Cornflakes whiskey

[Odin]

The difficulty at this side of the globe is, we dont have the best corn. Making a bourbon aint easy like that. Even UJ style

So i did some experiments and came up with ...

500 grams of Kellogs cornflakes (ithas added b vits)', 20 liter of water, 3.5 kilo of sugar. Or use only 15 liters of water and 5 liter of backset.

Crush flakes, cook em in water or backset. Let it cool. Add water. Add yeast.

It ferments dry in five days.

I stripped it slowly, making a small fores/heads cut. Collected down to 10 abv. Got me 6liters of 30 abv. Added some backset, then did the spirit run. Collected hearts at 63 abv. Diluted to 50%.am sipping it as we speak. Darn good!

Odin

[whiskeytripping]

Odin, that sounds like it will work, I have often thought about the whole frosted corn flakes thing (only because I got a chance to get a bunch free) but it seems like they would just turn to mush. Too bad you cannot find a source for corn around you I guess we just take it for granted over here, we have access to lots of it, it is rather expensive though nowadays. We use to pay about 6$ for a 50# sack, now the last one I bought it was 12$ and he said due to the drought it's fixing to go up to 14$. I don't know if you can find a good supply of yellow corn grits over there but they would work as well

[Odin]

And it does work, Whiskeytripping! Sippin' on the best all corn white dog I made so far.

The corn we have over here is mostly (if not all) animal feed grade. I tried many different sorts, in an UJ-style ferment as well as in all grainers, but the taste I got over was ... meager. At best.

This simple cornflakes recipe gives a great bourbon style taste. Or at least: corn likker taste. It is sweet, it is very much "there" and has quite some complexity. And it is fresh. I guess two to three days of just letting it air out or rest a bit would improve it. I actually think this result would benefit from some aging on JD wood oaking chips.

A very happy man I am.

Odin.

[Hawk_]

This sounds interesting. I do have 100+ pounds of feed corn. Made a pretty awesome beer out of it. Also tried to make a whiskey with it with no sugar, That was a failure. Only got a tiny little bit, not enough to warrant the electricity. Im ordering a few more fermenters soon so maybe Ill try the UJSMM and a kelogs batch and compare.

[Old MacDonald]

Crush flakes, cook em in water or backset. Let it cool. Add water. Add yeast.
...
Added some backset, then did the spirit run.

Odin,
Thanks for the recipe

Any chance of a few more details please...

1] How long did you boil the cornflakes for?
2] Which yeast did you use & how much per 20L batch?
3] Approximately how much backset did you add for the spirit run?

Cheers!
Mac

[mash rookie]

Odin, that sounds like it will work, I have often thought about the whole frosted corn flakes thing (only because I got a chance to get a bunch free) but it seems like they would just turn to mush. Too bad you cannot find a source for corn around you I guess we just take it for granted over here, we have access to lots of it, it is rather expensive though nowadays. We use to pay about 6$ for a 50# sack, now the last one I bought it was 12$ and he said due to the drought it's fixing to go up to 14$. I don't know if you can find a good supply of yellow corn grits over there but they would work as well

The frosted flakes would work great. A good to go sugar head. If you can get them for free thats even better. Like any cereal recipe you will need to let it clear well and possibly rack it for a secondary clearing.

[beelah]

I have used corn flakes in the past, baised on the bran flakes recipe that Rad developed...you should try that as well Odin...I am sure ou would like it. The other recipe that you may want to try is the one that uses rye crisp bread. The only problem I faced with the corn flakes was that sometimes the ferment was slow and I have attributed it to the amount of sodium (salt) in the cereal which tends to slow the yeast down.

[Prairiepiss]

I've used a mix of cornflakes all bran, and Gerber barley cereals. To try to get more flavors into the mix. It has actually turned out quite good after aging on oak.

I figured you would have tried cornflakes already Odin? After all your special k experiments.

[Odin]

Old Macdonnald,

I cooked the cornflakes for ... I guess around 20 to 30 minutes.

