NChooch's Carolina Bourbon

[MrMuffin]

Just finished the stripping run of this recipe in my pot still. Taking small samples here and there throughout the process, it tastes wonderful, especially toward the end. I did notice a problem, though, and was hoping you all could help. I'm seeing small flakes or chunks of brown debris in my distillate, along with what looks like an oily film. No odd smells or tastes, but I'm worried about the crap floating in it and the oily film. The floating stuff sort of looks like coffee grounds, but much smaller particles. I'm guessing these are bits of barley husk, even though I used a nylon bag to try to strain out the grain when I transferred the mash from the fermenting bucket to the boiler. Any ideas how to get rid of it? Do I need to filter all my distillate through coffee filters before the spirit run? Or will this all go away on its own after a second run through the process? Thanks for your help.

[ichthyo]

Have you guys tried this recipe fermenting off grain? I'm just curious in flavor differences, thanks!

[mmwhiskey]

I made this last night, with my new mash tun. I got amazing results with my new process and this recipe. Thing is bubbling like cray this morning. Only thing I changed, was adding caramelized grain at the 155 mark. Smell good, and should be able to distill this weekend.

[Jimbo]

mmwhiskey. WHat did you use for yeast?

I like your signature,.....mine would read very similar. Geek, Dodge RAM Owner, Dachshund Lover, Guitarist, Whiskey Maker.

[mmwhiskey]

mmwhiskey. WHat did you use for yeast?

I picked up some of this a month back: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064O ... UTF8&psc=1

I have had great results and returns with it. No added taste either. Will also last me for some time.

[Jimbo]

Nice, thats a good one! Fermented a little warmer than beer yeast typically. What temp do you run it at?

Now onto the important stuff. Here's our longhaired dachshund. He's a total trip

[mmwhiskey]

I cool down my wash to about 78-80 degrees with a home made wort chiller. I pitch the yeast in a glass carboy. My carboys are wrapped (as well as my still pot), with a heatshield blanket with sticky back (get from Home Depot cheap http://www.homedepot.com/p/UltraTouch-4 ... ngixZSxOGo). It keeps my fermenting wash at 75-80 for about a week straight. Which is about as long as my mixes usually take to fully ferment. It kind of worked out that way by accident. I had some of it laying around, I keep my fermenting washes in a tiled bathroom, the tile really cooled down the washes, so I wrapped it with it, and it did wonders. Nice thing about it is it keeps in the heat great, but if it ever does drop you can take a heating pad, and plug it in for an hour wrapped around the heat shield, and it warms that baby back up quickly.

When it worked so well on the carboys, I did my still pot in it, and man that makes a huge difference. Takes nothing to bring it to temp to start condensing, and really helps regulate the heat. I hardly use any flame now when I am doing my runs. It's amazing for saving fuel. The heatshield I use on my pot still does not have that fabric back, for obvious safety reason. It's just the perforated metal/aluminum shield.

Nice Dachshund, looks a lot like my long hair!

[mmwhiskey]

Here is the radiant barrier I use for my still. Took me a minute to find it, Home Depots search sucks:. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Enerflex-24- ... ngjjZSxOGo

It's not as expensive in the store as it is there, that is for the contractor box. It cost me $20 for enough to wrap my still 3 times if I wanted.

[ichthyo]

I recently got downgraded from a keg boiler/pot still. What's the minimum size stockpot you guys would suggest for this?

[mmwhiskey]

It's a 5 gallon recipe, but if your still is not 5 gallons you could do some conversion on the ingredients to down grade it in size. The other alternative is to make the 5 gallons, they just make two different runs.

[ichthyo]

I was thinking getting a 10 gallon stock pot, and converting the lid with clips and paste. I could boil off of this as well as still. The 10 gallon pot would leave more than enough head for this 5 recipe

[TonsOfFun]

Just finished the stripping run of this recipe in my pot still. Taking small samples here and there throughout the process, it tastes wonderful, especially toward the end. I did notice a problem, though, and was hoping you all could help. I'm seeing small flakes or chunks of brown debris in my distillate, along with what looks like an oily film. No odd smells or tastes, but I'm worried about the crap floating in it and the oily film. The floating stuff sort of looks like coffee grounds, but much smaller particles. I'm guessing these are bits of barley husk, even though I used a nylon bag to try to strain out the grain when I transferred the mash from the fermenting bucket to the boiler. Any ideas how to get rid of it? Do I need to filter all my distillate through coffee filters before the spirit run? Or will this all go away on its own after a second run through the process? Thanks for your help.

MrMuff I have/had those little particles as well. I think they are just little particles that slip through the filter and end up in the still, eventually gettin burnt, and ending up in the low wines. The oily film is the a sign you are getting into the tails. When I did my spirit run I didn't have any particles. I guess if you really wanted you could filter your low wines, but in my experience after aging the spirit you end up having to filter out little particles of charged oak.

[brazenheadbeer]

I just finished making my mash with this recipe. It went extremely well and I had no issues. Im a seasoned AG Homebrewer so that helps. My house smells great!

Anyways one thing I am trying. Since this recipe ferments on the grain what I did was once my mash cooled to ~150 I put the corn straight into a 6 gallon fermenting bucket then added my 6 row. A 6 gallon fermenter will fit perfectly inside a 10 gallon rubbermaid cooler so I then put the fermenting bucket right into my 10 Gal Rubbermaid mash tun and put the lid on. The lid wont screw down so I put a towel over it. Over 4 hours I only lost about 8 degrees with stirring and temp checks.

