Booner's Casual All Corn

[SoMo]

For flavor yes for conversion no, the starch is so bound up that it takes the heat and water just to make it accessible to the enzymes. I'm going to do mine with a ground corn instead of cracked, my cracked had been pretty big and I've had to use 3-3.5lbs per gallon just to hit 1.065 or so doing it with malt. Using the ground at 2lb-gallon I've hit as high as 1.078, so 1.5lb- gallon should be right on.

[SoMo]

Woodshed this is the ground corn I was talking about, should convert very well. What do you think? I'm going to start at 1.5# per gallon and see what I get for an SG. 7.50$ a 50# sack.
Gonna start my experimenting this morning, looking forward to tasting just corn. Thanks Woodshed!

[woodshed]

Looks good to me. Keep us posted.

[SoMo]

Half way through mashing and the enzymes are the stuff, 5.5mils to 15# corn it loosened well, very well. That was just the first five minutes in an hour god only knows. Cool stuff, malts just a flavoring agent at this point.
Not in this recipe of course.

[singlewhitemalt]

After a year+ of learning the basics running UJ, I think this is the all corn I've been looking for. Enzymes are ordered, corn is in the bin, and the mashtun is clean. Looking forward to having a go at this. Thanks for posting up the recipe Woodshed. I'll report back with my results.

[SoMo]

Ok did my mash, 15# ground corn, 11gallon water no ph testing, SG of 1.058.

[singlewhitemalt]

Ok did my mash, 15# ground corn, 11gallon water no ph testing, SG of 1.058.

That's some serious efficiency.

What kind of yeast did you pitch in that, SoMo?

[SoMo]

I pitched some of the Hodgson mill yeast for whole grain, culture I've been keeping now for 3-4 generations.
This pic is now 24 hours after pitching.
That's a thermometer floating there, tied with a piece of monofilament fishing line.

Edit 2 days in and it's down to 1.027.
Monday morning down to 1.013.

[SoMo]

Tuesday morning 1.000. Probably going to run it Wednesday or Thursday. Can't wait.
9-4 cleared and beautiful.

[woodshed]

Nice job SoMo. Gonna look into that yeast. Curious about flavor profile.

[SoMo]

Woodshed its different in a good way, in an email they said it was a different strain but not what strain it was. I posted a thread on it here in yeast.
Hodgson mills yeast for whole grain breads

[RevSpaminator]

Sorry to change course all of the sudden but I gotta say. Holy crap is this process ever smooth. This one is going into my tried and true recipe book. Tastes like warm buttery caramel corn. Can't wait to taste it after it ages on apple wood. Mmm..

[woodshed]

I read that thread SoMo. Always love to try new yeast.
Rev, smooth indeed.

[SoMo]

Well I finally ran it this morning, and I like it very corny, in a good way. When I first joined I asked Bushman for a corn recipe, he replied UJSSM. Finally found what I've spent the whole time looking for, this ones definitely a keeper. Smooth earthy corn. Thanks woodshed.

[S-Cackalacky]

SoMo, was this fermented with the Hodgson Mill yeast?

[SoMo]

Yes sir that's became my favorite yeast, keeping starters or cultures for 4-5 generations, well ferments any way. It's a very vigorous yeast.

[woodshed]

It will get even better in a couple of days SoMo.

Rev, what yeast did you use?

[SoMo]

It will get even better in a couple of days SoMo.

Rev, what yeast did you use?

Woodshed I nuked some on my fresh toasted oak, made me take a little nap, damn good.

[woodshed]

Big fan of little naps.

[SoMo]

I've ran into something I've never seen before, what you ask? For some people a few any way it's too much flavor not hot not a burn but too much corn flavor. I was shocked to say the least. Other friends loved it for that smooth velvety corn goodness.

[RevSpaminator]

It will get even better in a couple of days SoMo.

Rev, what yeast did you use?

A bit of DADY and some baker's.

