Corn whiskey

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:44 am

Does anyone have a reicipe for a 23L cooked wash using cracked corn, barley or wheat malt and sugar?

Post by **Tater** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:00 pm

should be some on http://homedistiller.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow in preparing wash section

TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY · Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:13 pm

Yep, possum has one on page five, third entry, under uncle jesse's simple sour mash.

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:48 pm

TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY wrote:Yep, possum has one on page five, third entry, under uncle jesse's simple sour mash.

Thanks, but that's not a recipe. It's only a list of ingrediants. A recipe also has a description of methods.

Post by **Grayson_Stewart** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:30 pm

all the methods you will ever need for ANY recipe are listed in http://homedistiller.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:17 am

Here is a recipe that I commonly use... It comes from homedistillers.org... Maybe a little changed... In the site, you will find everything you need... Search menu "preparing wash - grain..." There is a lot of information to read...

0,5 Kg crushed malted barley (I use an old coffee grinder for this)
4,5 kgs crushed or flaked corn (I buy it allready crushed or flaked)
1 kg sugar
30 g baker’s yeast
30 g yeast nutients
Boil 22,5 l water, add corn and let it cook for ± 30 minutes at 82°C. The goal is to sweeet the corn. T° isn’t critical at this stage.
Stop heating and let cool to 63°C, then throw in the malted barley. Keep this T° for 2 hours. This operation converts starch into sugar.
Heat again up to 75°, then stop heating.
Put in the sugar, 4 more liters of water and nutrients.
Let cool to 20°C, then add the yeast and let it ferment until bubbling stops.
You may (or not) drain the wash before to distill it.
Distill in a pot still or unpacked reflux.

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:15 am

Thanks, Bujapat. And thanks to all who replied. I'll put a mash together this weekend. I'v done neutral spirts in my reflux still, fruit brandy and rum in my pot still. (All done, by the way without asking one question.) All came out good! Now I'll try the corn and hope for the best.
Oh, and I also built both of my stills without asking questions. I'm not looking for "spoonfeeding".

Post by **Tater** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:26 am

Great why not post your grain bill and methods with pics if possable.Fokes seem to like seeing a mash go from grain to likker. I know I still do.

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:44 am

I'm thinking about 8 lb of cracked corn, 1 lb ea. of malted 2 row and malted wheat to make a 23L mash. Does this seem acceptable?

Post by **Tater** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:53 pm

Sounds good to me. What yeast ya gonna use? What method of cooking grain?

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 7:41 pm

Well, I got my mash going today. I basically used bujapat's method. I added 8 lb of cracked corn to 5 gal boiling water. Held this at appox. 180 F for about 1/2 hr. I let it cool to 160 F then poured it into a large cooler. When the temp dropped to 155 F I added 1 lb. barley malt and 1 lb wheat malt. I stirred this about every 15 min for about 2 hr. Then I let it set overnight. This morning I drained liquid into my fermenter and let cool to 72 F. The SG was 1.040. I then added 4 lb. sugar and enough water to make 6 gal. The SG was 1.060. I added 1/2 oz. bakers yeast and 2 packets (10 grams) Lalvin EC-1118. It's working like crazy! It kept blowing the water out of my airlock, so I had to change to a different style of lock. Now I'll wait until it's done fermenting. Thanks to all for your help and advice.

possum · Post by **possum** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:13 pm

Did you keep the grain in the fermenter, or seperate it from the liquid ?

The temps sound about right,this is the basic procedure that I used, except I used stovetop instead of the cooler.

If you did seperate the grain from liquid, saving the grains for later use can be a good thing.

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:00 am

I did seperate the grain but I didn't save it. I want to try Uncle Jesse's no-cook method, and I thought that I'd start fresh.

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:11 am

I'm glad to see that it seems to work well for you Hootch. I forgoted to explain you the "iodine test" to check starch conversion... Maybe you'll find it in homedistiller's site or in Uncle Jesse's post "how I do a cooked rye mash" (with pictures of it!).

Possum, what do you mean exactly when writin' this :

possum wrote:this is the basic procedure that I used, except I used stovetop instead of the cooler.