[brazenheadbeer]

What are you guys getting for an SG on your mash for this recipe?

[NcHooch]

Best I ever got was 1.060, it's not a big beer.

[jackfiasco]

I started a batch of this a month ago. (Had to take a break while waiting for my heating element control parts to arrive). I opened up the fermenter yesterday and it was bubbling away like a bowl of rice crispies! What the?? Was it really not done fermenting after a month? The weird thing is this morning I checked again and it looked all done and pretty clear.. I realize it's colder now (I'm in Seattle) but it's pretty warm in my place, around 70 degrees or so 24/7. Anyone else ever have it take this long to ferment?

[brazenheadbeer]

Best I ever got was 1.060, it's not a big beer.

Oh ok cool... I got 1.052. I'll take it.

[Colin202]

Love the recipe but just wondering why you choose or say its not nessesary to let settle before running? I usually let things settle a couple days, is it not nessesary with this recipe. Just wonderin

[BourbonStreet]

I did this recipe with 6 row barley and malted rye to make sure I got enough conversion.The hearts were good, but the tails were seriously cloudy, like McMuffin said. However, on the second run, it cleared up, and the grain flavor really comes through!

[T_Rider]

Finished mashing a double batch last night. This morning when I went to pitch the yeast my OG was 1.07. This evening is bubbling away wonderfully!! I'm pretty exited about this batch so far. hopefully it will be ready to run by this weekend.

[thorson]

I'm doing this tonight...we have a small family and just do a Christmas lunch cause my grandma cant stay up late...so i have all night to do this...one question. when adding the malted barley...do you guys crack it somehow or just put it in whole? ive seen recipes that say to crack it, i dont see it here so just asking in case it is different for some reason... in my past recipes I have ran it through the blender...im kinda new, maybe cracking the malt is obvious for many, i just dont want to ruin the recipe

have a great holiday! hope you enjoy some of your best hooch with all your family!

[T_Rider]

You do want it cracked. I buy mine already cracked, so I've never cracked it myself. But, i would think you could just do a very course grind to get a good crack.

[Fastill]

Love the recipe but just wondering why you choose or say its not nessesary to let settle before running? I usually let things settle a couple days, is it not nessesary with this recipe. Just wonderin

You can distill on the grain if you are set up for it and want to. It's all personal preference. I never let things settle. When finished I strain and run right away. Works fine for me.

[WillC]

Will the amount of malted barley be the same if it is a 2 row instead of a 6 row for a 5 gallon mash?

[frunobulax]

There should be enough Dp in 3 lbs of 2 row to convert 7 lbs. of corn. You need 30 DP. for conversion of total grain bill (10 lbs.). With 2 row at 140 lintner, you will have 42Dp. Most 2 row is 140 lintner. So.....3x140=420 Then 420/10=42
Hope this makes sense.

[NcHooch]

Recently shared a 3 year old bottle of this with friends ...priceless. (and I'm talkin about the bourbon , not the friends. lol )

...They couldn't believe it was hand made.

Enjoy

[shinyhead]

Instead of the 6 row, what do you think about malted corn to replace the 6 row. I have started malting my own corn just for the purpose of doing and all corn all grain recipe.

[Fastill]

Instead of the 6 row, what do you think about malted corn to replace the 6 row. I have started malting my own corn just for the purpose of doing and all corn all grain recipe.

You would need all malted corn, not enough DP in home malted corn to convert much more than itself.

[T_Rider]

Running off 10 gal today. My FG was .99 from 1.07. I'm super happy with this recipe, I sure hope to have some awesome hooch by the end of the day.

[jebar77]

i just wanted to share my experience with you cause this has made a very nice beverage. so i have added to the recipe for taste
7lb cracked corn
1 1/2 lb 2 row
3 lb 6 row
1 lb rye
followed all other directions as written, ended up with a sg of 1.080 and finished at .099
ran down to about 20% just for some tails for my next run.
i had a friend cut me some white oak staves 1/2" X 1/2" X 3"
baked those in my electric oven at 385deg for 3 hours then gave them a quick char with my torch and i used 3 sticks per quart, and let it set for 3 months at about 110proof. omg better than anything i have ever got from the store. so Thank You.

i then turned around and turned that into a sour mash
added about a gallon or so fresh water to keep the yeast alive
added 1 1/2 gallons of backseat
4lb white granulated sugar
2 lb lt brown sugar
2 lb sugar in the raw
and toped off with water to equal 5 gallons
to a 6 gallon carboy
now i will offer a word of advise to anyone who has not done this yet..... this is a fast violent ferment, i had a pressurized volcano erupt all over my bathroom spitting sour mash grain and corn all over the ceiling and walls at 2 in the morning.... needless to say the wife was not happy, but live and learn from my mistake. lol
that ran 130 proof start and i ran that down to about 30 proof. kept 2 quarts at 100 proof, and let me tell you, if thats not some of the best tasting clear i have ever had. i enjoy the fact that i can reuse my grain that i put so much time and effort into in my ag bourbon run and turn that in to a tasty ujssm type run.

scott