Looking for a good and easy Whiskey recipe

[artooks]

Hi,

This year I would like to make an easy whiskey recipe with some JD Oak and some aging, I was looking at Corn Flakes whiskey what do you think should I start with this recipe or is there another one that you can recommend, I am asking this question as this is going to be my first step in whiskey making, also what I would like to ask is, for the distilling part is it going to be double pot stilled and for the cuts are we also need some early tails in the mix so hearts plus early tails for maximum aroma once this is finished how should it be treated with oak how much and for how long ? I would be glad if you could help me out.

[Bradster68]

Hi,

This year I would like to make an easy whiskey recipe with some JD Oak and some aging, I was looking at Corn Flakes whiskey what do you think should I start with this recipe or is there another one that you can recommend, I am asking this question as this is going to be my first step in whiskey making, also what I would like to ask is, for the distilling part is it going to be double pot stilled and for the cuts are we also need some early tails in the mix so hearts plus early tails for maximum aroma once this is finished how should it be treated with oak how much and for how long ? I would be glad if you could help me out.

Hello Artois. I just read your Gin post,nice to see you'll try whiskey. You say you want to do a whiskey.,I'm guessing by corn flakes you'll be using sugar with the recipe?
It'll be a good whiskey, but not an AG whiskey,which will be much better IMO. If your going sugar you may as well do the Uncle Jesse's sour mash.
It very popular on the forum and uses the corn as flavor and sugar as the saftey net.
If your going to adventure into AG mashing I would suggest jimbos wheated bourbon, or HBB.
These last 2 I'm sure you'll love when given the time it needs to oak aging.

Edited. I believe a strip and spirit through a pot will be best. JMO

[artooks]

Hi,

This year I would like to make an easy whiskey recipe with some JD Oak and some aging, I was looking at Corn Flakes whiskey what do you think should I start with this recipe or is there another one that you can recommend, I am asking this question as this is going to be my first step in whiskey making, also what I would like to ask is, for the distilling part is it going to be double pot stilled and for the cuts are we also need some early tails in the mix so hearts plus early tails for maximum aroma once this is finished how should it be treated with oak how much and for how long ? I would be glad if you could help me out.

Hello Artois. I just read your Gin post,nice to see you'll try whiskey. You say you want to do a whiskey.,I'm guessing by corn flakes you'll be using sugar with the recipe?
It'll be a good whiskey, but not an AG whiskey,which will be much better IMO. If your going sugar you may as well do the Uncle Jesse's sour mash.
It very popular on the forum and uses the corn as flavor and sugar as the saftey net.
If your going to adventure into AG mashing I would suggest jimbos wheated bourbon, or HBB.
These last 2 I'm sure you'll love when given the time it needs to oak aging.

Edited. I believe a strip and spirit through a pot will be best. JMO

Thank you very much indeed I will definitely try that.

[howie]

corn flakes whiskey makes a decent drop.
it's one of my favourites, but my nice ones are over 2 years old and aged in glass with usa oak dominoes, medium char.
so i think it needs time.
i now have 2 x small barrels with CFW, only about 4 months old, one blended with a rye whiskey.
for a 25l fermenter, i upped the cornflakes weight to 1.11kgs of cornies plus a 250gm box of ryvita original, plus backset.

i tried some JD blocks once, personally, i didn't like them

[Dougmatt]

I got into this hobby as someone who enjoys all whiskey. Bourbon, Irish and scotch so my goal was to make whiskey I would be proud to share. I started with sugar washes probably because they sounded easy, and the ingredients were more accessible, but realized after my first AG that I should have just done that all along. It also depends on if you want a real whiskey or a faux “whiskey tasting”, corn flavored sugar wash and there is nothing wrong with that, it’s just different.. So here’s some thoughts that might help.

If you want to do true whiskey, I recommend either Honey Bear or another AG as a starting point. I’ve put tougher 3 different Badmo’s of HBB and now working on a CROW which isn’t far enough along to comment on. HBB is pretty easy for whiskey, but AG is definitely more work than UJSSM or CF are. The AG will have a nice round mouth feel and it won’t have the sugar bite like the others. It will have the complexity that comes from small grain variety. Makes a fine drop, but it’s a little harder to get the grain (I get mine from Amazon), and the work to get the grain ready is harder (you have to grind them with a mill), the mash process takes longer than just dumping it all together and pitching the yeast.