I choose Kellogs, because of the vitamine B supplement. Others may be cheaper (they are over here), but didn't have the extra vitamines. And the Kellogs brand has a lot of corn flavour/taste. Or it had when I ate a few flakes and compared it to 1. a cheaper brand, and 2. a biological cornflakes.

Mash Rookie,

I didn't try the "frosted" ones. They have sugar sprayed over them, right? The sugar might add to the abv. Not sure it has the Vitamine B added, though. But it might be worth a try.

Mr. P,

I have done many all brans. Liked it as a light bodied whiskey, loved it (fractionated) as a vodka. I have also combined cornflakes with oats as well as with all bran. Didn't particularly like it.

But like this, just plain cornflakes, it is wonderfull. More taste than all bran. Different. More corny, less grainy. But sweeter and with a lot of taste. Now "lot of taste" I don't say that often. Due to my nose and maybe midiocre whiskey results. But this "faux pure corn whiskey" is great as a white dog. Really very good. I feel like I can persue one of my former goals starting from this recipe: making a (faux) bourbon.

Some generations of added backset will for sure add to the taste. JD Oaking Chips and some time will make it better.

Is this so good as a white dog, maybe, because I added backset to dilute the low wines? Normally I add one low wines to one wash and distill them together for more taste. For example on my UJ's or all brans. It gave me more taste, but not like a hell of a lot of taste. This recipe does. Could adding backset in order to lower abv of the strippings be of influence? I guess it might.

I can't wait to make some more. With cornflakes backset from generation one. And how about generation 3 or 4, when the backset really starts to shine thru?

As we speak, I am drinking half an inch. Just home from work. But why not? It is our 18th anniversary and we are about to go out and have dinner together ...



Odin.

[crossedrifles08]

I'll second this post. I use powdered corn flakes in my All Bran recipe. It helps to bring out a sweetness. Makes a very drinkable product.

[Odin]

I am currently fermenting generation 2. Seems to be going well. With 25% backset from gen 1.

Gen 1 is currently sitting on some JD Oaking Chips.

Good to see you like this recipe too, Cross!

Odin.

[cornsqueezer]

did you toast your jd chips, just curious cause I tried Mash rookies resipe kinda [filled 1/2 gal. jar with jd chips topped off with white dog @ 55% abv and aged for @ 3 weeks] I dont know what i did wrong the color was dark and taste was kinda woody. don't rember him saying if he toasted chips or not. I might have to try the corn flakes, sounds easy!

[Dnderhead]

"filled 1/2 gal. jar with jd chips topped off with white dog @ 55% abv and aged for @ 3 weeks] I dont know"'
way to many chips..........

[Odin]

Way to many chips, Dunderhead, only ... I used them a few times before. Hardly anything left in it. A light colour, a light taste only.

I guess it wasn't a good idea from me to state it like that. If anybody wants to make this recipe and would want to use (new!) JD Wood Oaking Chips (MR wrote extensively about them in another thread), I would advice only 15 to 20% chips (1 liter of chips in 5 to 6 liter likker). Now even that might seem like a lot, but it is white oak with not much tanines. And most of the tanines went into JD anyhow.

@Corn,

No I didn't toast them. Actually I used very old ones. Used for 4 times, I guess, already. Sounds like you over oaked, btw.

Odin.

[heartcut]

Nice sounding recipe. You could almost have whiskey for breakfast. Odin, in the States if any nutrient is taken out of a grain (like removing the husk) the nutrients have to be put back, so white rice, wheat flour, ect gets sprayed with a vitamin B mix during processing. Even the cheap ones get the vitamin spray if people eat them.

[cornsqueezer]

Thanks Odin & Dnderhead I figured i over did the chips, but I had read Mash Rookies post Jack Daniels Oak chips. How to use them.

They are well suited for the impatient distiller. You can over oak without ruining your booze with to much tannin. For this reason, oaking can be done faster by using greater amounts of chips. You literally can fill your oaking vessel with chips.

