Cornflakes whiskey

[baron4406]

Just picked up 4 boxes of Cornflakes, gonna make two 6 gallon batches. My "grain" bill is gonna be 2.2 lbs corn flakes and 1lb rye bread. I always strip a batch then use the low wines to run the second batch. Usually gives me enough to oak in a 1 gallon jug.

[Odin]

Distilling 1.5. One low wines with one wash. If it gets you to 55 to 60%, there is enough to oak with and you don't need to water it down. I like that method.

Odin.

[Gaztops]

It's been nearly a month since I oaked 2 litres of cornflake whiskey and I've absolutely ruined it. The likker tastes of burnt wood it's horrible.

I tried making my own sticks (3 inches by 1/4 inch) with English white oak by heating them in the oven at 180 degrees celcius or 400 f for about 3 hours. I then scorched them with a propane tourch.

I put 2 sticks in each 1 litre Kilner Jar and left them on the shelf to colour and flavour.

Maybe I toasted them too much or the wood I used was too fresh and needed drying out.

I need to do somemore research on aging and flavouring before I ruin anything else.

[baron4406]

Yes Odin I settled on that method last year. I get hearts higher than 65% , I can then use the the best tasting tails to proof down to aging ABV. That was on my pot still last year, I'm curious how my concentric/hybrid is gonna do with spirit runs. BTW put this wash up last night, man is it corny smelling. It actually overpowered the rye smell.

[baron4406]

It's been nearly a month since I oaked 2 litres of cornflake whiskey and I've absolutely ruined it. The likker tastes of burnt wood it's horrible.

I tried making my own sticks (3 inches by 1/4 inch) with English white oak by heating them in the oven at 180 degrees celcius or 400 f for about 3 hours. I then scorched them with a propane tourch.

I put 2 sticks in each 1 litre Kilner Jar and left them on the shelf to colour and flavour.

Maybe I toasted them too much or the wood I used was too fresh and needed drying out.

I need to do somemore research on aging and flavouring before I ruin anything else.

That liquor isn't ruined , just throw it in with another wash. I did that last year to a failed JD Chips experiment and the liquor I got out after rerunning it is probably the best stuff I got on oak now. Nothing is ever ruined in this hobby, just rerun it. Heck a buddy gave me a free carboy with some really bad wine in it, I use that stuff to make cleaning runs on my stills.

[Gaztops]

Yeah, I'll through it in with the next cornflakes run. I was really looking forward to the end product, but ouch, came down with a bump.

I had the same kind of sticks in 1litre of Hook rum but I've taken them out without casualty.

[5thElement]

Just started a 1 gallon test batch of this using 1kg of sugar (inverted), 80g of cornflakes, 1/4 tsp boiled yeast, 2tbsp a.d.y and water to 5L.

I had a question regarding turning this into a sour mash - for anyone doing this, are you simply using the backset left in the still with fresh cornflakes etc and if so, how much backset would be advised per gallon? also, does anyone use any of the lees left in the fermenting bucket?

[Odin]

Throw out the leese. Use 25% backset in a new generation.

Odin.

[kungpo]

I've just kicked off a batch of this - 1/2kg of Kelloggs, 3.5kg sugar (about 2.9 kg white, 600g of Demerara), tom puree, little bit of citric acid and bakers yeast. Hopefully it will come out ok!

[Odin]

It will, but generation 2 with some backset will be better. One kilo instead of 500 grams will make the recipe better as well.

Odin.

[kungpo]

Is it worth cooking another 1/2kg of cornflakes and adding to the FV? Or just go with 1kg for the 2nd gen with 5l of backset?

[Odin]

For sure it is!

Odin.

[jholmz]

just did my second batch of this recipe. used 2 boxes of corn flakes on this one and started with an SG of 1.070 , finished at .998. ran it with 1/2 gallon of fients from the first run. This batch i have to say had a lot of flavor and came off pretty smooth with good mouthfeel IMO. I would reccommend this for tried and true with 1 1/2 - 2 boxes of cornflakes in the recipe. Thanks for the contribution Odin.

[baron4406]

I have one batch ready to strip, it had 2.2 lbs of Corn Flakes (2 boxes) , one pound of rye bread. Batch I mixed up last night had 2.2lbs of corn flakes, one lb of rye bread, and 1 pound of DME. Both batches were made with 30% backset from my rye whiskey runs, and I use 7 gallons of water - I found last year that boiling everything in backset helps dissolve the sugar better, and bring out the flavor better too. I stopped throwing away my backset too and have a "dunder bucket"
Thanks to Odin and his mad experimentation!

[ArcticTern]

with the "new" ratio of doubling up the corn flake quantity, do you find there is alot of lees? and lees, as Odin puts it are discarded. I do like the clean output tho, but even with the original recipe, I thought there was a quite abit of lees.

[jholmz]

with the "new" ratio of doubling up the corn flake quantity, do you find there is alot of lees? and lees, as Odin puts it are discarded. I do like the clean output tho, but even with the original recipe, I thought there was a quite abit of lees.

yes it adds to the lees but it definately kicks the flavor up, and no i dont reuse the lees on this one

[baron4406]

There is alot of lees yes but I make sure to fill my fermenter up so there isn't alot of loss. BTW one thing i noticed when I added the crushed corn flakes to my boiling backset, I had flashbacks to my AG bourbon i made last year. It thickened up like when you are cooking your cracked corn...lol. It got pretty thick and goopy. Lesson learned add the cornflakes LAST.

