NChooch's Carolina Bourbon

[rgarry]

Have tried this several times and love it. However, it's so much work. I do a double batch and get a gal of wonder. Was thinking of adding some sugar to up the alcohol content to about 7%. Any one try this. I know it would no longer be bourbon.

[MR-E]

Have a read of page 6
I'd rather quality over quantity, but hey that's just me.

Cheers

[airbornemedic]

Need some help with a 30 gallon ferment. Would like to know what would be the best grain bill for this size fermentation. I have flake corn, course ground yellow corn meal, flaked rye, and plenty of 6 row malted barley. I have read that most of you have used malted rye with great success, I just don't have any malted rye but do have flaked rye. should I get hold of some malted rye first or use what I got. Thanks!

[Durace11]

For a 30 gallon ferment you want around 60 lbs grain. About 15 lbs should be 6 row depending on the DP of the 6 row. The rest can be any flaked grains you like. If you have additional malted grains you can lower the amount of 6 row but you need to keep the DP around 30 per lbs to be safe.

[airbornemedic]

Thank you! I have just enough.

[qball]

I did my final run of my batches of NChooch's Carolina Bourbon this weekend.

I started with about 5.5 gallons of low wines, and diluted down to about 28% or so...

I collect 400ml at a time in mason jars.

I keep very detailed records in a spreadsheet as I run my pot still. This includes vapor temps on the pot still (I know, not really necessary), distillate temps and %ABV at the start and end of each 400ml jar collected. Afterwards, I correct the ABV readings based on the distillate temp. I distill nice and slow all the way down to 25% (or until the still reaches about 208 degrees)

I number the jars, cover with coffee filters and let them air out for 48 hours.

I make my cuts using two methods. Both, coincidentally back each other...

First, I determine the volume using the tried-and-true mathematical calculations. If I did everything right, I should get...

Foreshots (3.1%)
Heads (17.4%)
Middle Run (57.1%)
Tails (22.4%)

Next, I also do the old taste and sniff test and make sure everything smells right. Amazingly, everything has been spot on and my first har of heads was 75% (correct ABV) and my final jar was 55% (corrected ABV). My blended ABV (measured with the hydrometer was between 67% and 68%.

I love it when theory works it self out in reality!

I'm going to run another whole bag of flaked maize and produce (hopefully) another 1.5 gallons. I'll dillute appropriately and age in my Gibbs Bros. barrel I have sitting here all lonely.

[Beerswimmer]

Hectorious: Looks like your mash is turning to vinegar from an infection. Scoop the top layer off and run ASAP at a low temp to salvage whatever ETH is left. You'll need to sanitize your equipment again.

[NcHooch]

I did my final run of my batches of NChooch's Carolina Bourbon this weekend.

I'm going to run another whole bag of flaked maize and produce (hopefully) another 1.5 gallons. I'll dillute appropriately and age in my Gibbs Bros. barrel I have sitting here all lonely.

Keep us updated on that qball , sounds like you got it figured out .

[Jimbo]

Hooch, this is a terrific recipe, Thankyou! Im in the middle of three 10 gallon batches using 50 lbs of cracked corn and 15 lbs 6 row, split in 3. 1 is done and stripped. The other 2 bubblin. I stole a quart of hearts from the first run and threw some oak in it. Its tastin mighty fine, the corn came through great. The rest i'll accumulate and do a spirit run. (Another) 5 gallon barrel is in the mail Its a once used barrel, so Ill throw some new charred sticks in there so's I can call it Bourbon

The recipe i did is yours, with the following minor tweaks to scale.

• Bring 12 gallons water, 2 quarts backset and 2 tsp gypsum to a boil.
  Slowly stir in 16.6 lbs cracked corn. Turn off heat and let sit.
  After a few hours when temp hits 150 stir in 5 lbs 6 row. Temp hits about 148.5.
  Wrap in a blanket and let sit. Stirring every 30-60 minutes 2-3 times.
  Next day when temp is down to 80 pitch a large (quart of goo harvested) US-05/K1-1116 blend.
  After stops bubblin (2 weeks) squeeze through strainer bag and still'r up. About 10 1/4 gallons

Thanks again. I was lost on how to do corn before Prairee or somebody pointed me to your recipe. Might fine!

[NcHooch]

you're gonna love it

[leswatts]

I'm gonna try this shortly as my first all grain run.
If I get low gravities I'll be tempted to sugar ir up to 1.08. I've had good results with that gravity
in sugar/cracked corn washes. Perhaps I won't need to...my malt is supposed to be 190 lintner.

I wonder if measured gravities in mashes like this are affected by residual starch/unfermentabkle sugars anyway...

I'll pre mash to save my arms.

And with all the puky stories I think i'll reheat up to 180 or so after mashing to sanitize.

