the recipe and decided it would be nice to give it a try. However, as a non-native english speaker, it is hard for me to get a grip of the process described here.
I would be truly grateful if someone could clear the following to me:

1) What does the abbreviation "qts" stand for in the second line of the procedure?
2) Does the phrase "In 5 gal ferment bucket 2 gals cold water" mean I should dump 2 gallons of plain, cold water in the bucket before putting anything else in?
3) Is the sugar and water mixture described in the first line of the procedure the last element I should dump on the bucket (after having cleared)?
4) The recipe calls for 5 gallons of water, are these all included in the steps described or am I missing anything in between?

Thanks in advance and sorry if any of these doubts sound a little dumb. Just trying to learn :D

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TDick
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by TDick »

Ajax79 wrote: Hi!
I know this is a pretty old thread, but I saw this variation for the recipe and decided it would be nice to give it a try. However, as a non-native english speaker, it is hard for me to get a grip of the process described here.
I would be truly grateful if someone could clear the following to me:
...............
Thanks in advance and sorry if any of these doubts sound a little dumb. Just trying to learn :D

Ajax
Welcome Ajax. It's the noobs that act like they know everything that sound dumb.
Best advice to give is when you see a Tried & True is read the entire thread. Beginning to end. It not only shows ingredients, it includes Odin's thought process in putting it together and others who were exactly where you are now saying, "I don't understand that."
There is no substitute for...
bleeding eyes.gif
bleeding eyes.gif (24.78 KiB) Viewed 3471 times
Here is the original post by Odin with metrics and a few translations back to European :D :
Odin wrote: The difficulty at this side of the globe is, we do not have the best corn. Making a bourbon is not easy like that. Even Uncle Jessie style
So i did some experiments and came up with ...
500 grams of Kelloggs Cornflakes (it has added B vitamins),
20 liter of water,
3.5 kilo of sugar. Or use only 15 liters of water and 5 liter of backset.
Crush flakes, cook em in water or backset. Let it cool. Add water. Add yeast.
It ferments dry in five days.

I stripped it slowly, making a small fores/heads cut. Collected down to 10 abv. Got me 6 liters of 30 abv.
Added some backset, then did the spirit run.
Collected hearts at 63 abv.
Diluted to 50%.am sipping it as we speak. Darn good!
Odin"
Hope this helps!
:D :D
Ajax79
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Ajax79 »

TDick wrote: Welcome Ajax. It's the noobs that act like they know everything that sound dumb.
Best advice to give is when you see a Tried & True is read the entire thread. Beginning to end. It not only shows ingredients, it includes Odin's thought process in putting it together and others who were exactly where you are now saying, "I don't understand that."
.....
Here is the original post by Odin with metrics and a few translations back to European :D :
Odin wrote: The difficulty at this side of the globe is, we do not have the best corn. Making a bourbon is not easy like that. Even Uncle Jessie style
So i did some experiments and came up with ...
500 grams of Kelloggs Cornflakes (it has added B vitamins),
20 liter of water,
3.5 kilo of sugar. Or use only 15 liters of water and 5 liter of backset.
Crush flakes, cook em in water or backset. Let it cool. Add water. Add yeast.

It ferments dry in five days.

I stripped it slowly, making a small fores/heads cut. Collected down to 10 abv. Got me 6 liters of 30 abv.
Added some backset, then did the spirit run.
Collected hearts at 63 abv.
Diluted to 50%.am sipping it as we speak. Darn good!
Odin"
Hope this helps!
:D :D
Thanks so much for your help TDick!
I have finished reading the entire post (all 25 pages) and most of my doubts were cleared. All but one, and it´s about the amount of water.
Should I cook the flakes and the sugar in 5 litres of water and then add the mixture to the remaining 15 litres (that I assume will be in the bucket)? Is that the correct procedure?

Thanks again!!
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fizzix
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by fizzix »

Ajax79 wrote:...Should I cook the flakes and the sugar in 5 litres of water and then add the mixture to the remaining 15 litres (that I assume will be in the bucket)? Is that the correct procedure?
I cook the corn flakes as you detailed, pour that in the empty bucket, and fill the bucket with cold water. That way you're not trying to "make things fit."
Just leave a few inches headroom in the bucket for fermentation activity.

...by the way. Stop by The Welcome Center and introduce yourself to everyone.
Ajax79
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Ajax79 »

fizzix wrote: I cook the corn flakes as you detailed, pour that in the empty bucket, and fill the bucket with cold water. That way you're not trying to "make things fit."
Just leave a few inches headroom in the bucket for fermentation activity.

