What kind and where to get corn for making corn whiskey?

[Dolmetscher]

I have made a few different kinds of distilled spirits in my life.

Maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I got ahold of a couple of garbage cans full of organic apples of all different kinds. I cored them and ran them through an industrial juicer, and threw the skins and pulp back in to ferment. I also added 5 or 6 cans of organic apple juice concentrate plus a gallon or so of organic apple cider. I distilled it through a pretty standard still that I got from the internet. Really nothing fancy. 4 Gallon or so kettle. 3 ft column, that I stuffed with copper scrubbing pads, and a small pump that pumped ice water through a 12 inch condensor tube. I distilled it twice, pitching the first 150 ml or so of the heads and tails each run, and then I stored it for two years with charred oak cubes from a local shop, floating in the liquor. After two years... it was FANTASTIC!!! I mean, I have never had Calvados that was a smooth, and perfect.

I did the same thing with plums too. Except I didn't put oak in the plum liquor. But after a year or so... it too was the best damn plum liquor I'd ever had, and I've had my share.

So... now I want to make Bourbon. I have read a ton of websites and books. But they are all either written as folk lore "Moonshinin`" books, or they are scientific text books on massive industrial whiskey production. I want to sprout/malt my own corn. I want to use my own barley and Rye. For the barley, I am fine using Barley malt syrup from the brew shop, but the corn I'd like to malt, crush, and mash myself. Same with the Rye. But all I want to make is 5 - 10 gallons of fermented, and distill it a couple of time, just like I did the apples. Now, I can buy whole organic Rye berries from Whole Foods. Same as Barley, or I could just get the syrup. But where do you get corn? And what kind should I get? I've heard of everything from popcorn, to deer feed, to corn meal. But I know I need to sprout it, then heat dry it, and corn meal isn't going to sprout.

Basically, can anyone point me towards a sensible, realistic, high quality, but do'able recipe and source guide for making Bourbon whiskey at home?

Thanks guys. Live the website.

[Prairiepiss]

If you want a bourbon? Just use unmalted corn with malted barley. The barley will give enough enzymes to convert the corn. If the right amounts are used. Most bourbons don't use malted corn. The other grains are malted.

Feed corn is cheap and readily available almost everywhere in the US. Most of it can be malted.

There is plenty of info about all this around here. You just mite have to look for it.

[Coaster]

@ Dolmetscher,

Welcome to the Forum.

Suggest doing some Forum research. A good place to start would be the at the “Parent Site’. Suggest looking at the ‘Grain’ section ->

http://homedistiller.org/grain

Another place would the “Tried and True Recipes” sub-forum. The “NChooch's Carolina Bourbon” is known proven recipe that provides excellent results ->

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 14&t=17750

Regards,
Coaster