[singlewhitemalt]

Well, my first stab at this has me scratching my head. I tried the recipe just as close as I could get it. This is what my ten gallon batch looked like:

10 gal water, ph 7.2, 205F

18 lbs cracked corn

Added water to corn in my 1/2 barrel mash tun, stirred to 180F, added 1.5 tsp of sebstar and stirred that in well. I left the tun covered and stirred every 15 mins for 2 hours. I was still at 175F when I uncovered the mash tun and stirred it down to 150F. Ph was 5.5. I then added 1.5 tsp of sebamyl, stirred and covered. I stirred every 15 mins for an hour and a half. Pulled a sample for an iodine test. Purple. Temp was down to 145F. So, I added another TBS of each enzyme, stirred and covered. Over the next 3 hours I stirred and pulled samples about every 30 mins. No real improvement. SG was 1.032 after temp adjust when I went to bed. I got up and checked another sample this morning. It's brownish-black. SG is 1.040 after temp adjust. I'm crashing the temp now for pitching yeast and fighting the urge to bring the gravity up with some sugar.

I'm sure this will be ready to strip this weekend. Then I'll sugar head back on the grain and repeat the process. I will be keeping the AG separate from the sugar head.

I'm just looking for ways to improve the AG efficiency. Thinking I might mill the corn a little finer on the next go round and/or more enzymes on the initial addition.

Any of y'all got any suggestions or see a mistake I made in the process? Thanks in advance.

[woodshed]

I am a bit stumped as well. How are you testing Ph? Water quality? I doubt water quality.
5.5 is just outside of optimal for sebstar. And the Max you want for sebamyl.
Quality of corn? I have found most big box corn, think tractor supply, to be less than optimal.

I shoot for a Ph of 5.8 to 6.0 for sebstar, 5.2 for sebamyl.

IMO the additional enzymes were just a waste.

[singlewhitemalt]

I tested ph with a Milwaukie ph meter. It was freshly calibrated. The corn is called Payback. It is an organic, cracked, feed grade. It's about the best I could find and damn is it ever pricey; $36 for a 50# sack. But, it gave my UJ a good flavor so I figured I'd try it out for this as well. I reckon, in the interest of changing one variable at a time, I will mill the corn a little finer next time. Thanks for your feedback. I'll let you know how it goes.

[SoMo]

Grain size is my guess, with ground corn I can get great conversion at 1.50-1.75lb per gallon. With cracked it was 3lb per gallon or more. Mill your corn down if you can.
Bro that's nuts on price all mine is 7.50$ for 50#.

[singlewhitemalt]

Grain size is my guess, with ground corn I can get great conversion at 1.50-1.75lb per gallon. With cracked it was 3lb per gallon or more. Mill your corn down if you can.
Bro that's nuts on price all mine is 7.50$ for 50#.

Yeah, the crush is all I can figure for the low efficiency.

And, yeah,price of corn out here is higher than giraffe... um, eyes. Even conventional feed corn is $17 a sack.

[ezlle71]

singlewhitemalt, I got the exact same results last night with this recipe. except i did not have my ph test supplies. They just came in today. But same result 1.040 gravity. I had ground this corn to a mix of ground and cracked. I guess i will grind it finer and see what i come up with. I will keep trying this. I really don't want to go back to sugar. Being a farmer and having a bin of corn here at the farm being my reason for wanting to stay all grain. By the way i tried nchooch's bourbon recipe early last spring and got the same result with the same mill of corn.
ez

[singlewhitemalt]

singlewhitemalt, I got the exact same results last night with this recipe. except i did not have my ph test supplies. They just came in today. But same result 1.040 gravity. I had ground this corn to a mix of ground and cracked. I guess i will grind it finer and see what i come up with. I will keep trying this. I really don't want to go back to sugar. Being a farmer and having a bin of corn here at the farm being my reason for wanting to stay all grain. By the way i tried nchooch's bourbon recipe early last spring and got the same result with the same mill of corn.
ez

EZ, I am thinking the same about the corn. Home brewers regularly notice substantial increases in efficiency with a finer crush and we are dealing with essentially the same mashing process here. Stands to reason we would benefit from a finer crush as well.

[warp1]

I had kind of a low yield as well on my first go round....had a bunch of things it could have been....thick cracks, thermometer was on the fritz, pH wasn't tested. Not deterred...I know it's just me, will just pay closer attention next time.

Wonder if it's worth locating a feed store to get a finer grind or looking into making/buying some sort of grinder?

[ezlle71]

got my ph testing stuff. The ph of the water where i mash is 8. I feel the corn grist was too course and i need to work on my setup to hold the 150 degree mash temp for as long as i can. I really like the all grain path so i will keep hammering it out.