Single Malt Barley on Merlot Chips

[fizzix]

2-row 1.jpg

Started with charred chips saturated in Merlot for 2 months.
Will be doing six, 6-gallon mashes of
80% 2-row,
10% Special B for caramel, and
10% Golden Promise for sweetness.

2-row 4.jpg

Using leftover beer yeasts, just to be different, and all will be blended anyway.
Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale … Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale … Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale

2-row 5.jpg

Mashing and fermenting starts Friday.
There'll be no barrel for this, the plan is to keep in jars and Merlot chips for a year.

DP Calculations:
2-row = 120°L
Golden Promise = 120°L
Special B = 0°L____
Total = 108°L

Cover me. I'm going in.

[Celis]

I will be following this, since I want to do a single malt in the near future. Looking forward to your results!!

[bilgriss]

This is almost exactly (aside from the varying yeasts) what my last single malt was. Used all Avangarde (German malt) pale ale malt. I'm not quite at a year, but it's very good. Hope this turns out well for you, and I'll follow along to see if you have any thoughts on the outcomes of the varying yeasts.

[jb-texshine]

This is similar to this thing I've been doing.
Except I've been using toasted oak fingers, cherry/apple Melomel for the wine, and Booners protocol corn whiskey(heirloom corns) and vin13 yeast for the spirit. The goal for me is to make as complex of a spirit as possible from a simple corn whiskey.
At this point there is nothing simple about my corn whiskey, lol.
The next version will be using infected backset, Dunder style, to increase the Ester profile.
I'm using 4 fingers of oak 3/4x3/4x4" per gallon for 6 months for my ageing protocol.
The Melomel is made from clover honey, frozen tart cherries, 3/4 apple juice and 1/4 cherry juice fermented with ec1118 and the toasted oak added in secondary for two months.
So far,out of three corn vareitys (red, blue&white,speckled) the blue&white and the speckled are "winning". The red corn has a slight fruity flavor by itself but it's lost behind the influence of the Melomel wood.
Of course I'm only 3 months in to ageing so all taste rather oaky/astringent at the moment but are just starting to come back good.
Time will tell for sure.
Jb~n~tx

[fizzix]

Well I'm glad you guys have made something similar... complex flavor with simple ingredients.
And Celis, nothing to it. You can do this!
The heck with Friday, I got this going today since I had time.

Heat water to 155°F (well 157°) with a campden tablet to get rid of the heavy chloramine in our water.
Mix in 8 lbs 2-row, 1 lb Golden Promise, and 1 lb Special B, along with some dry alpha amylase (mine is rated 152°to 158°F).
Stir well and wrap pot in blankets for 90-minutes. I like to keep the hot mash in the stainless steel pot for this duration
rather than a plastic bucket, as hot plastic doesn't appeal to me.

2-row 1.jpg

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----------------
After 90 minutes, it's looking good even though it appears a little low at 1.052,
but it's still hot at 140°F, so temperature correction = 1.068 actual starting gravity.
{see here.}

IF it finishes dry at 1.000, we're looking at 8.78% potential alcohol.

2-row 4.jpg

2-row 5.jpg

Transfer to ferment bucket and top up with water.
I'm fermenting on the grain.

Mix in:
5 shallow tablespoons DAP
1 tablespoon gypsum
1 tablespoon low-temp gluco amylase
1 pinch of Epsom Salt
1 crushed B-complex tablet
1 brew sock full of oyster shells for pH buffer
yeast

2-row 7.jpg

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Aerate well, cover, and airlock.
See you here in a week for final gravity and distillation.

[fizzix]

Looks like another week (for 2 total) as I forgot how slo-o-o-ow these beer yeasts are.
Nice foamy head on it, and it smells that good grainy smell.
But it's still at 1.032 (temp corrected), so let it do its thing.

[Twisted Brick]

Looks like another week (for 2 total) as I forgot how slo-o-o-ow these beer yeasts are.

Hooooold on there, cowboy! For flavorful ale yeast, long, slow, and cold is good! Makes for a clean ferment and final product!

BTW, what yeast is it that you used?

[fizzix]

I'm a-holding!
Got 3 buckets going with Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale, Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale, & Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale all at 68°F.

[OtisT]

Subbed. Looking forward to seeing how you like this.

Your OP said "charred chips" but I don't see any char in the pic. They look just toasted to me. I just wanted to verify those are really charred too.

Otis

[fizzix]

You know, Otis, you're right. Those are just toasted.
I'm used to my barrels which are charred, and the term slipped by me.
Good eye. You obviously are not drunk yet.

[Twisted Brick]

Looking forward to seeing how you like this.

+1

[JellybeanCorncob]

Hey Fizz:
I have about 1/2 gallon of malt whiskey that’s been aging now for 20 months. It’s a 90% Simpson’s malt barley and 10% special B malt using EC1118 yeast. I oaked with a once used charred stick of white oak that was soaked in sherry for 4 months. The interesting thing for me is how time changed the flavor and smell. After 6 months the special B gave the whiskey a strong caramel taste. Now at 20 months it’s the most aromatic whiskey I’ve made. Which is something that my younger whiskeys lack. The caramel flavor has mellowed and there is a deep wood flavor with a smoke finish. I’ve bottled whiskey before it’s ready and have been disappointed with the outcome. In my opinion malt whiskey needs time to develop the complex flavors that make it what it’s suppose to be.
They call special B “special” for a reason. If you can wait long enough I’m sure your’s will be special too.
IMHO
Good luck to you:
JBC

