george washingtons recipie?

[shiner2011]

I know most people dont like to give there recipes away, especially if its a good recipie
lol... but does anyone know the recipe for george washingtons rye whiskey mash? or any other really good mash recipies
and also has anyone ever attempted this recipie... if you have i would like to hear how it worked out for you
thanks...

[buddha52]

Wait for it...

[Condensifier]

From what I understand it was a basic recipe used at that time:

60% rye
35% corn
5% malted barley

Not real sure though but I might try this out later on this spring unless I learn different.

[Mr Shine]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "they" reconstructed this as the grain bill by going through orders for grain placed by his distillery. The recipe or grain bill weren't found or written down for posterity (from everything I've read).

I know it's been said that it's possible to convert the rye and corn with a grain bill of only 5% malted barley, but I have my doubts this was the actual recipe. I'm thinking either some more barley was sourced from an undocumented source or some of the rye or corn were malted.

I'd be very interested in hearing what others have to say.

Bottom line: this is pure conjecture by me and I could be completely wrong, so feel free to rip me a new one if that's the case. Cheers.

[Nobilis]

I know most people dont like to give there recipes away, especially if its a good recipie
lol... but does anyone know the recipe for george washingtons rye whiskey mash? or any other really good mash recipies
and also has anyone ever attempted this recipie... if you have i would like to hear how it worked out for you
thanks...

I haven't attempted the recipe, but one of the cast on "Moonshiners" did one this past season before getting arrested. He even shows you how to make the mash by roasting or toasting the rye, then milling it, etc. Here is the episode: "Adios, Mr. Still" having aired January 9, 2013. Watch that to see the methods Jeff used. It sold well. You don't just pitch ingredients in to a bucket with this recipe. You will need a mill. The recipe itself is: 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley.

All flavorful grains.. Enjoy!

[Condensifier]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "they" reconstructed this as the grain bill by going through orders for grain placed by his distillery. The recipe or grain bill weren't found or written down for posterity (from everything I've read).

I know it's been said that it's possible to convert the rye and corn with a grain bill of only 5% malted barley, but I have my doubts this was the actual recipe. I'm thinking either some more barley was sourced from an undocumented source or some of the rye or corn were malted.

I'd be very interested in hearing what others have to say.

Bottom line: this is pure conjecture by me and I could be completely wrong, so feel free to rip me a new one if that's the case. Cheers.

You're probably right, it was just something I found on the net and the 5% malted barley seems low even for my limited knowledge on mashing.

[Dnderhead]

another one of our "crooked heroes" at 5% malt that is only 10 DP.
it would either take a long time to convert or they mite have sour mashed.
or even malted some/all of the rye.

[Tater]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "they" reconstructed this as the grain bill by going through orders for grain placed by his distillery. The recipe or grain bill weren't found or written down for posterity (from everything I've read).

I know it's been said that it's possible to convert the rye and corn with a grain bill of only 5% malted barley, but I have my doubts this was the actual recipe. I'm thinking either some more barley was sourced from an undocumented source or some of the rye or corn were malted.

I'd be very interested in hearing what others have to say.

Bottom line: this is pure conjecture by me and I could be completely wrong, so feel free to rip me a new one if that's the case. Cheers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I read this also bout GW .Been my thoughts he may have grown his own barley and was just buying extra.---Retirement
Title: Mount Vernon Distillery and Fishery Ledger

Mount Vernon Distillery and
Fishery Ledger

Washington returned to Mount Vernon with enormous relief and pleasure: "I think … that the life of a Husbandman of all others is the most delectable. It is honorable. It is amusing, and, with judicious management, it is profitable … delightful to an undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth." In the forefront of scientific farming, Washington rotated crops, experimented with new ones, and bred some of the first mules in the country. He built an innovative threshing mill of his own design and a whiskey distillery (as a high-volume producer, he qualified for a lower tax rate than the small-scale distillers who had risen in revolt). His slaves harvested fish from the Potomac for local sale and shipment to the West Indies.