[5thElement]

Im about to syphon off my first batch of this, only 5 litres, so im hoping to end up with 4l to run through my air still.

Being a novice to cuts, i know to take off the first 50ml of distillate as foreshots, but can anyone give me some rough ideas where to take the other cuts? doing this by taste right now probably isnt wise as im not sure what im tasting/smelling for! can anyone give me something to go by, ie 50ml foreshots, 200ml heads, xxxml hearts and xxxml tails?

I'll be using the backset to start another batch and hoping to age what i have on JD wood chips.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!

[Brentwoodstill]

Hi I am intrested in this to I have a air still. Just getting in to this. And I'm hoping to do a cornflake run. And I'm not sure and how best to do the cuts.

[CCDL]

I would make my cuts three or four oz at a time, smell & touch a bit to your tongue, you will be able to taste the difference from the heads for sure although that still prolly smears them pretty good into the hearts, try reading about nuked aging it might help you separate the crap your gonna get till you get used to it. Use the search button, it is your best friend right now.

[One Sock]

It first depends on the abv% of your wash, for an air still 13-14% is about right, more stresses the yeast and less produces to little product. 5 liters is too little, but roughly 50ml is fores, toss that. By the next 200ml's you'll be in the hearts, and by 400 tails will be coming in... you can actually see the tails, the drops leave a blurry distortion as they drip into the jar of likker that gets more pronounced as the tails continue. For me, the cornflakes recipe has strong tasting tails so I don't allow much of them. So maybe you'll get 250ml of product.

Here's how I do it. Start with 10 liters of wash, around 14%, fill the air still with 4 liters and run it, tossing the 50ml of fores and collect 800ml. Clean the still, pour in the first run, toss in a fresh ear of sweet corn and fill to the line with the rest of the wash! That ear of corn really gives the likker that taste real good shine has! Toss the fores again, then collect 100ml of heads, switch jars and collect till the tails start to get strong for your taste, about 700-750ml for me. Now you should have a jar full of about 60% likker, but still with the harsh, turpentine taste of all the heads.

So place that open jar in a fairly large pot and fill the pot with water a little above halfway up the jar. Bring it to a boil (electric stoves only, no open flames!!!) till the alcohol reaches 160f, then turn off the heat and let it sit for five minutes. Carefully remove the jar, it's hot, and place in a tub that you fill with cool water. Cap the jar when it reaches about 130f. When room temp yer ready to dilute to aging or drinking strength, and it makes a fine white dog!

For a larger still please follow all the advice here on good cuts, but this process works for one gallon stills like the air stills and you don't have to mess with carbon filtering, etc.!

[Brentwoodstill]

Hi would the carbon filter help get rid of the head taste

[rad14701]

Hi would the carbon filter help get rid of the head taste

No...!!! It will strip flavor but not remove heads or tails...

[Odin]

If it is headsy ... add it to the next wash and run again.

Odin.

[5thElement]

Thanks for the replies guys, some great advice which will be taken on board! i'll post an update when its done and let you know the results. Currently sipping some still spirits classics "tennesee bourbon" and i must say, for my first attempt, its gone beyond my expectations, the flavour is remarkably similar to Jack daniels, i just feel like using essences is cheating though! hence wanting to make my own whisky from the ground up.

[Odin]

Number 5,

Maybe my English is just not good enough, but I want to understand: are you writing about drinking Cornflakes Whiskey here? If so, I guess it turned out okay ...

... on the other hand, I expect you to "beat" JD in no time with this recipe.

Just saying.



Odin.

[Odin]

Brentwood,

The advantage of an airstill is you can distill with flakes in the boiler. Distill 3 times 4 liters and collect 1.3 liters each time, after discarding 50 mls each time. Three times 1.3 makes for another 4 liters. Distill that, take one cup as heads. Collect about 40% of what went into the boiler.

Now about the bad things. An airstill may have plastic in the nozzle. Get rid of it. An airstill may run at > 450 watts, which is too much and will give you smearing to a large extend.

I would not advice to take this recipe to 13 or 14%. Not because it stresses out the yeast, but because taste concentration on a - say - 8% wash will be times five. If you drink it at 40%. A 14% wash will be concentrated only 3 times. And that will mean loss in taste.

And getting that taste is the hardest part. ABV of wash of between 8 and 10% will get you there. More than 10% will mean your whiskey taste will drift towards "eau de vie". Quality over quantity.

Odin.

[Brentwoodstill]

Thank you for the help. The air still is just to see how I get on and if I like it. I will then move on to a bigger pot still just need learn how to do the cuts.

Was going to use 5kg sugar and 1kg cornflake. If only tuning to 8% should I lower the sugar
I have only done a sugar wash be for. I don't have use the clearer on this like the sugar was do I
. So many post to read on here

[Odin]

Lower the amount of sugar for more taste.

[Brentwoodstill]

Ok thank you heading out now to get bits now to start