...by the way. Stop by The Welcome Center and introduce yourself to everyone.
Thanks for the reply!! And sorry about the lack of introduction, I totally missed that. My bad, I´ll make sure to do it the right way!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

My wash is going on but it has a strange smell,sulfur I think,maybe infected? Sg is strange! Was 1.07 but hydrometer goes up now till 1.07 since it has a lot of bubble!
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fizzix
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by fizzix »

I don't recall a sulfur smell of any kind with mine. Infections happen more with grains than processed ingredients like sugar and cornflakes.
1.070 is a good original gravity reading, and unless you really drove into the weeds with your preparation this should come out OK.
Don't screw with it and don't stir it! Let her finish and let's see where it goes. R E L A X
You can do this!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

fizzix wrote:I don't recall a sulfur smell of any kind with mine. Infections happen more with grains than processed ingredients like sugar and cornflakes.
1.070 is a good original gravity reading, and unless you really drove into the weeds with your preparation this should come out OK.
Don't screw with it and don't stir it! Let her finish and let's see where it goes. R E L A X
You can do this!
That's good man! Thanks!
Why shouldn't I stir it? I'm stirring it 2/3 times per day I'll stop anyway!
Thanks man! I'll wait to see what happens!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Spriit Tisler »

Mine smelt good and I stripped it in 150ml portions of 30 glasses total for cuts and the strippings smelt good and it also tasted nice. I threw into feints bottle about a liter and kept the rest. Now part of it is sitting in jar with oak cubes.

Do you guys double distill it or just strip n go? I don't see point doing spirit or double run as the strippings appear quite nice to me already.
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fizzix
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by fizzix »

Lucazzu wrote:Why shouldn't I stir it? I'm stirring it 2/3 times per day I'll stop anyway!
Thanks man! I'll wait to see what happens!
You aerate the mash/wash right when you're pitching the yeast. That's the aerobic stage needed to get the yeast established and procreating.
Once that's done yeast goes through the anaerobic stage (no oxygen) required to make alcohol.
Introducing aeration by stirring screws up alcohol production. That's the simple explanation.
No harm. You'll be good.
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fizzix
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by fizzix »

Spriit Tisler wrote:Mine smelt good and I stripped it in 150ml portions of 30 glasses total for cuts and the strippings smelt good and it also tasted nice. I threw into feints bottle about a liter and kept the rest. Now part of it is sitting in jar with oak cubes.
Do you guys double distill it or just strip n go? I don't see point doing spirit or double run as the strippings appear quite nice to me already.
It's all a matter of taste. Literally.
I always do a strip and then a spirit run with everything to finesse what I've collected in the strip. To me it just gets better.
But if you're happy with it one and done, that's what matters!
Lucazzu
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

Hi guys!
It's something like 2 weeks fermenting and everything is stuck to 1.06 sg! Had loooow bubble so I've Added 10gr of yeast and just had a little bit more bubble but nothing more!

What about? Maybe [EAR OF MAIZE] cornflakes without A vitamins?

Temperature is just good, and I can't understand what's going on!

Thanks guuyysss
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dieselduo
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by dieselduo »

What was your og? What is the ph?
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

dieselduo wrote:What was your og? What is the ph?
Cannot measure pH but I've added something like half lemon to the wash!
Og was 1.07!

I've added some tomato paste for vitamine A but nothing!

I should buy something to measure pH!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by fizzix »

Your gravity was good. Temperature's good. You had some activity so we can assume yeast is good. You fed it some nutrients.
Had you aerated the wash? Yeast need oxygenated liquid for their first phase.

dieselduo just may be right with pH being the issue. Have you got some litmus strips to test it?
(I've found pH meters to be expensive and cantankerous)

If you can get animal shells (oyster, chicken egg, etc.) boil 'em and tie them in a brew bag and toss those into each future wash.
They help buffer your pH ---if that's indeed the issue.

Sorry, I'm just grasping at straws.
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Whitecap72 »

For a 20 gallon wash, 2lbs of flakes, 20lbs of sugar? Sound right?
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

fizzix wrote:Your gravity was good. Temperature's good. You had some activity so we can assume yeast is good. You fed it some nutrients.
Had you aerated the wash? Yeast need oxygenated liquid for their first phase.

dieselduo just may be right with pH being the issue. Have you got some litmus strips to test it?
(I've found pH meters to be expensive and cantankerous)

If you can get animal shells (oyster, chicken egg, etc.) boil 'em and tie them in a brew bag and toss those into each future wash.
They help buffer your pH ---if that's indeed the issue.

