Popcorn Sutton's Mash Recipe

[jays630]

Does anyone know or have Popcorn Sutton's mash recipe?

[Little Lukie]

In the last few years Popcorn used all malted grain (no corn) and sugar. Word has it before his death he sold recipe of mash with rights to his name to a company in California.He did it so Pam would be taken care of after he was gone.

[tinboat]

That company Pioneer Spirits?
I did a 4lb malted barley 8lb sugar last month trying for scotch but it tastes to good to be scotch.

[Usge]

He mentions a recipe in his book. Mostly, it's course ground white corn meal cooked in the barrel using boiling water (and stirring till no lumps—leave enough room in top of barrel for all the sugar you are going to add). After it cools some, add the sugar (not why he wouldn't put it in hot so it would dissolve better, but that's what he says). Then a gallon of malted grain (any kind...barley, rye, corn, etc), and top it with 1 gallon of wheat bran. No yeast. Sorry, don't have the amounts (lbs) for sugar and meal off the top of my head. I'll try and look it up and post it later.

[goose eye]

cause itll wanna carmelize it

so im tole

[Slow & Steady]

Hmmm... Carmelized sugar in a corn mash, I wonder how that would taste... sure does sound tasty. Carmel Corn Candy Booze... Its got a ring to it

S&S

[Usge]

Thanks goose. Makes sense.

The basic recipe he mentions is for a 50-55gal barrel. Use 25lbs cornmeal, 50lbs sugar, 1 gal malt (doesn't matter what kind), 1 gal wheat bran on top. No yeast.

He doesn't mention backmashing anywhere in the book.

[Beerswimmer]

I will be using his recipe!!!! Just for the stories that'll go with every sip that people take and ask "where did you get this recipe?" Hell, we should all do a batch.

R.I.P.

[meangene]

Don't forget to add one medium possum. No that was one of his buddies made the possum brandy. My bad!

[MOONSHINE1]

Has anyone tried this recipe? If so, how did it turn out.

[Usge]

I've tried it a few times save for capping it with wheatbran (can't find that easily here). The malt corn gives it a more earthy and somewhat nutty note. (it also will convert the cooked meal some if you time it right). I let mine start without adding yeast...but it petered out after a few days so I restarted it with WD whiskey yeast. After that, I saved the lees and have been using the same yeast since...on about my fourth go round now. The wild yeast and white corn give a kind of honey/pollen nose. But, the taste also has a predominate sour note ...you can smell that in the ferment too. It's notably more sour smelling and tasting that when using WD whiskey yeast alone (which tends to be sweeter and fruity). And that's without backmashing.


Popcorn doesn't talk about doing any kind of "conversion" using the malt. He mainly speaks of using malt in place of "yeast". I'm getting "some" conversion of the corn to add to flavor. 2nd round, I just use more malt corn or corn meal and sugar and top it up with water. You can also use backset if you want..and it basically follows a sourmash recipe at that point. After about 3 or 4 times....I emptied the barrel and started over from scratch (ie., fresh cooked white corn meal, etc). But, you could probably keep it going (just like UJSM) if you wanted to.

[NCshineR]

Well im gonna tell yall a quick story, you can take it or leave it but this is true. I was up at the place where i get all my supplies for our hobby here and i was buying some malted barley and some rye, ive known this old lady that owns this place for quite some time now and weve talked a little here and there, well this time she said hey, what kind of beer are you making maybe i can help you out with it, i see you come in here from time to time and you buy the same thing but never any hopps or malt extract or anything, i said quietly even though there was no one in there ( i make it a point to buy my mash making supplies just before they close i buy more than you would buy to make a couple cases of beer and i dont need prying eyes seeing me) well ma'am, im not making beer.. she said... oh, yeah i kinda figured... she said, ya know, i had an old feller come in here about two times a year maybe more sometimes for a few years from the mountains there in Carolina and he would buy some of the same things as you but we had to special order his stuff because he was buying it in a minimum of 100 lbs each and i knew what he was doing, she said he was a straight up mountain man, she was saying this knowing i live in Carolina she dosent know what part though. Anyway she said the only thing different is he would get like a hundred pounds of DEXTROSE.. i said really? then my wheels started turning... i said do you happen to remember when he was in here last? she said yeah, it was a couple years now since he was here.. he was about your height... but a skinny little guy.. kinda looked like lil abner..with a beard.. but with a strange name i cant quite remember it but it was different.. i said.. it wasnt popcorn by any chance was it? she said wow yes it was.. strange name dont you think? i said yep it was different.. she asked if i knew him i said no not personally but i know of him then i went on to tell her why she hasnt seen him in so long.. so with that being said, what he was buying if i heard her right and i know i did was at a minimum of 100 lbs. and sometimes it was more, like double that amount but it was malted barley, malted corn,and dextrose and thats the best she could recall being as it was a few years ago, and i really see no reason as to why she would lie to me about it. what threw me for a loop was the dextrose thing.. i thought that as kinda odd.. Anyway, thats what i heard from her and my girlfriend was there to hear the whole story. If anyone is interested in this pm me or just email me and i can get into more details.