For a sugar wash, I’ve done both ujssm and cf, and would say cf would be my slight preference. Cornflake is nice because it’s really easy to get CF from the super market. When you first make it, it can have a dusty taste that is reminiscent of eating corn flakes (imagine that), and the typical bite of a sugar wash, but a little age on oak takes both of those away. You can do it generational too. I’ve made about 2 gallons of this over time and they are good as a mixer to me. I can drink it neat, but would prefer the HBB or even the sugar head on the HBB grains.

I’m not the fan of UJSSM that others are, but it has a lot of fans. I’ve made about 4 gallons of it over about 10 generations . I finally dumped my barrel a few months ago and decided I wouldn’t make any more. Makes an ok spirit, but very corn forward. I personally just don’t seem to want to drink it and will reach past it for well, anything else. I’ve got about a year and a half on my oldest. It doesn’t seem for me to work well as a mixer in much, and I don’t care for it neat, but that is probably my tastes. I’ve just run about half a gallon through the pot again twice to reduce the flavors and use in a genevier so maybe that’s my path forward. This is probably a taste preference thing, When I go to moonshine tastings, I generally don’t like their “corn likker” products much either which are typically a commercial version of UJSSM if you’ve ever tried them.

While on the sugar wash topic, I also did a sugar head on the HBB grains once. It was superior to UJSSM and CF in my opinion. Something I could enjoy neat or mixed and had a more complex taste to it, but still misses the rounded whiskey mouth feel. It stretches the grain a little to get more out of all the work you put into an AG, and gave me something to drink while waiting on the HBB to age.

So ultimately both UJ and CF make a good corn flavored sugar wash, but neither has the mouth feel or complexity of an all grain whiskey. Neither is something I would “show off” to friends, but I’ve shared them and people seemed to like them. AG (HBB) is the crowd favorite in my neck of the woods, is what people ask for more of, and is what I would recommend to someone who is up for the effort and wants to make whiskey.

Hope this helps, and regardless of what you chose, I hope you enjoy it!

[FL Brewer]

In my opinion, single malt whiskies are the easiest all grain recipes to make, especially if you've had experience doing all grain beer brewing (which is my background). One step infusion mash (no enzymes needed), ferment on grain, strain out the fermented beer and strip in a pot still, then spirit run either in a pot still (traditional approach) or, as I do, in a detuned VM column (actually very high reflux ratio for the heads, detuned or low reflux for the hearts). Age in gallon glass jugs with a new or used toasted and charred oak stick from a half Jack Daniels barrel bought at Home Depot. Makes a very nice tasting dram.

[FL Brewer]

..... and to further address the oak question: I use roughly 8 x 3/4 x 3/4 inch oak sticks toasted in a bundle of five wrapped in aluminum foil for two hours at 400F, then given a pretty heavy alligator char. I let them cool off completely, usually overnight, between toasting and charring. I age in one gallon glass jugs about 3/4 full and will use once used sticks for an Irish/Scotch whiskey type whiskey or new ones if I don't have enough used sticks; the new sticks definitely give a bourbon like quality to the whiskey, to my taste kind of a mix of scotch and bourbon. I have enough aging stock built up that I don't really drink any of it (OK, maybe a small taste to monitor the progress) before two years, I like to go at least three years. Once a month or so I remove the lids and swirl the spirit around in the bottle to get some new air in the bottle to make more oxygen available.

It's really hard to give much direction on the cuts, but the general rule is narrow hearts cut makes a whiskey that is smoother sooner, but not as complex or full flavored as a bit wider cuts that are aged longer. Gotta figure out what you like and make that.

That's my process, I like what I make, but so much of what is best for you depends on your particular tastes and whether you have the patience to age your hooch for 2-5 years.

[Beerswimmer]

I recommend a 100% cracked corn and Yellow Label Angel Yeast to dip your toes into all grain with a super easy method. No mashing is required.

[Stonecutter]

I’ve had luck with this one.
6 gallons of water
3.5 lbs flaked corn
3.5 lbs malted Barley
5.5 lbs of malted rye

[Bushman]

A good starting point with easy to follow directions is Jimbo’s single malt AG recipe.