[fizzix]

Hey Fizz:
I have about 1/2 gallon of malt whiskey that’s been aging now for 20 months. It’s a 90% Simpson’s malt barley and 10% special B malt using EC1118 yeast. I oaked with a once used charred stick of white oak that was soaked in sherry for 4 months. The interesting thing for me is how time changed the flavor and smell. After 6 months the special B gave the whiskey a strong caramel taste. Now at 20 months it’s the most aromatic whiskey I’ve made. Which is something that my younger whiskeys lack. The caramel flavor has mellowed and there is a deep wood flavor with a smoke finish. I’ve bottled whiskey before it’s ready and have been disappointed with the outcome. In my opinion malt whiskey needs time to develop the complex flavors that make it what it’s suppose to be.
They call special B “special” for a reason. If you can wait long enough I’m sure your’s will be special too.
IMHO
Good luck to you:
JBC

Excellent. Read something similar somewhere in our vast forum and that's why I went with the Special B.
Thanks for the encouragement! And I'm glad you're enjoying yours. Can't wait now.

[The Baker]

JellybeanCorncob said, 'I oaked with a once used charred stick of white oak that was soaked in sherry for 4 months."....

Hi, Jelly and hello all,
I have a fair bit of brandy and I am looking for the best way to 'oak and age' it.

Trying one jar (around 50%, higher might be better but it is what it is) with oak dominoes, a week here and a week there airing with a coffee filter, and sampling cutting back to bottling-(with CORKS)-and drinking strength with some white wine. And throw in a few sultanas later for a while.
It has gone from more or less harsh and horrible to'fair'.
But thanks, I will soak some dominoes in sherry before I oak the next 'trial'.

Geoff

[fizzix]

Two weeks.
Final gravity has been at 1.031 for 4 days, but this stuff is so pulpy the refractometers just display nonsense.
I'm certain the gravity is lower.
The Wyeast 1332 left a beautiful, creamy, aromatic barm.

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The strip and spirit runs smelled of those candy buttons that came on paper strips.
I smoked ciggies for too long to have refined taste buds, but the spirit itself (with the 1332 yeast) had an aroma and beginning flavor of fresh grain bread
and candy buttons, with an ever-so-slight licorice takeaway.

A preemptive taste with a dash of water and merlot proves an excellent combination.

2-row 5.jpg

I think this will be unlike anything I've made yet. Sweet, modestly dry, candy confectionate.
What will time do? Now to finish all these buckets and put this on merlot oak for a year.
I'm thinking 19 grams merlot oak per liter.

Credits:
Thanks to bilgris and dieselduo for simultaneously recommending merlot to me on another thread.
Thanks to ShineonCrazyDiamond for that DIY support.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Very good stuff my friend . I'll have to sample that down the road . Congrats on arriving

BTW, whenever you use specialty malts, you will never get dry. The more modified, the more unfermentable. That's ok. That's the flavor waiting to be had.

- SCD

[Celis]

Looks great, makes me want to start working with grains even more! What are you using to press the liquid out of the grain?

[dieselduo]

Looks great, makes me want to start working with grains even more! What are you using to press the liquid out of the grain?

I usually just sparge mine with no pressing

[Celis]

I want to mash in my fermentation vessel and ferment on the grain. Or do you sparge after fermentation?

[fizzix]

Hey celis~
As proposed, some like to sparge. I just feel like I can't sparge enough and I'm leaving much behind.
Many will argue that the sugars are well sparged away despite leaving a wet sponge of grain.
I will default and get everything, leaving only moist grain to toss out into the yard for the squirrels and skunks
by squeezing with a small BIAB net and one of these:

[fizzix]

Two days since finishing and a reddish brown hue is already beginning.
I think 2 days airing is good for now, and plan to let it breathe a couple days each month for a year.
Can't wait.

[Twisted Brick]

Two days since finishing and a reddish brown hue is already beginning.
I think 2 days airing is good for now, and plan to let it breathe a couple days each month for a year.
Can't wait.

single malt merlot.jpg

I like airing 2 days too.

Couple of observations from my initial oaking exercises with Napa Valley (cabernet) barrel sticks. I age in handles and the once-used sticks were pretty overpowering. The second time using them is producing a much smoother product, although its definitely going to take longer.

You might think about leaving some head space in your jars. My original handles were filled almost up to the cap, and my rye bourbon got hotter in 3mos than when first filled. As a test, I moved 500ml into a fifth bottle and after a month it started to settle down, presumably from the oxidation.

[fizzix]

Good advice, Twisted. Will do, and thanks!

[brewer24]

Looking forward to following this! I'm working on my first single malt- finishing my last stripping run as I type.

The first two mashes used 2-row and raw barley, and on the third I used Maris Otter in place of 2 row since that's what I had purchased in bulk for beer brewing. Going to age on a mix of once-used chips that I aged my bourbon on, and JD chips.

Is Cargill malting barley? I don't think I've seen that before.

Have you done this recipe/process before?

[fizzix]

Hey brewer24~
Yep, the Cargill is 2-row malt and the same stuff I've stilled with near a year.
Same grain shop. Same stuff he puts in his grain bins.
Just the first time I bought 50-pounds!!

The process is similar to many other grains I've done. But this is the first single malt.
The Merlot was a suggestion by those credited above, so that's new and hoo-whee is it tasty..

It's all in jars now and so far so good, knock on oak.

Good luck with yours, my man. I doubt you get stuck being an all-grainer yourself.
Enjoy!