Sorry, I'm just grasping at straws.
I've just bought some lipsum for checking pH, I'm going to wait 'em to arrive.

Anyway I've added a juice of 1 lemon and stirred it, now , in 7/8 hours, I've 1 bubble every 15 secs.

I hope it'll be good!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by fizzix »

Whitecap72 wrote:For a 20 gallon wash, 2lbs of flakes, 20lbs of sugar? Sound right?
If we convert the original recipe into U.S. measurement:

20 liters water = 5.25 gallons
500 grams cornflakes = 1.1 lb.
3.5 kg. sugar = 7.72 lbs.

And you've scaled up by ~3.8x (3.8 x 5.25 gallons = 20 gallons), so everything else must be linearly increased by 3.8x
3.8 x 1.1 lb cornflakes = ~4.2 lbs cornflakes
3.8 x 7.72 lbs sugar = ~29.3 lbs sugar

So up the cornflakes and sugar accordingly.
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Whitecap72 »

Thanks fizzix.
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

Hi guys, I've just measured my pH that look to be around 4/5!

What's the best pH for fermenting? Is it too acid?
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by still_stirrin »

Lucazzu wrote:Hi guys, I've just measured my pH that look to be around 4/5!

What's the best pH for fermenting? Is it too acid?
At pH 4.5 to pH 5.0 you’ll be OK. With the corn flakes, you may not need to add buffering as the flakes themselves help with that.

If your pH is at 4.0, then it wouldn’t hurt to add something to bring the pH up a little. Calcium carbonate is good for that as it will somewhat “self regulate” the rate of acid reduction.
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Lucazzu »

still_stirrin wrote:
Lucazzu wrote:Hi guys, I've just measured my pH that look to be around 4/5!

What's the best pH for fermenting? Is it too acid?
At pH 4.5 to pH 5.0 you’ll be OK. With the corn flakes, you may not need to add buffering as the flakes themselves help with that.

If your pH is at 4.0, then it wouldn’t hurt to add something to bring the pH up a little. Calcium carbonate is good for that as it will somewhat “self regulate” the rate of acid reduction.
ss
Thank for the advice mate! Appreciate it!

Anyway I've just resurrected my mash! I've just noticed that my yeast didn't wanted high temperature, now it is at 14/16° and it's good bubbling, I've also added some of the sugar wash sediment , something like 1lt of wash and dead/old yeast, and now it's bubbling like never before!
Hope it'll be good!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by cdd »

will this foam?
EDIT: I'm going to pitch yeast tomorrow morning and go to work...
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Celis »

Just finished my first batch and it's now aging on JD chips, smells promising! Must say that I was a bit disappointed with the smell and taste of the white dog, but I expect that this will change over the next generations. Do I need to check and adjust PH of the wash when adding backset for the next generation, or is this not necessary??

Anyway, bedankt Odin voor het recept!
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Odin »

Graag gedaan!

Yes, manage your backset. It is where - over a few generations - most of the early tails smearing and associated tastes come from. I like pH 4.0 to 4.8.

Odin.
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Whitecap72 »

Just made a mash of this recipe. (3) 1.5lb boxes of cornflakes, 5lbs of honey, 1 jar of molasses, and 20lbs of cane sugar. Boiled 4 gallons of water, added crushed up cornflakes, stirred for 5 mins, let sit till 155 degrees, added yeast nutrient. In my 20 gallon fermenter I poured in 4 gallons of hot water added honey, molasses and juice from 1 lemon. I then poured in the cornflake mush and the sugar, topped off with the rest of the water, mixed it all up, and then added the red star yeast starter at 95 degrees that I had going for about a half hour in some sugar water, stirred that for a good 5 minutes, put the lid on and then slid the fermenter into the heated enclosed that I just made today as well. Heat controlled to 80 degrees in the box. Hopefully I'll be distilling this coming Sunday if it's done. I'll post my results when I'm done.....
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by Whitecap72 »

Yeast is still working. The cap on my fermentor looks like the topping on a lemon meringue pie. I thought for sure that my heated enclosure would have sped things up. Looks like winter time ferments are 2 weeks no matter for me.
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bilgriss
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Re: Cornflakes whiskey

Post by bilgriss »

I've never been able to ferment honey more quickly than that. You changed the recipe, and got different results.
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