Notes - Cornbread and Buttermilk Whiskey

[S-Cackalacky]

I had a glass of this last night. It has been sitting for 3 months. I opened up the aging jar and aired it every few weeks. A few days ago I gave it a heat treatment in the microwave and rubberbanded paper towels so it could air out during the cool down. I put the jar in a Styrofoam cooler surrounded by towels and a hot cherry pit pack. I let it sit for 2 days to come back to room temp. A couple of days ago I proofed down a 750ml bottle to 45% ABV.

It has an amazing flavor. I think the browned cornbread had a profound effect - along with the introduction of the buttermilk culture. It was light in color from the oak and the oak was more of a background flavor and the grain and buttermilk were more up front. No sugar burn or any other bite - just warm to the back of the mouth and throat. I'm sure the corn is a big influence to the flavor, but it doesn't come through as what I have come to recognize as a corn flavor. Very different in comparison to anything else I've ever made. I'll be tweaking the recipe and doing this one again.

[MichiganCornhusker]

These are my notes from an attempt to develop a new recipe. It kinda went to hell in a hand basket in the end. A bit discouraging, but I'll try it again.

Really happy that you saw this through to the end, and apparently had success with it!
This sounded like a great idea from the start, sounds even better now. I'd like to try this sometime soon, thanks for posting.

[S-Cackalacky]

MCH, thanks for the encouragement. I hope to do it again - maybe in the spring. I want to get my keg build going, at least to the point of being able to boil larger amounts of strike water before attempting it again. I hope to implement some refinements and post a new thread in the form of a more formal recipe.

Give it a try. I think the browning did something magic to the corn. I plan to add some honey to the cornbread batter to see what effect caramelized sugar might have on the flavor. Most of the refinements will be to the cornbread recipe. I might even add a small amount of wheat to the mix.

[HDNB]

congrats on your awesome recipe. I'm gonna give this a go on the next try and let you know how it turns out.

do you have a way to raise your initial temps to 180* for the HTL for 90 minutes? that may be the poor performance on the starch...just an idea.

[raketemensch]

Great stuff, S-C, this is really intriguing. I've been wondering how caramelizing would come across in the finished product. I know people do it with sugars, but I've not seen mention of other foods.

Just add some jalapeños to the corn bread and I'm in.

[S-Cackalacky]

Great stuff, S-C, this is really intriguing. I've been wondering how caramelizing would come across in the finished product. I know people do it with sugars, but I've not seen mention of other foods.

Just add some jalapeños to the corn bread and I'm in.

Raket, I was figuring the honey would caramelize with the cooking of the cornbread. It's cooked for approximately 3 hours at >300 dF, so I'm assuming the honey would be caramelized to some extent. I'm sure it could be done separately, but thought why not just include it in the mix. Honey is mostly fructose and caramelizes at a lower temp (<300 dF) than most other sugars.

The jalapenos sound tempting.

[S-Cackalacky]

congrats on your awesome recipe. I'm gonna give this a go on the next try and let you know how it turns out.

do you have a way to raise your initial temps to 180* for the HTL for 90 minutes? that may be the poor performance on the starch...just an idea.

Nah, I had success with the AG SF using much the same method. I'm sure my SEB enzymes have probably reached the end of their shelf life, so I may just go ahead and replace them with Woodshed's product closer to the time I try this again. After 3 hours in the oven at >300 dF, the corn should have been pretty well gelatinized prior to adding the strike water. Unless I just completely misread the PH, the conversion should have been much better.

[raketemensch]

Raket, I was figuring the honey would caramelize with the cooking of the cornbread. It's cooked for approximately 3 hours at >300 dF, so I'm assuming the honey would be caramelized to some extent. I'm sure it could be done separately, but thought why not just include it in the mix. Honey is mostly fructose and caramelizes at a lower temp (<300 dF) than most other sugars.

That's right up my alley there, brother. The best part of cooking, to me, is what they call "debris" in New Orleans -- the caramelized, blackened bits left in the pan when you're done cooking. Unfortunately they're pretty much carcinogens, and I'm not sure what the distillation process would do with that side of things, but they're just so frickin' tasty.

I'm also very interested in any butter flavor that might be coming over.