How to use them. Fill oaking vessel ½ full with new chips, top with blended UJSSM and cover air tight. Leave a couple inches of head space.

I think I'll try odin's idea W/@ 20% chips or mabe less. it was my first attempt at using the chips, and like my dad said "you can't make a omlet with out breaking some eggs."

[ro palinca]

@Odin
I will try your recipe after the grape season is over. Will give feedback. This will be my first "whiskey-like" likker.

[Odin]

Ro,

You mite like it!

On gen three now. Realy sweet and good. Tried some from the still. Fantastic! I am thinking ... Maybe try this batch white.

Odin

[rtalbigr]

Odin - so your project seem to going successfully. Great!

Big R

[Odin]

Big R,

Yes, it is going in a great direction. I sampled some 50% white dog of gen III and compared it to a combo of gen I and II that aged on JD wood oaking chips and was diluted to 45%. The JD oaked version is good, but the (still very fresh!) third generation white dog has more taste. Really a mouth full of sweet corn (and more). The sour mash/back set approach really starts to dial in, it seems. I am curious to see what happens with some ageing. Say a five weeks rest period (without wood, btw).

I will keep y'all posted.

Odin.

[King Of Hearts]

The difficulty at this side of the globe is, we dont have the best corn. Making a bourbon aint easy like that. Even UJ style

So i did some experiments and came up with ...

500 grams of Kellogs cornflakes (ithas added b vits)', 20 liter of water, 3.5 kilo of sugar. Or use only 15 liters of water and 5 liter of backset.

Crush flakes, cook em in water or backset. Let it cool. Add water. Add yeast.

It ferments dry in five days.

I stripped it slowly, making a small fores/heads cut. Collected down to 10 abv. Got me 6liters of 30 abv. Added some backset, then did the spirit run. Collected hearts at 63 abv. Diluted to 50%.am sipping it as we speak. Darn good!

Odin

The lowest amount of corn I've ever used was 60%, and that was flaked maize or Brewers Flakes, about $35 a 50 lb bag by me. I'm curious of the flavor of your recipe, is it more vodka like?

[Odin]

No, it is definately whiskey!

[Ronero]

I'll try your recipe will be my first attempt to distill whiskey.

[Odin]

Great to hear that Ronero! And good luck to you.

I am currently changing the recipe a bit. I added 300 grams of crushed rye bread. Dunno if you have that over there. That allmost blackish brown dry rye bread? Crushed it, cooked it up, added it to the equasion. It is bubbling away fiercely as we speak.

Odin.

[Ronero]

Thanks Odin. I am going to do it this weekend. I ordered a bag of Vinoferm Oak Chips Whisky for the aging process.

[Odin]

I have good experiences with Jack Daniels wood oaking chips. They are a bit bigger and impart a slightly more complex taste.

Odin.

[elektrosport]

Odin, have you tried the flaked maize you get from the homebrew shops, if so, how do they compare to cornflakes?

I was thinking about getting some cracked feed corn for some AG but if flavour is inferior I can't be bothered.


Cheers,
El Sporto

[Odin]

Sporto,

I live in Europe, my problem is all the flaked grains is feed quality with less taste. I upgrade to cornflakes because they are the real sweet thing. In the US maybe the flaked corn is sweet and if so, go ahead and do it!

For more taste: cook the flakes and up the amount.

Go get them, guys!

Odin.

[elektrosport]

+1 to Europe, I'm in Denmark. My local homebrew shop carry flaked maize, and I guess it would be "brew"-quality? If it's just the micronized maize from the feed store it's a definitely a rip-off.

EDIT:
I just checked, it's Brewferm flaked maize, I'm not sure of the origin though.

[Odin]

Belgium. But I dunno if the corn comes from over there as well. Just try it. If you like the taste it is okay, I guess.

Denmark, right? Been there a few times when younger. Our family has friends living in Jutland. Akvavit rules!

Odin.