Getting ready for big vats of thick gruel....

LW

[MR-E]

I just bottled my first batch of this ready for Xmas day & I had a sneaky taste
Despite the hard work involved in this recipe I'll be doing a lot more so I can get my stocks up
for longer time on oak.

Cheers

[Durace11]

If you boil to a hot break you have less chance of puking but if you ferment on the grain you'll probably ferment a higher gravity than sparging it so it's a double edged sword. Personally I wouldn't worry about getting to 1.080, take what you get. If you are worried about low yield just make more!

[Jimbo]

yes, what Durace said.

Also, be careful about boiling on the grain with the barley malt in there. Them husks give up some bitter shit much over 170 degrees.

I think if you're careful about sterilization, pitch a good size yeast starter, and run it AS SOON AS it stops bubblin, youll be fine. The only time things started to get a little dicey for me was when I let it sit for a few days after it stopped bubblin. Ive read in a few places its critical to run ASAP after the yeast is done.

Here's a snip that is topic relevant.
"Malted barley carries a varied microbial load with a predominance of lactic acid bacteria. While most of these bacteria from malted barley will be killed by the mashing process, some will survive to enter the fermentation. Many will also colonize the pipework, heat exchangers and other parts of the distillery plant. If too many occur at the early stage of the fermentation they will grow strongly in the fermentation. In a well-maintained distillery, the numbers of bacteria entering the fermentation are relatively few and bacterial growth is hardly evident during the initial ethanol fermentation stage. Then, as the yeast dies, after about 36 hours, the bacteria proliferate, growing at the expense of yeast autolysis products.

[leswatts]

Hmmm I was not aware of off flavors from the barley husks at high temperatures.
I've never had a bacterial problem with sugar/cracked corn washes... but I sanitize the ferment pails, boil the sugar solution, and heat the dry cracked corn to about 200 before putting it in the cooled sugar solution. The corn is fresh milled and often a little moldy...a few kernels...it hasn't been cleaned or processed. After ferment the wash is clean and smells great. Slight lactic taste. But I could probably drink the stuff.

As far as sugaring up the mash....I know it won't be bourbon. But my sugar likker isn't all that bad after some airing and oaking. Half sugar likker and half bourbon wouldn't seem bad to me. I guess i've gotten used to drinking swill. I only have a 5 gallon pot still filled to 3 or so to prevent puking. So i'd like a reasonable yield.

I usually do two 5 gallon batches of wash. That's as big as my containers are.

Uncle jesse's has some sugar and it's well liked...right?

The only issue I've had is tails...I get a lot. I don't like the flavor or smell. Redistilling it in the pot still seems not to improve it much...other than removing cloudyness and increasing proof. I reckon i'd have better results with a fractionating column or reflux. That further reduces my yield. I have a good bit of tails stored away...have not just thrown it in later washes for fear of just progressively concentrating fusels.
Thanks for the comments...trying to learn as much as I can before I make the big mess with grain.
LW

[Fastill]

Hmmm I was not aware of off flavors from the barley husks at high temperatures.
I've never had a bacterial problem with sugar/cracked corn washes... but I sanitize the ferment pails, boil the sugar solution, and heat the dry cracked corn to about 200 before putting it in the cooled sugar solution. The corn is fresh milled and often a little moldy...a few kernels...it hasn't been cleaned or processed. After ferment the wash is clean and smells great. Slight lactic taste. But I could probably drink the stuff.

As far as sugaring up the mash....I know it won't be bourbon. But my sugar likker isn't all that bad after some airing and oaking. Half sugar likker and half bourbon wouldn't seem bad to me. I guess i've gotten used to drinking swill. I only have a 5 gallon pot still filled to 3 or so to prevent puking. So i'd like a reasonable yield.

I usually do two 5 gallon batches of wash. That's as big as my containers are.

Uncle jesse's has some sugar and it's well liked...right?

The only issue I've had is tails...I get a lot. I don't like the flavor or smell. Redistilling it in the pot still seems not to improve it much...other than removing cloudyness and increasing proof. I reckon i'd have better results with a fractionating column or reflux. That further reduces my yield. I have a good bit of tails stored away...have not just thrown it in later washes for fear of just progressively concentrating fusels.
Thanks for the comments...trying to learn as much as I can before I make the big mess with grain.
LW

If you want to boost your yield for grain then do a double run on the grains. Here is how I do it..
Mash and ferment your bourban ALLGRAIN. distill and save in whatever manner suits you.
Take ALL of your backset, mix it with sugar at 1.5 lb per gallon, let it cool and pour it right back on your grain bed. Might need a little calcium carbonate to get the PH right but for 1 seconds run I never have. Ferment this out and keep seperate from your allgrain run.
My seconds have had lots of flavor, more yield, and taste pretty darn good, but it is not allgrain and never will have that kind of special quality that only allgrain can give you.
I keep my allgrain runs for myself and if I am inclined to share, the seconds are what will be brought out.
NCHooch got this recepie right so why screw it up??