[Mr Shine]

I read this also bout GW .Been my thoughts he may have grown his own barley and was just buying extra.

That makes the most sense, especially given that he built an "innovative threshing mill." He wouldn't have had a need for that if he was buying all the grains from other sources, right?

Funny how so many people seem to be enchanted by this "George Washington recipe" that in all likelihood wasn't GWs recipe at all.

BTW, thanks for that, Tater.

[Tater]

No his master distiller Ive read was Scottish.Grain crops back then were all called corn and maize is what we call corn . Found this on early grain crops ----------
Farmers in the New England Colonies had a rough time of it. Much of the soil wasn't good for growing crops, especially near the ocean. Also, the early and long-lasting winters killed many crops quickly. Still, New England farmers often grew enough food to feed their families and maybe even help feed other families. The main kind of food New Englanders contributed to the economy was fish.
Farmers in the Middle Colonies were the most prosperious of all. They grew wheat, barley, oats, rye, and corn. The Middle Colonies were often called the "breadbasket" because they grew so much food. Wheat could be ground to make flour, and both wheat and flour could be sold in other colonies or in Europe.
Farmers in the Southern Colonies grew several things. The most popular crop was tobacco. The Jamestown colonists had grown tobacco originally, and tobacco farms sprung up all over Virginia and North Carolina. The two southernmost states (South Carolina and Georgia) also grew indigo and rice.

Farm equipment was also different. Colonial farmers didn't have the large machines that today's farmers have and so had to rely on manpower and animalpower.

[handyman]

Ok I am planning on giving this a try. How many of you would grind the grain before mashing?

[Fastill]

Ok I am planning on giving this a try. How many of you would grind the grain before mashing?

All of us.

[njscofflaw]

Ok I am planning on giving this a try. How many of you would grind the grain before mashing?

All of us.

that got a chuckle....thanks! Not trying to be condescending, but it was legitimately funny.

[Washashore]

Ok I am planning on giving this a try. How many of you would grind the grain before mashing?

If you need to ask this question, I think some more research is in order. Damn that Fn tv show

[Dnderhead]

"Ok I am planning on giving this a try. How many of you would grind the grain before mashing?"
you can git away with out grinding or cooking corn,but that's a whole other project.

[Tater]

Heres more info on GWs overseerer.James Anderson From what Ive read about him they bought and sold grain for stilling also for other products at grist mill. Been looking for any basic recipe for rye in that time period. corn would be Indian corn and I wonder what would pass for the rye and barley strain that was grown back then. Distilling whiskey on the family farm was common; commercial distilleries were not. In 1797, Washington started at Mount Vernon what would quickly become the largest commercial distillery in Virginia. The credit goes to Washington’s overseer, James Anderson.

Anderson had more than a nodding acquaintance with whiskey from his Scotch-Irish heritage, and it was he who proposed a Mount Vernon distillery. At first, Anderson used wheat, but he soon settled on a recipe of about two-thirds rye, one-third corn, plus a little barley. He began with two stills and produced eighty gallons in February 1797. By June, Washington was persuaded to expand. He would construct a stone building next to his mill. “Distillery is a business I am entirely unacquainted with,” wrote the former president to his overseer, “but from your knowledge of it and from the confidence you have in the profit to be derived from the establishment, I am disposed to enter upon one.”

The stone distillery had five stills and a boiler. Anderson’s son John became the chief distiller and six slaves—Hanson, Peter, Nat, Daniel, James, and Timothy—helped. The next year they made 11,000 gallons of whiskey for a profit of $7,500—a huge sum in those days. Washington grew his own rye and corn, and manufactured his own barrels. The waste mash fattened his hogs and cattle.

Washington died late in 1799, and the distillery passed to his nephew, who operated it for years. After 1808, written records fall silent. In 2006, Mount Vernon excavated the site and reconstructed the distillery atop the original foundations. It is the only eighteenth-century working distillery in the country.

[Bushman]

Thanks Tater, interesting read.