American Single Malt

[JB_12]

Looking to start a house recipe ASM. I love Balcones Single Malt at cask strength and want to make something similar for my house whiskey. Here’s what I have and interested in feedback.

92% Pale Malt
3% Caramel 120L
3% Victory Malt
2% Chocolate Malt

Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale strain fermented at 70F to push nutty and fruity esters. Going to use glucoamylase in the fermenter to dry the wash out. Aiming for 8-9% abv in the wash.

Double distill pot still, more narrow of cuts, age on medium toast level 3 char American oak for 1+ year. Eventually would like to get about 10 of these runs into a 5 gallon new level 3 char oak barrel and age in the shed out back in the south Florida heat. Aiming for final proof around 115-125.

Also, would like to get this same recipe aging on Brettanomyces Bruxellensis to hopefully produce some leather and pipe tobacco notes in the ferment with 1+ year aging on it and start working that into the still in a solera type fashion (ie. still charged with 80% clean wash and 20% brettanomyces wash) and keep “feeding” the funky brettanomyces tank monthly with some fresh “clean” wash.

Thoughts?

[quadra]

Sounds interesting. Will the Brett wash be started with another yeast or is it a full brett fermentation? A good way to carry the Brett to future batches is oak dominos ... also, not clear how you are aging for a year if you are feeding it monthly?

[JB_12]

Plan is to do same recipe but mash slightly higher (154-155F) and not add glucoamylase to the fermenter. Primary strain still West Yorkshire and a wash that finishes a bit sweet (maybe 1.014-1.018) with some longer chain sugars. Then transfer to a 15 gallon keg fermenter with bottom and top ports on top of Brettanomyces. Let that age and get funky for a year. Then start pulling 1-2 gallons a month to run through the still but immediately replace that volume with fresh “clean” wash. So it becomes a pull/push solera type setup. Maybe will do 1 gallon to start that way a “whole tank turnover” takes roughly a year. This would be roughly 9 gallons of “clean” and 1 gallon of “funky” wash in the still per run. Goal being to add complexity and those leather, tobacco notes. The funky tank is stainless steel and can hold pressure so I’ll keep the Brettanomyces anaerobic to prevent acetic acid formation.

Don’t know how the distillate will turn out. Anyone have any insight here?

[The Booze Pipe]

Don’t know how the distillate will turn out. Anyone have any insight here?

How has this gone JB.? It’s only been a few months but did you get it started?

[Deplorable]

I did a pale, and C-75 caramel that's currently in two different badmo barrels with a little under a liter in glass on new charred American oak. Time will tell, but the mashes smelled fantastic. Its only been a couple months since they got put up, and I dont expect to get into them for a couple of years.
I've picked up pipe tabacco and leather on a good number of my glass and stick aged spirits. Medium toast and heavy char, with plenty of time. I've got the pale malt to make another barrel, I should try one with a smidgen of chocolate malt...

[Bolverk]

How'd this turn out?

[Biker24a69]

Following

[bilgriss]

JB_12 posted a few times in December and January of this year, but hasn't logged in since January 7. We may never know. Or maybe he'll check in later when he has some results.