[NcHooch]

I keep my allgrain runs for myself and if I am inclined to share, the seconds are what will be brought out.
NCHooch got this recepie right so why screw it up??

Nuthin wrong with sharin the good stuff with the company, but I'd never break a bottle out during a party.
Glad y'all are enjoying.

[leswatts]

Perhaps I should stick to all grain on at least one run just so I can understand what the difference is.
Anyway I hope to get pretty high gravities with the 190 lintner 6 row I ordered with the recipie here.
Trouble is it wasn't delivered yesterday...was hoping to cook today. Oh well...I can crack/shell some corn.
I harvested several bushels. Most of it is still on the cob in the barn.

LW

[leswatts]

Ah...stuff came late last night...it was on the porch. So here goes...
The crushed barley is hulls (Bran?) at the top of the bag, withe powder at the bottom. Guessi'll just mix it up.
LW

[Jimbo]

Perhaps I should stick to all grain on at least one run just so I can understand what the difference is.

LW

Yes, if you're gonna keep posting in this thread. Nchooch's Carolina bourbon is AG.

[Slowninja]

Hey hooch, got a question. .

As soon as I manage to get to the feed store (live in the city.. got a 30 minute drive to pick up cracked corn).

I've got a 30 gallon fermenter i've been doing my UJ in, and I realize a 30 gallon AG mash all at once is out of the question.

My question: Can I mash two 5 gallon batches at a time? When the conversion is complete, dump it into the fermenter, then start in on another two 5-gallon batches? Continue til my 30 gallon fermenter is full, then pitch yeast? Or will there be too much waiting? (I'm figuring 10 gallons of mash per day, so it would take 3-4 days to fill my fermenter)

[rgarry]

I think you can plan for a long day or weekend. Do 2 5 gal batches, poor into fermenter, start next batch. 1st batch in cooler, after the conversion, poor into fermenter. Poor 2 nd batch into cooler etc. When all done ferment and run. I run these recipes back to back so when I distill, I do 4 runs at once.

[NcHooch]

Hey hooch, got a question. .

As soon as I manage to get to the feed store (live in the city.. got a 30 minute drive to pick up cracked corn).

I've got a 30 gallon fermenter i've been doing my UJ in, and I realize a 30 gallon AG mash all at once is out of the question.

My question: Can I mash two 5 gallon batches at a time? When the conversion is complete, dump it into the fermenter, then start in on another two 5-gallon batches? Continue til my 30 gallon fermenter is full, then pitch yeast? Or will there be too much waiting? (I'm figuring 10 gallons of mash per day, so it would take 3-4 days to fill my fermenter)

No reason (as long as you have the equipment) that you cant do 2 batches , and toss it in the fermenter ....and let it cool . then start another couple batches .....and so on.

also, as long as the mash is 100F, there's no reason you cant add it into 10 gallons that's already fermenting, right?

Like RG said, you could mash 10 gallons today, cool and pitch yeast, mash 10 more gallons tomorrow, cool and just add it to the fermenter. then the next day, mash one more batch, cool, and add to the fermenter.

[Slowninja]

Awesome. Got a friend of mine bringing me 100# of cracked corn later this week, and I ordered some 6 row malt and also some flaked rye that should be here later this week. Gotta run the 30 gal of wposw that's in the fermenter next weekend then I'll get to my first AG mash. Lookin forward to it

[Slowninja]

Woo. Just traded a gallon of UJSM for 100# corn. What a deal

[NcHooch]

Woo. Just traded a gallon of UJSM for 100# corn. What a deal

last time I checked, cracked corn was $20 for 100 pounds.

[Slowninja]

Not here for some reason. $15 for 50lb bag.

Besides that, with multi generations of ujsm, i think a person probably has about $4-5 in a gallon. Still a pretty good deal.

[Jimbo]

Good deal indeed 50 lbs of grain makes roughly 1 1/2 gallons keep at 60-70% with a potstill. Prolly 2 gallons with a flute? Thats roughly a buck a fifth for 75/25 corn/malt bourbon, or $3 a 45% fifth for all malt at $40-50 a sack. Still a hell of a bargain! AG beer brewing is the same buying malt and hops in bulk. About $12 for 2+ cases of craft beer that will rival any.

[Slowninja]

I'm glad that made sense to someone other then me. lol

[qball]

I had a little white dog from my corn maize bourbon left over. Just had a little glass of some after sitting for a month to age in glass. Tastes really good for non-oaked liquor! Smooth and great corn flavor.