[Tater]

Probably using the dextrose/corn sugar with the grains so it could be called pure grain likker.Ya don't have the sugar taste either.

[LWTCS]

Probably using the dextrose/corn sugar with the grains so it could be called pure grain likker.Ya don't have the sugar taste either.

MMMMoonshiner

Nice lil story.

[gobbler777]

so when you use dextrose is it the same as sugar? i mean like say for a ujsm u could just use the same amount of dextrose as you would for sugar? or would you have to use less or more?

[rad14701]

so when you use dextrose is it the same as sugar? i mean like say for a ujsm u could just use the same amount of dextrose as you would for sugar? or would you have to use less or more?

You can optionally use up to 12% more, but not the 25% quoted on some pages, including at least one on the parent site... When in doubt, use it the same as table sugar...

[2495robert]

I wish I could have known him. Even spending one day with a man of his knowledge would be amazing.

[6 Row Joe]

Still looking. Lot's of copies of the recipe written in his book but most comment it can't be right.


Ingredients:

25 pounds coarse ground white corn meal, enough to fill half of your barrel/container

50 pounds of sugar – 1 pound of sugar per gallon of water of total volume

1 gallon of malt – can be corn, barley, rye or a combination.

Directions:

Boil the water and pour over the cornmeal to cook. Allow them to cool to the touch. Add sugar and malt and stir in well. Leave it for a day. The following day the mix should be bubbling on top, stir it one last time and then leave it.

You see here that we did not mention any addition of yeast, Popcorn said that the malt (any kind or combination of corn, barley, rye) is what makes it work — so he's using it here as alternative to distiller's yeast. Also, he's after the idea that wild yeast will start the fermentation within the mash.

After a couple of days, when all activities in the mash has stopped, it should be ready to be distilled. Use a siphon or a bucket to transfer the wash to the still.

[Durhommer]

so i just was in my local hb shop earlier they have cornmeal white and yellow 50 pound for 15

[6 Row Joe]

Still looking. Lot's of copies of the recipe written in his book but most comment it can't be right.


Ingredients:

25 pounds coarse ground white corn meal, enough to fill half of your barrel/container

50 pounds of sugar – 1 pound of sugar per gallon of water of total volume

1 gallon of malt – can be corn, barley, rye or a combination.

Directions:

Boil the water and pour over the cornmeal to cook. Allow them to cool to the touch. Add sugar and malt and stir in well. Leave it for a day. The following day the mix should be bubbling on top, stir it one last time and then leave it.

You see here that we did not mention any addition of yeast, Popcorn said that the malt (any kind or combination of corn, barley, rye) is what makes it work — so he's using it here as alternative to distiller's yeast. Also, he's after the idea that wild yeast will start the fermentation within the mash.

After a couple of days, when all activities in the mash has stopped, it should be ready to be distilled. Use a siphon or a bucket to transfer the wash to the still.

I had the ingredients so I threw together a batch.

4 gallon water
5# sugar
2 1/2# ground corn
1# cracked rye malt

I cooked the corn at 190° for 90 min.Stirred in sugar. Cooled to 150 and added the rye malt. Let it sit for a couple hours and cooled it to 80°. Adjusted ph to 5.5. Pitched a DADY yeast starter. SG 1.070 It's bubbling away Wish me luck.

[jonnys_spirit]

Good luck!

[Coonass]

Still looking. Lot's of copies of the recipe written in his book but most comment it can't be right.


Ingredients:

25 pounds coarse ground white corn meal, enough to fill half of your barrel/container

50 pounds of sugar – 1 pound of sugar per gallon of water of total volume

1 gallon of malt – can be corn, barley, rye or a combination.

Directions:

Boil the water and pour over the cornmeal to cook. Allow them to cool to the touch. Add sugar and malt and stir in well. Leave it for a day. The following day the mix should be bubbling on top, stir it one last time and then leave it.

You see here that we did not mention any addition of yeast, Popcorn said that the malt (any kind or combination of corn, barley, rye) is what makes it work — so he's using it here as alternative to distiller's yeast. Also, he's after the idea that wild yeast will start the fermentation within the mash.

After a couple of days, when all activities in the mash has stopped, it should be ready to be distilled. Use a siphon or a bucket to transfer the wash to the still.

I had the ingredients so I threw together a batch.

4 gallon water
5# sugar
2 1/2# ground corn
1# cracked rye malt

I cooked the corn at 190° for 90 min.Stirred in sugar. Cooled to 150 and added the rye malt. Let it sit for a couple hours and cooled it to 80°. Adjusted ph to 5.5. Pitched a DADY yeast starter. SG 1.070 It's bubbling away Wish me luck.

Curious on how this run came out? I plan on starting this in a couple weeks when I get back home from work.