Otherwise, I plan to start a sour mash like U.J. described, but I've no time for it now... I should start on april 1... I'll tell you.

possum · Post by **possum** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:01 am

I meant, that I held the grain at @150degrees F on the cooking stove, I did not have an insulated container to let the starch change to sugar(malt-enzyme) in. I just kept the tempature stable on the stove for 90 minutes, then let everything sit together overnight.

Cooking the corn untill it was soft took a long time.
I cooked the corn and rye first, to soften the grain and get the starch in the water. I then added 1.3kg of 6-row malt, stirring and kept tempature at 150degrees F. I let it sit overnight.The next day I added sugar.

I keep recycling grain and backset,removing grain husks that float to the top, and adding (cane) sugar every generation. I distill 2 x in a pot still.

I hope that I made things easier to understand.

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:55 am

bujapat, I did use the iodine test which indicated the presence of starch. Which is why I added the sugar. Does this process completly convert the starch for you, or is there still starch present in your final wash?

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:35 am

Thanks Possum, very clear now... As I wrote before, I'll start with recycling method next week... Your advise will be helpfull.

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:55 am

Hootch,

I'm not a master distiller...

I began with this hobby on july 2005. Since, I distilled 14 home made batches and 2 from old wine. I tried 5 times the corn mash recipe posted on this forum subject and tried twice the iodine test : once was it good and once was it like your experience : starch remaining...
I don't really know why... I thought about T°, malt quality, malt grinding, corn quality... or my know how!
I don't worry much about that, the result was even drinkable... The problem is a yeald difference (soluted by addin' sugar).

Hootch · Post by **Hootch** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:24 pm

Thanks for the reply bujapat. Well, I'm in the fermenting process now, so I'll just hope for the best. I would like to learn more about the malting process so maybe I'll try some small scale (gallon or so) experiments.

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:37 pm

Hootch wrote: I would like to learn more about the malting process

then you can learn a lot from beer forums

Captin Moron · Post by **Captin Moron** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:12 pm

From what I have read, some malts will not convert the starch to sugar. ex: malt extract.

possum · Post by **possum** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:06 pm

CaptianMoron,
That is why I use 6-row malt ,it has the highest enzyme content.
I don't do an iodine test, but my I can taste sweetness before I add sugar.
I also leave the malted 6-row in the mash/wash mix, and I suspect that any remaining starch may be slowly converted to sugar. Just my suspicion, I have no solid evidence.

stil_chillin · Post by **stil_chillin** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:01 am

I use the cooler method and after a couple hours test with iodine. If not ready i add some hot water to get temp back up and let go for a couple more hours. Always had good luck

Rocky_Creek · Post by **Rocky_Creek** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:19 pm

Captin Moron, malt and malt extract are two different animals. Malt extract has had the enzymes killed.

Rocky_Creek · Post by **Rocky_Creek** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:24 pm

"I tried 5 times the corn mash recipe posted on this forum " if you are saying what I think you are saying, Uncle Jessey's recipe, there will always be starch remaining, it is not intended to convert as you might expect. You probably are not saying that though.

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:35 pm

guys... can i boil the corn and grain in a smaller quantity of water and then add the remaining water to make 23L in the fermenter? Thats what i do for my beer

Otherwise.. gonna give it a berl this weekend

MyDBear · Post by **MyDBear** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:41 pm

Yes just as long as you get a good convertion

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:45 pm

cheers..

back to the malt thing.... what is the syrup malt in a can? does that contain the enzymes? or do i have to actually buy malted barley then crush it?

i bought malt powder for the recipe before reading the above posts..

Swag · Post by **Swag** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:18 pm

Stangas wrote:cheers..

back to the malt thing.... what is the syrup malt in a can? does that contain the enzymes? or do i have to actually buy malted barley then crush it?

i bought malt powder for the recipe before reading the above posts..

I don't believe the malt in the can has any active enzyme. Get some finely ground 6 row malted barley at your local brew store. Heat your mash up to 150 degrees F and toss your barley in and stir it up. Let it sit for 90 minutes and you're done.
Cool to room temp and pitch your yeast, stand back.

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 10:22 pm

so the enzyme we are looking for to convert the starch to sugar is in the malted barley?

Cant get it anywhere else?