Wheated bourbon

[The Booze Pipe]

Add the acid before the corn.

Just mixing corn meal and hot water will drop the pH to around 6.
The pH would be in the ball park for what high temp alpha needs.
Using acidic backset can be used to help jell corn, but care must be taken to keep the pH from dropping low enough to denature the alpha enzymes.

Hmm thanks shady…I did not realize that alpha amylase (high temp and typical) prefers higher pH. The 5.2-5.4 beer brewers target looks to be compromise between needs of alpha amylase and beta amylase.

Sorry for bad advice above.

Now I’m thinking I’ll try adding water salts at beginning to make sure Calcium is sufficient for mash (my water has almost no calcium) and hold any acid or backseat additions for after HTL amylase has had time to work.

I've been researching water chemistry, and trying to figure out the calculators on Brewer's Friend. I could get away with adding some gypsum, but I'm still trying to figure out how much, and at what point. I'm also leaning towards just leaving it out and let the mash do its thing.

[Homebrewer11777]

a screen shot of my water report. Looks like 10 mg/l of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). I'm not really sure where to go from here on adding more Calcium and magnesium. I checked out the Brewer's Friend calculator, and I'll admit it's a little beyond me. In fact I've looked at it in the past and figured screw it, I'll just let the mash do its thing but I think it could benefit from some chemistry

That is a pretty thin water report. It appears you have very soft water with also very low sulfates. Low sulfate is good to know because it means you can add gypsum without worrying about getting too much sulfate.

1 gram of gypsum adds 61.5 ppm to 1 gallon of water. You have 10 ppm calcium in there already so add enough gypsum to get you to 50 ppm. So that would be 26 grams for your 40 gallons. About 2 tablespoons.

I also notice in your water report occasional presence of chlorine and chlorinated compounds. Personally I would treat that water prophylactically every time with Campden tablet (2 tablets for 40 gallons) just to be safe. I've voiced this opinion here before and understand some people are afraid of the sulfites in Campden. At the 2 tablets per 40 gallons dose I can assure you it is very safe and will not in any way interfere with your yeast health.

[The Booze Pipe]

a screen shot of my water report. Looks like 10 mg/l of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). I'm not really sure where to go from here on adding more Calcium and magnesium. I checked out the Brewer's Friend calculator, and I'll admit it's a little beyond me. In fact I've looked at it in the past and figured screw it, I'll just let the mash do its thing but I think it could benefit from some chemistry

That is a pretty thin water report. It appears you have very soft water with also very low sulfates. Low sulfate is good to know because it means you can add gypsum without worrying about getting too much sulfate.

1 gram of gypsum adds 61.5 ppm to 1 gallon of water. You have 10 ppm calcium in there already so add enough gypsum to get you to 50 ppm. So that would be 26 grams for your 40 gallons. About 2 tablespoons.

I also notice in your water report occasional presence of chlorine and chlorinated compounds. Personally I would treat that water prophylactically every time with Campden tablet (2 tablets for 40 gallons) just to be safe. I've voiced this opinion here before and understand some people are afraid of the sulfites in Campden. At the 2 tablets per 40 gallons dose I can assure you it is very safe and will not in any way interfere with your yeast health.

It really doesn't give much info! Which is probably why I was having some trouble with the calculators.

I went ahead and mashed in with the gypsum! I excluded the campden tabs. I'm confident the chlorine dissipates fairly well. Also, I've fermented with this water for the last few years with no issue.

Sorrry, but I couldn't get a accurate gravity reading, or ph.

[Homebrewer11777]

It really doesn't give much info! Which is probably why I was having some trouble with the calculators.

I went ahead and mashed in with the gypsum! I excluded the campden tabs. I'm confident the chlorine dissipates fairly well. Also, I've fermented with this water for the last few years with no issue.

Sorrry, but I couldn't get a accurate gravity reading, or ph.
[/quote]

Well looks like a happy fermentation. Were you unable to get gravity and pH because fermentation started on its own (wild yeast and bacteria) or just to busy/forgot? You can push a kitchen sieve through the mash cap to get a sample of liquid in case of the former. The pH will not be very helpful because lactic acid bacteria are fast but gravity should still be reasonably close to OG if it is just a few hours into the cap forming.

