Check this recipe..... Will it work?

[mroe]

Got this recipe off the internet. Sounds interesting, but what concerns me, is it doesn't call for cooking the mash, nor any sugar. I'm assuming the sugar will be extracted from the corn meal via the malt, right? Not sure if I should waste my time and money on this one or not. What do any of you think?


INDIAN HEAD CORN MEAL WHISKEY

Ingredients: 3 Lbs of Indian-Head corn meal
1 1/2- lbs dry malt preferably dark (available at most home-brew shops)
1- sachet of 48 turbo yeast
4- gallons of spring water

After cleaning the equipment to prep it for use, put 3 1/2 gallons of water into the carboy
and then slowly add the cornmeal allowing it to wet as it falls to the bottom and thus avoids caking as much as possible.
Carefully lift the carboy and shake it side-to-side to ensure a good mix.
Next add the dry malt like you did the cornmeal,slow and steady and then lift the carboy up and shake it again to get a good mix
Warm the 1/2 gallon of leftover water on the stove until it's just hot to the touch.
Turn off the oven and stir in the yeast until it is completely dissolved.
Now add this to the carboy and shake well.
After 3 to 7 days, it's now ready to run off in the still.

[rad14701]

Why would you ever use Turbo yeast for a corn mash...??? Your corn and malt have all of the nutrients and flavor in them so using Turbo yeast is counter-productive... The Turbo nutrients are going to feed the yeast and you'll never get the benefit of those other adjuncts... Not really sure where you came up with the notion that a "48 hour" yeast is gonna ferment for "3 - 7 days"... Scrap the Turbo yeast at the very least...

[grunger]

Not really sure where you came up with the notion that a "48 hour" yeast is gonna ferment for "3 - 7 days"

First line.

Got this recipe off the internet

[blind drunk]

Hey mroe, the turbo will make it difficult to get any decent flavor out of it. I did my first "brandy" with a turbo and I ended up with about a tablespoon of "drinkable" hooch. It alters the mash/flavors. Don't know why, just my experience. Good luck, BD.

[trthskr4]

First off, there isn't much gonna ferment in that wash.

#1-There's nothing but starch, no sugar in the wash, the only thing that will be fermented is the dark malt.
#2-Dark malts aren't converting anything, they have been neutered.
#3-Don't use turbos for this and I'd question using them for anything.
#4-If you put most yeast in water above 95*F you'll kill it.




#5-Don't believe anything you read on the internet...

[rad14701]

I guess the short answer to the question in the topic title, "Check this recipe..... Will it work?", is "No"... Every time I re-read the initial post I come up with more things wrong with the whole thing... Just use a Tried and True recipe from here in the forums... Once you know what works and, more importantly, why, you'll be better suited to try recipe modifications and/or discount other internet recipes... Click on the Parent Site link in the upper right corner of the page and you'll find a wealth of good information...

Good luck, and good reading...

[billy_bob_95]

That's one of the Colonel's recipes. Found on the website here.
http://www.coppermoonshinestills.com/id28.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[pro65]

I would recomend you try the sweet-feed recipe. It is a very easy one to do and makes a good sipping whiskey with lots of flavor.
Or do a UJSM recipe found here on this forum.

[mroe]

Okay........... I'll try the sweet-feed recipe. I looked onte Tried & Ture Recipes and coulnd't find it. Can someone forward it to me? Please???? Oh, ya, I have Turbo yeast, and just bought some plain Whiskey yeast. So I guess I should be using whiskey yeast to make corn whiskey. NOT Turbo right?

Did some reasearch on some other sites and they are saying to stay away from sweet feed, cause it has to much crap in the feed you buy. So now I don't know what to try. I just what a good corn recipe. HELP!!!

[rad14701]

Here's some advice... Quit reading on other sites now that you're here...

The search feature here works, and with a quick search for "sweet feed" I found the following information for you...

uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

Horse feed mash

Starting my first mash, have a question

That was just in the first few results and there are more... You'd probably find a few corn recipes on the Parent Site as well... You have to search and/or browse about... Don't expect us to do the searching and hand you the answers every time...

[Hack]

Hey mroe, if this is your first or nearly your first try at this I highly recommend UJSM. It's easy, hard to screw up, cheap, and if you do screw it up you aren't out much. Stick with that until you get your feet under you. I guarantee this will make the learning curve much less steep for you.

[trthskr4]

I'm gonna take exception with Rad's comment to only read on this site. I would suggest you stick with this site until you have a good base of knowledge. Then when you're more comfortable with the process you can branch out and you'll be able to know what should work and not work on other sites. There is a world of information out there if you know what's BS and what's good.

[mroe]

Okay, I'll give UJSM's recipe a try. I've been using turbo yeast so far, I just sent away for some whiskey yeast with AG. Is that okay to use in UJSM recipe? Got it from Brewhaus.com

[pro65]

Im not sure but I dont think that whiskey yeast with ag works well with added sugar. I think it is for an all grain method.

You should order some Distillers yeast and that will definently work.

[Hawke]

The whiskey w/AG will convert a small portion of the corn. (simillar to using the malted barley variant) Otherwise should be fine. Regular bread yeast works just as well, and is a lot cheaper though.

[mroe]

Really??? I have a jar in the fridge. So with UJSM's recipe would I be better off with the bread yeast or the whiskey yeast, flavor wise in the end? Plus how much bread yeast for a 5 Gal batch?