[007sniper]

Ya know I dont believe anyone on here actually knows! Hell after being born here! And 30 years of sippin mountain dew in the appalachian mountains. 99% of the people that say they know the old man or his recipe. Are full of Bullshit! I only know 1 man who died before Popcorn, that actually knew him. I only knew him by "The Doctor" from North GA. He was 70 in the 90's. Made trips to Maggie few times a month. Anyone else know Doc? PM me. I bet Doc would know if he was still here. But unless your JB Raider. I wouldn't take it for gospel...

[6 Row Joe]

Still looking. Lot's of copies of the recipe written in his book but most comment it can't be right.


Ingredients:

25 pounds coarse ground white corn meal, enough to fill half of your barrel/container

50 pounds of sugar – 1 pound of sugar per gallon of water of total volume

1 gallon of malt – can be corn, barley, rye or a combination.

Directions:

Boil the water and pour over the cornmeal to cook. Allow them to cool to the touch. Add sugar and malt and stir in well. Leave it for a day. The following day the mix should be bubbling on top, stir it one last time and then leave it.

You see here that we did not mention any addition of yeast, Popcorn said that the malt (any kind or combination of corn, barley, rye) is what makes it work — so he's using it here as alternative to distiller's yeast. Also, he's after the idea that wild yeast will start the fermentation within the mash.

After a couple of days, when all activities in the mash has stopped, it should be ready to be distilled. Use a siphon or a bucket to transfer the wash to the still.

I had the ingredients so I threw together a batch.

4 gallon water
5# sugar
2 1/2# ground corn
1# cracked rye malt

I cooked the corn at 190° for 90 min.Stirred in sugar. Cooled to 150 and added the rye malt. Let it sit for a couple hours and cooled it to 80°. Adjusted ph to 5.5. Pitched a DADY yeast starter. SG 1.070 It's bubbling away Wish me luck.

Curious on how this run came out? I plan on starting this in a couple weeks when I get back home from work.

Let me look at my notes and I'll let you know.

[6 Row Joe]

Still looking. Lot's of copies of the recipe written in his book but most comment it can't be right.


Ingredients:

25 pounds coarse ground white corn meal, enough to fill half of your barrel/container

50 pounds of sugar – 1 pound of sugar per gallon of water of total volume

1 gallon of malt – can be corn, barley, rye or a combination.

Directions:

Boil the water and pour over the cornmeal to cook. Allow them to cool to the touch. Add sugar and malt and stir in well. Leave it for a day. The following day the mix should be bubbling on top, stir it one last time and then leave it.

You see here that we did not mention any addition of yeast, Popcorn said that the malt (any kind or combination of corn, barley, rye) is what makes it work — so he's using it here as alternative to distiller's yeast. Also, he's after the idea that wild yeast will start the fermentation within the mash.

After a couple of days, when all activities in the mash has stopped, it should be ready to be distilled. Use a siphon or a bucket to transfer the wash to the still.

I had the ingredients so I threw together a batch.

4 gallon water
5# sugar
2 1/2# ground corn
1# cracked rye malt

I cooked the corn at 190° for 90 min.Stirred in sugar. Cooled to 150 and added the rye malt. Let it sit for a couple hours and cooled it to 80°. Adjusted ph to 5.5. Pitched a DADY yeast starter. SG 1.070 It's bubbling away Wish me luck.

Curious on how this run came out? I plan on starting this in a couple weeks when I get back home from work.

My recipe above matched my notes. (I wanted to be sure) It turned out real good. I will probably make it again for sure. It's a fun sip at 130 proof. I might mess with a little less Rye next time just to experiment. It was Malted rye and probably has a bit different flavor than flaked rye. Flaked has no diastatic power so I would use some liquid amylase.

[Corn Cracker]

One of the episodes, Mark and Digger reverse engineer one of his bottles. Truth or b.s, here's what they said they came up with;

25 gallon on grain ferment
#10 course ground corn
#4 rolled malted barley
#2.5 rye malt
#25 sugar

I'm gonna wait till i get corn and 6 row down before i venture to bigger and better things.

[6 Row Joe]

One of the episodes, Mark and Digger reverse engineer one of his bottles. Truth or b.s, here's what they said they came up with;

25 gallon on grain ferment
#10 course ground corn
#4 rolled malted barley
#2.5 rye malt
#25 sugar

I'm gonna wait till i get corn and 6 row down before i venture to bigger and better things.

I would imagine boiling water to dissolve the sugar, stir in the corn, cool or add water to 155 then stir in the malted barley and rye. Cool to 80 or so pitch temp and let her work.

[Saltbush Bill]

Just a sugar head with a few fancy grains.

[LWTCS]

Just a sugar head with a few fancy grains.

Yep.
I don't quite get it beyond not having the tools to do a proper mash. And that's ok too. Just not something to strive toward as an end goal.

[Corn Cracker]

Just a sugar head with a few fancy grains.

Sounds a lot better than straight sugar shine