Your call on the chlorine. Dissipation may well be sufficient. Extra insurance would be to let your water boil for a while before introducing the corn. Dissipation (boiled or just rested) will not work if there are chloramines in there but I don't see anything ending in *amine on your water report.

[The Booze Pipe]

It really doesn't give much info! Which is probably why I was having some trouble with the calculators.

I went ahead and mashed in with the gypsum! I excluded the campden tabs. I'm confident the chlorine dissipates fairly well. Also, I've fermented with this water for the last few years with no issue.

Sorrry, but I couldn't get a accurate gravity reading, or ph.

Well looks like a happy fermentation. Were you unable to get gravity and pH because fermentation started on its own (wild yeast and bacteria) or just to busy/forgot? You can push a kitchen sieve through the mash cap to get a sample of liquid in case of the former. The pH will not be very helpful because lactic acid bacteria are fast but gravity should still be reasonably close to OG if it is just a few hours into the cap forming.

Your call on the chlorine. Dissipation may well be sufficient. Extra insurance would be to let your water boil for a while before introducing the corn. Dissipation (boiled or just rested) will not work if there are chloramines in there but I don't see anything ending in *amine on your water report.
[/quote]
That's a good trick to use a sieve... It was a long day and I was tired.

[The Booze Pipe]

Looks like fermentation is finished, its been at 1.003(1.000 temp corrected for 85f) for the last few days.

Any thoughts on stirring in some YLAY at this point to finish it off? I have not read about anyone doing this. I figure it might squeeze out that last half percent or more of grain/sugar. which could limit the chance of any scorching.

[8Ball]

Your call on the chlorine. Dissipation may well be sufficient. Extra insurance would be to let your water boil for a while before introducing the corn. Dissipation (boiled or just rested) will not work if there are chloramines in there but I don't see anything ending in *amine on your water report.

Chloromines in tap water can be neutralized with ascorbic acid (plain ol’ Vitamin C). Dose @ 0.015 gram per gallon, or, just put a couple of pinches in as you add the water and move on without worries.

[Homebrewer11777]

Your call on the chlorine. Dissipation may well be sufficient. Extra insurance would be to let your water boil for a while before introducing the corn. Dissipation (boiled or just rested) will not work if there are chloramines in there but I don't see anything ending in *amine on your water report.

Chloromines in tap water can be neutralized with ascorbic acid (plain ol’ Vitamin C). Dose @ 0.015 gram per gallon, or, just put a couple of pinches in as you add the water and move on without worries.

Vit C looks like ok alternative and may be even faster acting than metabisulfite. Apparently can expect some impact on pH and none of my brewing calculators include it as a an acid option for predicting mash pH. Beersmith mentions "Adding at bottling time to wine and soda as a preservative. Not recommended for beer due to the off flavors it might add." I guess that would be the sour flavor which would be off in many beers but probably not an issue in a bourbon mash.

[8Ball]

Vit C looks like ok alternative and may be even faster acting than metabisulfite. Apparently can expect some impact on pH and none of my brewing calculators include it as a an acid option for predicting mash pH. Beersmith mentions "Adding at bottling time to wine and soda as a preservative. Not recommended for beer due to the off flavors it might add." I guess that would be the sour flavor which would be off in many beers but probably not an issue in a bourbon mash.

If you can decern about half a gram of vitamin C in 40 gallons of tap water then you must have one heck of a taster.

[The Booze Pipe]

I got to complete the spirit run on this bourbon. I haven't made cuts for a final product but it turned out real nice! Very nice bread flavors and spice with all the goodness of corn.

Total take was 5.2 gallons. 2.8 gallons of just hearts, after cuts should be pretty close to 3.5-4 gallons final product.

Funny story about mashing in. After the ferment got started I went to a city council meeting, and found out we had gotten so much rain it overwhelmed the water treatment facility and diluted the treated (for ph) water from 7.5 to 6! Ha no wonder the ferment was going well. Anyway good to know I can lower my ph about 1-1.5 points.