[mroe]

I've read ULSM recipe. If backset is considered what left in the still after your run, and you are to add this back into the formentor, add more water and sugar and forment again. What do you do with the spirits from the first run? Plus how many times do you do this? Is twice good enough?

[Hack]

I'd try a batch with each kind of yeast and see which you like best. I usually use about 4 tablespoons of distillers yeast to start a 10 gallon batch. Similar proportions with the bakers yeast will probably start you just fine.

As far as backset, if you are going to do multiple stripping runs and save for a spirit run, don't worry about backset for your first generation. After that always add backset to each generation, but pay attention to the pH. Too much backset will drop the pH too low and slow or stop fermentation.

[trthskr4]

Mroe, you can do several things with the spirits from the first run or 2...

#1-You can try doing cuts on it and drink it
#2-You can save up the run and do 3-4 ferments or more and then add all the runs together and do a slow spirit run.
#3-(this is what I usually do) You can add the first run to the still when doing the second run, add the product off this run to the next run and so on until the 4th run. I always do a fores cut and a rough heads cut when doing this on every run and add just a bit of the tails from each run back to the next.

[mroe]

How Critical is water type? I use my water I run though my R/O system. Or is it bettre to use store bought spring or distilled water? In Arizona our water is fairly hard. But the R/O system takes alot of that out.

[dropping_planets]

a fairly high calcium content (50-250 ppm) is beneficial to the subsequent fermentation and the resulting flavor of the finished whisky.....

i would bypass that r/o and use the hard water...i use water right out of the tap..... i also use gypsum in my ferments as per mr.smileys recipes....

What do you do with the spirits from the first run? Plus how many times do you do this? Is twice good enough?

i save up 5 or 6 strips for a full boiler charge on the spirit run....trying to do cuts on 1 or 2 ferments is going to be frustrating ... invest a couple more weeks in fermenting and stripping and your drinkable end product will be exponentially larger and better....

[Hack]

I wouldn't worry about your water unless you suspect it is causing problems. Try it and see how things turn out.

[mroe]

So......... I started my first time doing UJSM's Recipe yesterday. So far it's bubbling away pretty good. Now......... let me geting the distilling straight. I'm to siphon off the top liquid leaving the corn in the bottom. Put 3 3/4 gallon water on top after siphoning to keep yeast alive. Do the first run. I have a reflux still. So I guess I tossing the fisrt 100-150ml or so, keeping the middles, and some of the tails. Then I'm to add 7 lbs of sugar to 1 1/2 gallons of backset, cool it down and and add it back into the corn. Now this is where I'm a little confused, am I to put what I distilled off in the the mix also? Then let it all work, and distill again, and now this is my "sour mash" run, and my "real" corn whisky. Does that sound about right? Some are saying to do this method up to 7-8 times. Not sure I understand why. So you keep adding everything back, add more sugar, re-work it and distill again and again. Adding it all back and re-working and distilling, is this what imporves the flovor? Doing it 7-8 times, and keeping adding sugar each time, that's gets a little expensive don't it? Or am I way off base on what I'm suppose to be doing.

[Hack]

You don't add the distillate back to the mash. Set that aside and save it up for a spirit run. What you add back is a bit of what's left in the boiler, this is your backset. Be careful not to add too much or it will throw the pH off and slow the ferment. Also since you have a reflux still you'll need to detune it so it operates like a pot still.

By adding sugar, water, and backset on top of the corn in the bottom of the fermenter you are reusing it for each run, only replacing the little bit of corn that is spent. By 7-8 times it is meant that you can reuse the corn at least that many times.

[mroe]

Okay, thanks, By de-tuning, you mean, all I have to do, is take the copper packing out of the jar? Do I still run the cooling water through the cooling chamber? Why would this make such a difference? I do have one of those table top air cooled stills, should I do my first run through that? Also what's a "spirit run?" Is that the last run? Or is it when you've collected enough from previous runs, you distill it again? I would think, distilling it by itself, you would be stripping off even more flavor. Sorry to sound so stupid, but I'm very new to this.

[Husker]

De-tune is to remove the packing from the column of a still. It will run with quite a lot less reflux running it in that manner.

A spirit run, is a 2nd run, done slower, and more carefully, with careful 'cuts' to remove the nasty heads and nasty tails. For a spirit run, you might want to add a couple copper scrubbers into the column, but not a whole lot more than that (unless you are WANTING a flavorless neutral). If you are wanting a flavored whiskey like product, then you have to be a little careful with a column, or you will simply rip out all of the flavor.

H.

[trthskr4]

As for packing on a spirit run I use about 9" worth of large marbles in my 2" column. It works wonders for me.

[Husker]

As for packing on a spirit run I use about 9" worth of large marbles in my 2" column. It works wonders for me.

Is that for doing things like rum/whiskey? I would think that is pretty minimal, but for a 'lika pot still' mode, it is probably about right.

Have you tried a little copper. I bet it would work wonderful in a de-tuned column (just a little, 6" or so). I use a pot when pot stilling, but I know there are others who have only a column, and want to branch out into flavored drinks.

H.

[LWTCS]

#3-(this is what I usually do) You can add the first run to the still when doing the second run, add the product off this run to the next run and so on until the 4th run. I always do a fores cut and a rough heads cut when doing this on every run and add just a bit of the tails from each run back to the next.

Can you pick up where you left off and explain further what you do till your drink is enjoyed.

Thanks L.T.

[mroe]

If I use nothing but the middles, I thought the flavor comes from using a little of the tails. GOOD GOD! this is getting more complicated. I though Uncle jessie recipe was supposed to be simple