Spend the little extra bit

[Almtngoat]

So far I have found red bloody butcher corn far superior to feed store corn. Rolled corn from a beer supply while good was a gloppy mess to work with even with enzymes. What's coming out of my pipe right now is the best I 've ever had using Shine On's Honey Bear recipe with bloody butcher corn.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Grains change over time. The earth of barley fades, and the sweetness of corn also. The liquor you're tasting now will not be the same in 6 months. For better or worse, it's changing. I'm glad you found something ya like, especially off the spout. Have you run Honey Bear with regular corn? With transparent bias I still say Honey Bear is the best white whiskey I've ever made. It is still special aged, but it makes me miss the white.
Report back at 3 months, and again at 6 months. Bet you that it changes like a child grows through puberty. Keep some of that "Red, White, and Honey blue" bourbon off wood and compare with the aged.

[Deplorable]

+1
My HBB was very enjoyable in the white (and i am not a big fan of white whiskey) as it approaches 1 year old I pulled off a sample from the 5 gallon barrel and found a lot of what I enjoyed white to be muted by the oak and time. It's still good for sure. But it's the mash bill that changed my mind about white dog.

[PLAYMP]

Home distillers have a bit of a leg when it comes to ingredients. We can spend the extra $20 or whatever on Bloody Butcher and don’t have to think about how it’s going to affect our production quotas and margins.

Now if only I could find bloody butcher or really heirloom grains of any kind up in Canada here…

[jonnys_spirit]

I agree that you can certainly make good, unique, and exclusive likker with boutique ingredients. I will suggest that it’s not a requirement nor a guarantee. Feedstore corn and HBS malts make a mighty fine drop too - excellent drop - if you follow best practices.

Cheers,
J

[Dougmatt]

While I haven’t built any mashes on heirloom grains myself, I have tried several ones made with them. They were all different, unique and interesting, but I would not express it as superior “quality” versus any other similar level good corn based mash. Everyone’s palate is different and evolves over time. Sometimes different tastes good for a little while and not as good later. To me, these heirlooms create a subtly different flavor profile. I personally don’t love the bloody butcher one (Liberty) I have sitting on my shelf that I initially liked, but don’t ever seem to reach for it. I do like one small batch blue corn based bourbon (blue grass) quite a lot. That said, I haven’t found it worth the price premium it carries to me versus other similar quality level options to buy again.

The corn and especially small grains are important in unaged white whiskey and with our fermentation process helps create the base we work with. Aging style, cuts, oak selection, and time in my opinion has a much bigger impact on the final product and it’s perceived “quality”. I’m not generally price sensitive and more than willing to pay for a superior product, but haven’t found these heirloom corn based products to be worth the difference for store bought.

Doing them ourselves is a different question. I’m glad you like what you are getting off the spigot and hope you keep us informed as it ages and if possible compare to your other HBBs. I Haven’t decided yet about doing them in my own shed. I’m about to shift away from rum and back to whiskey for awhile. I expect I would like a blue corn based product, but not sure if it’s worth the trouble to track it down.

[still_stirrin]

… Now if only I could find … heirloom grains of any kind up in Canada here…

Suppose the “smokey grains” are kinda’ common up there now, right? They’ve been bleeding over the lower 48 recently. JK.

Specialty malts create unique flavors and the creative palette opens up the opportunity for the brewer to explore his artistic senses. But keep in mind that balancing the flavors to give you the product you’re aiming for relies on the processes as much as ingredients.

Indeed, it’s more than just dumping some grains into a tub. Mash protocol introduces variables which must be managed in order to improve extract efficiency and capture the flavors of the grist, so practice makes perfect.
ss