[HDNB]

i'd vote for single malt too.

My go-to is malt rye or malt barley

250g finely crushed malt to 1000mL water
stir constantly (i have a mixer)
heat to 155*f
hold for 90 minutes at 149*
cool to 90*
add yeast

wait about 5 days , distill.

optionallty will add enzymes to make sure i get every drop, but not necesssary.

[shadylane]

I think using LME is the easiest and most fail-safe whiskey recipe.
The ingredient's are warm water, Liquid malt extract and yeast.

Pour the extract into the fermenter, use the warm water to shake and rinse out the jug.
Dilute the LME to OG 1.060 - 1.050 and 80'f
Sprinkel the yeast on top and cover the fermenter.

[HDNB]

I think using LME is the easiest and most fail-safe whiskey recipe.
The ingredient's are warm water, Liquid malt extract and yeast.

Pour the extract into the fermenter, use the warm water to shake and rinse out the jug.
Dilute the LME to OG 1.060 - 1.050 and 80'f
Sprinkel the yeast on top and cover the fermenter.

dme/lme recipes should always come with a foaming warning. easy and makes outstanding whisky, if you can keep the wash in the still.

[JustinNZ]

Don’t forget NCHooch’s Carolina bourbon in the tried and true. Just cracked corn and malted barley. Really nice after just six months. Good fun mucking around with corn.

[Jstroke]

Easy is relative. As you can see, an “easy whiskey” around here is like asking BBQ guys about brisket. But we don’t “know” you and your skill set, equipment, still, space or experience. But we might be able to guess. My advice. Go pick a tried and true recipe that “appears” simple to you. Any of the sugar washes done well and aged on some wood will make a good drop. Or start with all grain, get on the struggle bus and buckle up.

[artooks]

Easy is relative. As you can see, an “easy whiskey” around here is like asking BBQ guys about brisket. But we don’t “know” you and your skill set, equipment, still, space or experience. But we might be able to guess. My advice. Go pick a tried and true recipe that “appears” simple to you. Any of the sugar washes done well and aged on some wood will make a good drop. Or start with all grain, get on the struggle bus and buckle up.

Hi,

Thanks a lot I have been distilling since 2017 I have an CCVM still so basically it is interchangeable I cap it when I want to pot still and use CCVM when I want to reflux, My still has an 8 Gallon boiler and before distilling I have been home brewing all grain beer with a braumesiter, so all I need is to solve the puzzle I guess, my Braumeister is a 23 liter (6 Gallon) therefore I believe I have to do it 3 times in order to fill my 2 fermenters with 8 Gallon capacity. I am leaning towards Honey Bear Burbon.

[artooks]

Don’t forget NCHooch’s Carolina bourbon in the tried and true. Just cracked corn and malted barley. Really nice after just six months. Good fun mucking around with corn.

Thanks I will check it out.

[artooks]

i'd vote for single malt too.

My go-to is malt rye or malt barley

250g finely crushed malt to 1000mL water
stir constantly (i have a mixer)
heat to 155*f
hold for 90 minutes at 149*
cool to 90*
add yeast

wait about 5 days , distill.

optionallty will add enzymes to make sure i get every drop, but not necesssary.

Thanks so for single malt lets say I can try %100 barley I guess

[TwoSheds]

I'm shopping for a similar 'easy' whisky and am leaning toward Jimbo's Single Malt AG Recipe using malted barley or wheat (or maybe one of each.) A couple factors to my decision:

• I've made bourbons that are great but cooking corn is a small headache.
  I've made HBB and Sundae Chocolate Bourbon, love them for sipping but want a simpler spirit for a lighter spirit, especially for mixing.
  I'd like to distill off the grain to simplify stripping. Corn sucks to strain.
  Rye is great but can be tricky to strain and tends to froth in the still.
  I just want a shorter shopping list for an easy brew.

Right now I'm thinking either two row or Golden Promise barley with maybe up to 10% oats and medium caramel malt for mouthfeel and complexity respectively. Still deciding, but this has been an interesting read for ideas!

I guess if we really wanted an easy whisky we'd go to the liquor store. LOL!

TwoSheds